The Blood of Heroes (aka The Salute of the Jugger) is getting an uncut 4K remaster from Umbrella Entertainment

Last Updated on December 2, 2024

Earlier this year, we attempted to highlight some of the more obscure film titles that haven’t seen their day in the sun past a VHS release. In our list for 10 Hard to Find Movies, we included the 1989 post-apocalypse film The Blood of Heroes, which also carried the alternate title The Salute of the Jugger. This post-apocalyptic action movie comes from David Webb Peoples, the writer of Blade Runner, Unforgiven and Soldier. It was a rare directorial effort that reteamed him with Rutger Hauer, who stars opposite a young Joan Chen and Vincent D’Onofrio. Legal rights limbo has kept this one obscure in North America, with various cuts circulating in bad transfers.

The rights issues seem to have now been resolved, as Umbrella Entertainment announced on their Facebook page that they are releasing a new uncut 4K transfer of the film, which may sport the alternate title The Salute of the Jugger. This remastering has been supervised by the cinematographer, David Eggby, who is also known for Mad Max, which The Blood of Heroes takes inspiration from.

Their post reads,
“With our first announcement, we are thrilled to reveal Umbrella’s new UNCUT 4K restoration of the post-apocalyptic gladiator showdown THE SALUTE OF THE JUGGER (aka THE BLOOD OF HEROES), supervised by cinematographer David Eggby (Mad Max) and starring the iconic Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen, and Vincent D’Onofrio.

Dog skulls on sticks, tires for helmets, underground cities, and wounds sewn shut with fish hooks. A future where pride comes before life and dust coats every inch of skin where there isn’t dried blood. Dreams of heroics with no choice but to bite, scratch, and claw – tooth and nail – to victory!

Directed by the writer of Blade Runner and Unforgiven, David Webb Peoples, and featuring Toecutter/Immortan Joe himself Hugh Keays-Byrne, this dystopian action sci-fi utilises the barren Australian outback as an endless arena for brutal head-to-head and head-to-hammer face-offs between hardened teams of Juggers.

A spiritual successor to the Mad Max franchise, featuring even more crossover from editor Richard Francis-Bruce to actor Max Fairchild, this collision of cinematic worlds remains one of the most underrated films of its era and returns now to bolster its status as a stone-cold cult classic!

The Salute of the Jugger joins our recent slate of 4K restorations including Hardware, Wake in Fright, Lake Mungo, Black Sheep, and even more to be announced this week.”