Draft:Future Hunters

Future Hunters is a 1986 action adventure film directed by Cirio H. Santiago and written by J. Lee Thompson. It stars Robert Patrick and Linda Carol with a cameo appearance of Richard Norton and Bruce Lee impersonator Bruce Le.

Plot
In a post-apocalyptic world, the leader of a rebel group (Richard Norton) fights a warlord to retrieve the mystical Spear of Destiny from a derelict temple. The spear's powers enable him to travel back in time. 39 years earlier, he saves the aspiring anthropologist Michelle (Linda Carol) and her boyfriend Slade (Robert Patrick) from the attack of a ruthless biker gang who injure him fatally. Before his demise, he hands the spear over to the couple and implores them to find the shaft in order to unite it with the spear to break its dark powers.

The search for the shaft takes Michelle and Slade from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and through the jungles of the Philippines until they reach the legendary Venus Valley. They must fight goons, martial artists, fanatical Nazis, Mongol warriors, midgets and hostile Amazons until they reach the cave where the shaft is located.

Development
After the international success of Final Mission (1984) and Naked Vengeance (1985), Vestron Pictures executive Austin O. Furst Jr. approached the producer/director duo Cirio H. Santiago and Anthony Maharaj to do another film for them as a negative pickup deal. Maharaj came across a one-pager about the Spear of Destiny, the lance that is alleged to have pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross during his crucifixion and is considered a magical relic of historical significance. Inspired by the popularity of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and The Temple of Doom (1984), Maharaj built a story around the search for this object. Veteran British screenwriter/director J. Lee Thompson was hired to write a script based on this idea and turned it into a wild mix of genres and locations.

Pre-production
The movie went into production with the working title Spear Of Destiny.

Filming
Most of the picture was filmed on location in the Philippines, namely in Metro Manila, the La Paz Sand Dunes in Ilocos Norte, Baguio, at the Calinawan Cave in Tanay, Rizal, and the Manila Garden Hotel amongst other places. Some exteriors were shot in Hong Kong.

Music
After the successful collaboration on Naked Vengeance (1985), composer Ron Jones was once again commissioned to create the soundtrack for this film. Jones created an expressive soundtrack dominated by fanfares, which is reminiscent of his later score for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1991).

Release
Future Hunters was released directly to video by Vestron Pictures. Its video premiere was on September 23, 1988 in the United Kingdom and on February 26, 1989 in the United States. There is no record of a theatrical release.