The Octagon (1980)

The Octagon (1980)-* *1\2

Directed by: Eric Karson

Starring: Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson, Ernie Hudson, Richard Norton, Mike Norris, Gerald Okamura, Tadashi Yamashita,  John Barrett, John Fujioka, and Lee Van Cleef










Scott James (Chuck) is a man who looks spiffy on the outside (he wears a pretty sweet tuxedo) but seems to have a lot of turmoil on the inside. Not only is he constantly flashing back to his childhood and his initial Martial Arts training (the young Scott is played by Mike Norris), but the voices in his head are overpowering and seem to tell him important things. All this is going to come in handy when Scott James faces off against perhaps the ultimate foe: terrorist ninjas. Yes, terrorist ninjas. 

While protecting a woman named Justine (Carlson) from said TerNin’s - which he does with the help of mentor McCarn (Van Cleef) - he realizes the true depth of what he’s up against. The nefarious group trains in an octagon-shaped facility, and their organization is named...The Octagon. Will Scott James triumph over these squares? Find out today!

While The Octagon contains no cage fighting, or Punchfighting of any kind, it is in fact a reasonable Chuck movie. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. By today’s standards, the pace might be too slow for some viewers, and at 104 minutes it’s certainly on the long side. But what else would you expect from director Karson, who later was responsible for Van Damme dud Black Eagle (1988)? But the cast perhaps makes up for it. Besides the aforementioned Norrises, and of course the legendary Lee Van Cleef, we have Tadashi Yamashita of Sword of Heaven (1985) fame, whose hair steals his own performance out from under him. 

The great Gerald Okamura has a brief role as a member of The Octagon, as does John Fujioka, and John Barrett does stunts as well as a small role. There’s even a young Ernie Hudson on board as a fighter. As is usual for a Chuck movie, Aaron Norris was stunt coordinator, and besides doing stunts, Richard Norton has a nice appearance as a baddie who gets in a fight with Chuck.

Norton’s hair and mustache combo look awesome, and his blonde bowl haircut is so bright, it actually lights an entire dark scene all on its own. But back to Chuck, this movie definitely belongs to the era in his acting career where his performances were noticeably, obviously wooden. Or, WoodChuck for short. But beyond the fact that this is a WoodChuck movie, at least you can hear his thoughts, which is enlightening. There’s a passing mention that Scott James was a Vietnam vet, and the baddies’ training camp is seems like a dry run for the later American Ninja (1985) - which would also reunite Norton, Yamashita and Fujioka.

The Octagon is competently-made early-80’s Chuck, but better was yet to come.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Double Blast (1994)

Double Blast (1994)-* * *

Directed by: Tim Spring

Starring: Dale "Apollo" Cook, Linda Blair, Joe Estevez, Ron Hall, Ned Hourani, John Barrett, Crystal Summer, Stephen Brouse, Lorne Berfield, and Robert Z'Dar











Greg (Cook) is a professional kickboxer who has a son, Jimmy (Berfield), and a daughter, Lisa (Summer), who take after their father and also are proficient in Martial Arts. When a gang of no-goodniks led by Nadir (Estevez) and his number one goon Mongoose (Z’Dar) kidnap archaeologist Claudia (Blair) because she can translate an ancient stone tablet said to lead to the whereabouts of great riches, the kidnapping is witnessed by Lisa and Jimmy. They follow the baddies into the jungle, and are soon followed by their dad. So now everyone, good guys and bad guys alike, are trekking through jungles and caves to try and find the treasure. Who will end up with it?

