Bloodsport
Rating - 7 Stars
Starring Jean Claude Van Damme
This Movie starts with Frank Dux a military
man of some sort that is about to enter a underground martial arts tournament in China. His martial arts training starts
as a young kid hanging around with the wrong crowd. His friends end up breaking into a home that has a Japanese
sword at the center. He gets caught with sword in hand starting him down a path of training with what seems to be
a Japanese/American man who teaches him the dark art of Ninjutsu. From there on he trains until one day his
teacher is in his last days and his brother in the arts has passed away, he goes to train in this tournament to
bring honor to his Shidoshi and continue the style. But, his superiors in the military would rather not see him
get hurt in this blood sport and do everything they can to catch him.
This movie is the first of Jean Claude's career and is truly a martial
arts classic. Although some of his fighting techniques in the end of this film are far from what real martial artist's
use it is very entertaining just the same. I'd say that this is a movie that I have probably seen more than twenty times
and still love to watch whenever it arrives on t.v. again. The vast array of arts that appear in this film
are rare in any martial arts movie. This is the movie that started the fight to the death plot in almost every
tournament style martial arts movie since.
Death Warrant
Rating - 3 Stars
Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Cynthia Gibb, Robert
Guillaume, Cynthia Gibb, George
Dickerson, and Art LaFleur
In this movie Van Damme plays an undercover
cop
(Louis Burke) who enters a prison undercover
to reveal the true reason people are showing up dead from strange wounds. He slowly reveals what is behind
these deaths and ends up getting pulled into the world of the hardened prisoner. Meanwhile his partner (Cynthia
Gibb) is posing as his wife and working from the outside to help him find the truth. Once he realizes
the the whole organization is involved it's too late because now the whole prison knows he's a cop. Facing a certain
death by the prison inmates alone isn't enough, he goes up against an old enemy the "Sand Man."
I
will start by saying this is just another prison movie except this one has Van Damme as the star. This is one action
movie that doesn't have enough action to cover up the obvious fact that it is poorly written and directed and had a seriously
low budget to start.
The only thing that might have kept anyone interested is the acting by Robert Guillaume who
plays an older inmate who helps Louis Burke throughout the movie.
Hero
Rating - 8 Stars
Starring Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Maggie Cheung , Chen Dao Ming , Ziyi Zhang, Tony Leung
A movie about the feudal period of Chinese history before being unified by the leader and king of the Qin
people. This story is about three assasins that are bent on turning the tide of the war against this king and changing
the outcome of their destiny.
A beautifully photographed
movie with spectacular special effects drawn together with classic Chinese wushu style martial arts scenes. It draws
on sometimes, but the twist in the end is worth the wait along with the true under currents of Martial Arts philosophy.
I would have to say that
the Martial Arts in this movie were entirely unrealistic, but I think it is understood that this isn't just a martial
arts action movie, but a beautiful dramatic tale of Love, loss, and the greater good in life.
House of the Flying Daggers
Rating - 9 Stars
Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro,
Ziyi Zhang,
Andy Lau
I would have to start by saying that the quality
of this film does not fall far from the greatness of the movie Hero starring Jet Li.
A movie about a corrupt government in ancient China during the
feudal period of 859AD. The goverment trying to control the rebel forces throughout the land have come up against
a band of rebels that rare taking from the wealthy and repaying the weak and poverish in the land. These rebels are
the House of the Flying Daggers. It begins with two officers of the government scheming to find the leader of the group
and bring justice to the house and reward and honor upon themselves. Unknown to them kidnapping a blind member
of the group through deceit leads them both down a path of truth even if that truth is not what they had
expected.
If you are looking for a movie that will draw you into the story as
much as keep you on the edge of your seat from the great martial arts feats throughout than this is the show for you.
Kiss of the Dragon
Rating - 7 Stars
Starring: Jet Li and Bridget Fonda
This film was set in France which
was interesting considering it stars Jet li, but once you start to understand the storyline then you know why. This
is about a Chinese officer that travels to France to work with a French investigator to catch a drug smuggeling crime lord.
When the bust goes bad Jet Li's character Liu Jin and the French police officer Richard, immediately end on
opposite ends of the law with Jessica (Bridget Fonda) caught in the middle. Richard kills the drug lord before
he meets the french contact and the bust is made and then tries to frame the murder on Liu Jin.
This movie has some pretty good Martial arts in
it of course because Jet Li stars in this film, but the story line and direction is what makes this film shine, even
more than the martial arts.
