Author Archives: Bradley Crain

THE BLOOD OF HEROES (1989) – Rutger Hauer and Joan Chen play in the Jugger Super Bowl! 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

As an obsessed Rutger Hauer fan of the early 90’s, I was working my way through the man’s back catalogue of films when I came across THE BLOOD OF HEROES (1989) on the shelves at my local video store. With its post-apocalyptic setting and its strange sport of jugger, I’ll admit that it was not the kind of film that I’m most drawn to. I generally preferred watching Hauer taking down the bad guys in movies like WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (1986) and BLIND FURY (1989), which was released the very same year. However, it was a relatively recent Hauer film, so I rented it, cautiously optimistic that it would be entertaining. At the time, it was not my favorite Hauer film, but I remember an 18-year-old version of myself thinking it was okay. I’ve watched it a couple of times over the last 30 years, and even own the DVD, but it’s not one that I pull off the shelf very often. I decided it was time for a fresh viewing. 

In the bleak, desolate, futuristic world of THE BLOOD OF HEROES, Rutger Hauer plays Sallow, the leader of a team of juggers. They go from town to town challenging the local team in a sport where you win by placing a dog skull securely on a stake. It’s an extremely violent game consisting of two teams with five players. Four players basically beat the crap out of the opposition with clubs and chains, in hopes that they can provide protection to their one player, the “quick,” who can get the skull on the stake. We meet Sallow’s team who consists of Dog Boy (Justin Monjo), Mbulu (Delroy Lindo), Big Cimber (Anna Katarina), and Young Gar (Vincent D’Onofrio) as they enter a town ready for a match. They win, but Dog Boy, their quick, has his leg broken in the process. Luckily for them, the opponent’s quick Kidda (Joan Chen), who was at least partially responsible for Dog Boy’s gruesome injury, is available to head towards the next town with the ragtag crew! She turns out to be a hell of a player, who’s willing to do whatever it takes to win, including biting an ear off when it’s required. This is what I call dedication. During the course of the story, we find out that Sallow used to be a professional jugger who played in “The League” in the underground cities where the rich, aristocratic people live and treat their champion juggers “almost” like one of them. He got banished when he engaged in a forbidden relationship with one of the overlord’s daughters. With his team of juggers, especially the super talented Kidda and Gar, Sallow leads them to the big city where they will challenge the professionals. For Sallow, it’s a shot at redemption. For the others, it’s a chance to be noticed by the League, which will lead to a much more luxurious life, when they’re not bashing their opponents brains in of course. I may have exaggerated a bit in my headline when I referred to this challenge as the “Jugger Super Bowl,” but it’s still kind of a big deal! 

After rewatching THE BLOOD OF HEROES again, while it’s still not my favorite kind of film, I can confidently say that I enjoyed it very much this time around. Most of that joy stems from watching Rutger Hauer in his prime. He’s such a charismatic actor and that even comes across in such a grim setting. I also like his character type, that of the disgraced former hero searching for redemption against a system that had previously discarded him. There’s usually much satisfaction to be had with this type of character, and this movie delivers on that premise. Joan Chen is very good as the new addition to the team who dreams of escaping her town and becoming a jugger star! She and Hauer really carry the film. The rest of the cast also added to my enjoyment of the movie. For me, It’s a lot of fun watching actors like Vincent D’Onofrio and Delroy Lindo in relatively early roles in their long and distinguished careers. I really enjoyed seeing Australian actors Hugh Keays-Byrne and Max Fairchild, both veterans of the MAD MAX series, appear near the end of the film when they make it to the city. Max Fairchild is especially impressive as one of the League juggers and former friend to Hauer. I wanted to give one more shout out, and this one goes out to actor Gandhi MacIntyre, who plays the team manager and doctor in the film. He has a very likable presence and made me smile on multiple occasions. The movie’s pretty serious and dark, and Gandhi’s sense of humor is a welcome presence. 

