Blind Fury
| Blind Fury | |
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 Blind Fury film poster |
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| Directed by | Phillip Noyce |
| Produced by | Tim Matheson Daniel Grodnik |
| Screenplay by | Charles Robert Carner |
| Story by | Charles Robert Carner |
| Based on | Zatoichi Challenged written by Ryôzô Kasahara |
| Starring | Rutger Hauer Terry O'Quinn Brandon Call |
| Music by | J. Peter Robinson |
| Cinematography | Don Burgess |
| Editing by | David A. Simmons |
| Studio | Interscope Communications |
| Distributed by | Tri-Star Pictures |
| Release date(s) | West Germany: August 17, 1989 United States: March 16, 1990 |
| Running time | 86 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,692,037 (domestic)[1] |
Blind Fury is a 1989 samurai/action film directed by Phillip Noyce. It is a loosely based, modernized version of Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the Japanese Zatoichi film series. 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.
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[edit] Plot
Rutger Hauer plays Nick Parker, an American soldier who is blinded while serving in the Vietnam War. Parker is blinded by a mortar explosion, but is soon after rescued by local villagers, who help him recover his health (though he remains blind). As part of his recovery, he is taught to be an expert swordsman by the local master.
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 then rescues Frank's son Billy (Brandon Call) from an attack in which Billy's mother (Meg Foster) is shot and killed by the henchmen of Frank's evil boss, MaCready (Noble Willingham). These men apparently want to kidnap Billy in order to use him as leverage over Frank.
Parker and Billy, chased by MaCready's men and lead villain (Randall "Tex" Cobb), make their way to Reno, Nevada, where Deveraux is being forced to make designer drugs, which MaCready plans to sell at his casino. Along the way, the two grow fond of each other after a rough start, and numerous attacks by the bad guys are foiled by Nick and his skills.
Impressed by Parker's martial-arts skill, MaCready hires a Master Ninja (Sho Kosugi) to defeat Parker once and for all. This leads to an epic sword-fight between the two in MaCready's penthouse, in which Nick eventually wins by submerging the room into darkness so that he has the advantage. With MaCready and his men dead, Billy is reunited with his father and a tearful Frank confesses to Nick that he has long blamed himself for the accident that took Nick's eyes back in Vietnam. At peace with his blindness, Nick gives Frank the ability to forgive himself, and from now on will be "Uncle Nick" to the young Billy.
[edit] Production
Blind Fury marked the producing debut of actor Tim Matheson. Matheson produced the film having been a fan of the Zatoichi film series.[2] 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 were hired as the film's director. 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."[2] After principal photography was completed, a sequel to the film was planned, but never materialized.[2]
[edit] Release
[edit] Reception
Based on only nine reviews, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that Blind Fury currently holds an 67% "Fresh" rating, with a rating average of 5.1 out of 10.[3] On their syndicated television program Siskel and Ebert and the Movies, film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the film "Two thumbs up".[4]
[edit] 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.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ "Blind Fury (1990) - Weekend Box Office Results - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=blindfury.htm. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
- ^ a b c Beck, Marilyn (July 24, 1988), "Hauer is in a 'Blind Fury' over samurai film", The Spokesman-Review, archived from the original on 11 June 2010, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19880724&id=xh0SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-u8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4756,4932558, retrieved 11 June 2010
- ^ "Blind Fury Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blind_fury/. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
- ^ "At the Movies". Siskel and Ebert and the Movies. The Walt Disney Company, American Broadcasting Company. March 16, 1990. http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/atm/reviews.html?sec=1&subsec=310. Retrieved June 12, 2010.[dead link]
[edit] External links
- Blind Fury at the Internet Movie Database
- Blind Fury at AllRovi
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