Latin Dragon
Rating - 2 Stars
Starring:
A war hero comes home to his small community
of L.A. to find that Gangs have taken over his streets and murdered his teacher. With vengence in mind he searches for
who is responsible for his teachers death. Slowly everyone in the neighborhood is being pushed to sell or move as
gangs suddenly flood into the area.
The acting by Fabian Carrillo (Danny Silva) is almost comical as he uses almost
all the same lines as the big budget action movies of the past decade. The Martial Arts scenes are rediculous
in this film as one scene he is standing off with a gang member in a convenience store. He stands ten feet away taking
a freestyle karate stance against his foe holding a short barrel shot gun.
I must have seen at least twenty reverse-punch strikes used throughout
the film that I really felt was funny in and of itself. Overall the fight scenes really showed a lack of skill and creativity.
Personally if it weren't for the refreshment of the acting by Gary Busey and the Martial Arts skills of Lorenzo
Lamas I don't feel I could have finished watching this film.
Outside the Law
Rating - 3 Stars
Starring: Cynthia Rothrock and Jeff Wincott
A plot that
isn't too fresh for this genre, but could have been pulled off if it wasn't for the low budget on this film. Cynthia
Rothrock plays a government agent that gets caught up in a sting gone wrong where her fiancee' gets killed and of course this sends
her on the run. She calls in to her superiors to find out that they are trying to retire her. So on the run she
comes across a small town cafe where she finds a group of people that need a hero or heroin. One of them
ends up getting murdered and she decides to stick around and find out who.
I would personally have to say that I have seen her in better
character and achieving a much higher performance of acting in other films, but that alone is not what makes or should
I say breaks this film. The plot has been played before we all know this, but the way it is written in this film
is just amateur and that's a polite way of putting it. The Martial Arts action scenes in this movie are just as bad
as the acting with her fighting prowess hardly being put to the test. In half the action scenes all you see is her foot
flying and then a villain flying shortly thereafter with hardly any scenes of her actually kicking or punching anyone.
It would really suprise me if she herself did half the stunt scenes that involved fighting.
RoadHouse
Rating - 8 Stars
Starring: Patrick Swayze
A bouncer with a past has come to a
small town to clean up yet another club, except this small town is different. This time it becomes personal! James
Dalton (Patrick Swayze) is hired to clean up a new club with a bad reputation, but when he starts cleaning house he starts
a war with the town bully that he intends to finish. But, Dalton this time runs into more trouble than even he himself
can handle so he calls in Wade Garrett (Sam Elliot) his teacher to get it under control.
This is an average action movie, but it's the philosophical undertone
along with the backdrop of a dirty club and the job of a cooler is what makes for an interesting story.
Dalton's character is deep in that he has the issues of his past that guide who and what he is. The martial
arts in this movie are more realistic to Self Defense than many other films I have seen with exception of some of the spinning
kicks towards the end.
Romeo Must Die
Rating - 6 Stars
Starring: Jet Li and Aaliyah
This is Jet Li's first leading
role in an english speaking film and he didn't do too bad.
A movie about two rival gang families that are for once working
together for a common plan, with one side ready to go straight and the other wanting it all to themselves with Son's and Daughters
of each side caught in a crossfire. With Han (Jet Li) being the son of the asian gang leader investigating his brother's
death he stumbles across Trish (Aaliyah) the daughter of the other gang leader who is also caught in the center of a sudden
gang war that could ruin both their father's plans. Jet li of course does what he does best in this movie, which is
kicking butt. The fight scenes were okay at best considering some of his hong kong films and later work.
Samourais
Rating - 4 Stars
Starring: Yasuaki Kurata, Cyril Mourali, Mai Anh Le and Hidetoshi Nakahashi.
500 years ago a demon of war (Kodeni) was
unleashed to save a doomed army, but that demon wouldn't go away quietly after being let loose. It survived long
after the army it protected had long perished. But, now it is about to be reborn in the daughter of a decendent of
the clan that brought it forth Inspector Fujimara who is investigating the strange death of a video game designer.
The martial arts in this film were more than slightly disappointing
not just on a scale of realism, but also on the fights in general. During one fight with what appears to be several
Thai boxers they are clearly using Kung Fu style kicking with very little actual boxing from Thailand. Even
the sword fights that are in this film are okay at best. The ending was a let down, but at least it showed originality.
I've seen worse, but I've also seen better.
