vancouvercommunityforum
A farm family and a city family struggle to stay alive in a future world rapidly running out of food due to climate change. Food is rationed and martial law has been declared. The farm family, with barely enough food to see them through the winter, is visited by a rich industrialist and his son, who beg for food for their family, especially the sick granddaughter. The farmer's youngest daughter persuades the farmer and his wife to give them a little food. The grateful industrialist, a widower, gives his wedding ring to the farmer for the upcoming marriage of his eldest daughter.The farmer's son, jealous of his sister's fiancé who is a former city dweller, joins a vigilante group of rural residents who take the food away from the city folk on their way home with the prized groceries. The industrialist has a heart attack and dies. His son declares vengeance and asks a criminal to send his gang to rob the church of the food offerings at the wedding.In the gunfight, the farmer's wife and new son-in-law are killed. The farmer goes to the city to seek vengeance, and finds out that the thugs are going back to the countryside to rob and kill. The city family sit down for their last meal, as the farmer races back through roadblocks to save his family and neighbors.The farmer's son keeps the thugs at bay until his father and vigilantes arrive to finish them off. They are safe--for now.
NavyOrion
"To most of us, it came as a surprise. Not many understood. Too few cared enough to stop it. Then, it no longer mattered how many understood or cared. It was too late.The beginning of the end came in the late '70s. The climate changes... the energy crisis, the shortages, the high costs of growing and transporting grain, the lack of government support for research programs. The disappearance of arable land beneath the monoliths of reinforced concrete and steel as the urban centers continued their unchecked sprawl into the countryside. The industrial pollution that poisoned the earth, the water, and the air. And the continuing growth of population out of all bounds of reason. More and more people, less and less food.By the end of the '70s, the fabric of society was breaking down in most parts of he world... And then, the bubble burst." So begins a cautionary tale from the sages in Hollywood, who even thirty years ago were desperately trying to warn us unwashed masses about the dangers of climate change facing us. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? So what is "The World's Scourge" as described in the movie's tagline? GLOBAL COOLING! Draw your own conclusions.P.S. - This would make a great double feature with "An Inconvenient Truth".
Randall Phillip
A well-acted drama about people surviving a food shortage due to climate fluctuations. Considering the present unnatural weather we've recently been getting, this strikes a most sombre note. The electronic music soundtrack is striking as well. Clint Walker especially shines in this, and because he put his heart into his character, I will be forever endeared to him as an actor. I'm puzzled by the negative criticism some have given this movie. Perhaps, they were expecting Terminator 3 or something with less substance and more special effects. If that's what you're looking for, it's not here. You'll find something much more worthwhile in this movie. The ultimate question this movie asks is, "How would you conduct yourself in a time of crisis?" Which really points to: How do you conduct yourself in everyday life with the people you interact with? There are two kinds of characters in this movie: Those who show other human beings kindness and those who view our fellow man as opportunities for exploitation. There are really no times that one can say are entirely free of desperation. This is a movie with a message. I like it.
angilbas
"Deadly Harvest" was made at a time when the Earth's climate was thought to be cooling due to a sun-blocking shroud of pollution. The film takes this premise to a setting in which winter begins in August! The world's food supply is almost gone and the social order is breaking down.Unfortunately, this film mostly comes across as just another cheap, violent 'tax shelter' ripoff. Walker is wooden (and his wood is weaker than usual) as the heroic farmer, while Persoff is inappropriately hammy as the arch-villain. Geraint Wyn-Davies of later "Forever Knight" fame had yet to show talent here.The film does take on a haunting quality near the end as it tours a frozen, near-deserted Toronto and witnesses a family's last meal.
-Tony
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