Salute of the Jugger (1989)

The Juggers are coming. No, not the Juggies from the Man Show. The Juggers!

Written and directed by David Webb Peoples (who also wrote Blade Runner and Unforgiven) and staring Rutger Hauer in what might be his second best role (after Blade Runner of course) this is one mind-blowing epic which somehow disappeared into a black hole of sci-fi history.

Obviously inspired by Kin Dza-Dza, the setting is a not to distant desert world, where food and morale is low. The only thing people have to look forward to is when the Juggers come to town, to compete in a gladiator-like fight.

Even though you don't understand the rules of their brutal show in the beginning of the film, you will soon be rooting for the tattered heroes, as they travel from village to village on a journey to win a sliver of respect and glory.

The sport of the Juggers is simple, yet so engaging that it has inspired people to take it up in real life. There is currently more than 30 teams from all over the world, actively competing "jugging," although in a much whimpier fashion than in the movie.

It was filmed in Australia, and though many like to compare it to Mad Max, Salute of the Jugger is by no means a rip-off, and could even be called "what Mad Max 3 should have been."

A trimmed down and censored version was released with the title "The Blood of Heroes" (hence the poster) but the link I've included here is the full, uncut version. Sadly a lot of elaborate scenes were apparently cut from this version as well, but that was on accord of problems during production.

Still, the end result is an amazing film, which just like Kin Dza-Dza, will have you do the Jugger salute with all your friends, for years to come.

IMDB