''Blastfighter'' is a 1984 action film directed by

Lamberto Bava Lamberto Bava (born 3 April 1944) is an Italian film director. Born in Rome, Bava began working as an assistant director for his director father Mario Bava. Lamberto co-directed the 1979 television film ''La Venere d'Ille'' with his father and in ...

starring

Michael Sopkiw Michael Sopkiw is an American former actor who starred in four Italian B movies in two years. He was born in 1954 in Connecticut. Sopkiw took modeling jobs, and he was employed in Italy by filmmaker Sergio Martino to star in ''2019, After th ...

and

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the East ...

Plot

Jake "Tiger" Sharp (

) is a former policeman who seeks revenge after his wife is murdered. After killing the murderer, Sharp is sentenced to seven years in prison. Upon release Jake is given an SPAS-12 Shotgun by his old friend Jerry in order to wreak vengeance upon the crooked attorney responsible for sending him away. However, Jake instead at the last minute decides to return to his secluded cabin in the Appalachian wilderness and bury his gun in the floorboards. Matters become complicated when a group of poachers run afoul of him and kill his baby deer. Jake goes to the Chinese herbal medicinist's office that the hunters have been selling to and smashes up the place. Jake's estranged daughter Connie then joins him with Jerry and her boyfriend, but all of them are killed off when the hunters decide to get revenge for scaring away the herbal medicinist. Jake manages to escape back to his cabin and dig up his gun for one last battle with those who would break the law.

Production

''Blastfighter'' was initially going to be a post-apocalyptic film directed by

Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and Spaghetti Westerns, he garn ...

with screenwriter

Dardano Sacchetti Dardano Sacchetti (born 1944 ) is an Italian screenwriter who often worked with Italian directors Lamberto Bava and Lucio Fulci. Screenwriting Sacchetti was born in 1944,in Italy. His first screen credit was for Dario Argento's film ''The Cat o' Ni ...

as a follow-up to ''

Warriors of the Year 2072 ''Warriors of the Year 2072'' ( it, I Guerrieri dell'anno 2072) is a 1984 Italian science fiction film directed by Lucio Fulci. The film is set in the 21st century, where Romans have found a new way to handle criminals: by having them fight each o ...

''. Sacchetti later explained that Fulci argued with the producers, which led to it being settled in court. The film had already been sold without the original intended script being able to be used, so Lamberto Bava's ''Blastfighter'' only retains the title of the original Fulci production.

Release

''Blastfighter'' was released theatrically in Italy where it was distributed by Medusa Distribuzione on 25 July 1984.

Footnotes

References

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External links

* 1984 films 1984 action films Italian action films Films directed by Lamberto Bava Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis Films scored by Fabio Frizzi Films set in the United States 1980s exploitation films Italian films about revenge Italian vigilante films 1980s Italian films {{1980s-Italy-film-stub