Blind Fury

Blind Fury
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Phillip Noyce
Produced by Tim Matheson
Daniel Grodnik
Written by Charles Robert Carner
Based on Zatoichi Challenged written by Ryôzô Kasahara
Starring
Music by J. Peter Robinson
Cinematography Don Burgess
Edited by David A. Simmons
Production
company
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release date
  • August 17, 1989 (1989-08-17) (West Germany)
  • March 16, 1990 (1990-03-16) (U.S.)
Running time
 86 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $2,692,037 (domestic)[1]

Blind Fury is a 1989 American samurai action comedy film written by Charles Robert Carner (of Gymkata fame) and directed by Phillip Noyce. It is a loosely based, modernized remake of Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the Japanese Zatoichi film series.[2] The film stars Rutger Hauer as Nick Parker, a blind, sword-wielding Vietnam War veteran, who returns to the United States and befriends the son of an old friend. Parker decides to help the boy find his father, who has been kidnapped by a major crime syndicate.

Plot summary

While serving in Vietnam, American soldier Nick Parker (Rutger Hauer) was blinded by a mortar explosion. Rescued by local villagers, he recovered his health and, though he remains blind, was trained to master his other senses and be an expert swordsman.

Years later, having returned to the United States, he visits old army buddy Frank Deveraux (Terry O'Quinn), only to find that Deveraux is missing. Parker meets Frank's son Billy (Brandon Call) and his mother Lynn (Meg Foster), Frank's ex-wife. Minutes later, Frank's evil boss, Claude MacCready's (Noble Willingham) henchman Slag (Randall "Tex" Cobb) arrives with two corrupt police officers to kidnap Billy to use as leverage over Frank. Nick stops them; the officers are killed, Billy is knocked unconscious, but Slag mortally wounds Billy's mom before he escapes. With her last words, Lynn tells Nick to take Billy to his father in Reno, Nevada.

At a rest stop on the way to Reno, Parker tells Billy about his mother's death. Billy runs away from Nick and is grabbed by Slag and some henchmen. Slag escapes as Nick rescues Billy a second time, and Billy and Nick (now called Uncle Nick) become fond of one another.

They reach Reno and find Frank's girlfriend Annie, who agrees to take them to Frank. After escaping yet another attempted kidnapping by MacCready's men, Annie suggests they hide out at the home of her friend Colleen. Annie takes Nick to MacCready's casino, where Frank is making MacCready's drugs. Annie returns to Colleen's to watch over Billy while Nick saves Frank. Nick and Frank are reunited; Frank takes the key ingredient in MacCready's drugs and destroys the lab. Avoiding casino security, Nick and Frank escape and head to Colleen's to reunite Billy with his dad; they find Colleen dead, Billy and Annie kidnapped, and a note instructing them to bring the drugs to MacCready's mountain penthouse in exchange for Billy and Annie.

Knowing it is an ambush, Nick and Frank arm themselves with homemade napalm bombs. After killing all of MacCready's men, they find MacCready holding Billy and Annie at gunpoint. MacCready hired a Japanese assassin (Sho Kosugi) to defeat Nick, but after an epic swordfight between the two, Nick wins by electrocuting the assassin in a hot tub. Slag shoots Nick in the shoulder and Nick throws his sword at Slag, impaling him. MacCready then tries to interfere only to be stopped by Frank. Billy escapes his rope and throws Nick's sword to him, but it lands in the hot tub. As Slag reaches for his gun, Nick grabs hold of the assassin's sword and slashes him, cutting him in half and causing him to fall out of a window.

Frank is reunited with his son and Annie, and all are about leave for San Francisco. Nick drops his ticket, choosing not to go; Billy follows Nick, telling him that he needs him. Nick says that he is fond of Billy, but tells him to go back to his dad. He then crosses the street and vanishes as a bus passes him. Saddened by Nick leaving, Billy throws his dinosaur off the bridge where Nick catches it. Billy calls out to Nick one last time and tells him that he'll miss him as Frank catches up to Billy and they embrace; Nick smiles, sheds a tear, puts on his sunglasses and heads to Reno on his own, with Billy's dinosaur in his sling.

Cast

Production

Blind Fury marked the producing debut of actor Tim Matheson. Matheson produced the film having been a fan of the Zatoichi film series.[3] Matheson and co-producer Daniel Grodnik, spent seven years trying to find a distributor for the film. In 1986, the producers landed a deal with film distributor Tri-Star Pictures. According to Grodnik, various writers and directors were attached to the project before Phillip Noyce was hired as the film's director.

Hauer calls Blind Fury one of his "most difficult jobs" because of the combination of swordplay with playing a blind man; and Hauer spent a month training with Lynn Manning whose first words to him were "I don't get confused about what I see ...".[4]

Filming took place around the Midwestern United States, where the cast and crew underwent humid weather conditions. Of the intense weather conditions, Matheson stated, "We shot in the Midwest and West, and it was incredibly hot. Everything was burning up. We ended up buying a three-foot pool for the cast and crew to wade through to cope with the heat."[3] After principal photography was completed, a sequel to the film was planned, but never materialized.[3]

Release

Reception

On their syndicated television program Siskel and Ebert and the Movies, film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the film "Two thumbs up".[5]

Reviewer Ian Jane of DVD Talk wrote, "Hauer does a commendable job in the lead and is reasonably convincing as a blind man. Like its Japanese predecessors, there is some humor interjected into the storyline that is handled well without becoming overbearing or taking over the action sequences."[6]

Based on only 12 reviews, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that Blind Fury currently holds a 58% "Rotten" rating, with a rating average of 4.7 out of 10.[7]

Censorship

The UK version was trimmed when it was released on VHS. The dialogue "Gasoline mixed with detergent..." was taken out due to the BBFC's worries of imitations from audiences.

References

  1. ↑ "Blind Fury (1990) – Weekend Box Office Results – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  2. ↑ Astell, Hal. "Blind Fury". blog. Apocalypse Later. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Beck, Marilyn (July 24, 1988). "Hauer is in a 'Blind Fury' over samurai film". The Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2010
  4. ↑ Hauer, Rutger. "Blind Fury". Rutger Hauer Official Website. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  5. ↑ "At the Movies". Siskel and Ebert and the Movies. The Walt Disney Company, American Broadcasting Company. March 16, 1990. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  6. ↑ Jane, Ian. "Blind Fury". DVD Talk. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Blind Fury Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.