User reviews

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

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.

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 certainly didn't have high expectations as I rented this movie. I hadn't heard of it before so I figured it would be some B-version of Mad Max. The reason it caught my eye was that it featured Rutger Hauer in the leading role. His acting skills is limited but his charisma gives his characters a weight that many better actors can't provide.

David Webb Peoples have done more writing than directing. He is behind movies such as "Blade Runner" , "Twelve Monkeys" and "Soldier", all of them similar to "Salute of the Jugger".

It's easy to tell that this movie have a low budget. Most of it takes place out in an apocalyptic desert kind of landscape. The rest in an underground colosseum. No panoramic shots. There are no special effects whatsoever, and that enforces the sense of gritty, futuristic realism that sets this movie apart from many others in the same genre.

You never get to know any of the characters well, but they all have a certain depth thanks to the good acting performances. Luckily this movie has no humoristic sidekick character. That's a relief. Most of these movies have one or several of those.

This movie is no masterpiece, but it's a well-played movie that kept me entertained for the time it lasted. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. With some character development and a bigger budget it could have been a true classic, and it deserves more recognition.

If you haven't seen this movie already I suggest you do it.

Is a B grade movie in looks, feel and budget but an A grade film in terms of story and characters.

Its a really engaging tale that captures your interest with characters you can invest with.

The 'world' that the movie is set in feels reminiscent to Mad Max 2 or perhaps 3.

Looks aren't everything, this film offers a lot to the viewer :)

Jugger is a great spectator sport; it's quick, with strategic elements, something's always going on, and a third is over before any ADD you might have could set in.

The movie, though? Well, to start with, it's the boredom of watching a fixed game that any sports movie offers. (And not much else, there isn't really much in the way of plot.) But you'll also be watching a game the rules of which aren't properly explained, and the cinematography isn't conducive to figuring it out, especially in the key games which happen in half-light. Any of Blade Runner, Split Second, even Wedlock are better vehicles for Hauer.

Reviewed: "Long" (99min/PAL) DVD. May work better on theatre size screen.

"The juggers are coming!" is a shout that strikes both fear and excitement into the hearts of the villagers. These wretched people, living in the Mad Maxesque world of post-nuclear devastation will now have to defend the honor of their village by playing against a wandering band of Juggers.

This game is the centerpoint of the movie. It's a brutal match of American football and medieval warfare. Both teams will try to get a dog skull on a stake at the opposite ends of a small playing field. Only problem is that only a small, lightly padded player (the Qwik) can touch the skull, and all other players are armed with clubs, chains, mallets and bad attitudes.

Needless to say, the game can get brutal, broken bones and gouged eyes are common enough. But once the game is over, the real insights into the world this movie creates are made. There is no brutal rivalry outside the playing field, only a camaraderie that can stem from knowing what you both have been through. The winners are treated to a feast, no matter how poor the village, for the player's blood has brough some exitement into their otherwise dreary and hopeless lives.

I will not spoil the plot here, but needless to say, the young elements of the wandering band of Juggers, which is led by Sallow (Rutger Hauer), will not long be content to fight in backwater villages for little money and poor entertainment (a village of starving peasants can only provide so much).

On the technical side, this is not a brilliant movie, clearly made on a low budget, most of which was probably spent on actors. But movie itself is a great masterpiece, showing more and more of the "world" in which the Juggers live with every time you watch it. Small things will speak volumes and prove true the old saying: A picture speaks more than a thousand words.

Also the action scenes, while they do not contain the speedy cars and flashy wrecks of Mad Max, are still full of adrenalin and will leave thinking about why the game of Jugging is not played already.

While I have found it impossible to clearly define, there is something special about this film. There is some hidden mystique the viewer feels, which has eluded me in my attempts to pinpoint it. Rutger Hauer gives as adequate a performance as anyone can expect from his work in the 1980's, and the story is a hodgepodge of a plethora of other films like Mad Max, Conan, and anything else made around the same time.

Honestly, the brutal football-like game seems to come straight from Australian Rules football, but who am I to judge? The banality of this film, would seemingly render it pointless, useless crud, but that doesn't seem to be the case, for some reason.

There is something about this film that holds the viewer, caresses the viewer's mind and brings it back to the film. I don't know if there are heinous subliminals embedded herein, or what, but there is something seriously luring about this work.