Ah, to be a kid in the 90’s. You could go to your local video store, rent Double Blast and maybe a Genesis game, then go home and watch Wild and Crazy Kids while eating your Fruit By The Foot. It’s a nice scenario, and surely one that the filmmakers at Davian International (the people behind most of Dale “Apollo” Cook’s movies) were aiming for. Double Blast is nothing if not an attempt to crack the market of younger kids seeking action thrills, and in the attempt making a sort of cross between Home Alone (1990), The Goonies (1985) and Three Ninjas (1992) (one of Berfield’s only credits is a “thank you” on Three Ninjas - was he a young consultant, a stunt-kid, or was he in the running to be one of the Ninjas? We may never know...) Seeing as how the Martial Arts fights aren’t all that different from Cook’s other movies, if such a designation exists, this movie would surely be a hard PG.

Cook carries over his time-honored sweatpants-and-fannypack look into this movie. Why an acknowledged action star of the time insisted on dressing like a tourist in every one of his films remains a mystery. Lorne Berfield, the kid who played Jimmy, was very good and seemed to have a promising career ahead of him. Sadly it never materialized. Linda Blair is along for the silly ride, and Joe Estevez chews scenery as the main baddie. Robert Z’Dar holds up his end of the wackiness on show, and this is the only credited performance of Crystal Summer, who’s not a porn star as far as we know. There are some other names in the cast fans will know, such as Ron Hall, who flips around and fights in a full suit, John Barrett, who’s Cook’s fight trainer, and Ned Hourani, who plays one of the baddies who is constantly getting beat up by children.

Director Tim Spring was certainly on a tear in the mid-90’s, having directed Reason to Die (1990), Double Blast, and Raw Target (1995) all in a row. The golden age of the video store brought out the best in people, and gave us more choices than ever before. What’s good about Double Blast is that it’s at least upbeat, and there’s no annoying kid, which there easily could have been. There are zany “BOING!” sound effects while the children are beating up the grown-ups, and characters read newspapers with grammatical errors in them. Lisa has a boyfriend (Lisa has a boyfriend!) named Charlie (Stephen Brause, in his only role) who looks exactly like TV’s Zack Morris. Maybe that’s why Brause never went on to anything else. The world already had a Zack.

But perhaps the most interesting thing, from today’s standpoint, about Double Blast is how characters call each other “retard” as an insult. You CANNOT do that today. Or maybe you could, but your movie would be rated R, and you’d be accused of bullying and defamation and sued within an inch of your life. It’s all done without malice, it truly was a more innocent time back then, people didn’t know what they were saying. In the end, we watched Double Blast because of the very impressive cast, but the movie is certainly geared for younger viewers. Not unlike Little Ninjas (1990). It’s pretty dumb, but the cast basically keeps it afloat. If you have occasion to watch something of this kind, you could probably do worse than Double Blast.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

To The Death (1993)

To The Death (1993)-* *

Directed by: Darrell Roodt

Starring: John Barrett, Michael Quissi, Claudia Udy, Michelle Bestbier, Robert Whitehead, and Ted Le Plat












In this REAL sequel to American Kickboxer 1 (1990), “Quinn” (Barrett) retires from Punchfighting and lives a peaceful life with his beloved wife Carol (Udy). “Denard” (Qissi) is seemingly obsessed with taking on Quinn in one last match (don’t worry, we’re going to explain why the names are in quotes later in the review). Quinn refuses to fight, which upsets maniacal millionaire Dominique Le Braque (Whitehead), who stages fights.  It angers him so much, he kills Quinn’s wife. Now distraught, Quinn hits the skids, living in a seedy motel and drinking himself to death. Preying on Quinn’s new vulnerability, Dominique invites Quinn to live at his palatial estate and train to get back into shape so he can fight and win a lot of money. Quinn agrees, not knowing they are Punchfighting matches...wait for it...TO THE DEATH! (In a slight twist on that tale, you don’t actually FIGHT to the death, if you lose the match, an evil ref just comes in and shoots you in the face.) 

After a some plot padding, Quinn develops a relationship with Dominique’s wife Angelica (Bestbier), and the sinister Dominique doesn’t take very kindly to that. Will Quinn ever escape his clutches?  Or will Quinn don his craziest Punchfighting Pants and fight his way out?

