Neon City is set in a post apocalyptic future during the year 2053 A.D. where ex-law enforcement ranger Harry M. Stark (Michael Ironside) roams the wastelands in search of human bounty like escaped or wanted criminals on the run which he brings in & collects money for. His latest capture is a woman named Reno (Vanity (?!)) who he takes to the nearest 'civilised' city, Jehricho. Unfortunately she's hot property & needs to be taken to the larger Neon City for trial & since Jericho are low on man power it's up to Stark to get her there if he wants his money. Meanwhile several people are boarding a large truck which will take them across the rough & dangerous terrains of the wastelands to Neon City as is the only way to get there, along with several other passengers on board is the daughter of a top ranking official in Neon City & Stark is forced to travel with them to protect her since he was the 'best' before he went renegade. As they try to reach Neon City they have to deal with mutants, cannibal tribes, freak whether phenomenon & the fact that there is a murderer among their number...
Co-written & directed by Monte Markham I personally thought Neon City was a pretty lacklustre post apocalyptic sci-fi adventure. The script by Markham, Jeff Begun, Buck Finch & Gus Peters is basically a rip-off of the classic western Stagecoach (1939) & takes it's plot & transports it into the future. However that's where the similarities end I'm afraid as Neon City has dull & unexciting action scenes, clichéd & forgettable character's especially the main leads & sub-plots which seem to go nowhere & serve only to stretch the things running time out even more. I found it to be a touch on the slow side with not much happening & average at best action scenes to punctuate the boredom & it takes itself far too seriously. The ending was also a disappointment & it's almost as if the filmmakers didn't know what they wanted to do & just wrapped things up as quickly as they could. The world depicted in Neon City is your typical post apocalyptic vision with wastelands full of mutants & gangs, little law & order, the daily struggles to find water & food & life threatening whether conditions. Mad Max (1979) was doing all that sort of thing much better over a decade before Neon City, in fact besides stealing most of it's best ideas from Stagecoach & Mad Max the whole film feels like it's one big rip-off & doesn't have an original idea in it.
Director Markham does a surprisingly excellent job here, Neon City is one of the best looking post apocalyptic films I've seen & I'm even more surprised by the fact this must have had a pretty low budget. The landscapes are fantastic & really help the look of the film, apparently shot on the Utah flatlands during winter it has a great feel & desolate atmosphere to it. The production design is also rather good with nice costumes & good sets. The look of Neon City is easily it's best aspect. The infrequent action scenes are bland & simply don't excite which is the films biggest problem, it's just not that much fun to watch & it's as simple & straight forward as that.
Technically Neon City is fine & even quite impressive when everything is considered, don't expect many special effects though & the violence is rather tame. The acting isn't up to much although the usually great Michael Ironside has a rare lead role.
Neon City is an average time waster at best & a lifeless unoriginal bore at worst, generally speaking I'd say it's somewhere between the two. Not one to rush out & buy I'm afraid.
Co-written & directed by Monte Markham I personally thought Neon City was a pretty lacklustre post apocalyptic sci-fi adventure. The script by Markham, Jeff Begun, Buck Finch & Gus Peters is basically a rip-off of the classic western Stagecoach (1939) & takes it's plot & transports it into the future. However that's where the similarities end I'm afraid as Neon City has dull & unexciting action scenes, clichéd & forgettable character's especially the main leads & sub-plots which seem to go nowhere & serve only to stretch the things running time out even more. I found it to be a touch on the slow side with not much happening & average at best action scenes to punctuate the boredom & it takes itself far too seriously. The ending was also a disappointment & it's almost as if the filmmakers didn't know what they wanted to do & just wrapped things up as quickly as they could. The world depicted in Neon City is your typical post apocalyptic vision with wastelands full of mutants & gangs, little law & order, the daily struggles to find water & food & life threatening whether conditions. Mad Max (1979) was doing all that sort of thing much better over a decade before Neon City, in fact besides stealing most of it's best ideas from Stagecoach & Mad Max the whole film feels like it's one big rip-off & doesn't have an original idea in it.
Director Markham does a surprisingly excellent job here, Neon City is one of the best looking post apocalyptic films I've seen & I'm even more surprised by the fact this must have had a pretty low budget. The landscapes are fantastic & really help the look of the film, apparently shot on the Utah flatlands during winter it has a great feel & desolate atmosphere to it. The production design is also rather good with nice costumes & good sets. The look of Neon City is easily it's best aspect. The infrequent action scenes are bland & simply don't excite which is the films biggest problem, it's just not that much fun to watch & it's as simple & straight forward as that.
Technically Neon City is fine & even quite impressive when everything is considered, don't expect many special effects though & the violence is rather tame. The acting isn't up to much although the usually great Michael Ironside has a rare lead role.
Neon City is an average time waster at best & a lifeless unoriginal bore at worst, generally speaking I'd say it's somewhere between the two. Not one to rush out & buy I'm afraid.