The year is 2024 and the world is an irradiated wasteland. World War IV started in 2007 and lasted five days. Vic (Don Johnson) and his telepathic dog, Blood (Tim McIntire), wander the remains in search of food and sex. Thanks to Blood's telepathic abilities and natural dog senses, Vic is able to avoid trouble more often than not. One night, while enjoying movies at a rundown settlement, Blood senses a female in the crowd. She is disguised as a boy. When she leaves, the pair follow her to some ruins. Vic is eager to have his way with her when a gang arrives. Turns out Vic wasn't the only one to follow her home. While Blood wants to cut their losses by just handing Quilla June (Susanne Benton) to the gang, Vic is determined to keep her for himself. Though he succeeds in driving off the gang through grit and deception, Quilla escaped to the underground. Determined to get her back, he follows her.
The story and movie were inspirations for the Fallout games and the current Fallout series on Amazon. Irradiated wasteland? Check. Mutants? Check. Dog as sidekick? Check. Protective vaults where people have hidden from the nuclear blasts? Check. Yes, lots of similarities. However, Vic is a much darker character than most of those in the Amazon series. He is an amoral fellow with no sense of right or wrong. What is rape? Why shouldn't he force himself on a woman? Theft? Well, of course he steals if he is hungry. Or if the opportunity arises. Blood, who is surprisingly well-educated and speaks well (thinks well since it's all telepathy?) doesn't provide a moral education for Vic.
The film has a low budget look to it. There is no advanced technology in the underground other than the robot, Michael (Mal Baylor), which is dressed as a smiling bumpkin. Jason Robards is wasted as the villain, proving to be little more than a bored bureaucrat. The underground is underwhelming. Even so, it is an entertaining film and worth a look for fans of the post-apocalyptic genre.
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