About the names being in quotes above, confusingly, even though there were characters BJ Quinn and Jacques Denard in American Kickboxer 1, Here, for some unknown reason, Barrett here is Rick Quinn and Qissi (a different actor) is some other Denard. Why this happened, we don’t know. Maybe Cannon demanded it.

We like John Barrett, but this movie never really rises above decent. Whitehead as the over-the-top baddie is like some kind of cross between Raul Julia and Tim Curry. He chews the scenery well. Rather than give a thumbs up or thumbs down as to whether the fighter will live, he delicately throws a rose. Now we know where the producers of The Bachelor get their ideas. 

Le Braque even dresses in a Clockwork Orange-style getup. In another absurd device, the ring announcer is none other than a man in harlequin makeup reminiscent of The Joker (he even tells really bad jokes and tries to outdo Whitehead in the crazy sweepstakes). He’s truly one of the original Insane Clown Posse.

Willard the reporter who looks like Owen C. Wilson is back (Le Plat), but presumably it’s some OTHER Willard. Quinn trains for his Punchfighting matches in dress pants, but really, if you look objectively, the Punchfighting in this movie is not that great. Additionally, the plot suffers from all sorts of maladies, but mainly  pacing issues, and the script should have gone through a few more drafts - there’s a good movie in here somewhere but it’s buried in a few layers of crud.

One of the better aspects of this movie, as we’ve seen so many times before, is the title song. The rap by Edward Jordan is a lot of fun. But really, the main flaw here is that the original Jacques Denard did not return. He really brought a lot to the table in the first film.

If you’re just itching to see the continuation of the saga of Quinn, Denard and Willard, by all means, seek this movie out - but as an example of an entirely cohesive film or an example of a great Punchfighter....this sadly isn’t really it.

Also check out our buddy Direct To Video Connoisseur's review!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

White Ghost (1988)

White Ghost (1988)-* * *

Directed by: BJ Davis

Starring: William Katt, Rosalind Chao, Wayne Crawford, John Barrett, and Reb Brown

Steve Shepard (Katt) was a soldier in Vietnam. But after all his fellow soldiers went home, Shepard stayed behind. He developed a life for himself in the jungle, and even got a Vietnamese wife (Chao), who now is pregnant with their child. But, to the locals in rural 'Nam, he's known as the "White Ghost". (He even wears white pancake makeup to further compound his reputation). Maj. Cross (Brown) decides to extract Shepard from the jungle, bring him back to the U.S., and find out what he knows. To do this, he hires a team of mercenaries. Now, with both the mercenaries and the Vietnamese army out for his blood, will Steve survive to white it up another day?

When we first see William Katt here, he looks like Christopher Atkins from The Blue Lagoon (1980). i.e., blonde and nearly nude. Somehow, after 15 years in the Vietnamese jungle, he still has a stylish perm. His bizarre afro/mullet hybrid aside, you have to admire his dedication to the hottest styles. Katt's performance (as well as his "outfits"), and to a certain extent, the movie itself, is reminiscent of the great Deadly Prey (1987) - but without about 90% of that movie's insanity. But, rest assured, about 10% is left over.

White Ghost's director, BJ Davis, is the man responsible for Laser Mission (1989), so, there you go. While we greatly enjoyed Katt's presence here (especially his "conviction face"), and think it's a shame he wasn't in more movies like this in the 70's and 80's, we also felt Wings Hauser could have filled the Steve Shepard role nicely.

While the movie does start slow, it's worth hanging in there, because it does pick up steam as it goes along. White Ghost is pretty much a slightly above average 80's VHS Vietnam action movie, with all the trappings that would imply. Torture, shooting, booby traps, blow-ups, and of course the guard tower falls and exploding huts we all know and enjoy. But there are plenty of funny and silly moments as well to keep the viewers' interest even further.

