Bloodstone, la légende de la pierre de feu

"Bloodstone" may be unknown to North American film buffs, but it was released with some fanfare in India, because the main character's sidekick is played by Rajnikanth, a South Indian mega star. Compared to the aplomb with which he plays his Tamil film roles, Rajnikanth is rather subdued as an autorickshaw driver in "Bloodstone". His fans will be disappointed as he takes a backseat to the lead character.

To non-Indian watchers, "Bloodstone" will come across as a run-of-the-mill adventure movie, albeit set in an exotic location. The title refers to a gem once owned by a Maharaja who put a curse on its future owners.

(Reviewed by Sundar Narayan)

My review was written in April 1989 after watching the movie on Forum video cassette.

Despite the exotic locale in India, "Bloodstone" is a pedestrian, uninvolving adventure pic that's understandably been released direct-to-video in the U. S. Pic was filmed prior to director Dwight Little's successful "Halloween 4". Stilted screenplay by Curt Allen and producer Nico Mastorakis concerns a huge, cursed ruby that's stolen by Jack Kehler for baddie Christopher Neame.

Brett Stimely is an ex-cop on his honeymoon with Anna Nicholas, a textile heiress, who becomes involved inthe chasing around action when Kehler secrets the stolen gem in Anna's tennis bag. Protagonists and their problems are dwarfed by scenic, remote locations including an impressive climax on a footbridge across roaring rapids.

Hero Stimely is stymied by dubbing of his dialog while co-star Nicholas looks nice but makes little impression in a stock role. Ditto transparent bad guy Neame, while the decision to cast Charlie Brill as the stumbling Indian police inspector is completely out-of-date and destroys credibility.

Tech credits are okay.

One of the worst, but I just watched it for Neame. He was the only one that could act. Quite awful.

Sorry for the pun, but its true that Bloodstone is one of those forgotten films of the 80's. Most people who saw it in the theater then have forgotten they did and the movie disappeared from theaters never to be heard from again, that is until now. I, for one, was one of the people that forgot about this film. For years my memory of the film layed dormat, then one day I saw it on the shelf at one of our local DVD store. I was totally surprised to see it, so I picked it up. This DVD release by Image/Omega Entertainent is a beautiful release. Widescreen, digitally remastered, with plenty of special features. I was impressed. As for the movie, it brought back great memories. The story is your average adventure affair, much like Indiana Jones, Romancing The Stone, & Firewalker, but it does have many comical moments. The best part of the film is the police chief that speaks with a funny back of the throat voice. I found myself mimicking this voice for days after I saw the movie. The film was a pleasure with its adventure, off-the-wall humor, and exotic locations. If you like adventure films, give this lost gem a try, you shouldn't be disappointed. And for those of you who saw the movie, and can't remember...refresh your memory.

The movie is quite interesting. Superstar Rajinikanth had acted without any hesitation although he is second hero.

This movie was shot in South India such as Bangalore, Madras, etc which will new treat to westerners.

Rajinikanth keep it up.