Bullet Points: Blind Fury
Blind Fury was one of those movies I was well aware of for years, but for whatever reason I never got around to checking out.
When the star of the film, Rutger Hauer, passed away in 2019 I posted a Blind Fury movie poster on the official Bulletproof Action Instagram page to honor the fallen actor… that post ended up being our most popular Instagram post of 2019.
I took that as a sign that it was finally time to watch Blind Fury…
- Origin Story: Rutger Hauer plays Nick Parker, a soldier who loses his sight in Vietnam and is taken in by some of the jungle natives. The villagers nurse him back to health and train him to become a swordfighter, not the easiest skill to learn period, let alone when you are blind… why the villagers do this is anyone’s guess, but for the purposes of the movie, I’m sure glad they did.
- 20 Years Later: Nick Parker finds himself back on United States soil, Miami to be exact. Nick is in Miami to look up his old Army buddy Frank Devereaux (Terry O’Quinn, The Rocketeer). On the way to Frank’s, Nick stops in at a diner where he encounters some bullies who are trying to have some fun at his expense… giving us a glimpse as to what Nick Parker is capable of in a fight.
- Meanwhile in Reno: Frank Devereaux, now an organic chemist, finds himself in a rather precarious position. Some toughs who work for casino owner/drug dealer MacCready (Noble Willingham, Walker Texas Ranger) have him hanging upside down from the roof of the casino. It seems that Frank has not had much luck gambling and is in over his head in debt… but MacCready has a proposition for Frank, manufacture a designer drug for him and his debts will be cleared. As an added incentive for Frank to get the job done, MacCready dispatches some of his goons to get Frank’s son in Miami.
- Timing is Everything: Fortunately for Frank’s young son Billy (Brandon Call) and his mother Lynn (Meg Foster, Masters of the Universe)… Nick arrives at the Devereaux house before MacCready’s goons do. A few minutes after Nick arrives, there’s another knock on the door and there are two of MacCready’s goons impersonating police officers, saying they want to talk to Billy as they believe he was the witness to a crime. When Lynn starts asking questions, things escalate … and that’s when MacCready’s head goon Slag (Randall “Tex Cobb, Uncommon Valor) shows up… Billy tries to come to his mother’s rescue but gets knocked out for his trouble. Nick intervenes and takes out the two phony cops, but Slag ends up killing Lynn before deciding he’s not going to take his chances with the blind swordsmen. Lynn’s final request before her death is that Nick gets Billy to his father in Reno.
- Child of the Corn: The dynamic between Nick and Billy gets off to a rocky start as they hop on a bus heading to Reno. But just when things seem to be getting better, the bus makes a pit stop and Billy attempts to call his mom, that’s when Nick has to break the news about Lynn’s death. After hearing the news, Billy runs off into a nearby corn field. It is in the corn field where Nick and Billy narrowly escape a shotgun toting Slag and some goons. But Nick and Billy’s trouble is just getting started…
- Business Picks Up: Once they arrive in Reno, Nick and Billy end up getting kidnapped and thrown in the back of a van, but they manage to escape with some help from Frank’s girlfriend Annie (Lisa Blount). But that leads to a car chase with Nick BEHIND the wheel… From there Nick leaves Billy with Annie, so he can pay a visit to MacCready’s casino. Once he is there Nick causes a riot at the casino before reuniting with Frank… While all that is going on Billy and Annie are kidnapped by MacCready setting up our final showdown that includes a brief appearance by Shô Kosugi!
I was once blind to the greatness of Blind Fury, but now I can see why the movie is so beloved among action film aficionados. Rutger Hauer is fantastic as the Zatoichi inspired swordsmen with plenty of nasty people and situations to test him and keep the movie moving at an entertaining pace.
It is time for this review to move on to the Bonus Bullet Points…
- TGIF: Brandon Call, who played Billy, would go on to star in the ABC sitcom, Step by Step. The same sitcom that gave the action world Sasha Mitchell.
- Familiar Face: Old school wrestling fans will recognize Tiger Chung Lee as one of MacCready’s casino bodyguards. Action fans may recognize Tiger Chung Lee from his appearances in The Golden Child, Red Heat and Cage.
- Missed Opportunity: At one point MacCready gets frustrated hearing about how a blind swordsman is causing him so much trouble, he requests his right hand man, Cobb, to get him Bruce Lee. Bruce being dead made him unavailable, but I bet Bruce Le or Dragon Lee would have been happy to come over to America to fill the role that ultimately went to Shô Kosugi!
