Blastfighter (1985)

Lamberto Bava does it again with this Italian action movie that manages to be almost as entertaining as his cult classic, DEMONS! In many ways the film follows the same action-orientated template with hostile rednecks replacing supernatural monsters and the heroes gradually picked off one by one by the bad guys. However, the realism of the film adds to the suspenseful aspect. Beginning fairly low key, we watch as events gradually build out of hand (Bava takes time to develop the situation instead of rushing it and making it unbelievable) until the rip-roaring climax that will please action fans everywhere. Before then, the film is packed with incident and genuinely manages to stay exciting all the while. The plot is not very complex and takes influence from a number of other films. FIRST BLOOD is the obvious choice, but there are also some surprising references to THE EVIL DEAD and even a western homage! This is a film packed with burning vehicles, gunfire and lots of heroic staples. Michael Sopkiw (MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY) is great as the lead and gets to cross waterfalls, abseil down sheer cliffs and take part in some great stunt action. Stuntman Massimo Vanni even shows his face in a cameo as a dying cop and supplies some great death scenes. Sopkiw, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Campbell, breathes life into the character of Jake Sharp, who could easily have been unlikable and stiff. The character is solemn, introspective and rather rude to those around him, but nonetheless you find yourself rooting for Sopkiw as the film progresses.Bava fills a few roles with familiar faces to the exploitation fan. Playing Sopkiw's main adversary is the always imposing George Eastman (ANTHROPOPHAGUS THE BEAST) as hulking, crippled redneck, Tom. Eastman actually has a developed character (the only villain that has) and does well with his performance. The action sequences are well staged and make good use of the wooded locations for the chases. They're also bolstered by a stirring synthesiser score. The movie is pretty grim and kills off loads of "good" characters, plus a lot of animals get shot etc. Yet Bava still manages to retain the entertainment despite this overwhelming nihilism and rewards the viewer with the climatic destruction of about three dozen bad guys, all gun-toting rednecks without an ounce of wit or intelligence about them. When Sopkiw's amusingly kick-ass gun comes into play, the film explodes with gruesome gore effects (sadly excised, as usual, in the UK cut) and more explosions that you can believe possible. My only complaint is with the very end of the film which makes absolutely no thematic sense to this viewer. Otherwise BLASTFIGHTER is a must for fans of cheesy Italian action.

How many movies were inspired by the horror classic "the most dangerous game" ?Even such recent works as Gibson's "Apocalypto" were . This one is not worse than the others ,and if the two leads had shown more emotion ,had they "played" ,it could have been even endearing.As an action movie ,it's moderately entertaining ,with a hackneyed screenplay -just one thing "happens" which would not generally happen in this kind of superman flick-And it's after "it " happens that the movie has nothing more in store for the viewer.Well filmed in nice landscapes which recall " Deliverance" another movie "blastfighter" borrows from.And the same horrible cliché that claims that country people are savage uneducated brutes.

Lamberto Bava; a director often passed off as merely the trash-making son of one of cinema's finest directors, and Michael Sopkiw; a memorable actor that makes a big impression every time he's on screen; even though he unfortunately wasn't on screen all that often. The pairing of these two might have been considered a match made in heaven if only they didn't make the awful Devil Fish together earlier in the same year. Instead of ripping off Jaws, this time they've decided to rip off action films; particularly, it would seem, Rambo, and the result is better; albeit it still not without problems. The plot focuses on a former cop named Jake 'Tiger' Sharp (I can only hope that isn't a tribute to the Bava/Sopkiw Jaws rip-off), a former cop who went down for murdering his wife's murderer. He gets back into town and quickly strikes up a war with a dumb bunch of deer hunters whose hunting more closely resembles slaughter. It's not long before the relationship between the ex-cop and the hunters take a turn for the worse when a man is killed.As is the case with the other three movies starring Michael Sopkiw; he is the best thing about the film. He stars alongside George Eastman and the two provide good examples of rugged action men. The problem with Sopkiw is, however, that it's really very hard to take him seriously; and that does impact on the movie more than just a little bit. As is often the case with cheap action movies; the dialogue here often verges on ridiculous, and while that suits the lead actor very well; it doesn't suit everyone in the film and sometimes it's downright cringe-worthy. The title is more than a little bit misleading too; from the title, I was expecting something more along the lines of futuristic shooting movie; so beware if that's what you're going in looking for! I can't say that the plot or any of the characters hold much weight and really I didn't care much about most of what goes on in the film; but the macho posturing and general fighting is at least entertaining and that's really all you can ask for in a movie like this. Overall, considering how rare this film is; I wouldn't say it's worth going out of your way for it, but it is at least worth a look.

saw this movie way back in 1987 when I was in Greece. I thought it was a great revenge action movie. Sopkiw did a neat job as Tiger Sharp. Quite surprising why he hasn't featured in any movies after that !! Change of profession ?? Sopkiw as Tiger Sharp returns from Jail after 8 years after killing his wife's murderer. He tries to lead a quiet life when he stumbles upon a group of deer poachers who kill deers for a Kingpin from Hongkong who use the kill to prepare oriental drugs. This kingpin turns out to be Sharp's friend. This anger's him more. To make things worse, his daughter is killed by the poachers and Sharp goes berserk and pulls out the gun from under the porch given to him by his friend and quenches his revenge by killing them all !! A great revenge stories. I am sure the Indians will love this movie.