A Man Called Rage (1984)
"Rage - Fuoco incrociato" (original title)

What can be said that wasn't covered by the other comment? This movie is a truly surprising delight, especially considering that it's a sequel to a quite droll and lifeless film, the previous year's cash-in RUSH with largely the same cast and crew. What RAGE has that RUSH lacks is a lot of kinetic energy - our heroes are constantly on the move encountering new obstacles and it's not too predictable, only weighed down by the episodic nature of everything.

The film really is a showcase for the abilities of editor Vincenzo Tomassi, who manages to breathe a lot of life into the action scenes and a shockingly powerful pre-credits intro with some spectacular stock footage of New York, Nuclear Tests, and impoverished children of the 3rd world into a representation of World War 3. On top of that you have some solid musical work by Stelvio Cipriani who was easily one of the best composers in the world working at the time. However I have no idea what's going on with the music choice during the battle with the nuke mutants mid-movie. It sounds like music out of a Jamaican cabana. Had director Ricci lost his mind or was he going for some sort of brain-bending juxtaposition? I don't get it.

Most bizarrely of all is how this film premeditates a lot of elements seen in the next year's MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME and even a little DAY OF THE DEAD (a chase involving a locomotive, whimsical old adversary out for revenge, survivors driving jeeps around underground bunkers), rather than straight-up ripping off MAD MAX 2 like so many of its peers. It reminds me of how the similarly cheaply made Italian JAWS knockoff KILLER CROCODILE feels like practically the same movie as ANACONDA which came out almost a decade later. I really doubt George Miller or George Romero saw this film, but I suppose with this material there's only so much one can do.