''The Salute of the Jugger'' (also released as ''The Blood of Heroes'' in the United States) is a 1989 Australian-American
post-apocalyptic film
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...
written and directed by
David Webb Peoples
David Webb Peoples (born February 9, 1940) is an American screenwriter who wrote ''Blade Runner'' (1982), ''Unforgiven'' (1992), and ''12 Monkeys'' (1995). He was nominated for Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA awards. He won the best screenplay ...
, produced by
Charles Roven
Charles Roven (born August 2, 1949) is an American film producer and the president and co-founder of Atlas Entertainment. He is known for producing the superhero films ''The Dark Knight Trilogy'', ''Suicide Squad'', '' Man of Steel'', '' Batman ...
, and starring
Rutger Hauer,
Joan Chen, and
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
His roles include Private Leonar ...
.
The film has inspired the creation of the sport
Jugger
Jugger is a sport inspired by the 1989 film ''The Salute of the Jugger'' (released as ''The Blood of Heroes'' in the United States), in which a game of the same name is played. The film version was invented by the film's writer-director, David W ...
.
Plot
In a barren world caused by wars waged in the 20th century and now forgotten, most live from hand to mouth in enclaves known as "market-towns" or "dog-towns", scrounging out a bare subsistence harvesting hardy crops, raising dogs as food, and trading in trinkets from the past.
What little entertainment exists comes primarily from a brutal sport known as
The Game. It is played by bands of roving teams known as juggs, who challenge local teams. They might be considered professional athletes, as they make their living through the tribute paid by the town people, should they defeat the local team. Their trophy is the dog skull from the town. The Game involves two armoured teams of five attempting to score by placing a dog skull on the opposing team's goalpost. One unarmed player—the "quick"—runs with the skull while being protected by his/her teammates from attack by the opposing team.
However, not all in this time live so sparsely. The Nine Cities, buried deep underground, are home to affluent and powerful members of the aristocracy. Each of The Nine Cities fields its own team of juggs in an organization known as The League, and its membership is maintained with a fresh stream of new players who are proven veterans of the travelling "dog-town" games by their collection of trophy skulls.
Members of The League live in luxury almost equal to that of aristocrats. It is a dream among roving juggs to be good enough to get The League's attention and, with it, all of the luxuries afforded a League player.
The team consists of Sallow (
Rutger Hauer), Dog-Boy (
Justin Monjo
Justin Monjo (born 1963, New York) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and actor, best known for his work on ''Farscape'' and penning the Farscape movie in 2014.
He is the son of children's author F. N. Monjo III and the great-great- ...
), Mbulu (
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Cho ...
), Big Cimber (
Anna Katarina
Anna Katarina is a Swiss actress.
Early life and family
Anna Katarina is the daughter of cellists from Bern, Switzerland, where she was born. She is a classically trained pianist.
Career
She came to the US in her twenties whereupon she join ...
), and Young Gar (
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
His roles include Private Leonar ...
).
Sallow, the team leader, has played in the League of the Nine Cities before, but was cast out because of his indiscretions with an Overlord's daughter. Kidda (
Joan Chen), an ambitious peasant girl, joins the team after a game in her dog town where she virtually destroyed her competition. She and Gar inspire Sallow to challenge The League and expunge his past.
But Kidda and Gar do not realise that the City games are for much more than honour and victory, they will need to fight for their very survival. The Game is played much harder and meaner in the Nine Cities.
Cast
*
Rutger Hauer as Sallow
*
Joan Chen as Kidda
*
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
His roles include Private Leonar ...
as Gar
*
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Cho ...
as Mbulu
*
Anna Katarina
Anna Katarina is a Swiss actress.
Early life and family
Anna Katarina is the daughter of cellists from Bern, Switzerland, where she was born. She is a classically trained pianist.
Career
She came to the US in her twenties whereupon she join ...
as Big Cimber
* Justin Monjo as Dog-Boy
*
Hugh Keays-Byrne as Lord Vile
* Max Fairchild as Gonzo
* Gandhi MacIntyre as Gandhi
*
Richard Norton as Bone
* Lia Francisa as Mara
*
Steve Rackman
Steve Rackman is an English-born Australian actor and professional wrestler, best known for his role as Donk in the film ''Crocodile Dundee''. In his professional wrestling career, he wrestled under the ring name of Steve 'Crusher' Rackman. Rac ...
as Samchin Jugger
Production
''The Salute of the Jugger'' was shot in the desert of
Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy () is a town in northern South Australia, north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Alternate cuts
The US theatrical version of the film was significantly shorter than the original version released overseas. About ten minutes were cut. The biggest difference is in the ending. In the American release, the credits roll shortly after the climax, even though picture continues to roll, showing certain conversations with music covering the dialogue. In the longer cut, there are denouement scenes.
The US DVD release of the film matches the US theatrical cut in being much shorter than the original film. Full versions were released on VHS in the early 1990s in Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe and Japan. Various distributors began releasing the original cut on DVD in early 2001, known as the extended version or by the title "Salute to the Jugger".
In 2017, a 2-disc Blu-ray set with both cuts of the film was released in Japan.
See also
*
''Quintet'' (film)
References
External links
*
''Salute of the Jugger''at Oz Movies
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salute of the Jugger, The
1989 films
1989 directorial debut films
1989 science fiction films
1980s English-language films
1980s science fiction action films
1980s sports films
American post-apocalyptic films
American science fiction action films
American sports drama films
Australian post-apocalyptic films
Australian science fiction action films
Australian sports drama films
Films about competitions
Films about death games
Films produced by Charles Roven
Films shot in South Australia
Films with screenplays by David Peoples
1980s American films