The main problem with it is that it was a film made about the future, painted darkly sinister, and released at a time when the future was bright as a new penny. It flopped.

All in all it rates a 6.4/10 from...

the Fiend :.

It was a while ago when I first saw this movie and watched it again recently. People might complain that it doesn't have enough dialogue, plot is not intricate enough, there aren't any special effects for a Sci-fi movie, and it is too low budget to be considered a good movie. But I'll say people who say such things, they don't really know how to appreciate a good movie or understand what a good movie is, because they are too used to modern day rubbish jam packed with special effects, explosions, unnecessary twists and horrible scripts.

I think everything is done just right in the movie and I especially love the way they give no sentimentality to the backdrop to the movie. No discussion of the past as to why the world they do jugging is the way it is and everyone in this world just get on with their lives in this gritty desolate world without any lamenting thoughts to the past.

I won't go into much detail, but all I'll say is just watch the movie and you'll be glad that you did. By the way, it seems like there are two versions which I didn't realise until I read the comments here and seems like the shorter version cuts out the ending. Since I thought the ending was very fitting I do recommend you watch the longer version, it just won't have the same impact without the proper ending.

The Blood of Heroes is a reasonably good B-level action movie with a great cast and an interesting premise. Set after the apocalypse, it follows the exploits of a team of wandering Juggers-a post-apocalyptic team game with elements of rugby and football. At the behest of a new member, they set out for an underground city in order to try their luck with a team of professional juggers.

What makes the film so fun is its combination of sports film clichés and a Mad Max style setting. Although none of the individual plot elements is particularly original, they are brought together in a new and interesting way. Adding to the enjoyment factor is the skilled cast, who make this film a cut above what is typical for the genre.

At times, the film does slip into silliness. (The villain is named Lord Vile for crying out loud!) Nevertheless, it is definitely a good rent for Saturday nights when there is nothing on TV.

An appealing and feisty Joan Chen plays Kidda, a young woman in your typical ominous future. In this environment, there is a popular sport, otherwise known as "The Game", in which combatants fight each other in order to allow a "qwik" to make it to the other teams' goal line and score by placing a dog skull atop a stake. Rutger Hauer plays Sallow, a longtime master of The Game who once played at the highest level, but lost his standing when he spent time with a Lords' wife. Kidda replaces the critically injured current "qwik" on Hauers' team, and they figure to improve their lot in life by issuing a "challenge" to teams still in this League.

Written and directed by David Webb Peoples, whose other screenwriting credits include "Blade Runner", "Unforgiven", "Twelve Monkeys", and "Soldier", this shows its audience a reasonably good time for just over an hour and a half. It doesn't really add up to much when it's all said and done, coming off as pretty familiar to anybody who's watched their fair share of low budget post-civilization cinema. But The Game itself is pretty amusing, and this viewer did like the certain bloody, grimy, and gritty aesthetic that Peoples gave this little picture. It has a definite atmosphere going for it - filmed topside in the desolate Australian area known as Coober Pedy (where "Pitch Black" filmed 10 years later) and underground in some understandably dimly lit sets, it's grim without ever getting TOO grim for some tastes.

The costumes, music, and production design are all entertaining. Hauers' team also consists of Anna Katarina, Delroy Lindo, Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio, Gandhi MacIntyre, and Justin Monjo, and they're fun to watch. Aussie icons Max Fairchild, Hugh Keays-Byrne, and Richard Norton have roles as well. Hauer is rather low key, dialling down but not forgoing his typical charisma. This may be one of his finest B movie appearances.

Long live the Juggers, with Hauers' bunch a team worth rooting for if ever there was one.

Seven out of 10.

THE BLOOD OF HEROES perfectly lives up to its title, and that's it. Anything else would be sub-par in comparison to other endless lists of movies that focus on death sports of the future as well as the present. You should take a hard look at the settings during the bloody battling. To make the barren post-WW3 scenery look "good", the filmmakers might have decided to be better off dry in the studio and forget a one-way airline trip to Australia, but that didn't work. What's so hot about heavy-coated gladiators hacking each other to the final death? This same plot has been used numerous times, and that includes recent martial arts movies taking place inside a cage (SHOOTFIGHTER). B-grade actioners are taking up too much space in the crowded marketplace, and I'm getting sick of them. See this if you want to taste the blood, but don't get excited.