As far as the mercenaries in this particular jungle, or the "White Ghost Team" with its "White Ghost Leader", there's the guy that looks like Stallone, the guy that looks like Jesse Ventura, the beardo and John Barrett. Barrett doesn't do all that much here, but you can chalk up another actioner for his underrated career. Their character names aren't all that important, but the scenes with the mercs do provide some more good bits in the film. As for fan favorite Reb Brown, you have to wait almost the whole movie to hear his trademark yells, but they're there all right.

Released on TransWorld in VHS in the 80's, White Ghost is a decent, good movie, worth picking up if you see it somewhere cheap.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Gymkata (1985)

Gymkata (1985)-* * *1\2

Directed by: Robert Clouse

Starring: Kurt Thomas, Richard Norton, Tetchie Agbayani, Buck Kartalian, Conan Lee, and John Barrett












More like GEMkata! Here’s an excellent example of something that only could have happened in the 80’s - further proof that the 80’s rule!

When the U.S. government singles out the tiny European country of Parmistan for a secret site needed for the nuclear secrets of the Star Wars program, they think all will go smoothly. Instead, the throwbacks of this country have a yearly Most Dangerous Game-like game called...well...The Game. The Feds need someone who can infiltrate the country and not just set up the Nuke sites, but actually WIN The Game as well. So naturally they pick the only man on earth suited for the job: an Olympic gymnast named Jonathan Cabot (Thomas)!

Adding to his Olympic skills, he is trained in the fighting arts by a number of trainers. But it’s going to take all his skill and cunning to beat the sinister Zamir (Norton), the leader of The Game and a ruthless assassin. Jonathan also must protect The Princess Rubali (Agbayani of Norton vehicle Deathfight  fame) from Zamir, who is going to marry her in a royal ceremony without her permission. It’s all spearheaded by The Khan of Parmistan (isn’t that a kind of cheese?) (the great Buck Kartalian). Can Jonathan Cabot flip, flop and fly to freedom?

It’s pretty easy math to do: Gymnastics + Karate = GYMKATA! (Presumably the writers felt “gymkarate” didn’t leave much to the imagination). It’s such a great idea. We’re happy it was actually made. What’s hilarious about this newfangled fighting style, and the way Kurt Thomas executes it, is that there are so many unnecessary moves. Never mind the fact that there is Olympic gymnastics equipment in the middle of nowhere that just appears. Sure, Kurt Thomas doesn’t have much of a personality, but he’s not annoying, and his sweaters and mullet are cool.

Richard Norton, a Comeuppance Reviews hero, is great as the bearded, rat-tailed Zamir (who we think might be a master of the pan flute). Not only is the overall concept of the movie imaginative and different, it had the power of Warner Brothers behind it, so it actually had something of a budget and distribution. 

Just check out the bombastic, awesome score by Alfi Kabiljo. His booming music helps sell the Gymkata concept and paste over some of the dodgier aspects of the plot and acting. We’re glad director Robert Clouse felt the greatness of Gymkata needed a worthy score. Speaking of Clouse, he was probably trying to do with Kurt Thomas what he “did” with Bruce Lee. Do you think it worked?

And we got this far without even mentioning the infamous “Town Of the Crazies”! We spend a lot of time there as viewers, so be ready. It comes complete with what every town should have, a pommel horse in the town square. Will it be used? Also watch out for Punchfighting legend John Barrett as a competitor, and Conan Lee of Armed Response (1986) fame. Not to mention the funny ninjas (the movie was shot in Yugoslavia, so we can only assume they are Yugo-Ninjas, perhaps a cinematic first).

There’s an excellent, inexpensive DVD from WB out there that contains the excellent trailer. You must own it. There’s no excuse for not seeing Gymkata.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Merchants Of War (1990)

Merchants Of War (1990)-* * *

Directed by: Peter M. Mackenzie

Starring: Asher Brauner, Jesse Vint, and John Barrett


"He was the one man who made war on the war makers."










