壮士血

I am surprised and delighted by the sheer depth of this movie every time I re-watch it. Not only is the jugger sport convincing, well-designed and very enthusiastically played by the excellent cast of actors, but the post-civilised (as opposed to post-apocalyptic) world it takes place in is both subtly drawn and entirely believable. Nowhere in the pithy script is there the usual heavy-handed sci-fi references to the nuclear war (or whatever) that reduced human-kind back to feudal barbarism. We are presented with the world of the juggers as-is, without a single"as you know, our society collapsed after the great firestorm in the sky" speech or a hint that the heroes of the title can improve mankind's sad situation as anything other than gladiatorial entertainers. A masterpiece that should be on DVD, converted into a computer game and, if they can get the original cast and production team together, sequelled.