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.

A lean, muscular action movie that eschews melodrama and padding for sheer narrative drive. The Blood of Heroes (aka The Salute of the Jugger) looks into the future to see the Dark Ages of the past, propelling our ragtag team from the bottom of the ladder to a championship bout at a breakneck pace like any good sports film should albeit crossed with the stylings of The Road Warrior. The film manages to lift the best elements from its source and blends them into something fun, if not necessarily original, while the always reliable 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 quick, bloody and brutal, with characters limping 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, anything that Sallow and his ragtag team want, always has a price. Coupled with some bleak and dirty direction by David Webb Peoples and a haunting soundscape by Todd Boekelheide, The Blood of Heroes is full of action and fun, with some entertainingly cheesy dialogue.

I recently rewatched this movie for the first time in ages, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it held up remarkably well to my older eyes. So many gritty post-apocalyptic hero type flicks that I liked when I was younger turn out upon a more sober "adult" viewing to be amateurish and juvenile. But this movie has real depth, and drew me back in from the opening scene. It fully deserves any cult status it may have achieved, and I went ahead and ordered the DVD (which is finally out) for my collection.

The film is set against the backdrop of a fully realized post-apocalyptic society that actually makes sense (and the "game" the movie is built around is well conceived and executed too). Unlike in many futuristic movies, there is no need for grand exposition explaining why everybody in the film is acting so bizarrely -- in this movie, you understand the people, their desperation, and the certain grim courage of those who dare to dream of more. The movie also has the courage to take itself seriously, while still retaining a light enough touch to throw in spots of humor throughout.

The cast here is several cuts above normal for this sort of thing, with a number of recognizable faces (Chen, D'Onofrio, Hauer, Lindo) making believable and sympathetic characters out of what easily could have been cartoonish cutouts in a lesser film. Chen and Hauer play the two main characters. For Chen, I think it can be argued this is her finest performance, deftly combining vulnerability with courage, innocence with savagery. And for Hauer, an actor who has in more recent times has become a parody of himself, I think this may have represented his last truly effective performance. The stories of these two characters are not stories of grandiose save-the-world heroes, but more down to Earth stories of courage, redemption, and most importantly hope in a world with little of it. The characters aren't pure, they're not pompous, they're just normal people trying to make the best of a tough life. And I think that makes rooting for them all the easier. Its not so important they win -- its important that the find the strength to strive rather than give up. Simple tenacity and the courage to never give up is far more inspiring than the vast majority of the superheroes in the modern comic book adaptation fad. It really is remarkable to find such deft handling of themes like these in an offbeat movie from a genre filled with Grade B quickies.

P.S. I have never seen the longer version, and actually don't really have an interest to. The shorter "Blood of Heroes" is appealing precisely because it manages to scrounge out hope and weary courage from the grim backdrop in a believable fashion.

The producers looking behind the smashing success of post-apocalyptic of Mad Max trilogy made in Aussie land, they envisage a profitable niche, attached a formulaic production resembling the previous ones, thus on late eighties show up The Blood of the Heroes also commonly knew as "The Salute of the Jugger" the movie was shot entirely in Australia as its forerunners.

To pleased the American audience they introduce in the plot something alike as US's football game, however instead a oval ball they replace for a Dog's skull, also mixing a medieval blood weapons, the result a brainless action picture, the story takes place in post-apocalyptic era, where this odd games is the main attraction at small villages, where those gladiators team earned some money to survive themselves, the leader of the team Sallow (Hutger Hauer) is a former fighter kicked out from the top league due he ventured to with a powerful chairman's woman.

Aftermath its goal is back to the league, where it's located in a deep underground spot where the whole elite lives in a flamboyant life, he must challenge a mighty team, nonetheless the challenge must to be accept by the board, Sallow returns is underway, the casting has some upcoming stars as Vincent D'Onofrio and Delroy Lindo and Joan Chen mixed with Aussie actors.

I've already known that will be bomb by mostly here due my lowest rating, although it doesn't matter, due I had my feelings over this wishful and senseless trash picture!

Thanks for reading.

Resume: First watch: 2022 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 5.5.

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.