| 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). |