''World Gone Wild'' is a 1988 science fiction film directed by

Lee H. Katzin Lee H. Katzin (12 April 1935 - 30 October 2002) was an American film director. Early life and education He was born in Detroit, Michigan, and became a TV director in the late 1960s, including episodes for ''Bonanza, Mission: Impossible ''and '' ...

, and starring

Bruce Dern Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has often played supporting villainous characters of unstable natures. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Silver B ...

Catherine Mary Stewart Catherine Mary Stewart (; born 22 April 1959) is a Canadian actress. Her film roles include '' The Apple'', ''The Last Starfighter'' and ''Weekend at Bernie's''. She was also the original Kayla Brady in '' Days of our Lives''. Early life Stewar ...

and

Michael Paré Michael Kevin Paré (born October 9, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Eddie and the Cruisers'' (1983), '' Streets of Fire'' (1984), and '' The Philadelphia Experiment'' (1984), and on the series ''Starhun ...

Plot

In the nuclear-ravaged wasteland of Earth in the year 2087, rain has not fallen for 50 years and water is as precious as life itself. The isolated town of Lost Wells, an outpost that survived the holocaust, is led by Ethan (Bruce Dern), a

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

-like guru and the last schoolteacher on the planet, Angie (Catherine Stewart). The inhabitants of the town guard the secret of their existence and source of their water from the outside world. The "town" consist of a

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

station surrounded by a wall of old cars. The school takes place in an old

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

. One of the few books still in existence and held by the town is an unabridged book on etiquette by

Emily Post Emily Post ( Price; October 27, 1872 – September 25, 1960) was an American author, novelist, and socialite, famous for writing about etiquette. Early life Post was born Emily Bruce Price in Baltimore, Maryland, possibly in October 1872. Th ...

. An evil cult of pseudoreligious renegades led by Derek (Adam Ant), a group following the teachings in a book on

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

discovers the existence of the water source and wants control of the town's valuable water supply. As the villagers are no match for Derek's brute military force, they hire mercenaries living in a distant city. That group includes Nitro, Ten Watt and they are led by George Landon. The townspeople and the mercenaries team up to stage a last ditch defense of the town.

Cast

as Ethan *

as George Landon *

as Angie *

Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...

as Derek Abernathy * Anthony James as Ten Watt * Rick Podell as Exline *

Julius Carry Julius John Carry III (March 12, 1952 – August 19, 2008) was an American actor. He made his acting debut in the 1979 film ''Disco Godfather'' starring Rudy Ray Moore. He played Sho'Nuff in the martial arts film ''The Last Dragon''. He also act ...

as Nitro (credited as Julius J. Carry III) *

Alan Autry Carlos Alan Autry Jr. (also known for a time as Carlos Brown; born July 31, 1952), is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League player. During his brief football career, he was known as Carlos Brown. He played the ro ...

as Hank * Mindy McEnnan as Kate * Bryan J. Thompson as Matthew *

Nancy Parsons Nancy Anne Parsons (January 17, 1942 – January 5, 2001) was an American actress. Early years Parsons grew up in Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota and was a member of the Class of 1960 at Minnetonka High School. Career Parsons resumed acting ...

as Rape Victim

Production

The film was commissioned by Apollo Pictures in 1986, although it was ultimately released by

Lorimar Studios The Sony Pictures Studios is an American television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard (south), Washington Boulevard (north), Overland Avenue (west) and ...

. Principal photography began in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in March 1987. Originally the book used by Derek's cult was to be

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...

's '' Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health'', but the book was changed to a book about Charles Manson after the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

threatened a lawsuit.

Reception

The film was nominated for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

in 1989. The movie received 2 out of 5 stars in Creature Feature. The performance of Dern was praised, as was director

's work but the source material was found lacking. The movie was found to be a mix of Mad Max and ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...

''. Similarly,

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

found the script lacking. The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

found the movie to be a standard-issue, post-apocalyptic film in the vein of ''

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...

'', although the attempts at dark humor were appreciated. Similarly, Kim Newman found the movie to stand out over other post-apocalyptic works due to its offbeat humor and its use of western motifs. The

LA Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

likes the movie, citing the

Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...

homage and finding it surprisingly reflective. They likewise appreciated the humor and musical score of the movie.

References

External links

* * {{Lee H. Katzin 1988 films 1980s science fiction action films American science fiction action films Films directed by Lee H. Katzin Films set in 2087 American post-apocalyptic films Films about water scarcity Films about nuclear war and weapons Films shot in Arizona 1980s English-language films 1980s American films