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Ah, the 80’s; when every time a white guy knew martials arts it had to be explained as to how and why: Daniel LaRusso was trained by Mr. Miyagi, American Ninja was trained in Asia as was Van Damme in Kickboxer. To top it off Steven Seagal’s aikido moves are explained in a lengthy prologue in Above The Law which mashes up fiction and reality a bit. But one of the most preposterous reason for a westerner to have martial arts skills is on display in Blind Fury where Nick Parker is serving in the Vietnam War and loses his eyesight due to an explosion and goes missing in action. He’s actually nursed to life by friendly villagers and learns there how to live without his vision as well as how to defend himself with a samurai sword to such an extreme he’s more dangerous than the average fighter is with his eyesight intact.
If the idea of Vietnamese villagers being extremely helpful to an American soldier in 1969 doesn’t make you frown the slightest then you’re in for some good clean fun with Blind Fury which is an action comedy filled with goofy over the top villains and a hero who despite his handicap never seems to be in real jeopardy. Therefor this movie never has you on the edge of your seat, but rather leaned back while it’s busy entertaining you.
The story centers around the friendship between Nick and a young boy named Billy played by Brandon Call. Nick meets him when he visits the house of an old war buddy only to find his buddy’s wife and son. Some gangsters show up to kidnap Billy, Parker disposes of them and flees with Billy as his mother was killed. These gangsters needed Billy as leverage to force Billy’s father into producing drugs. Together they go on a road trip to find their friend/father while the bad guys are on their tail.
The tone is very light in this movie, and while it isn’t a masterpiece it’s just fun en very entertaining. With only a running time of 85 minutes the story flies by and the movie never feels like it’s dragging. It’s filled with humor and cartoonish villains like the two brothers, but don’t think this is a kids movie because of that. Limbs are flying in front of the camera and people get shot in the head.
Blind Fury is a movie that can do no bad with me. Yes, the plot is preposterous but the movie never takes itself seriously, even Rutger Hauer seems to bring the same approach to this movie Arnold and Sly bring to their more comedic action films. The ending sets it up for a sequel which sadly never came.
Ps. After seeing several Universal Soldier movies I picked Blind Fury which also feature a main character who’s last name is also Deveraux. How common is this name and why doesn’t terry O’Quinn have a thick French accent?
