“Touch that gun, I’ll shove it up your ass and pull the trigger!”
Even
23 years after
its release, Ballistic
is a breath of fresh air. I put off buying it for a long time because
of the
higher-than-average price tag it
goes with these days, but
that was a mistake; it’s
worth every penny.
This isn’t the perfect action movie and
it isn’t
quite unique
enough to be in a class of its own, but it gets
enough of the genre’s necessities
right while also adding
some extra
touches
to make for a genuinely worthy
video entry.
Putting its assets to good use while avoiding any glaring faults,
this is a great vehicle for
first-time star Marjean Holden and
a real hidden gem in the VHS mine.
The
story: When a straight-shooting detective (Holden) is falsely
implicated in a murder, she must prove a conspiracy between the
department and a sleazy arms dealer (Sam Jones).
Marjean
Holden is a fixture of the U.S. action scene, but despite her career
spanning theatrical, video,
and TV
work, she’s been underutilized as
a martial arts star. She’s
best known for her exotic but disappointing role in Mortal
Kombat: Annihilation (1997),
and to date, Ballistic
is the only action picture she stars in. There’s no apparent reason
why she’s seen so little
lead roles, as Holden uses
the opportunity to prove
herself the complete
package. She has an engaging screen presence and more than one note
to her acting. Her martial arts lack the world-class sheen of a
Cynthia Rothrock but she’s yards better than, say, Mimi Lesseos. Or
Michael Dudikoff. In a
perfect world, Ballistic
would be the rough freshman effort that helps lead to a polished solo
career. As is, it’s a good
demonstration of how to build up a potential star, especially when
you have plenty of other
assets at hand.
The
production values are what you’d expect from an upper-level DTV
studio like Imperial, and the cast is surprisingly great for this
kind of film. Sam Jones is an appropriately smug villain, and Charles
Napier brings some dramatic
clout to the ensemble. Cult hero Richard Roundtree plays Holden’s
onscreen father, and while I’ve grown
to regard Roundtree as
someone who gets top billing and then only appears in a handful of
scenes, he’s a genuine character here and is made full use of as an
action veteran. And amid
a fair number of recognizable
enforcers and onscreen combatants, the great star-to-be
Michael Jai White shows off his moves as he does in few films that
he’s not
actually starring
in. Everyone plays to their
strengths, whether that be martial moves or dramatic prowess. While
nobody was about to win awards for this film, no one’s phoning it
in, either.
The
things
that set this movie apart
are Holden’s
relationships to some of the other supporting figures –
specifically Richard Roundtree and her onscreen boyfriend Joel Beeson
(The Dragon Ring). You
can guess that martial artist Beeson will make his way into the
greater story, but it’s not until the film’s second half when
Roundtree’s character is released from prison and joins in the plot
that both assume prominence almost equal to Holden. In a lesser
movie, this might give the impression of
the filmmakers not having
confidence
in their star’s potential to headline, but surprisingly good
writing conveys the importance of family in this scheme.
Thematically, Holden’s
family – defined by their entertaining,
well-established
interrelationships – proves itself stronger than the shifty
criminal enterprise. It’s probably
not what the 18-36 male demographic was demanding, but the film’s
all the better for it.
The
fight content is a mixed bag, but
even here there are definite high points. Again, Michael Jai White is
fantastic, even if he can’t always find opponents to match his
acrobatic skills. Joel Beeson is a pretty decent kickboxer; in any
other incarnation of this film, he’d be the lead. And while Marjean
Holden may technically be the least skilled performer to have more
than one fight, she proves versatile in a weapons-based match and has
a fun climactic brawl against
Corinna Everson – the bodybuilder from Double Impact
who you’ll subsequently
agree was severely
underutilized in her fight with Jean-Claude Van Damme.
All
of this plays out under the direction of Kim Bass. Bass is one of the
very few women who’ve directed a martial arts film in the U.S., and
while her aesthetic approach is
virtually indistinguishable to my eye,
she’s got a sense
for action and deserves much credit for everything she gets out of
her main characters. I can’t
think of many directors who’d produce the same familial kinship in
a picture while also filming skillful karate encounters, and
in light of that, it’s a
shame that Bass has yet to direct another martial arts feature. On
the other hand, that just makes Ballistic
stand out all the more. I like this movie a lot, and
the fact that there are few others like it makes it a little
precious. There’s a good chance others will like it, too, so give
it a look if you happen to find it on TV or in a thrift shop.
Ballistic
(1995) Directed
by Kim
Bass (Kill
Speed) Written
by
Don Lamoreaux (creative consultant for Day
of Days) Starring
Marjean Holden, Joel Beeson, Richard Roundtree (Shaft trilogy),
Sam Jones (Flash
Gordon) Cool
costars: Charles
Napier (The
Silence of the Lambs),
Corinna Everson, James Lew (Balance
of Power),
Julie St. Claire (A.J.’s
Time Travelers),
Michael Jai White (Blood
and Bone),
Vincent Klyn (Cyborg),
Robert Miano (Broken
Blood),
Nils Allen Stewart (Mercenary),
Georges Bejue (Cage
II) Content
warning: Sexist
dialogue Copyright
Imperial Entertainment Corp.
I
think it was the documentary Rewind This!
(2013) which
claimed
that
less than half of all U.S.
movies with
a VHS release also got
released on DVD. This number will
rise as distributors slowly
select older titles
they hope will make
some easy money, but for now,
the statistic
means that viewers have less opportunity to discover (or rediscover)
pictures that were released before video tape’s
obsolescence. This hits the
fans of direct-to-video
flicks particularly hard, as
theatrical features have always received preferential
distribution. Martial arts
movies face their own particular hardship here, as the overwhelming
majority of U.S. karate
features have been
direct-to-video. (A good rule
of thumb for pre-Matrix
movies: unless it stars Van Damme, Seagal, or
Norris, it probably didn’t
get a theatrical
release.) As such, many
martial arts movies produced before the proliferation of the DVD
still haven’t been released in that format – at least not in the
U.S.
This
problem isn’t prevalent with
newer flicks, but if you’re
a connoisseur of older films, it can be disheartening to
try to find these movies in a desired format.
Having faced
this issue for years, I feel
qualified to provide a general overview of such
films’ availability
and how to best get your hands on ones you’re looking for.
VHS
– This is the
format on which
DTV martial arts films are most widely available, but
no major U.S. distributor markets
tapes
anymore and they’re
unlikely to be sold
by primary
sellers.
This leaves you with only third-party sellers to buy from – mainly
online, where eBay tends
to provide good
deals.
Of course, one
of the reasons
behind video tape’s obsolescence is its inferior audio/video
quality, and the fact that it
will inevitably deteriorate over time. Pros
– Unmatched availability for
earlier
films, cheap prices Cons
– Third-party sales only, substandard technical
quality, progressive tape
deterioration
DVD Compilation Packages
– The option
of finding a rare movie as part of a DVD set
is
often overlooked due to their
relative obscurity
and the fact that they sometimes don’t show up in searches
for individual titles.
