Blind Fury Blu Ray Review (Mill Creek Entertainment)
Blind Fury is a 1989 action film directed by Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, Dead Calm, The Bone Collector, The Saint, and Patriot Games). It was written by Charles Robert Carner (Eyes of a Witness, A Killer Among Friends, Who Killed Atlanta’s Children?, and Vanishing Point) and Ryôzô Kasahara (Zatoichi’s Cane Sword, Zatoichi Challenged, Zero, and Battle of Okinawa). It was produced by actor Tim Matheson (Animal House, Breach of Conduct, Cold Case, Van Wilder, and Sometimes They Come Back). It grossed $2,692,037 at the box office in the United States.
While serving in Vietnam, American soldier Nick Parker (played by: Rutger Hauer from Blade Runner, The Hitcher, Sin City, Batman Begins, Split Second, Hobo with a Shotgun, Surviving the Game, and Wanted: Dead or Alive) was blinded by a mortar explosion. Rescued by local villagers, he recovered his health and he was trained to master his other senses be an expert swordsman. 20 years later, having returned to the United States, he visits old army buddy Frank Deveraux (played by: Terry O’Quinn from The Stepfather 1/2, Lost, Young Guns, My Samurai, Silver Bullet, and Tombstone), only to find that Deveraux is missing. Parker meets Frank’s son Billy (played by: Brandon Call from Warlock, Step by Step, and Baywatch) and his mother Lynn (played by: Meg Foster from The Wind, They Live, Oblivion 1/2, and Masters of the Universe), Frank’s ex-wife. 
Frank’s sadistic boss Claude MacCready’s (played by: Noble Willingham from Walker Texas Ranger, City Slickers 1/2, The Hudsucker Proxy, and The Last Boy Scout) henchman Slag (played by: Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb from The Golden Child, Raising Arizona, Ernest Goes to Jail, and Fletch Lives) arrives with two corrupt police officers to kidnap Billy to use as leverage over Frank. Parker and Billy reach Reno to find Frank’s girlfriend Annie (played by: Lisa Blount from Cut and Run, Prince of Darkness, Nightflyers, and Dead & Buried). Annie suggests they hide out at the home of her friend Colleen (played by: Sharon Shackelford). Nick and Frank are reunited later on. Frank takes the key ingredient in MacCready’s drugs and destroys the lab. Nick and Frank arm themselves with homemade napalm bombs after being put in a bad hostage situation. MacCready hires one of the most dangerous Japanese assassins (played by: Shô Kosugi from Black Eagle, Rage of Honor, Pray for Death, & the Ninja franchise) around to kill Nick. Can these two hold off an entire group of blood thirsty killers to save their loved ones from death????
Blind Fury is what 80’s action is all about! It’s one of most entertaining and fun flicks from that time which is saying a lot because that’s when some of the best ones were made, The script doesn’t take itself serious for the most part and it sets up all kinds of wacky situations for the main characters here. Rutger Hauer was an action star during the 80’s and early 90’s. He was pumping out these wild flicks for awhile which included Split Second, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Blood of Heroes, A Breed Apart, Flesh+Blood, Surviving the Game, Wedlock, Beyond Justice, Arctic Blue, and Blind Fury was one of the best from that list. This is one of my personal favorite performances from Rutger Hauer. He did a great job portraying a blind man which I sure wasn’t easy at all to do plus he was hilarious in this. His fight with Shô Kosugi was awesome. His chemistry with child actor Brandon Call was impressive and those two were funny together. Noble Willingham is ruthless as the main villain in Blind Fury and he has some quality henchmen in this feature. The top notch supporting cast for this 80’s action film includes Terry O’Quinn, Meg Foster, Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb, Lisa Blount, Shô Kosugi (in one of the greatest cameos ever), Rick Overton (Willow), and Nick Cassavetes (Face/Off). Blind Fury has a nice balance of violence and humor. It’s loaded with action and fights, any fan of the sub-genre will be happy with this one. It’s criminally under-rated, RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Mill Creek Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) restored in it’s original aspect ratio for the very first time in the states unlike the previous two editions that were in (1.78:1) for the Payback Time: Triple Feature and 9 Lives – 9 Movie Collection blu ray releases. This one looks better than those because it actually has some room to breathe because the others shared space with additional movies on the disc. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s the best it’s ever looked on home video so far. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is also an huge upgrade compared to the past home video releases. The audio is very clean, all the action is elevated here, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. There’s no extras on this release like all the others so far. It does have a really cool retro VHS limited edition slipcover. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!! 
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Mill Creek Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) restored in it’s original aspect ratio for the very first time in the states unlike the previous two editions that were in (1.78:1) for the Payback Time: Triple Feature and 9 Lives – 9 Movie Collection blu ray releases. This one looks better than those because it actually has some room to breathe because the others shared space with additional movies on the disc. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s the best it’s ever looked on home video so far. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is also an huge upgrade compared to the past home video releases. The audio is very clean, all the action is elevated here, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. There’s no extras on this release like all the others so far. It does have a really cool retro VHS limited edition slipcover. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
