Arrow Video, out now

Three astronauts manning a satellite crash to Earth two months after a nuclear explosion to find it an irradiated wasteland populated by cannibal gangs.

This brand new 2K restoration of New World’s trashy ‘day after tomorrow’ Mad Max wannabe is in many ways a waste of those additional pixels. Watching it on VHS when first released in 1985 would be the best experience, as HD only reveals how cheap and tacky it looks, and time just ages its 80s heritage in a bad way.

Made primarily on location in Canada’s Nova Scotia, this cheapo flick from Roger Corman’s New World Pictures feels like it arrived a couple of years late for the post-apocalyptic boom (pun not intended) and just isn’t fun enough or boasts any originality to differentiate it from the rest of the pack. The acting is poor (but not in a ‘so bad it’s good’ way), the locations are generic and it just drags itself along to the 88-minute finishing line.

Kudos to Arrow for adding some VAM to a disc that really doesn’t deserve such love. Brave New World is a fascinating new video interview with New World Pictures editor Michael Spence, there’s an interview with composer Christopher Young (his score is by far the best aspect of this movie) and a video interview with author Chris Poggiali on the history and legacy of New World Pictures.

The special features are the only reason to pick up this disc, and you might want to wait until it’s in a promotion. Director Paul Donovan would go on to produce and direct TV series Lexx and Christopher Young would score high profile Hollywood movies – at least there were two survivors of the bomb!

Verdict: Def-Con 4/10

Nick Joy