Nevertheless, in cases where
the single DVD release is incredibly expensive or the picture hasn’t
been released otherwise, such
sets can be a cheap
option. However, the more obscure the distributor is,
the less likely you’ll be getting anything more than a crappy
tape transfer. Pros
– Inexpensive Cons
– Relatively
rare, poor
technical
quality
Overseas
DVDs –
Sometimes,
video tapes just don’t
cut it and there simply isn’t
a modern format
of your desired
movie available in
the States.
In such cases,
you could
look abroad. It may surprise some American viewers that international
viewing preferences don’t
directly
mirror the U.S. mainstream, and cheap martial arts films are
actually widely available on
disc in other countries.
Personally, I’ve had luck acquiring
them from German, British,
Australian, and Malaysian distributors – just go online, find a
site from these countries that sells movies (Google’s translation
service
can be
a big help), and check out what they have. Disappointingly, not every
distributor will ship to U.S. addresses, and even if they do, the
import costs can be outrageous.
Additionally, many
of these releases aren’t
the highest quality; many
will inevitably be direct
tape
transfers. Worse yet,
plenty of films
are only available overseas
in censored formats. Pros
– High
availability, cheap retail price Cons
– High shipping price, questionable technical
quality,
proliferation
of censored editions
VHS-to-DVD Conversion*
– There are many devices
commercially available that allow you to
record your video tapes onto a DVD (or even a hard drive). I’ve
heard some people mention that they did this with
their entire VHS collection following the shift
to DVDs, so while I’ve never had much luck with it
myself, it obviously works
well enough for other people. The obvious drawback is that this is a
direct video transfer, so the quality of the DVD will mirror the
quality of the tape – it might even be a little worse. That said,
unlike the tape, the DVD will maintain the
resulting quality
indefinitely. Pros
– Infinite usage Cons
– Questionable quality, might be difficult to use
*Technically,
this may be illegal. I feel compelled to mention this, but really, if
you’ve ever burned music to a disc or even recorded something off
the radio, you’re already
guilty of the same level of crime. Just don’t try and sell your
transfers.
Online
Video Streaming
– I’m referring to services like Netflix and other authentic
platforms that have a legal right to market movies. Obviously there’s
much less appeal here for viewers who prefer a physical medium.
There’s
also
the
fact that even if you purchase a film for indefinite use on these
platforms, you don’t actually own
the movie like you would a
DVD: you’re
still technically
renting it, and there’ve
been instances where providers have legally reclaimed what consumers
assumed was their personal property. However, these platforms are
useful for a couple of reasons: they allow you to rent movies that
you won’t find at the progressively
rare
video stores, and they increasingly
provide movies of this subgenre
for a lower cost than more recent productions. Pros
– Growing availability, rental option Cons
– Limited by internet service quality, digital
ownership
paradox
I’m
choosing to not list illegitimate video streaming as an outlet. While
distribution on sites like Youtube is
tempting, I don’t
condone consuming content in
a way that won’t directly benefit the filmmakers I wish to support.
And while some
martial arts filmmakers have chosen to post their content freely,
these are typically newer
movies.
Though economic realities require filmmakers at
all levels to balance their artistic visions with the demands of
financiers, DTV flicks have historically felt these demands
particularly hard. Producers and studio representatives frequently
have vetoing power over all creative aspects of a feature, and the
result has been an often baffling amount of narrative dis-fluency.
Newcomers to the video market in the early-to-mid-2000s like Sony
were particularly bad about this, and the resulting poor quality of
the movies was all too often incorrectly regarded by fans as the
fault of incompetent writers, directors, and talent.
This isn’t to say
that things were super before the new millennium, thanks to the
impact of international distributors. You see, U.S. productions were
(are?) surprisingly reliant on foreign sales to recoup on their
budgets, and as a result filmmakers often planned their productions
to meet an all-important goal: impress agents at film festivals.
Distributors who purchased the rights to these pictures often
wouldn’t even watch the whole movie – just the first few minutes.
Consequently, many films were thematically unbalanced due to the
makers pouring an overabundance of resources into the opening 10
minutes. As such, the stereotype that these movies are all very
similar is truer than I’d like to admit, but for a different reason
than many critics suspect.
Smaller,
action-oriented studios like PM, Imperial, and Shapiro-Glickenhaus
developed a reputation for above-average content during video’s
heyday. However, the crash of the video market around the turn of the
century resulted in such
studios
going out of business, being bought up, or otherwise dropping
out of the marketplace.
In their place came the likes of Sony and 20th
Century Fox: giants of film
production/distribution but newcomers to DTV flicks. The transition
wasn’t particularly smooth, with the studios largely churning out
pictures that were clunkier and less memorable than the schlockiest
indie production. This was something of a surprise, since these same
conglomerates were simultaneously producing
award-winning theatrical fare.
The
reason for this
low quality output
is
surprisingly base. As indicated by Nicholas Chartier –
co-founder of Voltage Studios, the production house that released the
Academy Award-winning film The
Hurt Locker
– in
a 2009 Variety
interview, the strategy of larger studios
is to produce and market DTV fare based solely
on name recognition,
ignoring
quality
and
using
the proceeds to finance larger
and
more ambitious productions. While
this may have changed a little over time with
DTV productions eliciting a little more respect from studios,
you can still see this
meat & potatoes
approach in many films.
Before
the time of the aforementioned video crash, the DTV action circuit
was regarded as a potential stepping stone to greater fame and
fortune. Don Wilson, Jeff Wincott, Billy Blanks, Cynthia Rothrock,
Loren Avedon, Michael Worth, Jerry Trimble, and Mimi Lesseos are
just some of the names that fans discussed during
the subgenre’s zenith,
with the question being who
would eventually ascend to Hollywood stardom.
However, the market’s fall saw most of these figures flushed out of
the market
and replaced by previously-established
names:
Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and Wesley
Snipes. The message was clear: there was only limited room for stars
and studios
favored
aging
ex-
A-listers over more talented alternatives. Worse
yet, their movies tended to be pretty darn bad.
In
a short amount of time, fan conversations turned from who was going
to be the next major action hero
to how little Seagal & Co. must care about their fans to deliver
such poor results. To
be sure, the problem wasn’t that these stars were now making
non-theatrical fare, but that doing so came at the expense of
everybody we’d been hoping
to make it big for years. While the ex-superstars
suddenly
dominated the rental shelves with well-funded but poorly-made
vehicles, the heroes of yesteryear were either relegated to even
cheaper
flicks or dropped out altogether. It
was a
disappointing end to
many aspirations.
As stars age and aren’t in the spotlight anymore, we can often
rest
assured that they’ll continue to share their influence behind the
camera as directors
and producers.
Eastwood and Stallone are doing it. Hong Kong fans are particularly
lucky, as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung and Stephen Chow are known just
as well as filmmakers
as they
are action
stars. The
B-movie action genre, on the other hand, doesn’t have this to
look forward to.
The
best we’ve got is Dolph Lundgren directing the odd low-budgeteer
that the guy himself criticizes. Seagal
and Van Damme have nursed directorial hopes in the low budget realm,
but these have yet to bear fruit. [NOTE:
I just found out that Van Damme’s self-directed Full
Love
is scheduled to come out later this year, after having been in and
out of production for almost
a decade.] And though a few less-recognized names are finding notable
behind-the-scenes work in major motion pictures, the fact is that
most of what made the subgenre enjoyable during its heyday looks like
it’s being forgotten. No other faction of martial arts filmmaking –
from the earliest Chinese productions to the sloppy Bourne
style of
fight
scenes – has been so disregarded by its successors, and
it’s happening for no reason. Time will tell whether this changes,
but for now,
it’s not looking promising.
While
re-watching some of my movies in search of something to review, I
realized how strikingly similar 1994’s Deadly Target and
1996’s White Tiger appear
to be. Both are pretty good
vehicles from Gary Daniels’ solo career, and seemingly
by coincidence, they
have
the same plot. This
realization and
the provisional quality of the films makes
me want to try
something new
and turn this
would-be review into
a competitive
comparison between the two.
Should be fun, right?
Know
now that this article’s
almost exclusively for the Gary Daniels fans out there. Few
casual viewers will have seen both features, but hey, we’re all
about niches here at B-Movie Dragons.
First,
some background. Deadly Target
is a PM Entertainment production,
and while not the first starring
picture for Gary Daniels,
it’s his first solo vehicle
that’s actually good. Indeed,
it wasn’t until PM gave him
this nudge that the
prettyboy kickboxer from London became Gary friggin’
Daniels. Just
a couple
years
afterwards,
he was working on a Hong Kong feature when the production went
broke and was bought out by
the Canada-based Keystone Pictures company.
Keystone scrapped the existing footage and did away with the
storyline, committing themselves to a completely different movie
called White Tiger,
which inexplicably
ended up being
very similar to Daniels’ aforementioned
feature. There’s no evidence that this was actually their
intention, but there’s no denying the parallels.
Now,
let’s look at which version of this adventure did it better.
The
Story
In
both features,
a law enforcement agent seeks to capture a rogue
member of the
Chinese-American mafia who’s killed the
hero’s partner en
route to distributing
an addictive narcotic on the
West Coast. In both cases,
the hero is
aided by a love interest and
the final showdown takes
place on a docked ship.
The
overriding
difference between the two is
how seriously the story takes itself. As tends to be the case with PM
productions, Deadly
Target is lighthearted with
a noticeable comedic streak. It’s a popcorn flick despite never
having seen the inside of a theater. Contrarily, White Tiger is far too
serious
to have much fun with itself. It goes for drama over
laughs, and even when there is some humor, it’s dry or
ironic. Merely
considering this, I prefer the former. While I can see some viewers
being bored
by Deadly Target’s
90s-style cheesiness,
it’s the same cheese which
gives the story texture and an
organic quality that White
Tiger lacks.
That
said, White Tiger
invests you more in its
characters. While not the most skillfully-written action feature, it
knows what it’s going for
and does a good
job of directing viewers’
emotions. Deadly
Target’s
characters are established as
soon as they appear onscreen, but White Tiger’s
tend to not show
their cards right away.
There’s development here, and it’s not just limited to the leads.
The movie wants you to think
about characters’ motivations,
and it’s ambitious enough to try and surprise the
audience at intervals with
out-of-nowhere twists.
Wisely,
it doesn’t overplay its hand: though
it liberally sprinkles the
thriller aspects, it
never forgets that we’re
expecting an action movie and
makes sure to avoid pretentiousness.
To that end, it wins me over. Deadly Target may
be more fun, but White
Tiger gives
me more to write about. It’s
a pretty good movie with
which to introduce newcomers
to Gary Daniels, whereas Deadly Target
is mainly for
established B-movie audiences.
Point: White Tiger
The
Hero
Gary
Daniels wasn’t the greatest actor at this point in his career and
his starring roles sort of blend together. Such is the case when you
compare these
movies: he’s Detective Charles Prince in Deadly
Target
and Agent Mike Ryan in White
Tiger,
and they
seem
like merely
different
takes on the same character. The
major
difference
between them
is that
Charles seems to have more fun with his life-or-death mission,
taking the
time
to crack
jokes and express
interest in other things while Mike pursues his target with uniform
intensity. You
can see practically
Charles
in an early scene of White
Tiger
while the
hero’s vacationing
with his partner’s family, and Mike seems to pop up in Deadly
Target
whenever he’s faced with the
lead villain.
When
it comes to their motivations, Mike is a little easier to empathize
with.
Charles mentions that the villain killed his (first)
partner,
but with Mike, you not only see this happen but also experience
his
investment in his partner’s family. This favors White Tiger,
and it doesn’t help that Charles seems to have some sort of
unspoken homophobia going on…but despite that,
I give the point to Deadly
Target.
For
all his shallowness, Charles
is simply
more likable. Gary
Daniels turns in a better dramatic performance for Mike,
but he’s just not interesting enough to make his relentless
seriousness
worthwhile. Charles is an example of Daniels having fun with a role,
and in
this case,
it wins him the
category.
Point: Deadly Target
The
Villain
A
hero is only as impressive
as their
adversary, and in both cases, Gary Daniels draws a good card for a
bad guy: Byron Mann as Chang in Deadly
Target
and Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa as
Victor Wong in White Tiger.
Mann and Tagawa are both acclaimed performers
who, despite having predominantly acted in other genres, are
generally known for playing martial artists – Mann in Street
Fighter: The Movie
and Tagawa in Mortal
Kombat.
Both
are versatile actors who swing between low-budget and Hollywood-grade
productions with
ease,
bringing class to both while
keeping
their dignity intact. For
both movies,
they elevate the production
and help
legitimize Gary Daniels with their presence.
That
said, I’m more impressed by Cary in this instance. Part of it’s
just that his character’s
written
with greater nuance, but he also
just
has the stronger
presence. It helps that this role goes against type for him,
so
that he’s not depicting
an
upright sentinel
for
a change.
He starts off like
that,
but within minutes you get the impression that Victor Wong would be
more at home in The
Silence of the Lambs
than Showdown in
Little Tokyo.
By
the time the movie reaches its climax, Victor has
become a self-destructive freak,
single-handedly justifying the film’s drug & fire motif.
Comparatively,
Mann doesn’t have much going for him other than that he’s
obviously
having
fun. Byron
manifests
the tone of the screenplay perfectly,
but his character sometimes
goes absent long enough for me to almost forget he’s the bad guy.
Given
his youth, Mann may seem like the more obvious choice for
an underworld renegade who’s
upsetting the established order,
but Tagawa stands
out thanks to Victor’s greater depth.
(Also, he has
a fight scene with Gary Daniels, which Mann doesn’t.)
Point: White Tiger
The
Love Interest
Please
forgive the condescension this
label implies, but in both movies, the most prominent
female character
is largely defined by her relationship with
the hero. Nevertheless, Susan Byun’s Diana Tang and Julia Nickson’s
Jade are uniquely
different
characters that
lend differing
tones to their features. Diana is
a warm-hearted person who, despite working
in
a casino owned by a mob boss, leads
a pretty sheltered
life.
Jade spends much of her
movie being an enigma, clearly knowing
more than she’s letting on.
Diana wants to get intimate with Charles
because she feels genuinely attracted to him,
whereas Jade is a femme fatale who
nudges Mike along and has sex with him only
to
further a
personal
agenda. Also,
Jade
is
infinitely more in touch with her Hong Kong heritage while Diana is
utterly Americanized and initially repulsed when Charles prepares her
a “Chinese delicacy” with squid.
As
for
who
earns the point,
it comes down to
how they fare
in the face of danger,
and
there’s
really no question.
Diana introduces
herself
by clubbing
an attacker in the head to
rescue Charles and
later
goes on to have two unexpected
fight scenes. Susan Byun becomes a temporary action hero despite
her character’s conventions,
but
Julia Nickson ironically
fares
worse. White Tiger
spends much time building Jade up as an experienced
assassin, but when the need
for her to make a move arises,
she’s instantly
overwhelmed and becomes a damsel
without
really
having
accomplished
anything.
For
both of these characters, they end up doing the exact opposite of
what you’d expect, but only Diana benefits from it. It’s
a cheap
move on the part of White
Tiger’s
writers to ultimately demean their character this way, and in this
instance, it costs them.
Point: Deadly Target
The
Supporting Cast
Which
set of supporting characters you end up preferring is largely
dependent on
what tone you favor,
as all the performers do a good job reflecting the mood of
their picture. Again, there
are many parallel roles that
are merely played differently.
Portraying
the hero’s partner is Ken McLeod in Deadly
Target and Matt Craven
in White Tiger:
martial arts-practicing straight man and
tragic best buddy. Both
police captains
are
played by award-winning TV actors:
colic-y Max Gail (Barney
Miller) and the reserved
Philip Granger (Neon
Rider). The most visible
mafia lord is played by the expressive Aki Aleong in
the first film and
the graceful Dana Lee in the other. Both feature henchman
extraordinaire Ron Yuan as the villain’s lieutenant, but he’s
only a
fully-fledged character in Deadly
Target. Last
but not least are
the roles good ol’ George
Cheung plays:
he’s a
mafia figure with no lines in the first picture,
and
one of the more interesting co-stars in the second.
If
there was nothing else to
consider, I’d happily
decree this category a draw, but the
deciding
factor ends
up being the amplitude of
supporting fighters in Deadly Target.
It’s a cool
lineup: Leo Lee, Al Leong, James Lew, Randall Shiro Ideishi, and
Koichi Sakamoto all have at least one highlighted altercation, and
the late Master Bill Ryusaki plays
one of the more
active henchmen. Lieutenant
Lydia Look – along
with her stunt double, Olympian taekwondoka Dana Hee – has a couple
of surprisingly good fights against
Susan Byun. By comparison, White Tiger
doesn’t bother highlighting many of
its supporting kickers, and that seals it for me.
Point: Deadly Target
The
Production
In
addition to the filmmakers’
talent, the quality of a
movie’s production is a
matter of time and budget, and it’s easy to tell which of
these films had more. As
I’ve mentioned, Deadly
Target is a PM
Entertainment film, and while PM was
great at maximizing its
resources and cranking out exciting
B-movies, it’s obvious
that these are,
in fact, B-movies. Deadly
Target’s no exception:
the locations are
unremarkably urban,
the cinematography is staid, the camerawork isn’t dynamic, and
even the film quality is a little grainy. Director Charla Driver –
one of the few women to direct a PM production and one of the few
women to direct a U.S. martial arts feature, period
– is every bit as good as her cohorts at
putting together a compact and entertaining action package, but
there’s no opportunity for it to rise above that status.
White
Tiger,
on the other hand, may easily be mistaken for a Hollywood production.
Keystone
Pictures would actually produce a couple of those shortly after this
one, which in retrospect seems like a warm-up exercise for director
Richard Martin. The movie showcases some exotic
locations, has
a lot of good-looking sets,
and actually has
the time to do fun stuff with its camera. The musical stings are
almost comically overdone at times, but the soundtrack still stands
out where its adversary’s is forgettable.
The
movie
generates
mixed results when
trying to be artsy
but still has
the finesse to
qualify
as a neo-noir. Whereas both features
are by-the-numbers in their own way, White
Tiger is
simply more lavish and
thereby
pulls
ahead.
Point: White Tiger
The
Action
In a way, this is the most
important category. Action pieces and fight scenes are the backbone
of any martial arts feature, and with a star as capable as Gary
“Danger Man” Daniels in the lead, both productions knew they had
the potential to make a minor action classic. To help get them there,
both selected fantastic coordinators to get the job done: Deadly
Target had Jeff Pruitt and White Tiger had the late, great
Marc Akerstream.
Pruitt was an exotic regular of
the TV and DTV realms from 1991 to 2003. As the first American member
of the Japan-based Alpha Stunts team, his cohorts and he brought a
dynamic, stunt-heavy style of action to the small screen. Though best
known for working on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Jeff
regularly got career-defining performances out of the performers he
directed, particularly DTV golden boy Jeff Wincott. Deadly Target
was the first (and thus far only) time Pruitt collaborated with Gary
Daniels, and the Hong Kong veteran works well with the style of his
handler. No slouch either is Akerstream, whose career highlight may
have been working with Jackie Chan by coordinating the vehicle that
gained JC fame in America: Rumble in the Bronx. Though he
tended to work in low-budget fare, he coordinated several times in
Hollywood blockbusters and did a ton of work for TV. Tragically, an
accident on the set of The Crow: Stairway to Heaven ended his
life in 1998.
White Tiger may actually
be Marc’s magnum opus as an action filmmaker, as he delivers some
strong pieces without being relegated by a higher-placed coordinator.
Though this is primarily a martial arts movie, it mixes things up
with some vehicle scenes and shootouts. Deadly Target does
this as well, but White Tiger has a flair in that regard that
the former can’t top, especially when it comes to the
well-choreographed scenes with the biker assassins. Still, Gary
Daniels’ fight scenes are the highlights of the picture, and what
highlights they are! The brawls dig deep into Daniels’ real-life
abilities, featuring not only a plethora of spinning kicks but also
aikido throws and intricate kung fu exchanges. A showdown with Ron
Yuan is pretty cool, and the final match with Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa is
a very decent brawl.
However, the increased production
standards ultimately work against White Tiger via
over-editing. While not horrible, the fight scenes are filled with
cuts and slow motion that tries to fool you into thinking that the
brawls are even better than they already are. Gary Daniels isn’t
some inexperienced Ken doll with shortcomings that need disguising,
so the editing tricks are facetious. Deadly Target’s fights
have no such problems, with their long takes and limited slow motion.
Though Jeff Pruitt’s heavy usage of throws and flips may seem
excessive to some, the fact is that his film’s simply less
restrained in showcasing physicality. While I understand that White
Tiger’s action may simply be a matter of stylistic consistency, Deadly Target’s greater willingness to show a fight junkie
like me everything its performers have to offer puts it over its
competition.
Point: Deadly Target
The
Winner: Deadly Target
Deadly Target
(1994) Directed by
Charla Driver (assistant director for Ice Cream Man) Written
by
James Adelstein, Michael January (To
Be the Best) Starring
Gary Daniels, Susan Byun (Sgt.
Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.),
Ken McLeod (College
Kickboxers),
Byron Mann Cool
costars:
Ron Yuan, Aki Aleong (Farewell
to the King),
Lydia Look (Battle
of the Damned),
Philip Tan (Martial
Law),
Master Bill Ryusaki (Ulterior
Motives),
George Cheung (First
Blood II),
Al Leong (Rapid
Fire),
Leo Lee (The
Perfect Weapon),
James Lew (Balance
of Power),
Randall Shiro Ideishi (Black
Scorpion),
Koichi Sakamoto (Bounty
Tracker),
Butch Togisala (Firepower) Content
warning:
Violence against women, kidnapping, police brutality Copyright
PM Entertainment Group / Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
White
Tiger
(1996) Directed
by
Richard Martin (Air
Bud: Golden Receiver) Written
by
Bey Logan (original story), Gordon Melbourne (Bulletproof
Heart),
Roy Sallows, Don Woodman, Raul Inglis (uncredited) Starring
Gary Daniels, Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, Julia Nickson (Noble
House),
Matt Craven (Crimson
Tide) Cool
costars:
Ron
Yuan, George Cheung, Dana Lee (Dr.
Ken) Content
warning:
Violence against women, torture, sexual assault Copyright
Keystone Pictures / Crown Media
Sequels
aren’t as common in martial arts cinema as other genres (at least not
for U.S. fare), and ones within the direct-to-video realm are
similarly rare. While China
O’Brien II was
shot simultaneously with its predecessor and therefore a
guaranteed
release,
the original’s success assured that a sequel would indeed be in
demand. Sadly, this is an
instance
where embarrassing stereotypes about sequels indeed
apply.
While
the original China
O’Brien
was a simple but endearing adventure that established
Cynthia Rothrock in America’s martial arts movie scene, China
O’Brien II
rings hollwer.
The circumstances behind
its creation
ensure that its production values and action content are as strong as
its predecessor’s, but an
uneven story and an unambitious
screenplay go a long way in making this the inferior flick.
The
film opens at night with a low-key soundtrack and
a
convoy of cars making its
way through a forested area. Things pick up soon, as the
convoy
divulges
a slew of police officers who’re
hunting
the story’s villain. Escaped convict C.Z. Baskin (Harlow Marks) –
ex-Special Forces operative and drug smuggler – shoots several
officers before turning up at a hideout with his sizeable
gang
of Vietnam veterans.
He lays out his goals in
a straightforward way:
he wants
to kill the judge, prosector, and detective responsible for sending
him to prison, along with a former teammate who betrayed and stole $5
million from him. Barely five minutes into the movie and we already
have enough information to determine that the hero-villain dynamics
have flipped: whereas
the first film featured our heroes attempting to topple a villain
who’d
entrenched himself in the system, this one casts the heroes as the
establishment and the villains as outsiders. We’ll
see soon
enough that
such a reversal actually renders our protagonists more vulnerable
than before.
Baskin
succeeds in having
his personnel eliminate
their
first three targets in short order,
treating
us to
a convoluted scene
where the
judge is murdered while participating in a magic act. The final
victim, Frank Atkins (Frank Magner), is living
under
the Witness Protection Program in the same town where Lori “China”
O’Brien (Rothrock) is receiving a commendation for ridding the place
of organized crime. Also present
are her returning cohorts Matt Conroy (Richard Norton) and Dakota
(Keith Cooke), and we see that their collective
problems
have become significantly less drastic
in
recent times:
while Dakota beats up a couple of men harassing a woman (one of
them’s future Mortal
Kombat
star Chris Casamassa), China and Matt drive off to arrest a bumbling
mountain man called Chester (J.R. Glover) who made a mess of a local
bar. The
trio seems to have everything under control.
This
impression continues even as the plot begins to move along and
several of Baskin’s men arrive
to kidnap Frank and his wife Annie (Tricia Quai) during
the July 4th
celebration.
Despite
an ominous soundtrack, our
heroes
thoroughly kick the crud out of these guys. The would-be kidnappers
flee, and China gets the cagey Frank to tell her about the
situation…though
he leaves out the bit about the stolen money.
An unproductive call from
his
FBI keeper
gets
Frank into an uproar, but China shuts him down and forbids him from
leaving town. Frank
doesn’t like this. Unlike
its predecessor, this
film has almost nothing to say on gender roles or feminism, but
there’s a glorious moment where the impotent
Frank whines
“I bet you like beatin’ up on men, don’t you?!” It’s a
not-so-subtle reminder that China is a subverter
of norms and
that men of questionable character can’t come to terms with
this.
Dakota
is dating Frank’s stepdaughter Jill (Tiffany Soter), which is a
little uncomfortable when you remember that Dakota is old enough to
be in college but
Jill
appears to go to school with students in
their
mid-teens. He
picks her up from the
campus
on
his bike and
brings her home, where Baskin and his men are lying in wait. Dakota
puts up a fight, but he’s kidnapped along with Jill and Annie.
Ironically,
Baskin’s
attempt to thus
press
Frank to surrender himself and the money almost goes wrong: Frank is
in the process of skipping town when China happens upon him and finds
out what’s going on.
(Frank’s
shame at being shown up by a woman is complete when he threatens her
with a gun and she takes him down from
the other side of a door.)
She
calls in Matt and her deputy Russell (Michael Anthony), and they
hatch a plan to retrieve the hostages with Frank’s (forced?)
cooperation.
The next day, it’s put into effect: Frank meets with Baskin at a
rock-crushing plant while
China & Co. Sneak up
, and following a massive fight scene that parallels the first film’s
sawmill brawl, all the good guys escape. Baskin, who gets quickly
taken out by China early in the fight, vows revenge.
This
fight scene, in
which Dakota doesn’t actively participate,
is a demonstration of how he’s
become estranged from
the other lead protagonists. While
neither
his screen time nor his contribution to the action content has been
reduced,
he shares very
few
scenes with China or Matt and has no one-on-one
time
with
them at all.
What’s more, he’s become almost facetious to the story.
While
the original movie featured his quest for revenge as a major plot
point
and gave him moments wherein
he
at least helped
China out of a jam, here he’s little more than a flashy side
character.
The importance of his kidnapping is diminished by China already
being prepared
to put herself on the line for Jill and Annie, and probably the most
significant thing he does throughout
the picture is
rescue Jill from molestation
by one of Baskin’s men (Douglas Caputo). I’ve heard that Keith
Cooke was very discerning
about
only accepting
roles that highlighted
his onscreen presence; if this is true, then
Dakota
being
indepdent of China and Matt probably appealed to Cooke,
but the result is that the film could’ve largely been made without
his character. The things he does and the things that happen to him
don’t affect the plot much, and that’s disappointing.
Baskin
effectively isolates
the town by cutting phone lines, scrambling radio airwaves, and
setting up roadblocks.
The next day, his crew rolls in to flush out China and her allies,
and the rest of the movie consists mainly of China, Matt, and Dakota
taking out opponents throughout
town.
It’s a cool collection of fight scenes, including ones with a trio
of specialty fighters (Billy Blanks, a whip-wielding Indiana Jones
wannabe, and Toshihiro Obata wearing a pair of Freddy Krueger claws),
but the
whole affair is one-sided with our
heroes
rarely losing the upper hand.
Things are a little more perilous for the characters who aren’t
martial artists: Russell is shot to death trying to get help, China’s
dispatcher Lucille (Cindy Clark) is killed when the police station is
shot up, ol’ Chester is killed just shortly after being sprung from
jail,
and even Frank is gunned down by Baskin as his family and he try
to escape with the money. Baskin grabs the suitcase of
dough,
ignoring the women, and is subsequently killed by Annie after
she grabs Frank’s rifle.
It’s surprising,
a little disappointing, but also apt that the antagonist is taken
down by a character who even the audience is meant
to consider beneath notice. C.Z.
Baskin is a more threatening and able villain than Edwin
Sommers was, but in the end, they’re both eliminated by a former
victim of their greed.
TRIVIA:
Filming had already wrapped
when director Robert Clouse was told that the runtime had to be
increased. Some additional action scenes were shot, including the one
featuring Billy Blanks, who was cast at short notice.
The
film ends on a downer, with China and Matt leaving Frank’s funeral
and mourning the loss of Lucille and Russell. Dakota’s there, but
he doesn’t leave with his friends.
Looking
back at the whole picture, I get the impression that the filmmakers
were intending for this to be a grittier
and more perilous movie than the original – you get hints at a
darker tone throughout via the soundtrack – but they
failed
to achieve the effect by reserving
all of the more
depressing stuff
for
the final
15
minutes. Sure, the
movie collectively
lacks the original’s upbeat tone, but it’d
be
comparable to shooting The
Empire Strikes Back
without the heroes facing
any setbacks prior to Luke Skywalker losing
his hand.
It just feels uneven.
China
O’Brien II
is a typically
inferior sequel in many ways, but its production circumstances make
the situation a little weirder. The films were shot at the same time
with much of the same crew and supporting cast, so their look and
design are
identical. That’s what makes it so disorienting that China
O’Brien
should be such an engaging romp while its follow-up is a distant
exhibition. I don’t know nearly enough about the production to say
more, but it goes to show just how delicate of a process it is to
create
a cult classic. It’s difficult to capture lightning twice, even
when the bottles are standing right next to each
other.
Nevertheless,
as
technically
the more mature film of the two, the sequel manages to make at least
one
narrative point about
change and adaptation. The most obvious example
of this
is China’s relationship
with
firearms, which was laid down in the original film and even
reinforced,
here. China never uses a gun, even
opting
to use a hunting bow when in need of a long-range weapon, but she
reluctantly
approves of
her allies using them. Russell uses a machine gun during the brawl at
the plant and there’s a meaningful shot of China entrusting a gun
to Frank, and
even Matt takes control of a rifle at
one point.
(There’s
also
a
recycled shot of Dakota riding his motorcycle with an M-16 strapped
to his back.)
The good guys kill people with these weapons – a signifier
for
lack
of control and a major no-no in the past, but now an apparent
necessity. There’s much to be said about taking a realistic look at
self-defense and firearms, but in the context of the film, this
underscores the effectiveness of the villains: they’re apparently
so dangerous that they drive our heroes to desperation and put a dent
in China’s ideals. In the aftermath, Sheriff O’Brien probably
reflects
on her worldview and how she intends
to protect
her town. It’s impossible to imagine her deputizing schoolchildren
anymore.
The
relationship Matt and China share with Dakota also
comes under the header of change.
The former two are
now
a
couple, but Dakota is noticeably estranged. They
still share
friendly gestures and
show concern for each other,
but there are hints that the trio may be in the process of breaking
up. Dakota’s status as a deputy is strictly voluntary, and after
seeing him spend more time with Jill than his cohorts and not joining
them after the funeral, I’m left with the impression that their
dynamic is coming apart. Dakota doesn’t hint at his plans and I
don’t want to make unfounded predictions, but as China admits that
she’ll miss her fallen friends, perhaps the
unspoken message is that she’ll also
miss
Dakota, now that he’s beyond
her inner circle.
One aspect that I
wish had been taken greater advantage of is the rest of the town’s
involvement in defending itself. The movie starts off with the place
feeling as organic as before, but as the film progresses, we see less
and less of the citizens. By the time the big finale occurs, the
streets are empty. The film’s trailer promises us that “This
time, [China] will need to have the whole town cooking,” but the
most we see of this is an out-of-the-blue scene where a couple of
Baskin’s thugs are thwarted by two chefs armed with cleavers.
Perhaps that bit was inserted to pad out the runtime, but seriously –
where have all of the extras gone? I can see China advising the
townspeople to stay in their homes off-screen, but the impression
this makes is that, despite their successful rallying of the
community in the past, China and her friends are eventually on their
own when it comes to facing danger.
Despite
its drawbacks, I still recommend China
O’Brien II
– not to just anybody, but probably to general martial arts fans
and definitely to Cynthia Rothrock devotees. The fight scenes are
top-notch, and there are enough entertaining moments to make it worth
your while. The
movie has plenty of problems, but it avoids the most common sin of
sequels by not merely rehashing the last flick. This
one’s yet to be released digitally or on DVD, and while it may not
be worth buying a VCR for, it’s definitely worth digging an old
model out of the basement.
China
O’Brien II
(1990) Directed
by
Robert Clouse Written
by
Robert Clouse, Craig Clyde (The
Wild Stallion),
James Hennessy (Wind
Dancer).
Sandra Weintraub receives a “based on a story by” credit, but
it’s unclear whether this just refers
to
her work on the previous film. Starring
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton, Keith Cooke, and Frank Magner –
all of
who
appeared in the original China
O’Brien. Cool
costars:
Chris Casamassa, Billy Blanks (The
King of the Kickboxers),
Toshihiro Obata (Rage
and Honor).
Donre Sampson plays one of the more
noticeable
henchmen, and while not particularly distinguished, he did appear in
the super cool Revenge
of the Ninja
and therefore merits a mention. Title
refers to:
Cynthia Rothrock’s character. Content
warning:
Violence against women, group violence, kidnapping Copyright Pan-Pacific
Productions, Inc. / Imperial
Entertainment Corp.
While
every other martial arts fan was watching the long-awaited Boyka:
Undisputed IVa
couple weeks ago, I was
getting my hands on a
more low-profile release called Death Fighter. I
regret that decision, now.
While looking
up
lower-profile movies
has served me well in the past, it led
to a disappointment
this time. After having its
release pushed back repeatedly for
several
years, this film finally reveals that it has little more
going for it than
a
supergroup of karate stars and a few surprises. While
there are some things that I like and admire about this one,
I have
to admit that it’s just too plain to hang with its more substantial
competition.
The
story: A renegade FBI agent (Matt Mullins) teams up with an
ex-military mercenary (Don Wilson) to take down a dangerous kingpin
(Gigi Velicitat) in the Thai jungle.
Ensemble
casting is so common now that it’d almost be a bigger surprise to
feature less than four
prominent names in an action movie, but Death Fighter
certainly secured an iconic
draw. In addition to XMA
champ Mullins and kickboxing
hall-of-famer Wilson, the
cast packs two more legends
in Cynthia Rothrock as one of the evil lieutenants and the late Joe
Lewis as Mullins’ doomed partner. Throw in rising genre staple
Jawed El Berni and you can
see why I had such high hopes
for this. However, the utilization of its stars is the main
reason I’m unhappy with the film. Only the acrobatic El Berni
delivers approximate to his reputation; everyone else is in trouble.
Matt
Mullins: I’ve been waiting for this
guy to step up and become the
next Scott Adkins ever
since I first saw
him in Adventures
of Johnny Tao. With Death Fighter being
technically his first vehicle in 12 years, I thought it’d
be the stepping stone he
needed to get people at large
to notice him…but now, I
have doubts about his
potential. Matt shows off his
martial
skills just fine, but jeez, are
both he and his character
ever bland! Mullins comes off
as a Ken doll, and
is absolutely unremarkable beyond
his fight scenes.
Adkins is no master thespian
but at least he can create a memorable character, whereas Mullins
barely creates an impression. Were
it not for Matt’s
physicality, anybody could’ve
played this role.
Don
Wilson: The opposite of his younger costar, Wilson is charismatic but
totally unprepared for the movie’s style of action. Choreographer
Patrick Tang favors a flashy, acrobatic style of fight scene, but
Wilson isn’t about to change up his usual grounded game for
anybody. Though Don’s brawls feature significantly less slow motion
than his regular fare, they’re noticeably slower and less creative
than anybody else’s – giving the impression that everyone had to
go at half-speed with the old man.
Joe
Lewis: Speaking of old men, the late
karate god is in decisively poor shape. I know
Joe was in failing
health at this time in his life and thus excuse
much
about his utilization,
but he still seems
poorly-placed in an
action-packed film like
this. He briefly beats up a henchman
and engages in a shootout before being killed off only
a few minutes into the movie. Whereas
his previous role in Kill ‘Em All
seemed like an
appropriate sendoff to the
grandmaster’s film career,
this almost seems like an unwanted obligation.
Cynthia
Rothrock: Having previously
stated
that she’d like to do at
least one more Hong Kong film in her life, I’d hoped that the
similar
style of this picture might
be the opening Cynthia needed to remind the world that she’s an
action legend. Not so. Rothrock seems awkwardly cast in her
supporting role, playing second fiddle to a performer less
charismatic than she (Velicitat),
and like Wilson, her two fights leave a lot to be desired. Her
dream match against Don is
particularly disappointing, featuring some
cruddy
camerawork.
Nevertheless,
the picture has some noteworthy redeeming traits. Despite
my complaints about some of the fighters’ individual performances,
I’m still generally pleased by
the action
content. Though he doesn’t
properly
distinguish himself from other performers who utilize the tricking
style, Matt Mullins is well-matched against Jawed El Berni and the
various Thai stuntmen, making
for occasionally nice
showdowns. However, the film’s trump cards aren’t any of its
advertised performers, but rather two hitherto-unknown costars who
just about blow their cohorts out of the water. Chiranan
Manochaem is introduced as a dramatic performer and potential love
interest to Matt Mullins, but explodes onto
the adrenaline scenes
with
some impressive
fights,
making her arguably the best-utilized performer of the bunch. Less of
a character but definitely the best onscreen fighter is Prasit
Suanphaka, playing
Don Wilson’s near-stoic sidekick. I’ll
be really
disappointed
if
this guy gets lost among the masses of stunt
guys
in Thailand, because he’s one of the most versatile and unhinged
performers
I’ve lately seen leading
a fight scene. With
a brawling style that’s a fair mix of Tony Jaa and Jackie Chan,
he’s
one guy who should definitely been in more movies.
Other
positive things I noticed include the
refreshingly
layered participation
of women in
the action scenes.
I recently wrote an essay on the depiction
of women in martial arts films, and it
seems as though the filmmakers were thinking along similar lines
regarding exceptionalism.
Chiranan Manochaem soundly dismantles any demure expectations you
develop about her character
leading up to her first fight (demonstrating
that
women can be action participants and
supporting stars at the same time),
and Cynthia Rothrock’s otherwise disappointing casting as an
enforcer helps level the field between the sexes and makes the sight
of women fighting men less extraordinary than filmmakers often
perpetuate. A
subplot involving human trafficking isn’t handled with as much
gravitas as I’d hoped (it takes a backseat to the personal revenge
angle), but it isn’t played for titillation. Not
only that, but
– for the first time I’ve ever
seen
in a U.S. production – the kidnapped women are rescued by another
woman. These
are small
touches, but the effect they have on the presentation is
noteworthy.
If
there
were
only such
aspects
to
consider and
the handful of weird B-grade
moments (e.g. a kid thinks it’s funny when a murder victim’s
blood pours onto
his head), the film might
yet manage to shine a little.
Disappointingly, the
technical presentation keeps
viewers
from properly engaging with
the story.
While the movie can get its plot
from A to B, choppy editing frequently
gives a strained feel to conversations, fight scenes, and
montages.
The presence of some naturally pretty scenery merely
draws
attention to the lack of standout cinematography. Also, the movie’s
tone can shift so drastically at times that it can
be like watching
two different films: it
favors a refreshingly optimistic outlook wherein characters develop
genuine bonds and manage
overcome personal problems, but it can quickly turn around and become
quite grim, like the rather gratuitous throat-slitting scene.
This film wasn’t rated by the MPAA, but
I
can
see
it getting one of those ironic R ratings based
on
just a
couple
of
scenes.
(For
the record, it’s gotten
a 14^ rating in Canada.)
Outright lack of quality isn’t Death Fighter’s failing point so much as mediocrity. While a
movie like this would be a decent watch in most circumstances, the
amount of talent involved makes it all the more disappointing when
you see how little the filmmakers did with their resources. It makes
me fear for the career of Matt Mullins: Rothrock and Wilson
subsequently showed themselves prepared to shape up in The Martial
Arts Kid (produced after this one but released earlier), and the
sheer amount of movies coming out of Thailand assures me that I’ll
probably see Manochaem and Suanphaka again, but Mullins probably had
a lot riding on this for his prospective solo career. He’ll always
be able to find stuntwork and supporting roles, but if this is all he
can do when the spotlight’s on him, I have a feeling that it won’t
grace him many times more. However, responsibility for the picture’s
quality ultimately falls on the filmmakers: to the extent that
director Toby Russell wasn’t hampered by producers, he’s
demonstrated that he needs more practice in producing a standout
karate film and, for the time being, should stick to documentaries.
Death
Fighter (AKA White Tiger)
(2017) Directed
by Toby
Russell (Cinema of
Vengeance) Written
by
Lawrence Riggins (Replicant) Starring
Matt Mullins, Don Wilson, Chiranan
Manochaem,
Gigi Velicitat (The
Mark) Cool
costars: Prasit
Suanphaka,
Cynthia Rothrock, Jawed El Berni (Ninja
II: Shadow of a Tear),
Joe Lewis Title
refers to: The
official
title could refer to virtually any of the above-mentioned performers,
whereas the working title refers
to Matt Mullins.
(Don
Wilson: “Sometimes,
it takes a stubborn tiger like you to get a reluctant lion like me
to fight. And you’re white.”) Content warning:
Kidnapping, implied torture, violence against women, extreme
violence Copyright
Vision Films, Inc.
“You
fight well, little man. You have good spirit.”
Taekwondo
champ Julian Lee has been appearing in action movies since 1990, but
his earliest work readily available in North America is 1992’s My
Samurai. This one fell into my lap by accident (my boyfriend
happened to have an unopened copy on his shelf), and overall, I’m
glad I saw it. What threatens to be a boring indie exercise turns
into an engaging adventure with a lot of fight scenes. It doesn’t
fully realize its potential, but the raw fun makes for a feature
worth digging your VCR out for.
The story: When a young
boy (John Kallo) witnesses an underworld crime, his babysitter (Lynne
Hart) and he are targeted for assassination and must rely on the
protection of a martial arts instructor (Lee).
The movie
starts off umpromisingly. It’s really hurting for good actors, with
lead villain Mako and absentee father Terry O’Quinn having
relatively few scenes despite their important roles. I totally buy
Julian Lee as the martial arts teacher he is, but drama seems alien
to him; he makes Philip Rhee look like an Oscar nominee. Young John
Kallo is, somehow, in even greater trouble. They stumble through the
movie’s opening third, gumming their lines and failing to impress.
Then, to my surprise and delight, the screenplay wakes up. At first
it’s just little things that you notice – realistic touches about
what three people on the run have to contend with, like how to find
new clothes and needing to sleep in a cramped space – but
eventually, it’s like the film remembers that it can do whatever it
pleases and has its three stars fighting a glam-inspired martial arts
gang and buddying up with a minister played by friggin’ Bubba
Smith. The final 15 minutes or so lose some of that gusto when the
filmmakers try to shoehorn in a whole scenario about Kallo and his
dad, but overall, this is a pretty energized movie that’s unlikely
to bore its target audience.
There are some disappointing
missteps throughout, beyond the aforementioned pacing issues. Lynne
Hart – one of only two prominent female performers in here –
shows a lot of promise but is somewhat wasted by playing a character
whose sole arc in this otherwise bombastic film is about her love
life. There seems to be some untold backstory regarding the villain,
with the filmmakers trying to draw a parallel between two sets of
fathers and sons, but this is left until the film’s final minutes
and is thus rendered confusing and pointless. Julian Lee has an
embarrassing philosophical scene wherein he claims he never got rich
teaching the martial arts because he didn’t -want-
to be rich; if all martial arts instructors who’ve struggled
and sacrificed
in pursuit
of their passion watched
this scene at once,
their combined laughter might cause earthquakes. Lastly, take note of
the movie’s inappropriate title. Didn’t the studio realize that
neither Julian Lee nor the character he plays are Japanese?
There’s
no shortage of fight scenes, here – about a dozen individual brawls
– and I’m happy to say that they balance out some of the film’s
flaws. The action doesn’t start out promisingly, with some strikes
clearly not making contact and a combatant dying by falling out of a
five-foot window, but it picks up dutifully. Julian Lee provides his
choreographers all the physical talent they need, and they exploit it
by keeping the matches grounded and intimate – lots of
close-quarters street fighting. There’s some flashiness (the glam
gang contains several acrobatic tricksters), and this makes for a
satisfying adrenaline package. Disappointingly, Lee’s onscreen
nemesis – fellow martial arts master Christoph Clark – is
portrayed as so powerful as to negate any potentially cool matches
between them. Clark beats the heck out of Lee, forcing the final
showdown to conclude anticlimactically.
My
Samurai has the right attitude to be a kickboxing flick of the No
Retreat, No Surrender variety, but not quite the concentration to
maintain its enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the mixture of unusual touches
and inspired moments make it worth owning for mildly patient fight
fans.
My
Samurai (1992) Directed by Fred H. Dresch (The
Kudzu Christmas) Written by
Richard Strahle Starring
Julian Lee (Dragon and
the Hawk),
John Kallo, Lynne Hart (Perry
Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host),
Mako (Conan the
Barbarian) Cool
costars:
Bubba Smith (Police
Academy
series), Terry O’Quinn (Lost),
Christoph Clark (Tiger
Street).
Mark
Steven Grove (Legacy
of the Tengu)
plays a member of the glam gang Title
refers to:
Julian Lee’s character, presumably. Potential
triggers:
Violence against women, violence towards children, implied
torture Copyright
Starmax
Film Partnership
B-Movie Dragons 