Recently, the wonderful people over at Severin Films sent me a copy of their new 4k Ultra High Definition release of 2020 Texas Gladiators. This Italian post-apocalyptic actioner now appears on physical media in its uncut and uncensored presentation for the first time ever. With direction by Joe D’Amato, writing from George Eastman (who also directed a large portion), and assistant directing from Michele Soavi, 2020 Texas Gladiators stars regulars Al Cliver of Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2, Peter Hooten, Sabrina Siani, and even features an quick appearance from Geretta Geretta from the wonderful Lamberto Bava film Demons!

2020 Texas Gladiators appeared along with a slew of other films considered “rip-offs” of Mad Max and most notably its sequel Mad Max 2, or The Road Warrior. Films like Endgame, Stryker, Battletruck, 1990: The Bronx Warriors (which is not a prequel), Escape from the Bronx (which was kind of a sequel to 1990: The Bronx Warriors), and Warriors of the Wasteland all happened to drop within a few years of each other. I’ve seen some refer to these types of Italian films as Penne Post-Apocalypse, much like how Italian Westerns were referred to as Spaghetti Westerns.

There are varying reports from those involved about how much directing Joe D’Amato completed and how much was done by Eastman. D’Amato claims that Eastman wasn’t comfortable with the action sequences, so he stepped in. Eastman wasn’t all that proud of the Mad Max rip-offs he was involved in, reportedly only working on them for financial reasons.

Like many of the Italian films of this subgenre, 2020 Texas Gladiators had several other titles, including 2020 Gladiators of the Future, Futuro 2020: Freedom Fighters, and 2020: The Rangers of Texas.

The Severin UHD release arrives as part of a 3-disc set including a 4k disc with the film alongside a Blu-Ray disc with the HD version and some special features and a CD with the Soundtrack. This was my first time experiencing the film.

Wars and disasters have decimated the planet. There exists a number of peace-loving groups, but there are also roaming gangs of deadly and immoral survivors looking to take/take/take. In the year 2020, one of these gangs has set themselves upon an innocent monastery, but a group of 5 rangers, looking to restore order, have arrived to defend the monastery. Ranger Nexus falls for the pretty Maida, who lives at the monastery, and the two go off to live a more traditional life together. Years later, one of the disgraced Rangers, Catch Dog, has allied himself with a gang of his own, and he seeks to take down Nexus, Maida, and the residents of their new home.

2020 Texas Gladiators finds an interesting tone within the schlockier takes on the Mad Max formula, and I was impressed at how the filmmakers were able to squeeze an entire trilogy of films into a single 91 minute feature. I wish the time jumps had been more outlined as the characters are just in another location all of a sudden. While it’s never as good as The Road Warrior or Fury Road, 2020 Texas Gladiators finds a comfortably entertaining placement on par with the original Mad Max or even Beyond Thunderdome’s goofy tone. Al Cliver and Sabrian Siani are always a joy to watch, if you know what you’re getting. While this is a not a well-made movie, if you’re in the right mood, it’s incredibly watchable.

This UHD presentation for 2020 Texas Gladiators was excellent. It’s about as cleaned up as it could possibly be considering how low budget this production was. I was impressed at the look and sound of the film on this 4k disc.

The 4k Disc has a classic trailer, one that essentially works as a montage of action moments from the film and offers little in terms of story, and the special features are mostly reserved for the Blu-Ray disc.

Over on the Blu-Ray disc, you can find that same trailer as well as two short documentaries. The first, Shoot Me: The Real Story of the Italian Texas Gladiators, is interesting enough, featuring archival interviews with D’Amato, Soavi, Eastman, and actor Al Cliver, though most of the conversation discusses what these filmmakers thought about each other. It gave me more respect to see Eastman and Soavi break down their memories of trying to put something of merit together, and I thought Cliver had a few insights into the actual filming process they went through.

The second documentary, Gladiator Geretta, caught up with actress Geretta Geretta, who appeared as an extra in the film. It’s always fun to see Geretta’s perspective on the various films in her catalogue, and even though she appears in a blink-and-you’ll-miss it capacity, but she still provides a few laughs as she recounts her time with Texas Gladiators.

To close it out, the third disc is actually a CD of the soundtrack to 2020 Texas Gladiators. This is a Severin staple in a number of releases, and I was always kind of laughing off the idea, but I’ll be honest: playing this soundtrack in my home was an absolute delight. The score to 2020 Texas Gladiators is no sweeping epic worthy of awards, but listening to it isolated from the finished film was quite an enjoyable experience, including a couple of absolute banger tracks. In fact, it’s actually turned me around on CD scores and made me all the more interested in diving into more of Severin’s releases (including an insane Black Friday order I put in), so there you have it.

2020 Texas Gladiators is an excellent release from Severin. This Penne-post apocalyptic Mad Max riff was an enjoyable movie with a terrific video and audio presentation and a few (though perhaps too few) interesting special features that comes with a recommendation for those interested in this type of over-the-top action cinema. If you’ve been on the fence about this purchase, don’t miss your chance.

—Kyle A. Goethe