Rush a scavenger in a post-nuclear holocaust world and his group of oppressed freedom fighters take on Yor and his well armed militia to stop their experiments and avenge his brother's death.
Director Tonino Ricci offers a highly derivative Italian action, Tito Carpi and Ricci borrow the plot from Exterminators of the Year 3000, another Mad Max 2 copy-cat, along with a few set ups from First Blood (1982).
Released in 1983 the same year as a windfall of other similar films including Escape from the Bronx, The New Barbarians, Endgame, 2019: After the Fall of New York to name a few, Ricci's Rush is a lower end cash in. It suffers more so from the usual Italian production issues of the 80s, clunky dialogue, choppy editing, awful dubbing and sound design.
Carpi and Ricci's lapses in logic are as bizarre as the stock music, contaminated makeup, fight scenes, shootouts and sound effects. Under the red filtered sky water and plant life is scarce; but plenty of H2O is gushing out of a fire hydrant and there's an abundance of tree foliage in this post apocalyptic world of jeeps and golf carts.
Bruno Minniti in leather as Rush sporting a John Rambo-look does a good enough job as the lead. Riccardo Pizzuti's Steel is notable and is impressive in a throwaway fight scene. Both Osiride Pevarello as Homer and Laura Trotter as Carol deserve a mention.
Overall, one person's rubbish is another's treasure. Post apocalyptic completists may find it worth viewing if even to compare it to the aforementioned films and other Italian productions to match up the possible reused locations.
