Blind Fury

1989
R
1h 26m

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

19K

YOUR RATING

Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

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Action Comedy Crime Drama Thriller

A blind Vietnam vet, trained as a swordfighter, comes to America and helps to rescue the son of a fellow soldier.A blind Vietnam vet, trained as a swordfighter, comes to America and helps to rescue the son of a fellow soldier.A blind Vietnam vet, trained as a swordfighter, comes to America and helps to rescue the son of a fellow soldier.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

19K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Rutger Hauer said of this movie on his official website: "Blind Fury (1989) was one of the most difficult jobs for me because of the combination with the swordplay. I'm glad it does not show. I mean that is was so difficult. Trained a month with a blind man who taught me his handicap. He was such a nice man. First thing he said was, 'I don't get confused about what I see.' Then I trained every morning at 4:30 before shooting for those seven weeks. Then Shô Kosugi was brought in for the swordplay. That was an additional shoot for a week or so. Wonderful."

Goofs
When Nick and Billy are about to board the bus to Reno, they both trip and fall into puddles of mud and water. Their clothes get filthy, but the next shot of them on the bus, their clothes are clean.

Quotes
[Nick is driving and bumps into another car]
Other driver: Are you blind?
Nick Parker: Yeah. What's your excuse?

Crazy credits
As the credits roll, we see Nick Parker continuing his stroll along the highway until he is lost from view

Alternate versions
When Blind Fury was being prepared for TV in the early 1990s, many changes were made, adding short extensions here and there, as well as alternate "TV friendly" takes of various lines. Here is a full list of changes:
1. Alternate take: Billy sticks his tongue out at Nick to "test" his blindness, rather than giving him the finger as in the theatrical cut.
2. Deleted shot: Billy runs outside along his backyard pool, with a tracking shot revealing more of his dinosaur sculptures
3. Extended scene: Lynn mentions Frank not discussing the war, prior to Nick pouring the tea (thus, the "he never even talked about the war" line is removed later on). She later further expresses the difficulties of divorce.
4. Extended shot: After the cop at the bus station checks on Nick and Billy, the shot continues well after they leave, with the cop still staring. Due to a deleted scene later, the "I get the window seat..." line is removed.
5. Deleted scene: Nick goes to the cashier at the bus station to buy two tickets to Reno, only for the cashier (realizing Nick is blind) to try to trick him by giving him less change. Nick, aware of this, points out the mistake, and also knocks off the cashier's toupee onto a Slurpee. It's at the end of this scene where we actually see Billy say the "I get the window seat..." line.
6. Deleted scene: When Nick and Billy first begin their bus trip, it initially begins with Billy using his inhaler, later to use it to wake Nick up. Billy then continually complains that he can't sleep on the bus, with Nick bluntly replying with "then don't". This scene takes place prior to Annie visiting Frank, and temporarily replaces the scene with Billy flopping around and hitting Nick on the bus as he sleeps. This latter scene instead is placed after the Annie/Frank scene in the TV cut.
7. Deleted shot: Prior to the bus scene with Nick telling Billy about his father, there's an extra shot of the bus driving into Graceland, complete with a "Home of Elvis Presley" sign.
8. Deleted scene: In the middle of Nick's chase after Billy in the cornfield, he actually manages to stop him at one point, with Billy exclaiming the fact that his mother's dead and his father doesn't want him.
9. Extended scene: At the end of the scene with Nick and Billy by the campfire, when Billy attempts to "see" what Nick's life is like by closing his eyes, he hears footsteps, only to discover a nearby deer. Nick asks Billy to describe it, and he responds saying it's "like a real deer... not like in a zoo." And that it also looks "free."
10. Extended scene: When Nick and Billy are trapped in the back of Lyle and Tector's van, there's an additional segment in which Billy looks around saying "It's so dark in here". Nick, sarcastically, simply replies "I thought it was just me."
11. Alternate take: After Lyle and Tector steal the car from the two old women and shoot out the back window, the TV cut uses a take of Lyle exclaiming "What the?" as opposed to the theatrical cut's "Jesus H. Christ!"
12. Deleted shot: After the alternate "What the?" take, the film cuts back to the two old women, with the unarmed woman saying to the armed one "You always forget to reload!"
13. Alternate take: When the driver that Nick nearly runs off the road realizes the Nick is blind, he exclaims "Holy cow!" rather than the theatrical cut's "Holy shit!"
14. Deleted shot: When Annie sees Nick off to find Frank, she tells him that she thinks Frank was set up by MacReady.
15. Extended scene: After Nick leaves Billy and Annie to find Frank, Annie asks Billy "What did he say to you?" Billy says "To hold down the fort and protect the women." Annie responds with "It's good to know we're in such capable hands Billy. In as deep a voice as he can muster, Billy says "It's Bill."
16. Deleted scene: After Nick escapes from the casino riot to the elevator, there's an additional scene in which he starts eating the food off of the room service tray, as well as dropping his cigar into the coffee pot.
17. Alternate take: When Nick disables the elevator that Lyle and Tector are riding in, rather than the theatrical cut's "Shit! Fuck! Shit fuck!", the TV cut uses a far more tame "Dog! Gone! Dog gone!"
18. Alternate take: When Nick asks Cobb where Frank is, the theatrical cut has Cobb respond with "F.O., Errol Flynn. Do you know what that means? Fuck off!". However, the TV cut dubs in the line "G.T.H., Errol Flynn." in the same two-shot used in the theatrical cut, but uses new footage on the close up on Cobb, with his alternate response of "Do you know what that means? Go to Hell!"
19. Deleted scene: After Nick knocks out Cobb and takes the key, the TV cut jumps to an extra short scene in which the Casino guards try to push Lyle into the elevator shaft, only for him to crash back down. Tector then asks "You okay?"
20. Extended scene: When Nick and Frank try to find Annie and Billy, there's a long take of Frank asking "anybody home?" before searching the inside of the modified bus. This cuts to a longer POV shot of Frank walking through the bus.
21. Deleted shot: After Frank makes the deal on the phone with MacReady, there's an additional shot of Frank exclaiming "What I wouldn't give!" and then calming down to say to Nick "I guess you don't get any second chances, though, do you?"
22. Alternate take: At the end of the Winterhaven ambush scene, an alternate angle/take of Nick stabbing Cobb is used, in which the bloodied blade and the final stab aren't as prominent as they are in the theatrical cut.
23. Deleted scene: Before Nick and Frank make their way to meet MacReady, Frank steps in saying "Nick, this way!"
24. Extended ending: As Billy tries to stop Nick from leaving, the overall scene is longer, with Nick saying that Billy is becoming a man and that he promises that he will call and see him again.
This version rarely appears on TV anymore.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Pretty Woman/Blind Fury/A Shock to the System/The Fourth War/Lambada (1990)

