The Jugger - Battle of the Best

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Movie
German title The Jugger - Battle of the Best
Original title The Blood of Heroes
Country of production Australia
original language English
Publishing year 1989
length 104 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director David Webb Peoples
script David Webb Peoples
production Charles Roven
music Todd Boekelheide
camera David Eggby
cut Richard Francis-Bruce
occupation

Die Jugger is an Australian end - time dystopian film set in a post-apocalyptic era by David Webb Peoples from 1989 . It served as an inspiration for the sport of jugger . The film opened in German cinemas on January 4, 1990.

Framework

"The game"

The modern gladiators of the 23rd century are the juggers who, like nomads, go from village to village with their equipment in order to play “The Game” against the youth team of the respective village. At stake is a kind of rugby , in a particularly brutal form. The rules of the game are simple: On each side of a free space, two sticks of approx. 50 cm are struck into the ground. The game starts in the middle, where a circle is drawn and a more or less decorated (depending on the poverty of the village) dog skull is placed in the middle of the circle. Each team consists of three clubs (equipped with bars), a defender (with a chain / s on a bar) and a runner (usually small, fast and agile). Only the runner is allowed to touch the skull with his hands, to carry it and to spear it on the target stick. Playing time is a maximum of "3 rounds of 100 stones": A person who is not involved in the battle has three piles of 100 stones in front of him. A round is over when all the stones in a pile have been thrown against a metal plate hung on a tripod. The game begins with the announcement of the thrower: “Hundred stones! Three times! ”And the first stone throw shortly afterwards. Then the opponents attack each other with their "weapons". Every fighter who "unlocks" himself can act freely in the game, except to place the skull. The winner is the team whose runner manages to impale the skull on the opponent's mark.

According to a kind of code of honor, the game does not provide for any deliberate violations. However, since the protective clothing worn is made of old materials such as car tire parts, chains, sticks, lacerations, broken bones or the loss of eyesight in the players are inevitable. There is also no referee. The winning team of a game receives the dog's skull from which the game was played and an unspecified number of valuables (in particular rare stones, precision mechanical products and cigarettes) from the loser. On the evening after the game there is also a party where the winners are rewarded with alcohol, food and sexual partners.

The rulers

Not all people of this era live in poverty. The rulers of the "Nine Cities", the last major cities (underground), enjoy power and prestige as the feared monarchs of this time. For amusement, they entertain their own juggers who are grouped together in “The League” and compete against each other in tournaments. These teams include the best trained and well cared for players and represent the elite of the sport. New players are recruited through “challenges”. To do this, a group of jugglers must have fought and won in a certain number of dog towns and submit the skulls acquired in this way to a committee. Based on the skull and stature of the team members, the team then decides whether they will be accepted as challengers in order to be allowed to compete against a team in the league.

action

The world in a distant future after the apocalyptic nuclear war. The surface of the earth is devastated; there are no more big cities. Most people live in poor villages called dog towns.

Jugger Sallow is a veteran as far as The Game is concerned. He had entered the league at a young age after he and his team at the time managed to hold out 26 stones on a challenge. The only team that has ever succeeded in doing this. However, he was expelled from this and chased from the "Red City" after he had gotten involved with the lover of a powerful "Overlord" and this relationship was made public. Since then he has been roaming the dog cities with his team to make a living.

The film begins with Sallow's team arriving in the dog town of Samchin and preparing for a game. In this case, Sallow's runner "Dog-Boy" is injured in the leg by the runner of the opposing team. Despite this damage, this can still prevent the runner from placing and even disable it. The aspiring farmer girl Kidda, who has long been waiting for a chance to escape the dreariness of her village, can be substituted for the second round and deliberately injured Dog-Boy seriously on the leg that was already damaged. However, this can be encouraged again by the team companion, an old Aborigine. So motivated he decides the game for his team after the farm girl has been eliminated by a bat. After leaving Samchin, Kidda follows the team and is now a substitute. Sallow refuses at first, but subsequently agrees when he realizes that his runner is too badly injured to be able to participate in a game again.

Through Sallow's instructions and through the game practice acquired in the following, the farmer girl quickly develops into a good player. Some time after the acclimatization, Kidda and with her Young Gar caused the first annoyance for the other members of the team because she suggested Sallow to play against the players of the league. Sallow categorically rejects this, assuming that a challenge will not be accepted because of his past. He also knows the harshness of the game in the big city. Kidda urges the team boss to at least try. After careful consideration of the thought initiated by Kidda and spurred on by an eye lost during a game, Sallow now decides to challenge the red city's league team. The two longest members of the team (apart from Sallow) Mbulu and Big Cimber refuse to follow their comrade's new path, but his stubborn behavior forces them to give in.

At the entrance - a large freight elevator that leads into the depths of the city - they deliver the necessary obolus in the form of cogwheels to the guards in order to be allowed to enter the city. After a journey of several hours in the elevator, they arrive in a gloomy, subterranean environment that seems to consist only of corridors and halls.

The challenge presented in the city does not seem to be accepted at first, but "Lord Vile", who was insulted by Sallow at the time, ensures acceptance. He hopes to be able to complete his revenge by setting the old teammate of Sallow "Gonzo, the thug" to break his legs and destroy the remaining eye.

Sallow's team begins the fight in a deserted arena; since challenges only last a few stones anyway, there is no interest among the population; only Lord Vile and his lover, who doesn't know Sallow will play, are watching.

Gonzo, who was put on Sallow, does not want to hurt his former comrade and lets a player from his team "pin" him (hold him on the ground). Meanwhile, Kidda fights bravely against the opponent, surprised by her abilities. Mbulu, Big Cimber and Young Gar also keep the opponents in check.

A little boy, who happened to witness the fight in the otherwise deserted arena, hurried through the streets of the city and informed the other city dwellers that a team of challengers after "60 stones" was still on their feet. This news goes like wildfire through the underground city and the tiers of the arena fill to the bursting in no time.

The first round ends in a tie after a hundred stones. While the Red City juggers are now swapping their substitutes for the injured, at first glance it looks as if the game was over for the challengers because Big Cimber has a broken leg. Without further ado, the team leader jumps in for you.

Lord Vile is enraged by Gonzo's betrayal of his instructions, whereupon he assures him that he will now put an end to it quickly.

After the decisive battle of the former comrades, from which Sallow emerges as the winner, Kidda places the skull amidst the cheering of the masses.

Kidda, Mbulu and Young Gar join the league. The now recaptured lord lets Sallow go, knowing that it would be a shame for such a professional player to play in dog cities for the rest of his life or until he is completely blind. Sallow leaves the city with his remaining comrades.

The final scene of the film is the meeting of Sallow, Big Cimber and three new players against a group of fearsome-looking juggers who are only vaguely visible in the emerging smoke, and Sallow's statement to his new runner: "Play hard, then do you forget the fear "

Trivia

Richard Norton can be seen in a supporting role as one of the players in the Red City .

The film was shot in Coober Pedy , just like Mad Max - Beyond the Thunderdome and Pitch Black - Planet of Darkness .

In the 90-minute American version, the names of the actors and crew scroll across the screen at the end of the last fight in the Red City and the dialogues are covered by music. The 104-minute European version shows the end of the film as described above.

The film was indexed from 1990 to 2015.

Web links