CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

zentropymind I loved this movie when I first saw it, and have watched it here and there over the years. I watched it again tonight and realized how well executed this movie was. Rutger is classic Rutger, a joy to watch. A young Vincent D'onofrio and a Seasoned Delroy Lindo are good bookends to the team. But Joan Chen absolutely steals the show. Her expressions convey a gamut of emotion and her physicality in this role is equally impressive. The pacing is well done and the gritty sports theme behind it all fits well into the post apocalyptic setting- after all, people will always try to find something to keep them entertained and take their minds off their despondent existences. LOVE THIS MOVIE.

Avid Climber The Blood of Heroes is set in a desolate post apocalyptic future, and you can taste the dirt and the misery. It also shows Rutger Hauer at his best.This flick never rose to fame, probably because of its weird choice of topic, a brutal game that looks like a mix of chess, American football, and ancient Rome gladiatorial combat. There's blood and pain at every turn. So it's not for everyone, but the quality is there.The imagery, costumes, makeup, and action are without reproach. The story might not bring anything new to the table, but the world sure does, and it's showed in full details. The dialogs are simple, yet very effective, and no quick easy slick remark, jut hard harsh statements fitting the whole scene.The only reproach I would make is that the pellicle is getting old, and without clean images, it's getting tougher to appreciate. No widescreen, no HD. Bummer. Still, its age does show beyond that, the rest is impeccable.If you don't mind violence, see it.

Paul Andrews The Salute of the Jugger is set in a post apocalyptic future where civilization has ended, the Earth is now a barren wasteland where just to survive is tough. A team of Juggers travel the wastelands challenging small villages to a brutal game that is a cross between football & wrestling. While in one village the team recruit a new 'Quick' member named Kidda (Joan Chen), as she begins to get to know team leader Sallow (Rutger Hauer)he tells her that he once played in the professional league but was banished after an affair with the wrong woman. Kidda convinces Sallow to head back to the Nine Cities & challenge the league in order to obtain the fame & fortune that goes with it, Sallow decides to give it one last go & together with his team is set for a showdown with the best Juggers in the world...This Australian & American co-production was written & directed David Webb Peoples & was one of those films that came out here in the UK in the late 80's with striking artwork on the video box that I always remembered, well I finally got a chance to see it (all sorts of stuff turns up on obscure cable telly channels) & can honestly say the wait wasn't worth it. I would say that The Salute of the Jugger which was retitled to The Blood of Heroes for it's US release is a cross between Mad Max 2 (1982) with it's future post apocalyptic landscape setting & Rollerball (1975) with it's futuristic violent sport that is seemingly so popular. I can't say I liked The Salute of the Jugger, I thought the character's were thinly drawn & the Jugger game itself is never really explained so it's difficult to understand just what is going on or the point of it, it has something to do with placing an animal skull on a stake but other than that your guess is as good as mine. It's a crap sport anyway, I certainly wouldn't be interested in playing or watching it. The whole script seems to be lacking substance, the events that have created the post apocalyptic world are never revealed, personal relationship's & character backgrounds are left ambiguous at best & the way society is run & survives is also a mystery. There's no sense of a place or a world here, the Jugger game makes no sense while even the basic premise of most sporting action dramas where the underdogs come through against seemingly impossible odds is underplayed. The Salute of the Jugger never worked as a human drama, a futuristic post apocalyptic film, an action spectacle or a sporting event & ended up being a slow moving thriller with little to recommend it.The futuristic world looks quite nice, this obviously had a fair amount of time invested in the sets & production design but it's not like we haven't seen it before though. The film has a very natural sandy & dark look to it that does get a little repetitive. There's little in the way of violence or gore, a few of the events have various people hit each other but nothing graphic.Filmed in Australia on a pretty good budget by all accounts The Salute of the Jugger should look better, should be more exciting & captivating than it is. The cast are OK, Ruter Hauer isn't much of an actor, Joan Chen is alright while respected actors Delroy Lindo & Vincent D'Onofrio turn up.The Salute of the Jugger is meant to be a post apocalyptic action film with a sporting theme but I found it rather forgettable & boring, the sporting scenes lack any intensity or excitement & the lack of clear rules don't help either. Not a film that I will be in any hurry to watch again.

Julie Hoverson This is my favorite sports movie in the entire world.PLOT: Just trying to get by, traveling from town to town playing the game of jugging, Sallow is finally convinced by his younger, eager teammates to take one last shot at glory and take on The League - despite the fact that Sallow, once a member of The League had long ago been kicked out for a moral transgression.See, it's a sports movie.It's the people and the setting that make it fantastic. The movie opens with a simple paragraph on the screen which basically says "no one remembers how life used to be, no one remembers how the game of jugging began, and no one remembers why it is played with a dog's skull." AND THAT'S ALL YOU GET. The movie expects you to figure out the rest for yourself.I love it when a movie WANTS you to be smart... For instance, it is never stated WHY, after each match, they mark up the "game dog skull" and carry it around with them - but when they present the bag of skulls at League HQ, and the judges look them over carefully, you can't help but guess the markings must be some sort of record of the scoring...The characters are great: Sallow (Hauer), with his world-weary airs "Juggers can't have sex with each other after a match - unless you like rubbing wounds on wounds..."; Kidda (Chen), who subs in a game against Sallow's team when her town's Qwik is injured, and gets so caught up that she decides to run away with them; the backbones of the team, Mbulu and Big Cimber - both obviously vets who, while they have no ambition, can't stop playing; and "Young Gar" (D'onofrio), the eager young pup who wants nothing more than to make a name for himself and who Sallow can see will probably follow in his own footsteps, even to the point of taking the same fall.Even without the stellar performances, I would suggest watching the movie for the background details. Every time I see it, I see something cool and new.The first thing you see of the jugging team, in the first ten minutes of the film, is their gearing up for a game - one uses a bedrail for a weapon, while another looks like a pipe with some kind of gearbox covering, Mbulu has an honest-to-god football helmet for his headgear, while Sallow's more makeshift helmet is wrapped in old tire treads.And the places they travel - some have minimal electricity, while most don't, buildings are made of old tires and chain link fencing, and the man with the accordion is god.