Bloodstone

A beloved action superstar in his native India for over 40 years, Rajinikanth is still virtually unknown here in the U.S.   And his English language debut in Bloodstone (1988) certainly wasn't the best introduction.  Produced by cut-rate action auteur Nico Mastorakis and directed by Dwight Little (who would eventually do better), the film aspires to be an international adventure / buddy cop movie with a hint of the exotic leftovers from the Indiana Jones series.   The result is closer to an episode of The A-Team with hammy acting, racist humor and sub-par stunts.  That said, Rajinikanth emerges pretty much unscathed, knife flips and all!

 

A newlywed couple gets some extra excitement on their honeymoon when a jewel thief slips a stolen ruby into their luggage.  The hunt for the missing gem involves a Clouseau-esque inspector (Charlie Brill), Dutch treasure hunter (Christopher Neame) and jack-of-all-trades cab driver (Rajinikanth) that fight for possession of this national treasure while trading bullets and bad one-liners.

 

Viewed at a certain age, Bloodstone could be good escapist fun.  But without the benefit of childhood nostalgia, this attempt at kick starting a Bollywood / Hollywood collaboration runs out of gas quickly.  Little makes the most of his locations, from crowded streets to historic castles, there's even a repeat of the Temple of Doom bridge sequence.  And Rajinikanth, hoping to repeat Jackie Chan's English-speaking success, proves to be a charming anti-hero, much more so than the dubbed American lead (Brett Stimely).  But there such a lack of energy and imagination to the proceedings, even the best of intentions can't make up for a film that was hardly worth picking up on 2 for 1 rental night.

 

The silver lining to all this is Arrow Video's unbelievable-looking new Blu-ray.  The hi-def transfer ranks right up there among their best and the extras (although a bit more amateurish due to the pandemic) make the movie much more interesting in retrospect.  There's a pair of commentaries, self-shot interview with Mastorakis, video essay on the career of Rajinikanth, trailer, original screenplay and collector's booklet.  If you're into the film, it doesn't get any better.

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