TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Woodyanders Astronauts Newman (a solid and sincere performance by Steve Barkett) and Matthews (well played by Larry Latham) return to Earth only to discover that a nuclear holocaust has caused civilization to collapse and subsequently degenerate into a harsh barbaric state. Newman must protect himself and several other people from the evil Cutter (Sid Haig in fine nasty form) and his gang of vicious outlaw bikers. Writer/director Barkett maintains a tough gritty tone throughout (for example, both women and children are brutally killed), relates the engrossing story at a snappy pace, stages the exciting action set pieces with flair, and delivers a chilling "adapt or die" central message. The moments of raw violence and stark savagery pack a fierce punch. The special effects are quite good considering the modest budget. Moreover, the fetching Lynne Margulies provides plenty of spark as the plucky Sarah, Forrest J. Ackerman has a small, but memorable role as a dying museum curator, and Dick Miller's voice can be heard on a tape recorder. The sharp cinematography by Dennis Skotak and Thomas F. Denove gives this picture an impressive polished look. John W. Morgan's robust score hits the rousing spot. An on the money indie winner.

Air_Traffic_Supervisor After knowing it "inspired" DEFCON-4, I went in search for this film, since I'm addicted to PA (Post-Apocalyptic) movies. I don't care about budget and technical limitations. I'd rather focus on the feel and the honesty of the work. And in this field, The Aftermath really shines. The history and characters easily overlook the obvious low budget restrictions and put to shame many hi budget counterparts.The premise is: 3 astronauts come back to Earth after a long space mission, just to find it destroyed by nuclear war. One of them die on the spaceship forced landing, and the other two must find their way through the new and haunting reality of a nuked world, facing radiation, mutants, marauders and the lack of hope for the future.The dialog, acting and the action scenes are somewhat laughable, but no one can deny the fact that there's an obvious labor of love beneath each take. OTOH, inventive (altough simplistic) visual effects, a huge and loud soundtrack and the voice-over only adds to the bleak atmosphere. There are effective sequences like the radioactive rain, the dead city landscapes and the corpses on the beach. Surely they're the film highlights.A great movie despite the low budget restraints, and much better than the most contemporary (and some newer) PA movies.

Terry-23 If you pick this up to watch a serious movie about life after a nuclear war, you'll give up on this in about 5 minutes. But if you like watching a movie that you can make fun of and groan at, then this is the movie for you.As I was watching this I was thinking just how bad this movie was, but I kept watching to see what goof, inconsistency, bad line, etc. would come up next. And I was not disappointed.You've got stupid people running around in the desert and guns that never run out (almost never) of ammunition. You've also got the chance of running into a radioactive rain storm, but only drive cars with no roofs. And much, much more.This is a prime example that if you make the movie bad enough, but still entertaining, it will hang around for a long time.

BabySnakes69 Actually, I grew up with Laura Barkett (Steve's daughter) who was but a wee tot in the movie (those of you who remember the line "this one's for Laura" before Steve offs a villain)--well, that's about the only memorable thing this movie had for me. One night in 1983, I was spending the night at Laura Barkett's house (in Oklahoma; her mom & her dad, Steve, were divorced & he lived in Cali making low-budget, weak-scripted movies that he threw his kids into for fun) and although at that age (11) was an apocalyptic movie NOT up my alley, I agreed to watch it with Laura because she was in it, after all; so was her older brother Chris, and of course, her dad was the one who MADE the movie. I lasted about 20 minutes into the movie. But I do remember being awakened toward the end by Laura telling me "You have to see this part! He says my name!" Hence, the "this one's for Laura" line. Sure, it was interesting seeing my 6th grade best friend and her older brother in a real live MOVIE, and although I was just 11 when I watched it (at least the parts I didn't sleep through), I just don't think I could sit thru it again--except to fast-forward to the parts where Laura and Chris are shown, since I actually KNOW them. The special effects weren't very special, and frankly, I was bored to tears. But hey--judge it for yourself. Frankly, I'd be surprised if it's still AVAILABLE on video. Steve Barkett would've been better off making home movies as a hobby.