Rating: ***
Cast: Joan Chen, Rutger Hauer
Here's a dark and bloody post apocalyptic tale about a violent team sport resembling football. The story focusses on one of the nomadic minor league teams led by Rutger Hauer, and their efforts to make it into the major leagues. Starry-eyed farmer Joan Chen wants to play, and Hauer finally gives her a chance to show her stuff. Her unflinching performance is what saves the film from tedium, and she shows up the rest of the guys by being just as nasty and violent as they are. It features some incredibly good looking action pieces (i.e. game footage), but the team athlete mentality seems a little shallow and the film ends abruptly after they beat the best team on the circuit, leaving you with a hollow and empty feeling. Still worth checking out, if just to see Joan Chen kick ass.