Bio: My name is Lee, I'm 25 years old, currently 6 years into my dad's clothing business. And I'm a martial arts cinema fan!!!
We can take it from there! :-)
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A bad formula for a movie that could've been a lot better; Just take it as a nice "cheese" film and leave it at that.
Gary Daniels: Good performance, but a little too sluggish and stiff on screen. Not bad, but needs much work.
Chuck Jefferys: An exceptionally awesome action actor whose skills and star treatment are much underhanded in this film.
Darren Shahlavi: A questionable actor with great athletic martial arts skills. However, I wouldn't be caught dead in that ridiculous costume of his.
Action: Plenty of fight scenes with good coordination and choreography, but could've definitely used a bigger budget to beef up the production quality of the action scenes, and maybe the film altogether.
Acting: Chuck is the only notably good actor in the film
Music: Open to interpretation.
Easy-To-Spot Flaws:
Use of a fake leg in a couple of the fight scenes.
It won't take a good eye to spot of the obvious wirework and use of stunt doubles.
An annoying appearance of an overhead microphone in a dialogue scene.
Frank Gorshin...why the frick is he in the movie?
The Trailer: Boring
The Movie: A good example of a Hollywood B-Film industry in an attempt to step up its game in martial arts movie making and surpass its standards by absorbing the loosely termed "Honk Kong Style" of action filmmaking.
In Sum: Worth buying and adding to your collection, but do so with caution. See it and judge for yourself.
If I Were In Charge:
Chuck Jefferys or Russel Wong (Vanishing Son & Romeo Must Die) Both are slicker and faster action actor who deserved more star power than they are given. He would play the lead, which would change the story somewhat, but only for the better. Also, the killer would be played by Benny "The Jet" Urqidez (Wheels On Meals) or Mark Dacascos(Drive). Morover, I would've put Koichi Sakamoto and his stunt team "Alpha Stunts" in charge of the action coordination, and would hire Steve Wang(Drive, Guyver 2: Dark Hero) to direct the film. Just my opinion. LOL
Other Recommendations:
Drive: Director's Cut, Special Forces, Superfights, U.S. Seals 2: The Ultimate Force, Extreme Heist, China Strike Force(English Language Version), Gen-X Cops, and Muscle Heat (a.k.a. Blood Heat).
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READER COMMENTS
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I would have rated this a bit lower, but it's just about the best Gary Daniels film (very faint praise). Now if the movie you envisioned were filmed....I'd pay to see that.
I love your idea, it would make a great remake! You should pitch this to a Hong Kong producer, I'm sure you'd get a lot of pay for it. Love your recommendations also!
The Blacksheep Affair (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts A solid action movie that stood better off without its annoying, frustrating, and unnecessary English dubbing.
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Nothing ruins a movie faster than unnecessary dubbing.
Casshern (product link) Action/Adventure / Science Fiction A visually phenomenal and emotionally powerful live action epic adventure with battle scenes that will leave you saying, "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMNNN!!!!"
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Emotionally powerful? I guess you were watching the other version. And this "action" film was about as exciting as watching paint dry
Beat [1997] (product link) Action/Adventure / Drama An emotionally stimulating action drama with a cast and a soundtrack that will leave you breathless!!
Iron Monkey [1993] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure A pure kung-fu action superhero spectacle for all you old-&-new schoolers!!!
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I agree with the use of the word "pure." This is the way truly old school wuxia pian was done, except that this effort has much better special effects and production values than the work from 1920-1960. That's really the old school.
I'm sorry, but I can't give this 5 stars for the reasons that MS10197 and Mr Williams state below. As a true lover of old school martial arts flicks, there is just too much wirework. However, I do give this 4 stars for the continous action.
I disagree with the use of the word pure. This film relies way too much on wire work and CGI gimmickry to speed up the fights. This will have limited appeal for old-school fans
Blood Heat (product link) Action/Adventure / Crime A wonderfully entertaining film with explosive action performances that definitely places Kane Kosugi in the ranks as one of the best martial arts actors in action film history!!!
