Dune Warriors (USA-Philippines, 1990) 80 min color DIR: Cirio Santiago. SCR: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver. PROD: Roger Corman, Cirio Santiago, Christopher R. Santiago. MUSIC: Gary Earl, Odette Springer. DOP: Jose Batac Jr. CAST: David Carradine, Rick Hill, Luke Askew, Jillian McWhirter, Blake Boyd, Maira Isabel Lopez. (Concorde Pictures)
Compared to the films of his fellow countrymen, the work of prolific Filipino director-producer Cirio Santiago may not be as atmospheric as Eddie Romero’s, or as stylized as Bobby Suarez’s, but he modestly offered competent thrills on a budget. Despite their often no frills presentations, his films are seldom dull.
It is strange to see him still consorting with Roger Corman years after it was fashionable for American producers to make films in the Philippines, but wherever there’s a dollar to still be made. Why anyone would need a Road Warrior rip-off so late in the game is anyone’s guess, but this post-apoc effort is a variation on the Magnificent Seven formula, itself well used by Corman in the 1980 sci-fi favourite, Battle Beyond the Stars.
Set in New California 2040 AD, an infantry led by the nefarious William (Askew) enslaves the village of Chin-Le for its water supply. Val (McWhirter), a runaway from the village, recruits the help of the soft-spoken Michael (David Carradine, in a characterization modeled after his Kung Fu days), and he in turn assembles a ruffian group of mercenaries to do battle with the bad guys and free the village. These characters are decidedly more one-dimensional than either of the films that have inspired them, although Maria Isabel Lopez is noteworthy as a hot-blooded mercenary who is also a firebrand out of her armour. (Hey, it’s a Roger Corman movie.)
This movie is derivative to the extreme, and full of little boy action to prolong the inevitable confrontation between the good guy and the main villain, otherwise this would be over in five minutes. The brief 80-minute running time is due to the no-frills excitement: little time for melodrama, exposition or resolution. But hey, I still liked it. Trivia note: David Carradine and Luke Askew were also adversaries in Concorde’s sword-and-sorcery epic, The Warrior and the Sorceress.