“Go ahead, if you and your friends want to look like Swiss cheese”

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My opinion regarding kickboxer/actor/activist Ian Jacklin is a little more complicated than with most karate stars, but in a nutshell, I thought the guy was pretty cool until I realized that he spends his life promoting quackery to cancer patients. Nevertheless, I enjoy his acting career and see it as a microcosm of a successful B-movie trajectory, with Death Match being the climax. Created outside of the major video studios, it has an unambitious story but a good production with a huge amount of martial talent. It’s required watching for fans of the subgenre and easily the best of Jacklin’s film career.

The story: An ex-fighter (Jacklin) goes undercover in a deadly fighting circuit to rescue his kidnapped best friend (Nicholas Hill).

I need to emphasize the state of the production, even though it may seem odd to praise a film for looking average. Keep in mind how easy it is for indie movies to turn out like crud. By all rights, Death Match should’ve been interchangeable with a typical Cine Excel production (underpopulated vistas, dubbed dialogue, etc.) but it’s actually indistinguishable from most Pepin-Merhi or Shapiro-Glickenhaus actioneers. As a matter of fact, it would be pretty aspirant for a PM or SG production, given the impressive list of names in the cast. To be fair, we sometimes only get a little taste of them – cult stars Richard Lynch and Jorge Rivero have only one scene apiece as Mafia bosses – but the list of talent goes on. Martin Kove and Matthias Hues are good as the lead villains, with Kove supplying the drama and Hues most of the fighting. Steven Leigh, Eric Lee, and Benny Urquidez don’t have any fights but do well in their dramatic scenes. Michele Krasnoo, Butch Togisala, Randall Ideishi, Ed Neal and Peter Cunningham partake in some of the highlighted brawls, and many more show up elsewhere. If these names aren’t clicking, you haven’t been watching movies like this long enough. The sheer accumulation of performers with reputations in the genre is amazing, especially since your average PM production sometimes wouldn’t even spring for half.

Of course, presence isn’t as important as utilization. The real question is how good the 16 fight scenes are, and the answer is that they’re a mixed bag. On the bright side, there are no downright bad matches and the choreography is nicely varied – some street-fighting, some shoot boxing, and even a lone stick fight. There are some some surprisingly long shots highlighting lengthy exchanges, and a few performers have standout moments of action. (I really enjoyed the Matthias Hues-Dino Homsey bout.) However, for the most part, nobody performs the best work of their career. Michele Krasnoo is made the least of, being introduced as a fighter but then only engaging in half a match. I have the impression that the choreographers were simply stretched too thin by crafting this many fights on a limited schedule. If so, then I wish the number of brawls had been cut in half and the remaining ones given more flair.

Socially, the movie has good points and bad points. Where the latter is concerned, the fact that two women are cast in fighting roles is undermined by the female lead (Renee Allman) abandoning the sparks of characterization to play a formulaic love interest. Additionally, a sexual harasser (played by Bob Wyatt) is inexplicably made a
supporting character. However, I like that the movie seems to be championing an anti-capitalist message, using organized crime and fighting as metaphors. The villains trap fighters in a system that depends on their toil while devaluing their lives, and the same villains consider theft against them to be the single greatest crime. Threatening their income by refusing to fight by their rules is likewise punishable. The protagonist sets himself apart from this system by having abandoned organized fighting and claiming to compete solely “for the competition” – not exactly a fair outlook in light of all the pro fighters in real life who earn their income via competition, but it’s nevertheless a repudiation of the metaphorical wage slavery in the feature. Death Match isn’t The Godfather when it comes to allegory, but it’s effective in delivering its message.

There’s a moment in the film when Jacklin’s character is weirded out by Martin Kove’s belief in the supernatural powers of crystals. Retrospectively, it’s funny to see Jacklin in the role of the skeptic (even though crystal power seems to be one of the few areas of nonsense that Ian hasn’t stated a belief in), but I have to admit that he does well enough as the lead. He doesn’t have quite the charisma of, say, Don Wilson, but that’s not to say he wouldn’t have made a good star in the long run. Indeed, I wish he would’ve been handed another top role before the end of the martial arts genre’s video golden age. Nevertheless, his undisputed high point here is worth hunting down if you’re a collector. Death Match encapsulates many of the essentials seen in movies like this and adds just enough of an inspired touch earn a recommendation from me. Check it out wherever you can.

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Death Match (1994)
Directed by Joe Coppoletta (The New Adventures of Robin Hood)
Written by Curtis Gleaves (story & screenplay), Bob Wyatt, Steve Tymon (Ring of Fire II: Blood and Steel)
Starring Ian Jacklin (Kickboxer 3), Martin Kove (The Karate Kid), Matthias Hues (Bounty Tracker), Renee Allman (The Stoned Age)
Cool costars: Martial arts regulars Steven Vincent Leigh (Sword of Honor) and Eric Lee (Ring of Fire) appear in acting roles but don’t fight. Similarly, kickboxing hall of famer Benny Urquidez (Wheels on Meals) is limited to a training montage but offers his Jet Center studio as a filming location. Sexy pro wrestler Stevie “Puppet” Lee appears as the arena gong beater. Richard Lynch (Puppet Master III) and Jorge Rivero (Centennial) have one scene apiece as non-fighting Mafiosos. Onscreen fighters include Nicholas Hill (Bloodsport II), Michele Krasnoo (Kickboxer 4), Ed Neal (Breathing Fire), Butch Togisala (Firepower), Dino Homsey (Deadly Bet), Randall Shiro Ideishi (Black Scorpion), Debra “Madusa” Miceli (Shootfighter II), Jamie Krasnoo (Full Contact), and Nick Koga (Red Sun Rising). A performer called Hector Pena appears in a stick fight, but I’m not sure whether he’s the actual Hector “Aztec Warrior” Peña, world champion fighter. Also, kickboxing legend Peter Cunningham is inexplicably credited as “Peter ‘Sugarfoot’ London” – leading to a snafu on IMDb where the film credit goes to porn actor Peter London.
Cool crew: Composer Marco Beltrani – who’d go on to earn two Oscar nominations for his work on The Hurt Locker (2008) and 3:10 to Yuma (2007) – makes his feature composition debut with this one. He is directly heard on the soundtrack playing guitar and keyboards.
Content warning: Group violence, violence against women, violence against children, sexual harassment, sexual assault, ableist dialogue, graphic description of an execution
Title refers to: Either the main attraction of the underground fight ring or the fights-to-the-death taking place at the end of the film. A “death match” also refers to a hardcore pro wrestling contest – a fact which may be relevant in light of stunt coordinator Brandon Pender’s history as a World Championship Wrestling producer.
Cover accuracy: Different covers exist, but the most widely-distributed one is dominated by an image of Matthias Hues. Hues is one of the two lead villains, but relegating leading man Ian Jacklin to a teeny-tiny graphic is misleading. Heck, Jacklin can’t even get top billing, with Hues and Martin Kove claiming the large print.
Number of full-length fight scenes: 16
Crazy credit: “No music by Giancomo Puccini was used in connection with this picture” – even though Richard Lynch’s character specifically mentions the composer’s works.
Copyright Horseplay Productions, Inc.