Neon City Revisited: Blu-ray Release Breathes New Life into a Dystopian Gem

Neon City Trailer

There is a very striking difference between the American Mad Max rip-offs and the Italian Mad Max rip-offs. The the Italians try to sci-fi things up to the max with lots of bright colors, lighting, and way more over-the-top car chases. Whereas the American versions are usually more gritty, subtle, paced methodically, and focus more on the doomy side of things.

Enter Neon City. Perennial bad mother fucker Michael Ironside plays Stark—An ex-ranger turned bounty hunter. He captures a red star fugitive in Reno, indicated by the red star tattooed on their hand, played by Canadian model and singer Vanity. Stark has to transport her to Neon City from Jericho, but their journey will be long, and there is only one bus to the city.

The transport bus driver is played by none other than ex-NFL great Lyle Alzado—a bad dude in his own right. Bulk (Alzado) is one of the movie’s best characters. This is saying something because the writing team really built out the character development in a film with no budget or really any need. But it makes the film that much better. Why does the comic relief character also sell drugs on the side that ease people’s suffering? Why is the little old Asain man super tech-savvy and quiet while always helping everyone? Is it necessary for the random prostitute that gets on the transport to happen to have a secret back story with Stark? I won’t tell you the answer because you need to see the film, but it absolutely adds depth and rewatch value to the movie.

This film is a remake of the 1939 western Stagecoach with, of course, a futuristic dystopian twist. There are so many interesting ideas in this film that are clearly hampered by the lack of budget. The Xander clouds are gas-emitting acid rain clouds from a hole being made in the ozone layer. The “BRIGHT” is a random, non-specified, non-explained rainbow of light that shines in bright colors and causes intense heat that causes boils and burns. There are mutants, and anyone who gives birth to a mutated child is sterilized. It helps create this world that seems like it would have benefited from being a TV show. This makes sense because most of the people involved were from TV.

Many things are happening in the film’s world, but it’s about the characters. In the Italian versions of Oz-ploitation films, the films are always about excess. Here, we are given all the character stories that unfold in a world crumbling around them.

This would be Lyle Alzado’s last film, as he would die of brain cancer shortly after. He plays a great brute character here, and it’s rather a shame he didn’t get to do more. Ironside steals the show here and chews every scene with his snarl and bravado. He oozes awesomeness as he continually saves our group from certain death and also shows compassion to those in need. From Scanners to Turbo Kid, he has always been one of the best on the screen. Also, pay close attention to the end of the film in Neon City, where you will see a bit of part played by the one and only Creed Bratton from The Office.

Kino Lorber recently put this out on Blu-ray in November of 2023. The great thing is that everywhere you look, it says the run time is one hour and thirty-nine minutes, but this special edition is one hour and forty-eight minutes. So, somewhere along the way, Kino found a version that is 9 minutes longer for this release. Out of all the Mad Max/ dystopian low-budget films I have sat through and watched, I definitely found myself thinking about this movie long after the credits rolled. I will reach for it in the future when I want to supplement my apocalyptic needs. It’s a shame this film was utterly forgotten for decades. It has mediocre and mid-line ratings, but if you read the actual written reviews from people, you will see there is more here than just a run-of-the-mill, straight-to-video, b-film.

A worthy purchase to add to your Post-apocalyptic film collection. It has also been available on Tubi for quite a while.