The Final Combat Movie Review

When the French tried a post-apocalyptic action flick, filmmaker Luc Besson went mad to the max and created a black-and-white nightmare world of deserts, ruins, and bleached wreckage, with no dialogue (possible explanation: poison gas has burned out everyone's vocal cords) and weird weather phenomena. The ‘Man,’ a spear-carrying everybarbarian, tires of life in the parched wastelands and pilots his homebuilt aircraft to a devastated city where he befriends a doctor (who does caveman-style paintings on the walls) and fights a running duel with relentless brute Reno. Good luck puzzling through some of the grunting mime “dialogue,” and the ending feels like a bit of a cheat. But as a glimpse at what lies beyond the fall of civilization this will stick in your mind a lot longer than all those low-octane Road Warrior wannabes.

1984 (R) 93m/B FR Pierre Joviet, Fritz Wepper, Jean Bouise, Jean Reno; D: Luc Besson. VHS FOX