User reviews86

Review

Featured review

6/10

Nice B-class action movie

"Blind fury" is a perfect example of a movie that could be very awful in the hands of wrong people . Thankfully , Australian director Phillip Noyce ( known for "Dead calm" , " Patriot games " and "Bone collector") is a solid craftsman . He doesn't turn the movie into "so bad , it's good" kind of movie , but tries to make this movie as good as possible.

How could a movie featuring Rutger Hauer as a blind swordsman be anything but gloriously entertaining? Loosely based on the Japanese samurai movie, "Zatoichi Challenged", the humorous, action-packed tone of "Blind Fury" is vaguely akin to a Hong Kong flick – in fact, it's the sort of vehicle Jackie Chan would have excelled at in his prime, with its numerous scenes of slapstick action, and its lead character's habit of "accidentally" injuring his hapless opponents. Here , Rutger Hauer plays a blind Vietnam veteran - Nick Parker who also knows how to use a sword. His friend and friend's family got trouble with mafia, so Nick must help them.

Sounds cheesy , right ? "Blind fury" seems to fall into B-class movie category , but still manages to be a good movie. This movie has got brains , humor and (what is surprising) a heart. Noyce was able to convince a viewer that blind man with sword is able to defeat mafia . The movie doesn't take itself too seriously , there are plenty jokes , especially the ones about Nick's injury. Creators of the movie obviously had ironic distance to whole story. Despite that there were able to involve viewer EMOTIONALLY to the story .

The friendship between Nick and Frank is done good , but the relationship between Nick and Billy ( Frank's son ) is done simply great. The ending to the movie is one of my favourite movie endings of all time . I'm always crying at the end and that is a a big achievement for a B-class movie.

Acting is very decent . No performances worthy an Oscar , but Rutger Hauer is great as Nick Parker . He makes his character very human - funny , lonely , brave and honorable. He isn't a one dimensional tough guy , but someone who could exist in real life (just like John McClane from "Die hard"). It was also nice to see Randall "Tex Cobb" as one of the bad guys.

There is some good music here . The main theme is quite funny and very memorable , just like the dialogue.

Overall , I recommend "Blind fury" . I give it 6/10 . Give it a shot . You might be pleasantly surprised.