Farmer struggles to keep food on the table, and regain his son who has joined a gang of marauding city-folk during the world's worst famine.
Similar titles
Reviews
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.
Deadly Harvest is about global environmental breakdown that could have been prevented if people would have listened. Sound's familiar. Multiple harvests are lost causing a dip into the non-existent food reserves. Brother, people should have been eating the oil reserves instead. It causes the government to lie about food and people to degenerate to killing mobs. The city folk are pitted against the country folk because the country folk have farms and can produce food while the city folk rely on the lying government. There is an odd prim and proper ethical side to the degeneration as the city folk steal the country folk's food. But things get pretty bad and the country folk come to take revenge. I'll agree that city folk would be in dire straights if there should be food shortages, but then there's always soylent green.
Just watched Deadly Harvest, then noticed a distinct lack - and recent vintage - of IMDb comments about it. But I ain't even gonna TRY to sway ya: You're gonna hafta make up your OWN mind about this one. You probably won't regard your time and/or money to have been wasted if you view this. But, neither do I believe that it's one of the greatest movies ever made, although a considerable percentage of IMDb voters apparently feel that way. It's got an uncomplicated premise: because of global COOLING, the food supply has become inadequate - nothing new in some parts of the world; but, in THIS film, in North America, as well. That's as much SCIENCE fiction as there is, however. The rest of the picture focuses on character behavior resultant from this circumstance. Therefore, the heavy reliance on acting, and not much else. I'll leave it up to you to decide who, if any of, and how, the thespians might imperfectly execute their craft. My impression is that it's done well enough to take seriously, but just average.
"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