Bullet Points: Blood Warriors
1993’s Blood Warriors is a movie I have been meaning to revisit for quite some time. I watched it years ago and it didn’t exactly leave a good first impression despite being directed by one of my all time favorite directors, Sam Firstenberg.
And it is because of Firstenberg and a cast that includes David Bradley and Frank Zagarino that I am willing to give Blood Warriors a second chance…
- Rock Bottom: The movie begins with exterior shots of a state prison and a voice over by a judge (who may also have been a ring announcer) letting us know that Wes Healy (David Bradley, Cyborg Cop) has been sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. But wait, we jump forward and with 8 months still left on his sentence, Wes is informed that he is going to be released early thanks to his old war buddy, Keith Stone. There’s one catch, Wes will be out of prison and basically released into the custody of Stone… who lives in Jakarta.
- Tombstone: When Wes arrives in Jakarta he is greeted by Keith’s sister Karen (Jennifer Campbell) and the two share an elongated hug before Karen has to break the news to Wes that Keith perished in a car accident days earlier and that their first stop will be Keith’s funeral… there we get to see a business rival of Keith, Mr. Jurgen, show up and spat on Keith’s casket much to the dismay of Karen… And maybe it is all the emotions she’s feeling and seeing Wes for the first time in years that has Karen all hot and bothered and looking for some comfort in the arms of Wes… Wes resists Karen’s advances telling her that Keith would not approve… While all that is going on, Jurgen and his men return to the cemetery in the dark of night, dig up Keith’s casket and find out that it is empty!
- Dirty Deeds: The next morning Jurgen has his men crash the palatial Stone estate and kidnap Karen. Wes attempts to save her, including jumping on the roof of one the cars filled with Jurgen’s goons that is racing away from the scene… but ends up down at the police station and with no Karen. Wes has a serious conversation with Captain Ramzy, who tells Wes that his old friend Keith Stone was a drug dealer, who at one time was business partners with Jurgen, but eventually broke off on his own making Keith and Jurgen bitter rivals. Ramzy also shares his theory that he believes Karen had something to do with her brother’s demise and that her kidnapping was all a show to dupe Wes. Wes can’t believe Karen would do that and as soon as he can escape the protective custody Ramzy orders… Wes pays off a cab driver to get him a gun and info on where Jurgen lives.
- Stunner: Wes makes his way to Jurgen’s compound, where he can hear Karen screaming as she is being tortured. It is obvious to everyone but Jurgen, that Karen firmly believes that her brother is dead… even after Jurgen tells his casket was empty. That’s about the time some helicopters fly in carrying some masked commandoes, who launch an all out assault on the Jurgen compound… when the ring leader unmasks it is none other Keith Stone (Frank Zagarino, Project Shadowchaser II)! This is a plot twist that didn’t really work. Zags had second billing and had yet to appear in the movie other than the family photos that Wes looks at when he arrives at the Stone estate. So even if you were watching for the first time you know Zags had to be a major part of the movie. Keith gets Karen and Wes on board his helicopter and shoots Jurgen dead after Jurgen blows a helicopter filled with Keith’s commandos out of the sky.
- Backstabber: At this point the movie basically resets and all the events that happened prior don’t really matter much. Keith offers Wes a job with his smuggling operations… Wes declines and says he’d rather return to Texas with Keith’s sister, Karen… Keith responds by shooting Wes in the leg and having him thrown out onto the streets… An orphan ends up rescuing Wes and gets him the medical help he needs from Dr. Salim… While Wes is on the road to recovery, Keith is kissing his own sister, who he has locked up in her room, and telling her she better learn to like it… which was quite disturbing…. Once he is able to, Wes goes into Marine mode storms Keith’s compound rescuing Karen, blowing up the compound and finding himself in a boat chase with his former “friend” Keith… Keith goes further off the deep end when he goes to the orphanage and holds the kids and Salim hostage, until Wes shows up and that sets up the big industrial showdown between Wes and Keith.
After rewatching Blood Warriors, I suddenly remembered my Shalamar and their song “The Second Time Around”. While watching Blood Warriors for a second time was a better experience than the first time, it certainly was not the finest hour for Bradley, Zags or Shmulik.
Blood Warriors is definitely for the die hard Frank Zagarino, David Bradley and or Sam Firstenberg fans. I was reminded of many of the things that bothered me about Blood Warriors, but I appreciated the good contained in the movie much much more and didn’t regret my decision to give it another go.
You won’t regret reading these Bonus Bullet Points…
- If You Ever: …wanted to see (and hear) David Bradley show off some of his musical talent, then Blood Warriors is the movie for you.
- Overpowering: Speaking of music, the sound mix during some of the Wes/Karen scenes is obnoxiously loud.
- Favorite Quote: “Listen bitch, show some gratitude! I just saved your ass!” – Keith Stone
