Omega Cop (1990)

John Travis, Solar Survivor

Cast:

Ronald L. Marchini is John Travis
Adam "I'm Batman and fearless vampire slayer from American Vampire" West is Prescott
Stuart "I've battled the Night of the Lepus" Whitman is Dr. Latimer
Meg Thayer is Lena
Jennifer Jostyn is Zoe
D.W. Landingham is Norm

What the box says:

In the not-to-distant future, the world has been overrun with criminals, who now hold the power over the well-intentioned authority figures. Only a small handful of people are willing to stnad up and fight for justice. This small band of police officers is led by martial arts legned Ron Marachini, the Omega Cop.

With his small band of officers dying all around him, Marachini must become a one-man army and take on scores of criminals on his own. This sounds like an impossible task, but Marachini's resourcefulness is unmatched, and he begins knocking the criminals off one-by-one.

Fast-paced, non-stop action propels this adrenaline-laced film along. Specatacular stunts, pyrotechnics, gunplay, and martial arts abound in Omega Cop.

Plot:

This will be a challenge, but I'll try to avoid from doing any Orange County jokes.

Adam West narration about environment fu about how the greenhouse gas ruined the world.

3 cops learn about a slave-trading deal and head off to break it up.

At the slave auction, the cops sneak in before the gunfight ensues. A couple of the cops are gunned down and only Omega Cop escapes. A solar flare erupts in the sky.

Chief Adam West won’t send backup for Omega or even let him back into the bunker. Omega grabs a rocket launcher to handle the slavers and swears a Klingon blood-oath.

Later, Omega spots the slavers with a blonde slaver girl. During a showdown, Omega manages to gun them all down.

Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya??? The girl rides off him. Chief Adam West radios about the solar flare which is driving people crazy.

Some guy wants guns from a store owner. Omega handles the dude. The manager wants him to take his daughter to the mountain. The gang shoots the manager. Omega is able to layeth the smack down on the gang.

Omega and the girls are chased through warehouses, etc, before reaching the jeep and driving away.

Chief Adam West won’t let the group in the bunker.

The gang wants Omega dead. They kill a girl and drink her blood.

Omega spots a couple of gang members and tracks them before killing them. He finds another girl. They head to a hospital where the doctor checks her.

A kid steals the jeep. Omega chases after him. Catching up, the gang surrounds Omega. The fight is on but the gang catches him.

Omega is carried to the gang’s headquarters. Tied up, the leader demands that he turn over the women.

The girls are deciding whether to go after Omega. They learn that the doctor was infected by the solar flare. He freaks out and scares them away.

Omega is able to escape from his manacles. Kung fues the guards while the action 1980s synthesizer ensues.

The girls get to the ball field.

Omega reaches the hospital and finds the crazed doctor. The flared doctor has Omega shoot him.

That night, Omega reaches the ball field. Lena, the blonde, talks with him.

The next day, Omega tries taking the sick girl to the bunker. Lena and the other girl stay behind. The gang grabs them but escape.

Omega tries contacting Chief Adam West who can’t help. The gang is trying to break into the bunker with a torch. Sniper Omega Cop ensues.

The girls are tied up. Creepy John-Rhys Davies impression.

But, Indy, I need those camels. OK, I'm not really John Rhys-Davies.. The boss and the gangs decide to head to the bunker.

Omega heads back to the ball field and another gunfight with the gang ensues. He sneaks back into the gang’s HQ. Kung fuing the guard, frees the girls but must face a beaten down David Coverdale of Whitesnake.

David Coverdale of WhiteSnake really hit the skids, man..

The goons break into the police bunker.

Chief Adam West radios Omega. The only way to get the gang’s boss is to blow up the bunker.

Omega heads in to blow the bunker but must kung fu several goons on the way.

Chief Adam West proposes to the lady radio technician in the bunker. The marriage ceremony ends as the bunker blows up.

Omega and the 3 girls take a refreshing swim.

What I say:

From Australia came Mad Max and the sequel, Road Warrior, those movies truly created the post-apocalyptic genre. One thing is almost a universal constant. If some movie will make money or is thought to make money, Italy will try to suck every penny or lyra they can out of it. From Conan, the Barbarian, all of the cheezy barbarian movies from the 1980s. Exorcist gave birth to a number of European ripoffs, etc...Now, this isn't some attempt at insulting Italy.

To be fair, ripping off movies is a global market, crossing national boundaries. Today, how many Japanese horror movies have been Americanized into PG-13 retreads? Low budget production companies all over the world did them, too. Italy wasn't the only country that milked the post-apocalyptic action movie into the ground. The late 1980s even had a few American rip-offs.

By the way, did anyone know that Ron Marachini was a martial arts legend? Just studying martial arts does not a legend make. Ever notice the large number of classic movies made by Ron Marachini? You didn't? That might explain why Don "The Dragon" Wilson made so many direct to video movies in the 1990s instead of Ron. A $1 DVD isn't going to be full of high caliber amazing acting. However, Ron isn't even on par with Weng Weng in For Your Height Only.

Oh, Adam West, you shouldn't have blown your residuals from Batman so frivilously. It'd be more than a decade before becoming Mayor Adam West on Family Guy. He still has the American Vampire. Pretty much every stuffy movie police captain cliche was compressed into a microscopic gravitic anomaly that compressed into it's own pocket universe.

This movie may be listed as being made in 1990 according to IMDB. However, it has the true 80s vibe with the synthesizer soundtrack. The sad attempt at doing a post-apocalyptic movie in a junkyard and baseball field after the end of the season. At least, Escape From New York was mainly shot in an area of East St. Louis that had been burnt down in a massive urban fire that made it look wasted. Strange that the future looked like a deserted city block even without litter. What does it say about a movie when you'd rather watch one of the post-apocalyptic Italian rip-offs of Mad Max like Warriors of the Wasteland? By the way, that review has plenty of my lame Deliverance jokes...

It's good to know in the future that the police are determined to stop slave auctions. They might not be bothered much if they lose any fellow officers. Better than that all police bunkers are underground and equiped with self destruct devices.

The "Lone Cop who Plays by his own Rules", now that hasn't ever been done before. The martinent police chief who yells at the "Lone Cop who Plays by his Own Rules" who just lost his partner how is that completely original. Lone Cop runs around saving some women. If I wanted to see a tough guy rescue women, there's Rowdy Roddy Piper's magnum opus: Hell Comes to Frogtown.

Quotable Dialogue
"Just think of me pussycat when I cut your food ration."
"Disobedient...Disobedient..."
Morals of the Story
Human auctions require sleazy used car terms for descriptions.
In the future, Japan owns the Acupulcos.
Auctioning is a hanging offense.
Surfer rock sounds greater gun-fights.
Future gangs are ethnically diverse.
1 shot can kill 4 people.
Jogging is stealthy.
Slipping out of ropes involves lots of grimacing.
Future has plenty of junkyards.