City Limits (1986)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Pretty Good

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In the future, two rival gangs are vying for turf: the Clippers and the DA's. Lee (Stockwell) leaves his rural life behind and heads to the big city to be part of the action, and gets embroiled in the gang warfare. Mainly this includes riding around on modified motorbikes and wearing silly outfits. But their masks are pretty cool. Even more trouble forms in the guise of Carver (Benson) who wants to control the city, or possibly the world, and is willing to use the gangs towards his evil ends, even pitting them against each other. Will Lee and his buddies prevail? At the outset of this movie, we're informed that what we're seeing is "fifteen years from now", but the Vestron VHS box tells us the movie takes place in the distant future of 2003. But one character's Masters of the Universe (1987) coat really tells us what decade we're in. But apparently Steven Seagal's personal style had an impact, as a lot of people in the future wear fringed jackets. While City Limits isn't quite in Shredder Orpheus (1990) territory, it is a bit reminiscent of Wired To Kill (1986). These are not favorable comparisons, as this movie seems like it could have been directed by Albert Pyun. When are filmmakers going to learn that annoying characters doing annoying things does not a movie make, and you cannot skip character development. Isn't that movie-making 101? This movie makes no sense, and it's hard to imagine anyone, whilst making it, thinking it was a good idea, much less NOT a total waste of everyone's time, but here you go. It's total shelf-filler tailor made for the expanding video store market in the 80's. It seems only the Italians can make entertaining post-apocalyptic movies. Basketball fans may get a kick out of the fact that one of the roving street gangs in this movie are called the Clippers, but it falls on deaf ears for mostly everyone else, including us. Also Robby Benson does what we call a "sit-down" role, where a character never moves from his seat.Why did James Earl Jones agree to be in this? Sure, this movie may be boring, pointless and adds nothing new whatsoever to the post-apocalyptic genre, but the filmmakers were shrewd enough to realize Jones has a commanding voice, so they had him narrate this slog. Seeing as how it was the 80's, and JEJ wears this brown fur coat in the movie, and how he's the narrator of course, only one thing comes to mind: Teddy Ruxpin. But this movie is an insult to Mr. Ruxpin as whoever wrote the cassette that was placed in James Earl Jones did a horrible job. Only Jones' professionalism prevails.It's easy to see why MST3K chose to do this movie. It's just weak on pretty much every level.For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

I know that this film isn't the peak of cinema, but maybe there's something to be said for not scrutinizing a film so hard that you miss the basic intention. While people will argue over whether or not it is entertaining, I found it to be so, mostly because I wanted to be in it. Not the film, but the story. I actually bought into the plot, enjoyed the premise of a world without parents where angst filled, reckless and rebellious comic book lovers were left to their own devices, and yet seemed to make it work! The music was very good, and the imagery was very nice (especially Mick's "Metropolis" shirt). I know the outfits seem a little stupid, but has anyone been in the East Village recently? Not an excuse, but simply a reminder that extravagance isn't necessarily contrivance. No, the action sequences weren't brilliant, but they were fun. And the stars in the film, despite the fact that many will say they were slumming, all do their best and I think it shows. I just really like this film. Not the stuff of The Oscars, but a fun, retrospective look back into the 80s subcultures.

John Stockwell appeared to have a promising career ahead of him. He co-starred with Tom Cruise in the horrible "Losin' It," with a car in Stephen King's "Christine," and with a dinosaur in the quite forgetable "My Science Project." For whatever reason, he, James Earl Jones, Rae Dawn Chong, Kim Cattrall, and Robby Benson signed on to make this post-apocalyptic story. But he wears a (very fake) animal skull as a motorcycle helmet, and for that reason alone the first few minutes of the film are worth watching.

Of the better known stars -- like James Earl Jones, Kim Cattral, Robby Benson, Dean Stockwell's son John -- lies an evil beyond anything with mortal men can conceive of.Dean Devlin, producer of Independence Day and Stargate, acts in this turkey. Argh.