Adequate cheese ball entertainment should prove to be somewhat interesting for any fan of Lamberto Bava, son of Italian filmmaking maestro Mario Bava. Lamberto filmed all exteriors Stateside, in this tale of ex-cop "Tiger" Sharp (Michael Sopkiw, "Massacre in Dinosaur Valley"). Tiger has just gotten out of prison for his revenge-killing of the man who murdered his wife. Now he's trying to live a normal life, but he will soon be approached by Connie (Valentina Forte, "Cut and Run"), the daughter that he hasn't seen in ages. He makes enemies out of a bunch of mentally challenged redneck hunters, especially Wally (Stefano Mingardo), brother of Tigers' friend Tom (Italian genre & exploitation icon George Eastman).
The title seems to suggest something at least slightly futuristic, but that is not the case. This is more a tale of a private war in a woodsy setting; ultimately, the finale strongly echoes "First Blood". The only thing remotely futuristic is the title weapon, something that definitely earns the adjective "badass". It can fire just about anything, it seems. But it doesn't come into play until the final 10 minutes of the movie.
"Blastfighter" is rough going for a while - it's a loud, sometimes chaotic, sometimes incoherent mess of a movie. It sort of improves as it goes along, and the characters become more engaging. The actors on screen are fine; also among them are future director Michele Soavi ("Stagefright", "Cemetery Man") and stuntman / actor Ottaviano Dell'Acqua ("Rats: Night of Terror"). Sopkiw is a decent B movie hero, handsome and rugged, and Eastman is always good value. But the people doing the dubbed-in American voices tend to be over the top, especially the gal doing Fortes' voice. It renders her character rather annoying.
Overall, it shows you an amusing enough time, with a fun electronic score by Fabio Frizzi ("Zombi 2"), and a particularly lively finish that features explosions aplenty.
Five out of 10.
