The Salute of the Jugger

Or, Mad Max Beyond Rollerball. After the apocalypse, nomadic juggers roam the wastelands, challenging local teams to bouts of gladiatorial rugby. Seduced by this life of glamour, petite peasant Chen persuades rugged Hauer to sign her up. He resists, relents, and eventually sets up a showdown exhibition match with big subterranean city juggers. Scripted by Peoples himself, this thin, sloppy scenario hasn't an original idea to its name. Despite defiantly cool stars (Chen was Bertolucci's last empress and the Twin Peaks mill-owner; Hauer will always be Batty), there's little to look at and nothing worth hearing. Even the game itself is a drag. Footnote: Peoples shot the movie at Coober Pedy, in the Australian outback, because 'deserts in the US have been filmed a lot and have become well-known'. 'Coober Pedy' comes from the aboriginal words for 'white man's hole'.