He's back...for some reason! The monosyllabic mullet-head returns for the better of his two headliners. And you thought his hair was his only headliner (Groan).

Asher Brauner, of American Eagle (1989), as if you didn't know, is back this time as Nick Drennen, a mercenary badass called in to do "one last mission"  - dismantle a middle-eastern terror sect in Angola. While there, he is captured and subjected to the prerequisite tortures. While there, he befriends a young boy and names him "Bugsy" because his African name is too complex for him (and because when they first met Drennen was eating bugs to survive. Bugsy gave him some Ostrich jerky and their bond was formed).

Let's not forget Drennen has some brothers in arms from his days in 'Nam to help him fight his way through the baddies. Jesse Vint plays Frank, and John Barrett appears as Tom. Barrett is always nice to see and has had a relatively under-reported-on career in action cinema. He also has a credit as Stunt Adviser on the film. Click on his tag to read more about his other films on our site.

Will Drennen and the gang be victorious against the legions of anti-American baddies after the Government cuts their ties with the mercs?

The good news is that this film is a pretty big improvement over American Eagle. Interestingly, it seems that THIS movie should have been called "American Eagle" and the other one should have been called "Merchants of War". But anyway, the direction is tighter and more professional, and the whole production seems more controlled. And it all kicks off with one killer of a theme song. Imagine a cross between Final Mission's (1984) immortal "Always on my Mind" crossed with "Livin' on a Prayer". The singer, Chris Thompson, bellows about "Merchants of Waaaaaarrrrr" with an almost-perplexing level of passion. He really cares. A little too much perhaps. But we loved the enthusiasm of it all.

Luckily, Merchants has some of the things that make action films worth watching. For some unexplained reason, a team of drunken rednecks is assembled to fight international terrorists. During a recon mission where Drennen gets some local help, he just happens to have an exploding camera. Drennen should have gone after Castro. Another great weapon in his arsenal is a dart in a slingshot. Hey, it's more original than a gun. One of the main baddies, Abdul, has absurd hair that seems to be one of the more obvious wigs we've seen. One of Drennen's comrades is oddly named  "Vincent D'Onofrio".

During the extended torture/imprisonment section of the film, Drennen is subjected to the dreaded "daily laughing". Every day, a man appears in a window solely to laugh at him, then he walks away. Chilling stuff.

It all comes to a head at the "Third World Convention". Just imagine a convention of all the hellhole countries where the leaders come to the podium and rant and rave against America. Actually you don't have to imagine the U.N. Just try and keep me away from this convention. Where do I sign up? Drennen isn't having any of this anti-American dross so he crashes the party and lets his missile launcher do the rebuttal.

For classic-era dumb action entertainment, Merchants will fit the bill solidly.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

American Kickboxer 1 (1990)

American Kickboxer 1 (1990)-* * 1\2

Directed By: Frans Nel

Starring: John Barrett, Keith Vitali, Brad Morris, and Ted Le Plat













The first thing you'll notice about "American Kickboxer 1" is THE 1. How did they know when they made it, it would have a sequel...two years later? Talk about jumping the gun on a franchise! Maybe they were hoping to reach eight (to date) sequels like the "Bloodfist" series and wanted to show the world they were ahead of the curve. Anyway...



World kickboxing champ BJ Quinn (Barrett) accidentally kills Ken Harrigan outside the ring in a freak accident and is sold down the river in court by his conceited, evil rival Jacques Denard (Morris, in a career-defining performance). After getting out of jail after 10 months, he is banned from kickboxing in championship bouts. However, he does train his buddy Chad (Vitali) to take on Denard. All of this drama is being monitored by sassy journalist Willard (Le Plat). Will a grudge match ensue between Quinn and Denard? Who will be victorious?