THE BLOOD OF HEROES is written and directed by David Webb Peoples. To date, it’s the only feature length film that Peoples has directed. In my opinion, he does a fine job. He certainly creates an interesting world, with huge contrasts between the barren, rocky outside landscapes and the overcrowded, underground cities. This is not a world I want to live in, but Peoples brought his vision to the screen, albeit within clear budget limitations. Considering it’s from the same guy who wrote BLADE RUNNER (1982) and UNFORGIVEN (1992), the story is pretty simple. And this is fine by me. The story of redemption for some, and of the dream of newfound glory for others, is a story that all of us can relate to at some point in our lives. At this point in my own life, I can relate to both! The movie features some ugly and violent images, but I found myself emotionally pulling for the ragtag group of underdogs in the big game at the end. It’s also pretty cool that Peoples made up his own game when writing the screenplay, albeit a game I would never want to play. The game Jugger, a less violent version of the game introduced in the film, is currently played all over the world. 

One final thing I wanted to point out about THE BLOOD OF HEROES is the fact that an author named Danny Stewart has written a book called “Saluting the Blood of Heroes – Behind the Apocalyptic Film.” I just learned of this book while researching the film today for this review. It was published in July of 2024. I just love a world where a person is able to get a book published about the making of an obscure, low budget film from the late 80’s. I won’t be surprised if this ends up in my Amazon cart really soon. 

I’ve included the trailer for THE BLOOD OF HEROES (AKA – THE SALUTE OF THE JUGGER) below:

I celebrate Henry Czerny’s birthday with two of my favorite scenes!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Today is the 66th birthday of the excellent Canadian character actor Henry Czerny. My admiration and appreciation for the man stems primarily from two performances in big movies. The first time I really remember seeing him is when he played the ethically challenged Deputy Director of the CIA Robert Ritter in CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1994). He goes toe to toe with Harrison Ford at times in an incredible performance. Check out the scene below:

A couple of years later Czerny would play IMF Director Kittredge in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996) with Tom Cruise. Once again, his performance adds greatly to the film and this scene with Tom Cruise may be the best of the movie!

Actors like Henry Czerny are a treasure and I always look forward to seeing them pop up in movies and TV shows. It made me so happy when he showed back up a couple of years ago in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING (2023). Happy Birthday, Henry! 🎊🎂🎉

CHATO’S LAND (1972) – Jack Palance leads a posse after Charles Bronson!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

One of the most enjoyable things about being a dad is introducing your favorite things to your kids. I taught my son Hank the sports of basketball, baseball, and golf, and even now there’s nothing we enjoy doing more together than playing a round of golf. Of course, as one of the world’s biggest Charles Bronson fans, I’ve introduced him to many films starring my cinematic hero. It seems that two movies have stood the test of time and have gone on to become two of his favorite movies. The fact that THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) is one of his favorites isn’t a big surprise as he’s always enjoyed playing video games set during World War II. The other, CHATO’S LAND (1972), was more of a surprise. A few years ago, when Hank was home from college, I asked him if there was a movie he wanted to watch. It could have been any movie in the world, and I was honestly a little surprised when he said he’d been wanting to watch CHATO’S LAND again. Needless to say, this dad was very proud. 

Charles Bronson is Pardon Chato, a half breed Apache who’s minding his own business and having a drink in the saloon, when a small-town sheriff decides to give him hell just for being a “breed.” Forced to kill the racist POS in self-defense, Chato heads out of town a day ahead of the posse led by the former confederate Captain Quincey Whitmore (Jack Palance). Whitmore may be leading the posse, but the Hooker Brothers (played by Simon Oakland, Ralph Waite, and Richard Jordan) are just as bigoted as the sheriff who was killed, and they set about bullying their neighbors into joining their hunt for Chato. A couple of the guys who go along because it’s “expected of them” are Joshua Everette (James Whitmore) and Gavin Malechie (Roddy McMillan). When the posse comes across Chato’s home and woman, some of the members decide the wise thing to do is rape her and tie her up as bait. This is clearly not going to work out well for the posse, even those who tried to stop the rape. Using his sneaky Indian skills and the help of a fellow Indian, Chato is able to create a diversion and rescue his woman, but his friend is killed in the process. With his friend murdered and his woman brutalized and raped, Chato is no longer willing to just run away. From this point forward, the hunters will become the hunted as he leads them all further into CHATO’S LAND. 