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I dont wan't you to think I am picking on you, but the acting in this is god-awful. And Kane Kosugi one of the best "of all-time"? Just a wee-bit of premature hyperbole.
The Storm Riders (product link) Swordplay/Sword(s) / Fantasy Wonderful production quality, spectacular visual effects and a great storyline. If you loved THE DUEL and THE AVENGING FIST, you love this gem!
So Close (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts A very sexy and stylistic piece of new-school HK cinema, with athletically kinetic performances from the cast, including Yasuaki Kurata!
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READER COMMENTS
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Well said! I'm with you on this one. One of my favorites!
Dragon Forever (product link) Action/Adventure / Comedy Don't miss out on a wonderful classic! Somebody is selling this film somewhere; I challenge you to find a copy!
Versus (product link) Martial Arts / Horror Chambara meets Bullet Ballet meets Martial Arts meets Wes Craven meets Rock n' Roll. What a thrill ride!!!!
China Strike Force (product link) Action/Adventure A pure blast of martial arts entertainment, but make it your objective to buy a copy with the original English language track.
Silver Hawk (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts Not for hardcore old-schoolers, but still a wonderful treat to share, even with younger audiences!
Lessons For An Assassin (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts Nothing about the movie lives up to the standards of a good martial arts action film. Poor production quality, weak action scenes, and bad acting make this film not even worth a rental. It is a waste of two hours and of one's hard-earned money. I rented when it first came out on VHS once because it credited Koichi Sakamoto as the action coordinator. But the guy didn't even have his stunt team. And using regular stunt men, along with weak choreography and poor camera angles don't even make this cinematic crapfest worthy of even half a star.
Alive [SE 2-Disc Director's Cut] (product link) Science Fiction / Action/Adventure A mind-warping and suspenseful sci-fi thriller with cool visual effects and some very kinetic action scenes. Nice job Kit!
Sky High (product link) Thriller / Crime Welcome to the softer side of Ryuhei Kitamura! While more lighter on action choreography and heavier on fantasy storytelling and character illustration, the love story is well-written, with a very talented cast of characters, wonderful production values, and a beautiful soundtrack with an ending that will have you :-)ing!
Cradle 2 The Grave (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts While it is nice to watch Jet Li, Mark Dacascos and Kelly Hu work together and participate in such great action choregraphy and stunt coordination, so much effort is wasted on this Hip Hop/Kung Fu Hollywood spectacle, filled with so much bland acting from Jet Li, worse acting by these so-called rapper/actor types DMX and Drag-On, and a storyline filled with so many hole, you'd think the writer had termites!
With all this said, if you choose to buy this movie, take it for what it is: 2 hours of watching Jet Li do what he does best. The rest is bananas!
The Protector is a film that is unfortunately bogged down constantly by its annoying American 80's flair. but what saves this film is the extra effort made by Jackie Chan to make a HK Version with altered and reshot fight scenes (I personally wouldn't have minded if he decided to reshoot the film altogether) that beef up the action in order to appeal to HK audiences and fans. Thus, almost making this movie what it was supposed to be in the first place,...a Jackie Chan film.
The alteration of the final fight between Jackie Chan and Bill Wallace is a sure cut above the crap you see in the US Version, and shows as a prime example of what should've been done for The Protector in the first place.
Without the changes, this film would've been nothing more than a chop-socky culture clash that would've been tossed and left at the bottom of the barrel!
Don't be fooled by the red-blooded American idiots who can't tell great martial arts cinema from monkey doo-doo; The HK Version is better!
Avalon (product link) Science Fiction / Action/Adventure Despite being visually impressive and somewhat entertaining, Avalon hardly has a soundtrack to support the film's super-slow pace and convoluted imagery, making Avalon just too monotonous, non-stimulating and unenjoyable to watch.
Rent it if you want to,...just don't buy the damn thing!
Legacy Of Rage (product link) Action/Adventure / Crime A wonderful action thriller with a great story, great character development, emotionally captivating performances, explosive gun battles and few but very brutal fight scenes choregraphed by and featuring Mang Hoi. Legacy Of Rage is a film that illustrates the late-great Brandon Lee's potential as an action star.