The character of Jacques Denard is an all-time classic. He is French, flamboyant, and flamingly arrogant. He wears a tutu of tassels (!) in the ring. That alone is enough to knock your opponent over! At one of his many press conferences, he wears a bowtie and no shirt. He has lines shaven in his head and rides a motorcycle. He's the ultimate "Love to Hate Him" baddie. He actually eclipses previous jerk from American Shaolin: King of the Kickboxers II, Trevor Gottitall.



Interestingly, just as the movie High Risk (1995) has a character not-so-subtly mocking Jackie Chan, "American Kickboxer 1" presumably does the same to Jean-Claude Van Damme. We believe Denard is a direct slam on Van Damme. He is a Van Damme lookalike and soundalike, and another character says (the term) "Bloodsport has a negative connotation". As "Kickboxer" 1 is a Cannon film, as was Bloodsport (1988), it seems to be a sly reference. Perhaps someone in the production here worked with Van Damme, and this is their revenge.




A film highlight is the courtroom scene. Quinn's lawyer appears to be about ten years old (no wonder he lost the case). Actually, he resembles Peter Billingsley of Beverly Hills Brats (1989) fame. Denard takes the stand wearing sunglasses and playing with his brass knuckles. Is that allowed?

The play-by-play announcers at the kickboxing matches are funny. Is anyone listening to kickboxing on the radio? "There's a punch! Now a kick! Now a punch!"...etc...

Barrett of Shootfighter (1992) fame and a former associate of Chuck Norris, plays, by today's standards, an older punchfighter. He was born in 1952, and was a spry 40 when he took on Denard. Like Night of the Kickfighters'  Andy Bauman and Busted Up's (1986) Paul Coufos before him, he shows you don't have to be young to beat people up. Barrett's theme song "He's a Man", used during his training sequences, should have been used more, although I don't think we need convincing.



American Kickboxer 1 is a decent entry into the punch/kick/fist/fighting/meathead genre. It delivers all the standard stuff you are looking for and doesn't disappoint. It's worth watching for the Denard character alone.

If you must see "1" movie about kickboxing this week, see "American Kickboxer 1"!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Shootfighter (1992)

Shootfighter (1992)-* * *1\2

Directed By: Patrick Allen

Starring: Bolo Yeung, Michael Bernardo, William Zabka, John Barrett, Martin Kove, and Edward Albert






"You-disgraced-the-art-of-shoot-fighting."






This opening quote sets the tone for this lively beat-em-up starring the ever-lovable Bolo Yeung as Shingo.

The plot revolves around two buddies named Ruben and Nick played by Zabka and Bernardo respectively. Yeung plays their mentor. There is the prerequisite montage where he teaches them to "shootfight" and also they play basketball with young black children and Shingo smiles in an oddly fatherly way. Before the shootfighting tournament, there is a fight in a grocery store a la Cobra (1986) where Bolo shows off both his fighting and his broken English skills.

You may remember Zabka as Johnny from The Karate Kid (1984) where he infamously swept his leg at Macchio. Apparently he couldn't get enough karate-chopping action, so he hooked up with director Patrick Allen to give birth to Allen's one and only cinematic baby.



Ruben and Nick get embroiled in an underground "shootfighting" ring. They eventually have to shootfight each other...to the death, but not before battling an array of wacky baddies in the ring, such as "Boa", who acts like a snake (including the hisses) and Mongoose, who adopts a mongoose fighting style, whatever that means. Some fights have a surprising amount of gore (i.e. limbs and fingers being broken off in a bloody mess), and this provides unintentional laughter and it sustains the viewer's interest until the end.






Martin Kove plays the evil mastermind, inexplicably named "Mr. Lee", who is behind all the shootfighting, and in his villainous rage, slices a pineapple with a samurai sword.

What is "shootfighting" you ask? Well, that question is never quite answered satisfactorily, but after doing some research we were able to determine (by reading the back of the VHS box) that it is a "forbidden sport so brutal it's banned from the civilized world".

Prepare to get uncivilized with this classic.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett