I'm reviewing this based on my opinion of it as a high school kid. That's when I originally saw it and repeated viewings haven't changed my opinion. I have always liked Rutger Hauer and Vincent D'Onofrio. I love just about everything about the movie in its simple butt-stomping game and story. Its a sports movie with Mad Max as the background. I'm surprised that the RT score is so low, but I think most fans of this kind of genre will like it.

Made at a time when these post apocalyptic movies were heading right down the pan, Salute of the Jugger, is one of those films I wanted to watch for a while, and, 22 years after its release, I get to see it, and be sorely disappointed.I for one, we're expecting some sort of Mad Max meets Rollerball, with some fun chucked in for good measure.What I got was a miserable bunch of injured people walking across the desert, with a little bit of Land Of Doom and Solarbabies thrown in.It's not the casts fault, Hauer and Co are perfectly fine, it's just edited poorly, lit poorly, and so uninvolved, you really care less what happens to the 'rag tag' team.Some people call this a cult movie, and a film for the ages, it's not, it's a cheap, miserable little film, with an okay performance from the cast and little else.If you like maundering people walking across the desert chucking a skull on a stick,then welcome to the pleasure dome.Otherwise, stick with Mad Max and Blind Fury.

Jugger is a great spectator sport; it's quick, with strategic elements, something's always going on, and a third is over before any ADD you might have could set in. The movie, though? Well, to start with, it's the boredom of watching a fixed game that any sports movie offers. (And not much else, there isn't really much in the way of plot.) But you'll also be watching a game the rules of which aren't properly explained, and the cinematography isn't conducive to figuring it out, especially in the key games which happen in half-light. Any of Blade Runner, Split Second, even Wedlock are better vehicles for Hauer.Reviewed: "Long" (99min/PAL) DVD. May work better on theatre size screen.

This is my favorite sports movie in the entire world.PLOT: Just trying to get by, traveling from town to town playing the game of jugging, Sallow is finally convinced by his younger, eager teammates to take one last shot at glory and take on The League - despite the fact that Sallow, once a member of The League had long ago been kicked out for a moral transgression.See, it's a sports movie.It's the people and the setting that make it fantastic. The movie opens with a simple paragraph on the screen which basically says "no one remembers how life used to be, no one remembers how the game of jugging began, and no one remembers why it is played with a dog's skull." AND THAT'S ALL YOU GET. The movie expects you to figure out the rest for yourself.I love it when a movie WANTS you to be smart... For instance, it is never stated WHY, after each match, they mark up the "game dog skull" and carry it around with them - but when they present the bag of skulls at League HQ, and the judges look them over carefully, you can't help but guess the markings must be some sort of record of the scoring...The characters are great: Sallow (Hauer), with his world-weary airs "Juggers can't have sex with each other after a match - unless you like rubbing wounds on wounds..."; Kidda (Chen), who subs in a game against Sallow's team when her town's Qwik is injured, and gets so caught up that she decides to run away with them; the backbones of the team, Mbulu and Big Cimber - both obviously vets who, while they have no ambition, can't stop playing; and "Young Gar" (D'onofrio), the eager young pup who wants nothing more than to make a name for himself and who Sallow can see will probably follow in his own footsteps, even to the point of taking the same fall.Even without the stellar performances, I would suggest watching the movie for the background details. Every time I see it, I see something cool and new.The first thing you see of the jugging team, in the first ten minutes of the film, is their gearing up for a game - one uses a bedrail for a weapon, while another looks like a pipe with some kind of gearbox covering, Mbulu has an honest-to-god football helmet for his headgear, while Sallow's more makeshift helmet is wrapped in old tire treads.And the places they travel - some have minimal electricity, while most don't, buildings are made of old tires and chain link fencing, and the man with the accordion is god.