Blastfighter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.0

Blastfighter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf April 30, 2021

“Blastfighter” is an odd title for a picture about a man who’s armed with a super gun, but doesn’t even use the thing until the final ten minutes of the movie. Director Lamberto Bava sets up a potent revenge story in the opening moments of the feature, but soon transitions to something of a “Deliverance” homage with the 1984 release, putting star Michael Sopkiw through survival challenges near the Chattooga River in Georgia, even recruiting original “banjo man” Billy Redden for a cameo to keep up the comparisons. Unfortunately, Bava is no John Boorman, and while “Blastfighter” has select moments of compelling violence and steely performances, it’s not a cohesive celebration of good vs. evil, dealing with undefined storytelling and blurred areas of heroism, and there’s the long delay to the inevitable, keeping the endeavor more about breathlessness and bad dubbing than a rousing display of backwoods vengeance.

Jake (Michael Sopkiw) is an ex-cop fresh out of prison, serving time for murder after being caught up in local corruption. He’s lost everything, gifted a specialized shotgun by one of his colleagues, who offers the parolee a chance to achieve revenge. Jake refuses, taking the weapon into the Georgia mountains, where he hopes to live a peaceful life around his old stomping grounds, even reuniting with a childhood friend, Tom (George Eastman). Unfortunately, local creeps don’t take it easy on Jake, harassing him with violent threats, even killing his pet fawn after he interrupts their criminal activities. When his estranged daughter, Connie (Valentina Forte), arrives to confront her father, aggressive acts increase, putting the pair on the run as the local boys, including Tom, set out to murder the outsiders.

“Blastfighter” doesn’t actually do much blast-fightin’, acting as a more of a character study for Jake, a disillusioned man who stood up for justice and was punished for his nobility. His freedom isn’t much to celebrate, making his way back into the mountains, dealing with intolerant types who worship weaponry and are generally proud of their idiot behavior. The local goons make money through the torture of local wildlife (a nonsensical idea, but nobody questions it) and Jake isn’t a guy who’s going to allow such practices to continue, setting up a conflict between the locals and the city boy that should increase suspense as the story unfolds. Instead, “Blastfighter” mostly deals with a game of escalation, including the beheading of Jake’s rescued fawn, but the writing quickly slows down with the arrival of Connie. The long-denied daughter of Jake, Connie offers a semi- sexualized presence for the picture, adding some unintentional comedy to the effort, and the character becomes a lousy partner for the hero(?) as Bava begins to scratch “Deliverance” itches, concocting escape plans around slippery rocks, the deep forest, and eventually bringing out a canoe to complete his fandom.

Blastfighter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Listed as an "HD master with extensive and painstaking color correction exclusive to this release," "Blastfighter" comes to Blu-ray with some unexplained history. Perhaps Code Red should've produced a featurette on the creation of the master. The AVC encoded image (1.67:1 aspect ratio) doesn't emerge with complete authority, fighting through filtering that clears away a good amount of grain and softens the image. Detail isn't great, with outdoor events flat and characters are missing expected textures. The aforementioned color correction is acceptable, with decent greenery and costuming. Skintones are natural. Delineation is satisfactory, often working with extremely limited lighting at times. Periodic blockiness is present.

Blastfighter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix isn't built for anything more than a basic understanding of production elements. Dubbed dialogue exchanges are intelligible but thin, with some shrill highs. Sound selections are more pronounced, with a heavier presence to support driving electronic beats. Sound effects are simple, with decent gunfire and environmental changes.

Blastfighter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Intro (:40, HD) features Banana Man explaining the story of "Blastfighter" to its star, Michael Sopkiw.

• Commentary features actor Michael Sopkiw.

• Interview (8:09, SD) with Michael Sopkiw jumps around quite a bit, but the basics of his employment on "Blastfighter" are covered. The interviewee reveals a lack of control over his character look, and recalls location time in Georgia, with the residents happy to pal around with the cast and crew. Stunts and shooting skills are detailed, as Sopkiw did most of his own physical work. An assessment of directors Sergio Martino and Lamberto Bava is offered, and co-stars are fondly recalled, including a special friendship with George Eastman. Most interestingly, Sopkiw remembers his early interaction with Quentin Tarantino while the future director was employed at a Manhattan Beach video store, meeting an excited fan who knew more about the star's movies than he did.

• "Vengeance in Blood" (12:10, SD) is a conversation with cinematographer Gianlorenzo Battaglia, who's very proud of his work on "Blastfighter," happy with the picture and its look. Having already worked with Mario Bava as a younger man, Battaglia was prepared with collaborate with his son, Lamberto, and he provides some details about the shoot, revealing the death of Jake's pet fawn was real(!). Time with the locals is recalled, with the community happy to help with scenes of gunplay. The actors are assessed and personal risk is highlighted, with a few stunts slipping out of control. Battaglia suggests "Blastfighter" is one of Bava's best movies, and he goes into his relationship with Michele Soavi, battling with the future director on-set, also sharing an anecdote about their experience working on a Bill Wyman video for "Phenomena."

• "One Against All" (20:16, SD) is an interview with director Lamberto Bava, who explores his career path to "Blastfighter," having a hand in the creation of the original story. Bava mentions Quentin Tarantino's love of the feature, sharing this passion with him during a dinner meeting while on tour for "Inglourious Basterds." Taking inspiration from "Deliverance," Bava was delighted to work with the same remote locations, even recruiting original "banjo man" Billy Redden to cameo. The interviewee swears no animals were hurt during the shoot, and discusses various stunts found in the film, reinforcing the dangers of low-budget moviemaking. Details on the super gun are shared, and music from Fabio Frizzi is celebrated.

• "Blood Mountain" (9:57, HD) is an impressively candid interview with co-star George Eastman (aka Luigi Montefiori), who openly admits he "never liked Lamberto Bava," calling him an "idiot," building a career with his father's name. Eastman shares his thoughts on co- stars, admitting Sopkiw was pretty good "for a novice," lamenting how some of his fellow actors now want to reconnect through social media. Time with a half-American crew is recalled, with the professionals all carrying guns, shocking the visiting Italians. The interviewee admits most of his movies are "atrocious," inspiring his move to become a writer and regain some creative control.

• And a Trailer (3:24, SD) is included.

Blastfighter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Blastfighter" is more about a hunt and simmering tensions between Jake and Tom, with the material aiming to create some western-style standoffs and deliver proper B-movie antagonism to the effort. A few of these sequences connect as intended, but the overall adventure lacks momentum, and the whole concept of the super gun is strangely underdeveloped, only making a mess in the final moments of the feature, where we learn just how horrible a shot Jake actually is. "Blastfighter" is nonsense with terrible dubbing, but it remains a certain type of escapism for a certain type of audience. Just don't hold your breath for amazing displays of the super gun in action.