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The Blood of Heroes
Directed by	David Webb Peoples
Written by	David Webb Peoples
Starring	Rutger Hauer Delroy Lindo
Music by	Todd Boekelheide
Cinematography	David Eggby
Editing by	Richard Francis-Bruce
Release date(s)	1989 (Australia)
Running time	90 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Blood of Heroes is a 1990 Science fiction film made in Australia and directed by David Webb Peoples. The film is also known by the names Salute of the Jugger and Salute to the Jugger. The film has inspired the creation of the sport Jugger.

The time is a post-apocalyptic future, where the wars waged in the wake of mankind's success in the 20th century have left the world barren and the past forgotten. In this time, most live from hand to mouth in enclaves known as "market-towns" or "dog-towns", scrounging out a bare subsistence harvesting hardy crops, raising dogs as food, and trading in whatever remnant trinkets from the past still survive.

What little entertainment is available in these times comes primarily from a brutal sport known only as The Game, and the merriment that follows after the day's play. The Game involves two armed and armoured teams attempting to score by placing a decorated dog skull on the opposing team's goalpost. One unarmed player runs with the skull, protected by the team's other members. It is played by bands of roving teams known collectively as juggers, who challenge local town teams. They pass for what might be considered professional athletes, as they make their living through the tribute paid by the people of the town, should they defeat the local team. Their trophy is the dog skull from the town.

However, not all in this time live so sparsely. To this day, The Nine Cities, buried deep underground, are home to affluent and powerful members of an aristocracy. Additionally, each of The Nine Cities fields its own team of juggers in an organization known as The League, and its membership is maintained with a fresh stream of new players who can prove excellence in travelling "dog-town" games by their collection of trophy skulls.

Members of The League live in luxury almost equal to that of aristocrats. It is a common dream among roving juggers to be good enough to receive The League's attention and, with it, all of the luxuries afforded a League player.

One of these teams will get its chance at the prize.

This team consists of Sallow (Hauer), Dog-Boy, Mbulu (Lindo), Big Cimber, and Young Gar (Vincent D'Onofrio)

Sallow ,the team leader, has played in the League of the Nine Cities (all underground now) before, but was cast out because of his indiscretions with the lady lover of an Overlord. He now finds himself troubled by his past, playing The Game for his earnings. Kidda (Chen), an ambitious, young peasant girl joins the team after a game in her dog town where she virtually destroys her opposing competition and she and Gar instills a new desire in Sallow to challenge the league and purge his past.

Little do they realise that this time they are competing for more than just honour and the spoils of victory, this time they are fighting for their very survival. The Game is played a lot harder and meaner in the Nine Cities.

The original theatrical version of the film released in the USA is significantly shorter than the version released overseas (which has subsequently been shown on US cable). At least ten minutes have been cut. The biggest difference is the ending. In the American release, the credits roll shortly after the climax, even though picture continues to roll, showing certain conversations with music covering the dialogue. In the longer cut, there are denoument scenes.

All DVD releases of the film in every region have been of the shorter, US theatrical cut, until May 2006, when an Australian company called Roadshow released the longer cut in region 4.

• The Blood of Heroes at the Internet Movie Database

Cinema of Australia
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