In a time of misery and fear two enemies come together to prevent an apocalypse conspired by their leaders. 40 years of war between the Federated Republics and the New Territories Union has taken its toll. The cities are overcrowded, farming land is riddled with unexploded mines -- and still there is no hope of peace. In this hostile, decaying world of the future on thing remains constant for Lieutenant Leo Megaw; his love for his pregnant wife. Her access to classified information makes her an increasing liability for the government. When she's ambushed, Leo is forced into exile. As a border patrolman on the isolated outpost of Zone 39, ordered to kill anyone that tries to cross the border, he comes to understand that ultimate catastrophe forced upon his world by his government. The real enemy is not looming across the border but standing right behind him. Now he must reach across the border into enemy territory and form an alliance to save his world.
Practical Effects
Grubby Australian locations doing heavy lifting for ruined futurescape.
Writing
Cold War anxiety repurposed for eternal war economy—depressingly evergreen.
Director
John Tatoulis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in Victoria, Australia on a shoestring budget, it's essentially a Yugoslav Civil War allegory wearing sci-fi costume—Tatoulis was explicitly processing ethnic nationalism's collapse.
Peter Phelps was primarily a soap opera heartthrob; this was his attempt at serious leading man gravity. The dissonance actually works for Leo's ordinary-guy desperation.
US
AU
