Jack Tillman - The Survivalist - www.post-apocalypse.co.uk

"The Time: Somewhere in the future
The Place: United States of America
The Event: Nuclear Devastation"

Oh baby, another almost unknown PA. Excited?

Then I watched it.

Oh Dear.

Oh dear oh dear.

Despite what the box tries to tell you, this is no PA. There's one nuke, right at the very beginning, out in the middle of nowhere (Siberia to be precise) and that’s it. No war, no attacks, no nothing. Nobody is even near the bomb, particularly not Jack Tillman! What does happen is that the people in America get scared and marshal law is declared.

Some shmuck who is supposedly at the White House addresses the nation and warns them that a nuclear war could be imminent. From then on the National Guard takes control of the towns and the people go mental (or more precisely, the few extras they could round up) and start rampaging about looting and shooting.

The Survivalist starts off in small town USA (and never leaves), Spring Wells, Texas to be precise. After hearing the White House report, Jack Tillman leaves his wife and daughter to retrieve something he has in a safety deposit box at the bank. He has to smash the window (with a JCB digger) to get in so he pisses of his local rival, who is also a member of the National Guard. Despite the fact that there are people raping, stealing and killing all over town, this guy manages to persuade the general to let him have a troop of men to track down Jack. The only explanation we ever get is that they "had it in for each other since Vietnam". Oh okay then, that's fine as long as we know. Sheesh, honestly, these troops, all on motorbikes and with a pointless helicopter, spend the whole film following Jack for no good reason. Society's crumbling people, and you're chasing some guy for breaking a window? Maybe this really is what will happen when the apocalypse comes. I can see it now: Can I have a drink of water please? Did you fill in Section 4b on Leaflet 12???

So anyhow, whatever it was Jack wanted from the bank we never find out. It's given some air of importance but as far as I can tell we never see. I expected it to pop up for some reason at the end, but nope, nothing, it's some kind of invisible MacGuffin. Jack heads home to find his wife and daughter dead. Luckily, Jack is a survivalist. His son is at camp somewhere and Jack prepared him for just this situation, organising a suitable cave for them to meet up. Good planning, Jack. So off he heads in his 4x4 (which we see a hell of a lot of) along with a doctor friend, who spends a week wearing the same green blood-soaked smock over his shirt, and the doctor's nurse girlfriend, who are forced to leave due to the rampaging gangs.

Cue lots and lots of driving with a few slightly interesting altercations along the way. The doctor wants to get to some city to help people and eventually leaves and is soon killed (Jack has guns for protection, of course). Jack gets it on with the nurse, even though his wife has just been killed, and eventually after what seems like years of traveling (the scenes go from day to night every couple of minutes, although they always wear the same clothes) they get to the cave and the kid is there. Horray. A river manages to stop the National Guard on bikes from following the 4x4, I guess there are no bridges in the US, but a final showdown with his rival, who flies in on a helicopter secures Jack's place as the top survivalist.

Original Title:	Jack Tillman - The Survivalist
Alternative Title(s):	The Survivalist (USA).
Year of Release:	1987
Duration:	91 minutes (although it seems much longer).
Country of Origin:	USA
Tagline(s):	His country destroyed. His family killed...now they must face him. - Pal VHS An atomic bomb is detonated in Siberia. The United States is blamed. And the Russians are fighting back. - US VHS
Reviewed Version Rating:	UK Pal VHS. 18
Review: By Michael Petch 29th March 07	Look at the box. Just look at that! Do I smell crazy nuked-out mutants? What’s that it says on the back? "The Time: Somewhere in the future The Place: United States of America The Event: Nuclear Devastation" Oh baby, another almost unknown PA. Excited? Then I watched it. Oh Dear. Oh dear oh dear. Despite what the box tries to tell you, this is no PA. There's one nuke, right at the very beginning, out in the middle of nowhere (Siberia to be precise) and that’s it. No war, no attacks, no nothing. Nobody is even near the bomb, particularly not Jack Tillman! What does happen is that the people in America get scared and marshal law is declared. Some shmuck who is supposedly at the White House addresses the nation and warns them that a nuclear war could be imminent. From then on the National Guard takes control of the towns and the people go mental (or more precisely, the few extras they could round up) and start rampaging about looting and shooting. The Survivalist starts off in small town USA (and never leaves), Spring Wells, Texas to be precise. After hearing the White House report, Jack Tillman leaves his wife and daughter to retrieve something he has in a safety deposit box at the bank. He has to smash the window (with a JCB digger) to get in so he pisses of his local rival, who is also a member of the National Guard. Despite the fact that there are people raping, stealing and killing all over town, this guy manages to persuade the general to let him have a troop of men to track down Jack. The only explanation we ever get is that they "had it in for each other since Vietnam". Oh okay then, that's fine as long as we know. Sheesh, honestly, these troops, all on motorbikes and with a pointless helicopter, spend the whole film following Jack for no good reason. Society's crumbling people, and you're chasing some guy for breaking a window? Maybe this really is what will happen when the apocalypse comes. I can see it now: Can I have a drink of water please? Did you fill in Section 4b on Leaflet 12??? So anyhow, whatever it was Jack wanted from the bank we never find out. It's given some air of importance but as far as I can tell we never see. I expected it to pop up for some reason at the end, but nope, nothing, it's some kind of invisible MacGuffin. Jack heads home to find his wife and daughter dead. Luckily, Jack is a survivalist. His son is at camp somewhere and Jack prepared him for just this situation, organising a suitable cave for them to meet up. Good planning, Jack. So off he heads in his 4x4 (which we see a hell of a lot of) along with a doctor friend, who spends a week wearing the same green blood-soaked smock over his shirt, and the doctor's nurse girlfriend, who are forced to leave due to the rampaging gangs. Cue lots and lots of driving with a few slightly interesting altercations along the way. The doctor wants to get to some city to help people and eventually leaves and is soon killed (Jack has guns for protection, of course). Jack gets it on with the nurse, even though his wife has just been killed, and eventually after what seems like years of traveling (the scenes go from day to night every couple of minutes, although they always wear the same clothes) they get to the cave and the kid is there. Horray. A river manages to stop the National Guard on bikes from following the 4x4, I guess there are no bridges in the US, but a final showdown with his rival, who flies in on a helicopter secures Jack's place as the top survivalist.
Final Thoughts:	This is not a bad movie. I like bad movies. This is a crap movie. There's a big difference, and if you see this film you will know what I mean. Apart from the nuke thing the whole film is sold on the fact that Jack is a survivalist. Sure, he has a 4x4 and a whole cabinet of guns (don't all good Americans?) and he has drilled it into his kids that if anything goes wrong then they should head to the hills, but other than that he seems like a regular guy. Only the fact that he very quickly recovers from the death of his wife and daughter, and the one shot where he's seen fishing indicate that he is better-equipped for this brave new world than your average joe. You probably already noticed that this film has received a 2 out of 10, so where do those 2 points come from? The crumbling society is something I think is handled OK in the film, and some of the action scenes are quite realistic, such as when Jack snipers some of the bikers. The scene where the doctor is stabbed is pretty brutal, too. Also, I think with some better editing (and cutting of about a third of the film) it could have been a lot better. A few tiny tweaks to the story could have made all the difference. As it is though it's tiresome boring stuff, and the lies on the box it came in don't do it any favors. See that mutant on the cover? There are no mutants or anything at all even slightly similar. Nothing, just normal healthy people. I would not recommend this film in any way, but If you really truly must see it I will say that I have seen worse. If your into survivalism then check out Tremors (all of them). Miles better.
Alternative Versions:	N/A
Interesting Facts:	Cliff De Young (Vince) played the father in Flight of the Navigator.
Quotes:	N/A
Connections With Other PA's:	None known.
Critic's reactions:	No critics reviews available. Mostly forgotten.
Regular Movie Goers Scores:	Too boring for most people (and me).
For the PA Collector:	The UK box is nice even though it's full of lies. Not a PA so not needed in your collection.
Purchase Point:	You won't find this anywhere else, and when I searched eBay I couldn't even find it there. It will probably pop up from time to time.
Countries Released:	USA, UK, Italy, France - probably more.
Links:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094080/ No other reviews that I can find.
DVD Release Info:	Not available.
Actual Budget/Guessed Budget:	I guess there was only a couple of thousand worth of equipment and props. The 4x4 must have been supplied by a dealer or the manufacturer. At one point it's constantly shot at, close range, and none of the passengers or tires are damaged. It gets shot up but carries on working! The Survivalist mentioned in the film's title probably refers to the 4x4. If all the cast and crew were paid, then $50,000 is my guess (though half were probably friends and family of the director...).
Our Score:	2 out of 10
Media:
Box Cover(s):	UK PAL VHS US VHS
Advertisement Poster(s):	N/A
Press Cuttings etc:	NOT wanted
Screenshots:	Probably not coming soon
Trailer(s):	Wanted
Comments:	Post your comments here Jack Tillman: The Survivalist

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