''The Ultimate Warrior'' is a 1975

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

film directed by

Robert Clouse Robert Clouse (March 6, 1928 – February 4, 1997) was an American film director and film producer, producer, known primarily for his work in the action film, action/adventure and martial arts film, martial arts genres. He died on February 4, 1 ...

. One of a series of

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...

films from the 1960s and 1970s, it is set in post-civilization

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 2012 and depicts the struggles of a small enclave of inhabitants attempting to survive in a compound beset with packs of starving pillagers.

Plot synopsis

Following a global pandemic which devastates the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

, Baron (Sydow), the leader of a tribe of survivors, has established a small fortified area in the ruins of New York City. Cal (Kelton), a former scientist and a member of Baron’s tribe, has developed plague-resistant seeds that enable the tribe to grow vegetables in the barren soil. The tribe's small garden has become an oasis in the ruined city, coveted by the packs of starving, lawless gangs outside. Needing to increase security against the raiders, especially a gang led by Carrot (Smith), Baron recruits a deadly warrior named Carson (Brynner), who has put his skills out for hire. While Carson’s presence has some of the desired effect, the daily raids against the sanctuary make Baron realize the only hope for his pregnant daughter Melinda (Miles) and his unborn grandchild, is for them to leave the city, and establish a new society in a more secure setting on a small island off the coast of North Carolina. Escaping from the city is more difficult than anticipated, resulting in the deaths of Baron and many of the tribe and costing Carson his hand. Carson kills Carrot and most of his followers while being chased through the city's subway system. He gets Melinda and the precious seeds out of the city.

Cast

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...

as Carson *

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

as Baron *

Joanna Miles Joanna Miles (born March 6, 1940) is an American actress. She received two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Laura Wingfield in the 1973 film production of Tennessee Williams' ''The Glass Menagerie''. Early life and education Miles was born in Ni ...

as Melinda * William Smith as "Carrot" *

Richard Kelton Richard Duane Kelton (April 29, 1943 – November 27, 1978) was an American actor. Life and career Kelton was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. After briefly attending Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in 1963, he transferred to The University of Kansa ...

as Cal *

Darrell Zwerling Darrell Zwerling (September 9, 1928 – April 11, 2014) was an American character actor in film and television. His most famous role was Hollis Mulwray, the unfortunate Water Authority Commissioner (the husband of Faye Dunaway's character) in Rom ...

as Silas * Gary Johnson as L. Harkness *

Lane Bradbury Janette Lane Bradbury (born June 17, 1938) is an American actress and writer. Biography Lane Bradbury was born in Buckhead, Morgan County, Georgia, near Atlanta. She studied ballet as a young girl. In the 1950s, she moved to New York City, and w ...

as Barrie *

Mel Novak Mel Novak (born June 16, 1942) is an American actor who is best known for villainous roles in ''Black Belt Jones'', ''Game of Death'', and ''An Eye for an Eye''. He is also known for doing all of his own stunts and fighting scenes. Career 1970s ...

as Lippert * Mickey Caruso as B. Harkness * Nate Esformes as Garon *

Stephen McHattie Stephen McHattie Smith (born February 3, 1946)Other sources cite 1945, 1947, and 1948. is a Canadian actor. Since beginning his professional career in 1970, he has amassed over 200 film and television credits. He won the Genie Award for Best Sup ...

as Robert *

Henry Kingi Henry Kingi (born December 2, 1943) is an American stuntman and actor. As a stuntman he has worked in films like ''Fast Five'' (2011). His acting roles include Goody in ''Car Wash'' (1976), Shell in '' Earth Star Voyager'' (1988), the mean Indian ...

as Carrot's Man

Production

The film was shot on the Warner Brothers back lot and the MGM lot with no location shooting. Director Robert Clouse was deaf and relied on his assistant directors to make sure the dialog was delivered effectively. Shooting with a budget just under a million dollars, Clouse was limited when it came to the use of visual effects and matte paintings for the production.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073835/?ref_=nm_knf_i4 The film returned nearly $9 million in rentals.

Release

''The Ultimate Warrior'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

on 7/29/08, as a Best Buy exclusive double feature with ''

Battle Beneath the Earth ''Battle Beneath the Earth'' is a 1967 British sci-fi thriller film starring Kerwin Mathews. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film also features character actor Ed Bishop. Plot Scientist Arnold Kramer believes that rogue elements o ...

''. , UPC# 883929023790.

References

External links