In The Line Of Duty 5: Middle Man (product link) Martial Arts / Girls With Guns A slight re-hashing of part 4 that fortunately takes its own route, making this another cool addtion to the In The Line Of Duty series!
Now, where the hell can I get my hands on ITLOD 6: Forbidden Arsenal and ITLOD 7: Sea Wolves?!?
In The Line Of Duty 3 (product link) Martial Arts / Girls With Guns Often silly and fast paced at times, but still a top-notch action film illustrating some really amazing martial arts action sequences featuring Cynthia Khan, Dick Wei, and the ever sexy Michiko Nishiwaki!
Operation Scorpio (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure An amazing of action and comedy with wonderful and light-hearted storytelling and character development, emotionally captivating performances, and incredible martial arts choreography and execution! Operation Scorpio is truly a film that will definitely get you cheering for the good guy!
In The Line Of Duty 4 (product link) Martial Arts / Girls With Guns A great follow-up to part 3 with a lot more fight scenes executed brilliantly by the stars, including Donnie Yen!
Legend Of The Wolf (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts A brutal, compelling, and fast-paced explosive action adventure, "Legend Of The Wolf" is a Hong Kong martial arts classic to be treasured by all fans of the genre!!!
SPL: Sha Po Lang (product link) Crime / Drama A tough, gritty, down and dirty urban martial arts masterpiece that exposes the new schoolers to the true spirit of Hong Kong action cinema!!! Yeah baby :-D!!!
Mortal Kombat (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts Unquestionably one of the greatest martial arts films made in the U.S. since the "No Retreat, No Surrender" franchise, raising the expectations for millions of fans across America of what REAL martial arts action filmmaking is all about!!!
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS: "Extreme Heist", "Special Forces", "U.S. Seals 2: The Ultimate Force", "Superfights", "Bloodmoon", "China Strike Force" (Original English Language Version), "Guyver 2: Dark Hero", and "Drive: Director's Cut".
Aragami: The Raging God Of Battle (product link) Martial Arts / Drama One of the best low budget rock n' roll chambara films ever made. Ryuhei Kitamura continues to reign as one of the most prominent action directors of his time!
Shadow: Dead Riot (product link) Action/Adventure / Horror A campy, unimpressive, flawed, and frustrating film that fails to display any true sense of martial arts athleticism and filmmaking ability, due to Derek Wan's inability to entertain. Given his resume, he should be ashamed of himself!
If you're smart, you'll do what I didn't do when I decided to waste my hard-earned dollars: Ignore the hype and do not be fooled by the names behind the production of this so-called "action" movie.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Alive, Versus, Superfights, and Story Of Ricky
Knock Off (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts A cut above almost every film made in Van Damme history, and one of the only few films where we can say to ourselves, "NOW THAT'S THE VAN DAMME WE'VE BEEN MISSING!!! QUICK! SOMEONE BREAK OUT THE HAPPY JUICE!!!" :-D
RECOMMENDATIONS: "No Retreat No Surrender", "Hard Target", "Double Team", "Wake Of Death", & "2000 A.D."
U.S. Seals 2: The Ultimate Force (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts Isaac Florentine stands as one of the only few directors in the last two decades who utilizes the stylistic aspects of Hong Kong cinema to make a truly enteraining crossover martial arts movie.
"U.S. Seals 2" is definitely not a movie to bypass while at the DVD store.
Project S (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure A nicely produced Hong Kong actioner with great character development between Michelle Yeoh and Yu Rong Guang, and amazing feats of martial arts athleticism by co-stars Yukari Oshima and Fan Siu-Wong, and stunt veterans Sam Wong and Dick Wei!
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS: "Royal Warriors", "Yes Madam!", "She Shoots Straight", and "Satin Steel".
Transporter 2 (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure A fast-paced action packed follow-up to the first installment featuring classic Corey Yuen fight choreography.
Though honestly, I expected a bigger show of martial arts athleticism in the fight scene between Statham and Gassini.
RECOMMENDATIONS: "The Transporter", "Righting Wrongs", "Kiss Of The Dragon", and "Ong Bak".
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