Phoenix the Warrior (1988) - Action

Phoenix the Warrior (1988) - The copy of this I have is titled "She Wolves of the Wasteland" waste being the significant word fragment here. This late eighties post apocalyptic adventure is about a world that is lacking men, in fact other than two characters the entire cast is women, with big eighties hair and a severe lack of appropriate clothing. It is a world where one woman, the Reverend Mother (Shiela Howard) runs a desert shanty town of gun toting leotard draped warriors. She is a wheelchair bound hag with wires and tubes sprouting from her head set on controlling the last sperm in the world and building her perfect world. When one of her experiments escapes, the pregnant Keela (Peggy McIntaggart) she is hunted by the Reverend Mother's team lead by Cobalt (Persis Khambatta). Helped by travelling warrior Phoenix (Kathleen Kinmont) Keela escapes. This starts a strange jumping through time adventure where the viewer is repeatedly subject to scenes of women walking across the desert, interspersed with them being found and the worst choreographed fight scenes I have seen in a long time. They escape the first time by finding a cave in the desert that leads to an oasis where women warriors bath topless in a waterfall. They are identified by the white paint masks across there eyes. Suddenly it is nine months later and Keela is giving birth. Then the bad girls find them and so we are not confused they have red paint on their faces, a battle ensues and only Phoenix and Keela and the baby boy escape. Suddenly it is five years later and the women decide to try to get to some island, so more walking across the desert. They are again found and the dune buggies are sent out to get them. They hide in a shack, and wow there is a man there, he escaped from the Reverend Mother years before. Soon more silly fighting takes place, Phoenix is captured while the other three escape. Phoenix becomes a gladiator while her friends set out to rescue her. They do and this time there are driving across the desert scenes since they steal a car. They head to the wastelands where they are caught by some deformed mutant people who worship the TV Guide. The men are sent back to the Reverend Mother while Phoenix and Keela are left as sacrifices to the Guide. The women escape with the help of another former gladiator who just happens to be tracking them. Then the three women head back to save the boy child and man. There is the inevitable battle between Cobalt and Phoenix, Keela confronts the Reverend Mother to save her child, and we learn that all the people of this time are actually the children of the Mother. She is rebuilding humankind, why we are not sure, and why she chose the desert, or to be militant are questions we just can't answer here. In the end though, Keela wins and the Mother is no more. There are now two very lucky men in the world, End Credits.

Rating (3.2)