{{Infobox film | name = Blastfighter | director = Lamberto Bava | image = Blastfighter-italian-movie-poster-md.jpg | producer = | writer = | screenplay = {{plainlist|*Massimo De Rita *Luca De Rita<ref name="archivio" />}} | story = {{plainlist|*Morando Morandini *Francesco Costa<ref name="archivio">{{cite web|url=https://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG5035|title=Blastfighter (1984)|access-date=18 January 2018|language=Italian|publisher=Archivio del cinema Italiano}}</ref>}} | starring = {{plainlist|*Michael Sopkiw *Valentina Forte *George Eastman }} | music = Fabio Frizzi | cinematography = Gianlorenzo Battaglia<ref name="archivio" /> | editing = Roberto Sterbini<ref name="archivio" /> | production_companies = {{plainlist|*Medusa Distribuzione * National Cinematografica * Nuova Dania Cinematografica * Films Jacques Leitienne<ref name="archivio" />}} | distributor = Medusa Distribuzione | released = {{Film date|1984|7|25|Italy}} | runtime = | country = {{plainlist|*Italy *France}} | language = | budget = | gross = }} '''''Blastfighter''''' is a 1984 action film directed by Lamberto Bava starring Michael Sopkiw and George Eastman.
==Plot== Jake "Tiger" Sharp (Michael Sopkiw) is a former policeman who seeks revenge after his wife is murdered. After killing the murderer, Sharp is sentenced to seven years in prison. Upon release Jake is given an SPAS-12 Shotgun by his old friend Jerry in order to wreak vengeance upon the crooked attorney responsible for sending him away. However, Jake instead at the last minute decides to return to his secluded cabin in the Appalachian wilderness and bury his gun in the floorboards. Matters become complicated when a group of poachers run afoul of him and kill his baby deer. Jake goes to the Chinese herbal medicinist's office that the hunters have been selling to and smashes up the place.
Jake's estranged daughter Connie then joins him with Jerry and her boyfriend, but all of them are killed off when the hunters decide to get revenge for scaring away the herbal medicinist. Jake manages to escape back to his cabin and dig up his gun for one last battle with those who would break the law.
==Production== ''Blastfighter'' was initially going to be a post-apocalyptic film directed by Lucio Fulci with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti as a follow-up to ''Warriors of the Year 2072''.{{sfn|Howarth|2015|p=274}} Sacchetti later explained that Fulci argued with the producers, which led to it being settled in court.{{sfn|Howarth|2015|p=274}} The film had already been sold without the original intended script being able to be used, so Lamberto Bava's ''Blastfighter'' only retains the title of the original Fulci production.{{sfn|Howarth|2015|p=274}}
''Blastfighter'' was shot in the state of Georgia.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Hartford Courant|title=Star Opens New Film in Essex|p=B4|date=June 29, 1985|quote=In "Blastfighter," an Italian production shot in Georgia, Sopkiw plays an ex-police officer who killed his wife's murder and goes on to slaughter the men who killed his daughter and her lover."}}</ref>
As part of the plot for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the film's Rick Dalton character starred in “Blastfighter.” Loosely following the plot of the Michael Sopkiw-version: Dalton portrays a former New York City cop released from a ten-year prison sentence. He moves to a mountain home to rebuild his life, only for local poachers to kidnap and kill his daughter; he seeks revenge against the backwoods thugs responsible. ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' featured a VHS cover of Leonardo DiCaprio’s face replacing Michael Sopkiw’s.
==Release== ''Blastfighter'' was released theatrically in Italy where it was distributed by Medusa Distribuzione on 25 July 1984.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802193130/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/blastfighter-v6019|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/blastfighter-v6019|publisher=AllMovie|title=Blastfighter|first=Cavett|last=Binion|access-date=18 January 2018|archive-date=2 August 2012|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref name="archivio" />
==Footnotes== {{reflist}}
===References=== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Howarth |first=Troy |title=Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films |publisher=Midnight Marquee Press, Inc. |isbn=978-1936168538 |year=2015 }} * {{cite book | last= Paul | first= Louis | title= Italian Horror Film Directors |publisher= McFarland |year= 2005 |isbn= 978-0-7864-8749-3}} {{Refend}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0088818}}
{{Lamberto Bava}}
Category:1984 films Category:1984 action films Category:Italian action films Category:Films directed by Lamberto Bava Category:Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis Category:Films scored by Fabio Frizzi Category:Foreign films set in the United States Category:1980s exploitation films Category:Italian films about revenge Category:Italian vigilante films Category:1984 Italian films {{1980s-action-film-stub}} {{1980s-Italy-film-stub}}