There are several things that I find interesting about CHATO’S LAND. This is the first of six films that director Michael Winner and Charles Bronson would make together. They would all be financially successful films with THE MECHANIC (1972) and the original DEATH WISH (1974) standing out as true 70’s classics. Charles Bronson’s last number one box office hit would be DEATH WISH 3 (1985), which would also be his final film with Winner. It should also be noted that the character of Chato would be an early precursor of the kind of character Bronson would go on to embody almost exclusively throughout the rest of his career, that of the quiet but deadly man of action. Chato only says 13 lines in the entire movie and most of those are in a Native American dialect. Chato doesn’t have that much actual screen time either, but his presence dominates every scene. He’s like the angel of death hanging over the entire proceedings waiting to strike, and Winner continues to build on this tension as the film moves towards its inevitable conclusion. It’s an incredible, physical performance that can only be delivered by an actor like Bronson. Finally, the film has an outstanding cast, a cast that Winner himself would call “as good a cast as I ever assembled.” In addition to Bronson, Jack Palance is excellent as the confederate captain who’s never gotten over losing the war, and who now finds himself losing the battle to control the men in the posse. James Whitmore and Roddy McMillan are solid as a couple of decent men who went along because they felt it was their duty to their neighbors, who now find themselves caught up in a bad situation with even worse men. And finally, Simon Oakland, Ralph Waite & Richard Jordan are the kind of men you love to hate as the ignorant and bigoted Hooker brothers. It doesn’t hurt your feelings at all to see those guys get what’s coming to them.

Overall, CHATO’S LAND is a very good western, dominated by Bronson’s presence in the same way that JAWS (1975) is dominated by a giant killer shark. It was also a hugely profitable film upon its initial release, guaranteeing that Bronson would continue to get starring roles in films backed by American studios. Bronson liked to work with the same directors once he felt comfortable with them, and his collaboration with Winner would prove to be extremely fruitful and help turn him into one of the biggest box office stars in America. Thanks, Michael! 

Brad’s Song of the Day – Guns N’ Roses and a memory of “Patience”

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Today is Axl Rose’s 63rd birthday, which reminded me of a very interesting memory I had of the first time I heard the song “Patience.” 

I grew up on Gospel music and Country music, but late in the 80’s I attended a summer camp called Project Caves where we learned about and explored various caverns in North Arkansas. While there, we were paired up with roommates from across the state. As I was getting to know my roommate on the first night, he shared his favorite current music album with me, which happened to be Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses. He had his cassette with him so we listened to it. And needless to say, I immediately loved it, especially the song “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”  I also loved “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City,” and we listened to the album almost on repeat over those couple of weeks. By the time I got back home to Toad Suck, I had “Sweet Child o’ Mine” memorized word for word and note for note. I couldn’t wait to tell my brother and sister about the songs. At first they kind of teased me and called me “heavy metal man,” but it wasn’t long before they were listening to (and loving) those songs as well. 

Music awards shows were a big deal around our house in the 80’s because that’s where we got to watch our favorite singers and bands perform. I remember The American Music Awards show being advertised, with one of their live performances to be provided by Guns N’ Roses. For historical reference, the show was on January 30, 1989, and I had recently turned 15. Giddy with excitement, my brother, my sister and I made sure we were in front of the TV that night so we could watch the group perform one of our favorite songs. Which would it be… Sweet Child o’ Mine, Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle???

And then the performance started with Axl Rose whistling the slowest song imaginable, the song we’d all come to know as “Patience,” which would be released as a new single a few months later. We all looked at each other like WTF?! We listened to the song together in disappointment, but I do kinda remember liking the part at the end even that night. In full disclosure, the song would go on to grow on me, and I even like the song now, but it was NOT the song we were looking for that night. We still bring that up to each other and laugh at times.

Today, however, I share that performance with you! Happy birthday, Axl! And enjoy, my friends!