The Challenge
Rating - 6 Stars
Starring: Scott Glen, Toshiro Mifune, Donna Kei Benz, and Atsuo Nakamura
Not
a bad movie considering the acting was bad. Scott glen plays the part of Rick a boxer that's trying to make ends meet
until a Japanese man in a wheelchair knocks on the door of his crumby apartment. He gets an offer from this handicapped
man to bring a sword back to Japan (One of two swords that belongs to the man's father), which seems too easy, but he decides
to do it anyway. When he gets there he learns the job was paid high for a reason. He loses his employer and ends
up in a Japanese style commune where the Traditional ways of the Samurai are still alive.
The martial arts scenes as few as they
are weak in comparison to most movies, but something about the story just keeps you holding on waiting to see what happens
next.
He then gets an offer from another
man to retrieve the other sword of the pair for his employer which believes that both swords are rightfully his. Confused
and lonely he leaves the dojo and bumps into the gentleman that killed his first employer. He offers to pay more money
to go back to the dojo and steal the sword, which he accepts. Who ends up with the swords? You'll have to watch
this one to find out.
The Last Samurai
Rating - 10 Stars
Starring: Tom
Cruise as 'Nathan Algren'
Strangely
enough the movie starts out in the United States with a very dilluted and drunk Algren (Tom Cruise) doing a show of the
American wild west to wealthy city slickers. He of course meets up with the military that he was once apart of and takes
a job leading him to the small island of Japan. Not without filling you in on his past and what has led him to
be who he is. His character was rich in emotion and demons in his past. Throughout the movie you are drawn into
the struggle between the past and the future not only of his character, (Algren) but of Japan and it's social class
itself.
But, not to worry for all you
Martial Arts fans out there. There is nothing left to be desired they use the old schools of bujutsu
to a brilliant art in the fight scenes that you will see. The camera is slowed down so you can see and feel every
bone crunching scene in several parts of the movie and then sped up at just the right moment.
The undertone of Japanese philosophies amongst
the fight scenes are what I truly appreciated the most about this move.
The One
Rating - 8 Stars
Starring: Jet Li
This
is a science fiction movie with a martial arts twist. In this movie Jet
Li plays two seperate characters, one good and one bad.
The basis of the movie is
that there are paralel universes that can be traveled to from place to place and in each universe there is a different version
of you leading a different life.
Gabe Law is a cop in what
appears to be present time and has no clue that an alternate self named Gabriel Yulaw in a futuristic universe is
slowly going from one universe to the next killing his alternates to gain the spirit strength of each one until he is the
last, The One. Gabe Law and Gabriel Yulaw of course end up being the last two opposites trying to survive, Gabe from
being killed by Yulaw and Gabriel Yulaw from being killed by the police that are chasing him from unverse to universe.
What I personally liked the most about this film is
of course Jet Li's performing art of Wushu and several styles of Kung Fu. What was represented the most in this film
was Wing Chun.
The fact that Jet was fighting himself in a lot of
the scenes was pretty cool especially in the end when he chose the art that he did to beat his evil alternate Yulaw.
The Transporter 2
Rating - 6 Sars
Starring: Jason Statham as 'Frank Martin The Transporter'
I'll start by saying that I
saw the first Transporter so I knew a little about the storyline and the character. But, here it is. Frank
Martin is an ex special ops soldier that delivers packages for hire after his military career has ended. He lives by
a strict set of his own rules as we have learned from the first in the series.
In this edition of the Transporter he has taken what appears
to be a side job driving for a wealthy family and becomes close to their son his current transporter job, of course as
always the family knows nothing of his real carreer and the kid becomes a target.
This was an action movie in all it's essence from the opening
credits to the end. The direction was well done with regards to the car chases, but I felt that the fight sequences
were a little too quick with the camera angles to actually see him apply his style which looks to be some type of Karate
mixed with some Judo and other joint locking techniques. The only other complaint I had with regards to fight scenes
was the fact that some of them seemed far too unrealistic for what he was applying. I guess I would welcome that unrealism
in a Martial Arts film with Jackie Chan, but not in this type of film applying what seemed to be a hard style.
Some of the car chases were entirely unealistic and almost comical,
but others were well done. The cars were of course exotic, European and gorgeous what else would you expect.
His character, I believe is a fresh breath of air when examining
other action stars currently in film. His expressions of acting are what did it for me, he would fight and
grimace on occasion and immediately after the fight as he was walking away he would show no thought or feeling for what
happened. "Reminds me of my last Sensei." ;) His character is almost a mix of James Bond and Chuck Norris with
Smooth, quiet lines and hard hitting Martial Arts.
