The cast really puys this one over the top, with Hauer and Chen doing most of the film’s heavy lifting> D’Onofrio is delightful as the somewhat cocky young member of the crew. Not familiar with this title? The Blood of Heroes (also released as The Salute of the Jugger) is a 1989 Australian-American post-apocalyptic film written and directed by David Webb Peoples, produced by Charles Roven, and starring Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen, and Vincent D’Onofrio. Although still overcrowded and under the class rule, these places’ circumstances seem far less undesirable, miserable, and comfortable than their counterparts who barely survive on the surface. It turns out there are subterranean cities where a wealthy aristocratic class dwells. We soon learn it’s still a world of haves and have not. This is the same old law of the jungle reborn in a different new form. It’s a merciless sport that can get you killed if you are not careful and even if you are. Players get bloodied, crippled, even blinded, and maimed. The sport portrayed in this film is much closer to actual combat, violent and brutal. It becomes more of an examination of its characters. The armor the juggers wear, the shelters, and mostly everything is assembled from remnants originating in the past, found bits of stuff repurposed for the brutal and grim world of the future.Įven though it uses classic sports movie tropes in its makeup, The Blood Of Heroes does not seem all that much like a sports movie until the film’s big climactic match towards the end of the film. Everything is a reminder of a better past. Art direction is significant in world-building, and the art direction in this film is really well done. The Blood Of Heroes portrays a makeshift world where the only entertainment is a makeshift sport whose participants are known as juggers. The story it tells is mostly uncomplicated. This is an action-packed and violent film that doesn’t spend much time on subplots. As if that weren’t enough, It simultaneously and not too subtly reminds us that no matter the circumstances, people remain, mostly the same brutal creatures we have always been. The Blood Of Heroes paints a far grimmer, brutal, and car-less future and an in-your-face portrait of a hellish used-up world. I didn’t remember much about it beyond vaguely remembering, the film portrays a future highly reminiscent of Road Warrior and the plethora of films attempting to copy that iconic movie. I re-watched the post-apocalyptic movie The Blood Of Heroes tonight.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |