Le sang des héros

Sand, scars and blood just about sums up Salute of the Jugger (the title for the full 104 minute version, not the 90 minute US "Blood of Heroes" cut). Salute is an unapologetically brutal story, perfectly cast, well played and very competently filmed. All the cast acquit themselves well; Hauer is suitably grizzled, and Chen manages (believably) to be cute, scary, vulnerable and savage all at once.

There's very little plot or dialogue in Salute, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The showcase here is the heart pounding Jugger matches, which are genuinely gripping and gritty action sequences, shown to a sparse percussive soundtrack that only very occasionally veers slightly too close to smug Americana triumphalism.

Top marks go to the stunt, makeup and continuity people. There are no Jackie Channish balletic combats here - faces smash open under brutal blows, and the face remains smashed in the following scenes. The wounds heal slowly over time, but the grimly realistic scars of the Juggers remain consistent throughout. Continuity is often underemphasised, as you only miss it when it isn't there, but there are no slip ups in Jugger despite its low budget.

One interesting point is the change of emphasis in the 90 minute cut. The title changes to "Blood of Heroes", and the message of "Salute" that there *are* no heroes, only winners who sleep in silk sheets, is diluted by ending prematurely on a victory high. In the full Salute, there's a frank message that for some, beyond "happily after after" lies more sand and scars and blood. If you get the choice, the 104 minute "Salute" is a more complete and consistent film.

Don't buy the hype. This Mad Max-esque film is one of the bleakest films I have seen in a long time. All characters are unhappy souls, surviving in a grim world, unable to improve their lot, prone to an almost genetically determined urge to mess things up. They have egos and the big guns aren't used to working with other people or playing by the rules. The cinematography is stark and bare, with only the soundtrack adding some effect. It's an amazing work and everything I had hoped for. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. Verdict: 7/10.

On the surface, `The Blood of Heroes' comes across as a poor man's `Road Warrior' -- somewhere in the far-flung future, survivors of a nuclear apocalypse are doing their best to survive and thrive. In `Blood of Heroes', though, these survivors at least have some form of entertainment -- a sport calling `Jugging', which can best be described as a cross between football, lacrosse, and a gladiator death match, serves as popular entertainment. One of the teams of `Juggers' that travels from city to city is lead by Sallow (Rutger Hauer) a former world-class champion looking for one last shot at glory.

Essentially, `The Blood of Heroes' is a cross between a sports film and `The Road Warrior', but that's okay, since it manages to lift the best elements from its source and blends them into something fun, if not necessarily original. Rutger Hauer puts in a cool performance as Sallow, a man who acts like he doesn't care about anything -- even though he desperately wants to taste greatness again, even if it's only for a brief moment.

The `Jugger' matches are great, mainly because they're quick, bloody and brutal. Characters limp after matches, wounds get infected and take forever to heal . . . ironically enough, while the film is cartoonish in many ways, there's a certain gritty realism at its heart. Nothing comes for free, and anything that Sallow and his ragtag team of `Juggers' want, well, there's always a price.

`The Blood of Heroes' is full of action and full of fun, even if some of the dialogue is slightly cheesy and some of the scenes are bad, tired cliches. If you're a sci-fi/action fan, you'll definitely like it -- and if you're a Rutger Hauer aficionado, you'll probably love it.

Grade: B

What a hidden gem of a cinematic effort! I cannot believe that this film didn't receive the notoriety it deserved back in '88! The backdrop is the standard post-apocalyptic mess that humanity has left itself in after "who knows what." The juggers travel town-to-town in search of food and entertainment, in return for providing matches against the local teams.

The script is well executed and one is led to believe this sport would have a wide following in the aftermath, almost like a team sport of UFC of the future. The characters are superb and Hauer and Chen really give them life. Rutger needs to go back to this flick and see what he has lost! I really cared about this band of juggers and it seemed like everyone in the ensemble was on the same page. The Blood Of Heroes is a tremendous miss in the anals of great sci-fi films. Please go rent it.

I am surprised and delighted by the sheer depth of this movie every time I re-watch it. Not only is the jugger sport convincing, well-designed and very enthusiastically played by the excellent cast of actors, but the post-civilised (as opposed to post-apocalyptic) world it takes place in is both subtly drawn and entirely believable. Nowhere in the pithy script is there the usual heavy-handed sci-fi references to the nuclear war (or whatever) that reduced human-kind back to feudal barbarism. We are presented with the world of the juggers as-is, without a single "as you know, our society collapsed after the great firestorm in the sky" speech or a hint that the heroes of the title can improve mankind's sad situation as anything other than gladiatorial entertainers. A masterpiece that should be on DVD, converted into a computer game and, if they can get the original cast and production team together, sequelled.