Gangland (2001)

Gangland (2001)- * *

Directed by: Art Camacho

Starring:  Sasha Mitchell, Vincent Klyn, Tim Thomerson, Costas Mandylor, Sam Jones, Kathleen Kinmont, Kristanna Loken, Ice-T, and Coolio



"It's survival of the baddest."






Set in the far distant future of 2010, Gangland is the tale of a post-apocalyptic wasteland where a plague runs wild. Yes, another one. Evil bad guy Lucifer (Klyn) kidnaps scientist Dr. Adams (Thomerson) because he’s close to figuring out a cure for the plague and he wants it all to himself. Meanwhile, Derek (Mitchell), Jared (Mandylor), and Alexis (Kinmont) go on the run from all the rampaging post-apocalyptic punks (what is it about the future that always breeds so many punks?). 

While on the run, they take time out to engage in fight scenes with them occasionally. Will our three heroes survive long enough to be able to get the plague antidote from Lucifer - who has also bothered to make an unkillable, Frankenstein-like superbaddie to fend off his attackers? Find out today?

Gangland pretty much defines the term “low budget”. And yes, technically speaking, this movie is “bad”, but not for anyone with a sense of humor. Corral your buddies together, watch and enjoy. Presumably all the resources the filmmakers had went to the cast. You might think, if you just saw the cast list, you couldn’t go wrong, though Ice-T, Coolio, Kristanna Loken and Sam Jones simply make cameos. But our main heroes Mitchell, Mandylor and Kinmont kicking, punching and shooting goons might be enough, but your tolerance for stupidity, dumbness, idiocy, imbecility and ineptitude (truly, a movie like this does define the subtle differences in these words for you better than a dictionary ever could) has to be pretty high.

Fan-favorite Sasha Mitchell beats up more future-punks here in much the same way he did in Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994). Heck, it was only eleven years later in the worlds of that and Gangland. A plus goes to the fact that this is one of those “set in the future that is now the past” movies. We love those. We actively seek them out. 

Helping out Mitchell on his quest (before we move on, watch out for his scene in the jail. His performance is truly a powerhouse) is Costas Mandylor, who walks away from fire in slow motion, and Lamas Wife Kinmont who looks disturbingly like Chelsea Handler in this movie, but no others that we’ve seen her in. Vincent Klyn, Mario Van Obama himself, is especially Peebles-like (well, Peebles from Exterminator 2 (1984), complete with throne, sunglasses and army of goons).

We’ve learned that great hair and clothing still exist in the future, which is a relief. One of Lucifer’s Lieutenants wears a spaghetti-strap tanktop almost all the time, except when he puts a leather vest with gold rings stitched up the sides and the word “wiseguys” painted on the back of it, over said tanktop. 

Add to this mix the fact that it looks obviously shot on backlot-style sets (that you can visit anytime you want if you visit Universal Studios), and maybe a “fan-favorite death” or two, among all the absurd beat-em-up and shooting scenes, and you have...a movie.

Featuring two songs (the title song and “Freak”) by rapper C-Tab (Ice-T and Coolio must not have been available), Gangland is pretty lame by most standards, but provides humor value if you watch it with other people.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC!

China Strike Force (2000)

China Strike Force (2000)- * *1\2

Directed by: Stanley Tong

Starring: Mark Dacascos, Coolio, Leehom Wang, Paul Chun, Norika Fujiwara, and Aaron Kwok













Tony Lau (Dacascos) is a gangster trying to convince the higher-ups in his organization to start running drugs, but they say no. Coolio (Coolio) (no, that’s not a mistake; in what has to be the most perfect casting of all time, Coolio just happens to play a guy named Coolio) is a gangsta from South Central L.A. who is trying to make inroads into the Hong Kong criminal underworld. So naturally Tony and Coolio gravitate toward each other so they can achieve their own personal aims. Meanwhile, cops Darren Tong (Kwok) and Alex Cheung (Wang) are part of an elite squad who are determined to stop the gangsters and the drugs they import.

 These guys will stop at nothing, and they’re constantly doing crazy stunts to stop the baddies. When they’re transferred to Lung Cheng, their contact is Sheriff Lin (Chun), who resembles a Chinese Joe Mantegna. But the real question is: who is the mysterious and beautiful Norika (Fujiwara)? Where do her allegiances lie? So sets the stage for the ultimate showdown between cops and criminals. What will happen?

Perhaps the question foremost in the minds of viewers of China Strike Force is: why...WHY is Coolio of all people involved in a Hong Kong action film? And why is his name in the film Coolio? It would have made so much more sense for his character to have a different name, because there is dialogue such as (and I’m paraphrasing here): “Coolio killed my partner two years ago!” Do they mean Coolio or...Coolio? And lets also keep in mind he has a fedora-style hat with no top, so his bizarre, plant-like hair can sprout out the top of the hat. Words can’t describe how silly this looks. 

But in all seriousness, he and Mark Dacascos have good chemistry together, and for American audiences like us, they are the two “names” in the cast, so we already have a sort of recognition factor with them. While Coolio’s stereotypical chattering can get irritating, it makes you wonder why this didn’t become a three-part series like Rush Hour.

Seeing as China Strike Force is light in the character and plot development departments, it makes up for it with stunt work and Martial Arts fights. The stunts stand out as being particularly impressive, especially the car chases. 

But it’s not really enough to keep a 90 minute film afloat, so there is definitely some filler. But it should be noted that American movies have either a Black Yelling Chief (BYC) or a White Yelling Chief (WYC) at the precinct, but here, in a wild twist, is a CYC, or Chinese Yelling Chief. But the movie as a whole has a huge American influence, as best indicated by its numerous Arnold Schwarzenegger references. 

And of course the presence of the one and only Coolio, who - though you have to wait quite a while for it - gets to do some Coolio-Fu on his opponents. And in an (unintentionally?) “Meta” sequence, we find out Coolio is played by Coolio, while Coolio music plays on the soundtrack. We believe the official mathematical term for that is Coolio Cubed.

In the end, China Strike Force isn’t really the most consequential movie out there, but it makes for a decently entertaining one-time watch, thanks to the obvious care that went into the stunt work.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC!

Gang Warz (2004)

Gang Warz (2004)-* *1\2

Directed by: Chris McIntyre

Starring: Chino XL, Coolio, Pablo Patlis, Reni Santoni, and Robert Vaughn













I expected the worst and got a surprise here. Gang Warz is actually good.

The Crime Strike Force was great at catching criminals. Until corruption and bribes surfaced, and because of that, violent gang members were let out of prison. One gang member, Marco Cruz (Patlis) vowed to kill the people who put him away. Ro Conner (Chino XL) is the cop who has to stop him.

The biggest surprise of the movie is that Coolio's performance was first-rate. He was subtle. Robert Vaughn makes an appearance and spouts cop clichés. Chino XL was a little wooden in his delivery. 


The action scenes were goofy because during the gunfights, it looked like they didn't have a budget and winged it.

Besides that, if you want a pretty decent cop\gang flick, this isn't a bad choice.

Comeuppance review by: Ty