The Opening of THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992) – one of my favorite scenes. 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I can’t let Michael Mann’s 82nd birthday pass without sharing one of my favorite scenes of his filmography. Have y’all ever started watching a movie and immediately knew you were going to love it?! That’s what the opening 4 minutes of THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS did for me. The credits start and the soundtrack reveals the powerful musical theme of the movie as well as its beautiful mountain setting. And then we join Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), his dad Chingachgook (Russell Means), and his brother Uncas (Eric Schweig) in the middle of their hunt as they’re sprinting through the woods after their prey. They just look so cool running together under Mann’s stylish direction. It’s not even the best scene in the film, but it’s the scene that drew me in and let me know I was in for something special.

Happy Birthday, Michael Mann and thanks for sharing your talent with all of us! 

Enjoy this awesome scene, my friends!

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 6: Killer in the Valley (originally aired October 15th, 1966)

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Episode 6 begins with Shane (David Carradine) and Marian Starett (Jill Ireland) riding their horses out on the far reaches of the ranch. While enjoying the beauty of the land, they come across a very sick man in a wagon. He seems to be running a high fever. As they check into the situation, they find out that the man’s wife is in the back of the wagon dead. Shane realizes that it’s more than likely that the couple has a deadly disease. The man dies shortly after, so they bury them and burn the wagons. 

After returning back to the house, Marian starts coming down with a fever of her own. Shane sends Tom Starett (Tom Tully) to Sam’s general store to get quidine, the medicine they will need to treat Marian. Unfortunately, Sam is all out of quidine, so they’ll have to wait until  Barney the medicine drummer (Joseph Campanella) gets to town the next day. Tom takes a room in Sam’s hotel to wait. When local cattle rancher, Rufe Ryker (Burt Freed), gets wind of the fact that the Starett’s are needing quidine, he starts asking questions and finds out that Marian is sick. He decides he needs the quidine for his own farm just in case there’s an outbreak in the valley. When Barney the medicine drummer finally arrives in town, he immediately smells money and decides to hold out to the highest bidder, which means the wealthy Ryker will get the supply, leaving the Starett’s and everyone else out in the cold. When Tom reports this to Shane, and with Marian getting worse by the second, Shane decides he’s got to do something to get the medicine Marian needs, even kill if he has to. To hell with Ryker or anyone else who tries to stop him! 

This episode of SHANE reminded me of two very specific times in my life when I actually witnessed my fellow man either taking advantage of a terrible situation or panicking in a way that shows complete disregard for their friends and neighbors. The first time was the Arkansas ice storm of 2000. Beginning on Christmas Day of 2000, this once in a century ice storm descended upon our state, resulting in mass electrical outages in our community. I lived in town so my electricity was restored after three long days. I remember hearing of houses “out in the county” that did without electricity for weeks. There was a local business who had an inventory of generators. They promptly doubled the price of their generators and took advantage of their neighbors who were in a critical situation. The second time was when I lived through the COVID epidemic and witnessed people taking every roll of toilet paper and every drop of water they could find from the local grocery stores. Unfortunately the combination of fear, panic, greed and selfishness can bring out the very worst sides of our human nature!

The bad reminders aside, I enjoyed Episode 6 of SHANE. It was nice to see Shane and Marian away from the ranch together just enjoying the afternoon and talking. It was unfortunate that they were interrupted by the plague. It’s also in this episode that we get to see Shane and Marian kiss for the first time. Of course she was delirious with the fever and thinking she was talking to her dead husband Joe, but it was still Shane that she kissed and that counts for something! It was also nice seeing Shane go to town, kick some ass, and reveal the medicine drummer for the greedy coward that he is. And just for good measure, Ryker decided to kick his ass too. I liked that. I’d even go as far as saying that Episode 6 is one of the best episodes of SHANE yet. I’m still enjoying the series and look forward to episode 7! 

