Blastfighter

Blastfighter (1984) is an Italian action movie by Lamberto Bava starring Michael Sopkiw and George Eastman.

Plot

Blastfighter (1985) Directed by Lamberto Bava.

Jake "Tiger / Tige" Sharp (Michael Sopkiw) used to be an elite policeman, but when his wife got murdered he set out for revenge. After murdering the murderer of his wife he is sentenced to 7 years in prison, for murder.

On his release he runs into an old buddy, who, for no reason whatsoever, gives him a special shotgun called the Blastfighter. A powerful super-weapon made from toilet roll tubes, sticky-back plastic, fairy liquid bottles and a half metre ruler. The Blastfighter is capable of firing many different projectiles from a single barrel and can take a satellite out of orbit from one single shot.

Tiger realises the big city isn't his thing any more and decides to go and live in an isolated cabin in the woods in Florida and have some peace and tranquility, the only problem is a villainous redneck gang isn't going to let him! One day while trying a spot of hunting himself and having constant flash backs of trying to help a wounded ex-police buddy, "Help me Tige, help me", he runs into the local mullet wearing gang who are blasting every living thing they can see. Naturally Tige doesn't see eye to eye with them and it's not long before they get on the wrong side of him. Here lies the cue for one of the greatest scenes in the movie. Tiger announces that a shot dear is suffering and should be finished off, only to be told by some dude in oversized aviator glasses, "We wannim alive...now fack awuf".

Tiger, being the law abiding citizen he is, is not going to stand for language like that and puts the deer out of its misery with a single shot from the Blastfighter. Again Tiger is sworn at and then questioned about the size of his gun. Tiger firmly replies that the guns the nednecks own are too big for them, turns his head northwards (momentarily forgetting where he is) and heads off to the local Chinese butchers, where the poorly slain deers are used for medicinal purposes. In this scene Michael Sopkiw shows some of the quality acting that nearly got this film short listed for an Oscar. After trashing the butchers and having a disagreement with long time friend (George Eastman), Tiger storms off back into the hills. Tiger's estranged daughter then comes into the story for a very short stint, probably due to the lack of ability to hold a southern accent - and a weapon of any purpose. Soon enough the action kicks up a notch, when after a hunt, his old time friend is killed and his estranged daughter is raped and murdered. Once again Tiger is forced into an act of vengence. Full of anger and hatred, Tiger suddenly dons a gun belt, a head band, the Blastfighter and a shirt with more holes than a teabag and the original script put together.

In a full 30 minutes of non stop, explosive action, Tiger blows away anything that remotely looks like a redneck utilizing everything he has on his gun belt. Shells, tear gas, explosive rounds, rockets, nuts and berries, nothing can stop him from wrecking his bloody revenge. In several scenes the action of the gun seems to change from a pump action to a semi-automatic, which is not at all confusing.

Blastfighter was almost shortlisted for several Oscars including best screen play, best director and best actor for Michael Sopkiw. The film did managed to smash local box office records in Mississippi where rednecks flocked to picture houses across the state grossing a huge $30,000, which was a shame as the film cost $35,000 to produce.

Michael Sopkiw was hailed as the next Chuck Norris and short listed for several big box office smashes but due to an arrest for smuggling Marijuana was imprisoned by the DEA. After release from prison he was interviewed by leading entertainment reporter of the 80's, Suki DeCock, in which he revealed how he was to turn his life around. 'When you do hard time like I have, you learn the hard way, so I'm cleaning up, flying straight and i'm gonna gets me a flying jacket so I can walk tall like a real dude, it's the only way! Only losers do drugs kids, so stay in school and be cool!'

Sopkiw then went on to star in other such block-busting greats as 'Massacre in Dinosaur Valley' or 'Cannibal Ferox 2 - Finish them off they're suffering', 'Monster Shark' and the great '(2019) After the Fall of New York'. It is commonly thought that Sopkiw was shortlisted for a lead role in "The Bronx Executioner" however after several auditions he was removed from the set as his salary demands were considered too expensive against the film's $3000 budget.

It is claimed Michael retired from acting in the early 90's after an uneventful career in order to pursue a career with medicinal plants. He battled against his addiction to Gaviscone, Hedex, and Anusol and launched a company, Miron Glass, in California where he creates special glass bottles designed to protect plants from the sun. It is commonly thought that the design of these glass bottles is a mirrored design of the Blastfighter gun.

After a number of years out of the limelight, the film has had somewhat of a revival. Much like Star Trek, Blastfighter is to receive its own appreciation convention, whereby fans of the film can meet up dressed as their favourite characters and perform quips and quotes from the film.

Lamberto Bava's finest piece of work.

Critics

*The movie is reminiscent of "" and seems to be a rip-off, as it was released shortly after the latter and has common plot/filming elements.
*Quentin Tarantino claimed this was Lamberto Bava's best movie.
*The movie was originally penned as a Sci-Fi blockbuster, however after filming difficulties and budgetary concerns, the original script was changed.

pecial note

The film was originally planned to be a science fiction film (as one can guess by the title), but complications in production forced this idea to be abandoned and Dardano Sacchetti was commissioned to write a new script. The film had already been announced and being sold under the title "BlastFighter", so it was kept the same. The original director, to the science fiction-version, was Lucio Fulci.

DVD

In Italy there is a wide screen double disc version of the film available.In the United Kindom there are Betamax, VHS and now DVD versions which are dubbed to maximum effect

External links

* [http://imdb.com/title/tt0088818/ IMDB page]
* [http://www.nanarland.com/Chroniques/Main.php?id_film=blastfighterlexecuteur Nanarland] Cynical French review of the movie on bad movie website