''Future Hunters'' is a 1986

action adventure film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Cirio H. Santiago and written by

J. Lee Thompson John Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 – 30 August 2002) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. Initially an exponent of social realism, he became known as a versatile and prolific director of thrillers, action, and adventure fil ...

. It stars

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and authority figures, Patrick is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked his ...

and Linda Carol with a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

of Richard Norton and

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

impersonator

Bruce Le Bruce Le (; born June 5, 1950) is a martial artist and actor known for his martial arts films of the 1970s and 1980s. Most of these were inexpensively produced and were made to capitalise on the martial arts phenomenon started by Bruce Lee, w ...

Plot

In a post-apocalyptic world, the leader of a rebel group ( Richard Norton) fights a warlord to retrieve the mystical

Spear of Destiny A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to t ...

from a derelict temple. The spear's powers enable him to travel back in time. 39 years earlier, he saves the aspiring anthropologist Michelle ( Linda Carol) and her boyfriend Slade (

) from the attack of a ruthless

biker gang An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a biker club or club (in Australia), is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purpo ...

who injure him fatally. Before his demise, he hands the spear over to the couple and implores them to find the shaft in order to unite it with the spear to break its dark powers. The search for the shaft takes Michelle and Slade from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and through the jungles of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

until they reach the legendary Venus Valley. They must fight goons,

martial artists Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the prese ...

, fanatical

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

warriors, midgets and hostile

Amazons The Amazons (Ancient Greek: ', singular '; in Latin ', ') were a people in Greek mythology, portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, Labours of Heracles, the ''Argonautica'' and the ''Iliad''. ...

until they reach the cave where the shaft is located.

Production

Development

After the international success of '' Final Mission (1984)'' and ''

Naked Vengeance ''Naked Vengeance'' is a 1985 exploitation rape and revenge film directed by Cirio Santiago. The film features Deborah Tranelli as its protagonist, actress-turned-vigilante Carla Harris. The film has since received a cult following and is often ...

(1985)'',

Vestron Pictures Vestron Pictures Inc. was an American film studio and distributor, a former division of Austin O. Furst, Jr.'s Vestron Inc., that is best known for their 1987 release of '' Dirty Dancing''. Vestron also has had a genre film division, Lightning ...

executive Austin O. Furst Jr. approached the producer/director duo Cirio H. Santiago and Anthony Maharaj to do another film for them as a

negative pickup deal In film production, a negative pickup is a contract entered into by an independent producer and a movie studio conglomerate wherein the studio agrees to purchase the movie from the producer at a given date and for a fixed sum. Depending on whether ...

. Maharaj came across a one-pager about the

, the

lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...

that is alleged to have pierced the side of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

as he hung on the cross during his

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

and is considered a magical relic of historical significance. Inspired by the popularity of ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana ...

(1981)'' and '' The Temple of Doom (1984)'', Maharaj built a story around the search for this object. Veteran British screenwriter/director

was hired to write a script based on this idea and turned it into a wild mix of genres and locations.

Pre-production

The movie went into production in 1986 with the working title ''Spear Of Destiny''.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

took place on a 12 hours per day, six days a week

shooting schedule A shooting schedule is a project plan of each day's shooting for a film production. It is normally created and managed by the assistant director, who reports to the production manager managing the production schedule and production board. Both ...

. Actress Linda Carol described the working conditions as strenuous. She reported having suffered a

heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun-stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstro ...

during shooting. Most of the picture was filmed on location in the Philippines, namely in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

, the

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

near Suba Beach at Laoag, Ilocos Norte,

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

, at the Calinawan Cave in

Tanay, Rizal Tanay, officially the Municipality of Tanay ( ), is a municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 139,420 people. Tanay is home to the namesake Tanay–Paete dialect of Tagalog, whi ...

, and the Manila Garden Hotel amongst other places. Some exteriors were shot in

Music

After the successful collaboration on ''

(1985)'', composer Ron Jones was once again commissioned to create the soundtrack for this film. Jones created an epic soundtrack dominated by

fanfares A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets (including fanfare trumpets), French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introd ...

, which is reminiscent of his later score for '' Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1991)''.

Release

''Future Hunters'' was released directly to video by

. Its video premiere was on September 23, 1988 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and on February 26, 1989 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was released on

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

in 1989 by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

Reception

Critical response

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the movie a "winner" that "emerges from the rash of lookalike adventure features on video" and "unfolds as a virtual homage to the high adventure motifs of

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

yet moves beyond mere imitation into its own successful territory". It criticized Robert Patrick's performance as "merely okay" and noted that "more upscale casting might have earned this laudable little film some theatrical attention". ''

VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever MusicHound (often stylized as musicHound) was a compiler of genre-specific music guides published in the United States by Visible Ink Press between 1996 and 2002. After publishing eleven album guides, the MusicHound series was sold to London-based ...

'' gave the ''Future Hunters'' a one-bone rating (on a scale from zero to four bones). ''Creature Features: The Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Movie Guide'' awarded ''Future Hunters'' two stars and described the movie as an "Indiana Jones-type fantasy adventure" that is "energetic and swiftly paced". ''The Psychotronic Video Guides verdict was less favorable: "It's a bad mixture of

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...

, and many others". Douglas Pratt from ''The Laser Disc Newsletter'' praised the movie in his contemporary review for being "ambitious" and featuring "a lot of action". "It moves in location from the future to the present and from California to Hong Kong to uncharted jungles in the Philippines". He criticized technical aspects of the film, especially the sound recording for often being "pathetic", as well as logical errors such as the heroine jumping from an airplane on a parachute and running through the jungle brush in high heels. Daniel R. Budnik wrote in his review in ''80s Action Movies on the Cheap'': "''Future Hunters'' stakes its claim to being one of Santiago's most ambitious with the century-spanning plotline, the globetrotting adventure and the epic musical score that sometimes gets a bit ''too'' epic". He lauded the acting for being "a step above" and concluded his review with: "This might be my favorite Santiago".

References

External links

* * *
''Future Hunters''
– a detailed review by Mike Brooks {{Authority control 1986 films 1986 action films 1980s English-language films 1980s exploitation films English-language action adventure films Films directed by Cirio H. Santiago Films set in 1986 Films set in 2025 Films set in deserts 1980s films about time travel Films about neo-Nazis