Brad’s Song of the Day: “Dixieland Delight” by country music Supergroup, ALABAMA!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

My earliest memories of listening to music, other than at church, were listening to the group ALABAMA with my family when we were driving down the road in my dad’s Chevy Luv pickup truck. There were five of us in total, my mom, dad, brother, and sister, and we’d all pile into the cab of that little truck. We had to arrange ourselves just right to even fit. This would have been in the very early ’80’s, and seatbelts weren’t required for nothing! I remember listening to songs like “Mountain Music” and “Tennessee River” and “Take Me Down.” We’d all sing our hearts out to our favorites.

Fast forward around 10 years and one of my favorite family vacations took place when I was a junior in high school. We just got in our car and drove, with Pigeon Forge, TN, as our final destination. However, my dad liked to always take the scenic routes, so we took a very crooked path and went through a lot of beautiful, out of the way places as part of the trip. I remember we ended up stopping off one night in Fort Payne, AL, which is where the members of the group were born and raised. We even ran into band member Jeff Cook’s mom in a store there. It was so wonderful.

The picture I share above is from 2020, when my wife and I took a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. I just had to visit the Bowery while we there because this is the bar where ALABAMA performed for tips for seven years (1973 – 1980) prior to hitting it big. It was quite the nostalgic and special experience!

Without further ado, I’ll share one of my very favorite ALABAMA songs, “Dixieland Delight.” I hope you enjoy!

4 Shots From 4 Films – some of Brad’s “favorite westerns” edition!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

I thought I’d try one of these “4 shots” posts. It’s really hard for me not to say anything, because each of these movies mean a lot to me, and the western remains my favorite genre even if I am a little stuck in the past. I’ll probably take a stab at a review of each of these films at some point. I hope you enjoy!

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1955)

RIDE LONESOME (1959)

RED SUN (1971)

UNFORGIVEN (1992)

HARD TIMES (1975) and the One-Punch knockout! One of my favorite scenes!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

My personal favorite Charles Bronson movie is HARD TIMES, and this is one of my favorite scenes.

As an appreciation gift for helping him all summer with his many projects, my dad took me to Wal-Mart sometime back in the 80’s and told me I could pick out a movie. Wal-Mart just happened to have a big stack of HARD TIMES videocassettes. I was about 13 years old at the time, and I was already obsessed with Bronson, but I had never seen this movie before. So, dad bought the movie for me and did something he didn’t often do, he sat down and watched it with me when we got back home. This one-punch knockout scene takes place at the very beginning of the movie, and I vividly remember my dad having a nice laugh when the scene occurred. That made me happy, as I was always wanting my family members to watch and enjoy my movies with me. It’s a special memory for me of a great time with my dad and of the very first time I saw HARD TIMES!  

Enjoy! 

#MondayMuggers presents THE DOUBLE (2011) starring Richard Gere!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Every Monday night at 9:00 Central Time, my wife Sierra and I host a “Live Movie Tweet” event on X using the hashtag #MondayMuggers. We rotate movie picks each week, and our tastes are quite different. Tonight, Monday February 3rd, we’re watching THE DOUBLE starring Richard Gere, Topher Grace, and Martin Sheen.

Sierra had a day off from work last week and she watched this movie 3 times. Then she told me it would be her choice for the week! I’d say she really likes the movie!

THE DOUBLE is the story of a retired CIA operative (Gere), who’s paired with a young FBI agent (Grace), trying to solve the mystery of a senator’s murder. All of the signs are pointing towards an assassin from the Soviet Union!

Here is some interesting trivia about the film:

  1. THE DOUBLE is directed and written by Michael Brandt. After directing this film, Brandt would be the driving force behind the various Chicago based TV series’ CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO P.D., and CHICAGO MED. He also wrote the screenplays to 3:10 TO YUMA (2007) and WANTED (2008). This is a talented man!
  2. Filming was halted for six weeks after Richard Gere dislocated his shoulder during a fight sequence with actor Tamer Hassan.
  3. If you enjoyed the TV show CASTLE, the beautiful Stana Katic is in this movie. She’s billed 5th, but she only has about 5 minutes of screen time. That shows you how popular that show was at the time of this films release in 2011. 

So join us tonight to for #MondayMuggers and watch THE DOUBLE! It’s on Amazon Prime.

I’ve included the trailer for THE DOUBLE below: