The FORT90 FILM CLUB, broadcasting from Twitch dot TV forward slash WondervilleNYC, continues its survey of vehicular themed movies with a focus this month on hell on two wheels..

CRAZY THUNDER ROAD - First up is your introduction to Gakuryu Ishii, a double feature of his earliest works, back when he went under the name Sogo Ishii, and what better intro than his film school thesis project that clearly demonstrates the director’s love for Mad Max, with its not-quite apocalyptic setting but it’s getting there Tokyo backdrop for a leader of a biker gang that falls in love and who wishes to live a more peaceful existence vs the gang’s young upstart that still has a lot of lashing out to do.

BURST CITY - If Crazy Thunder Road marked a sign of things to come, then Burst City showed everyone that Ishii was here to stay. Perhaps one of his most iconic works, with Burst City we’re now fully into the decline of western civilization and things are so punk rock that it’s officially a musical. It’s also got an important message! An important footnote in the history and development of underground Japanese cinema.

STONE - When many think of post-apocalyptic cinema, films in the vein of Mad Max (which the two films very much draw inspiration from), one has to consider the primary source of inspiration for modern day takes, one must consider the source which is down under. And one of the true landmarks of Ozploitation would have to be Stone, a biker film that would ultimately inspire other homegrown efforts, like the now world famous George Miller franchise. The case even stars the late great Hugh Keays-Byrne, aka Toecutter in Mad Max 1 & Immortan Joe in Mad Max 4.