Blastfighter

I am not usually a big fan of action movies. That is, American action movies. Being a fan of Italian horror films, I was attracted to this film because of the director, Lamberto Bava. This was fun movie to watch, and kinda funny to-

unintentionally. It was funny to see the Italian take on American rednecks from Georgia- did a pretty good job of it, but very much a caricature of rednecks. I don't want to spoil it, but there is a lot of over the top situations where the viewer will say, "they wouldn't do that!", or "that wouldn't ever happen!". But that is the joy of watching films, to see things that couldn't or wouldn't happen in real life.

This is almost a cliché' for a action movie from the 80s. Explosions, big guns, and a sweaty dirty hero. I had to pick up a DVD-R from somebody, I don't believe that this is distributed by any company at the moment- in the US at least.

They obviously ain't seen BLASTFIGHTER then cuz this is one kick ass flick we got here! Made the same year as his equally lightning-paced film DEMONS, and featuring the exact same Claudio Simonetti score used in MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY (a film I highly recommend BTW), Blastfighter is a hot little piece of celluloid. Genre favorite Michael Sopkiw (AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK) is here as the hero who seeks revenge on the redneck bullies who killed his daughter and ruined his life. Also, Joe D'Amato reg George Eastman co-stars doin' what he does best: playing a bad guy. Here, he actually has speaking lines! There's lots of action, a good storyline with a fair amount of suspense and drama, and of course loads of gory violence toward the end. Now, after seeing this, is L. Bava really as bad as most say? I think not. You might be very well surprised.

A former cop named... no, not Joe Smith or Jim Jones, but... Tiger Sharp (Michael Sopkiw), retires to the country side. He meets some local rednecks led by Tom (George Eastman) and doesn't like the way they are hunting animals, just to sell some parts to China for medicine production. When they kill his pet, he beats them up, and that's just the beginning of their troubles. Tiger Sharp is joined by Connie (Valentina Forte), a daughter he hasn't seen or cared about for many years, but when the rednecks kill her, Tiger Sharp gets out a very big gun with a great selection of powerful ammo to blast all the bad guys to kingdom come, one man against a whole army...

The sources of inspiration are obvious, "First Blood" meets "Deliverance" - "Blastfighter" was even shot at some of the same locations. But it's all created with good craftsmanship for the fans who like the genre. Sopkiw, who starred only in 4 pictures before he retired from the movies, is a cool action hero here. Flawless (violent) entertainment provided by director Lamberto Bava.

Next to DEMONS this is probably director Lamberto Bava's best film. Having just been released from prison for a crime he didn't commit, leading man Michael Sopkiw just wants peace and quiet in the wilderness. But wouldn't you know it, as soon as he pulls into the town trouble arises in the forms of lowlifes with manners and tact all but absent. They give Michael static and while he tries not to fight back you just know that something is going to make him snap and get even with these small town hooligans and their sadistic ways.(Check out Michael's super tricked out futuristic(?) rifle. This is just a very entertaining film to watch, especially with friends. The soundtrack is amazing as well containing a driving instrumental and a warbles country & western tune.

My review was written in December 1985 after watching the film on Vestron video cassette.

"Blastfighter" is a routine action picture, filmed in Georgia in 1983 by Italian filmmakers. Unreleased theatrically, it is now available Stateside in home video format.

Yank actor Michael Sopkiw (of "After the Fall of New York") toplines as Tiger, a cop on the Atlanta police force just released from a lengthy prison term for killing the thug who murdered his wife and partner (but couldn't be proved guilty in court).

Returning to his small hometown in Georgia, Tige soon runs afoul of th young Good Ole Boys tere, who are mistreating animals -they hunt deer and other forest denizens but do not kill them, delivering them seriously wounded to a local Hong Kong-derived merchant who requires live animals to fabricate medicine and aphrodisiacs from their innards. Tiger tries to run the H. K. dude out of town and stop the cruelty to animals, but as a result the heavie kill his pet deer and terrorize him.

Matters deteriorate further when Tiger i hiking in the woods with his grownup daughter and two friends -the locals kill the friends and later shoot down his daughter, precipitating a fight-to-the-death climax. Film's title derives from a high-tech rifle Tiger uses in the final reel, which blasts out fireballs rather than conventional ammunition.

Cast is personable, especially Sopkiw and Valerie Blake as his attractive, feisty daughter, but the crudely postsynched dialog stamps this effort as an Italian import rather than an All-American picture. Dumb, inconclusive ending involving a shootout between Sopkiw and Italian thesp Geroger Eatman (duo previously teamed in "After the Fall of New York") is very disappointing.

Oddest touch here, perhaps a first, is a pseudonym used for the director's credit. Lamberto Bava helmed the picture, but is credited as "John Old, Jr."; his late father Mario Bava occasionally used the Anglicized name John Old with the fake moniker apparently handed down.