Themes: Righting the Wronged, Obsessive Quests, Heroic Mission
Main Cast: Rutger Hauer, Brandon Call, Terry O'Quinn, Lisa Blount, Noble Willingham, Meg Foster
Release Year: 1990
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Rutger Hauer plays a blinded Vietnam vet who also happens to be an expert swordsman. Twenty years after the war, Hauer finds himself waist-deep in gangsters when he tries to help the son (Brandon Call) of an old army buddy. Along the way, he reforms an ex-comrade in arms (Terrance O'Quinn) who was responsible for the accident that blinded him. Based on a series of Japanese films about a blind samurai (released under the blanket title of Zatoichi). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Phillip Noyce's tongue-in-cheek actioner, loosely inspired by Japan's popular Zatoichi series, is somewhat redeemed by the comic performance of Rutger Hauer as the blind swordsman. Despite the presumably limited demand for swordsmen in late 20th century America, Hauer's Vietnam vet happens to turn up to visit his former army buddy just when the latter's family is under attack. When he's forced to take the son cross-country to Reno in the search for his now-indentured friend, the film squeezes some humor out of his ability to handle a horde of well-armed thugs more easily than the recalcitrant kid. Often cast as the embodiment of evil, Hauer is surprisingly funny here, adopting a slack, helpless body language and an expression of beatific ignorance, suggesting that he has no idea that his flashing sword is mowing down a legion of bad guys. Of course, the one-joke script wears thin after awhile, but for those who can ignore the fortune-cookie aphorisms, it's a not unwelcome diversion. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Sho Kosugi - The Assassin; Nick Cassavetes - Lyle Pike; Rick Overton - Tector Pike; Randall "Tex" Cobb - Slag; Charles Cooper - Cobb; Blue Deckert - Cornfield Killer; Tiger Chung Lee - Casino Bodyguard; Robert Manning - The Drug Dealer; C.K. McFarland - Female Biker; Red Mitchell - Cornfield Killer; Alex Morris - Crooked Miami Cop; Woody Watson - Crooked Miami Cop; Fred Lerner - Ski Lodge Killer; Mike Adams - Ski Lodge Killer; Weasel Forshaw - Popcorn; Tim Mateer - Snow; Roy Morgan - Six Pack; Gene Skillen - Croupier; David R. Ellis - Ski Lodge Killer
Credit
Charles Robert Carner - Associate Producer, Dennis Murphy - Associate Producer, Dennis Murphy - Associate Producer, Tim Matheson - Co-producer, Katherine Dover - Costume Designer, Tom Davies - First Assistant Director, Phillip Noyce - Director, David Simmons - Editor, Robert W. Cort - Executive Producer, David Madden - Executive Producer, Steve Lambert - Fights Choreographer, J. Peter Robinson - Composer (Music Score), Dennis Murphy - Production Designer, Peter Murton - Production Designer, Don Burgess - Cinematographer, Dennis Murphy - Production Manager, Robert W. Cort - Producer, Daniel Grodnik - Producer, David Madden - Producer, Dennis Madalone - Stunts, Dick Ziker - Stunts Coordinator, Charles Robert Carner - Screenwriter, Larry Wilson - Screenwriter, Ryozo Kasahara - Screenwriter
Blind Fury is a 1989 film starring Rutger Hauer as a blind, sword-wielding Vietnam Vet. The film is a loosely based, modernized version of Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the Japanese Zatoichi film series.
Synopsis
Rutger Hauer plays Nick Parker, a soldier who is blinded in the Vietnam War and taught how to use a sword by a group of villagers. He comes home to visit his friend Frank Deveraux (Terry O'Quinn) and later takes Frank's son Billy (Brandon Call) with him after his mother (Meg Foster) is shot by the henchmen of Frank's evil boss. All the while, they are being chased by bad guys employed by Frank's boss MaCready (Noble Willingham) and lead villain (Randall "Tex" Cobb). The final fight scene is with Master NinjaSho Kosugi.
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.
