Skin Trade (2014)

Skin Trade (2014)- * * *

Directed by: Ekachai Uekrongtham

Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Michael Jai White, Ron Perlman, and Peter Weller

Nick Cassidy (Dolph) is a tough New York cop with a loving wife and daughter. When a Serbian gangster named Viktor Dragovic (Perlman) and his three sons appear on Nick’s radar, representing many illegal interests, not the least of which is human trafficking, Nick makes it his mission to shut them down. It becomes personal when the baddies kill his wife and daughter and leave him for dead. Now fueled for revenge, Nick travels to Thailand, and while there meets up with a Thai cop named Tony (Jaa). At first they are enemies based on misunderstanding, but eventually they team up to end the Dragovic criminal empire - permanently. Add to that some duplicity on behalf of a man named Reed (White), Nick and Tony have their hands full. Will they both put an out-of-business sign on the SKIN TRADE?

Dolph delivers what fans want with Skin Trade, and notches another positive on his ever-growing resume. Having starred in, co-produced, and co-written the film, Dolph has described it as a passion project. That he has two daughters of his own provided even more emotional fuel for him, and he even got involved behind the scenes with anti-trafficking organizations. While that is noble, and there is a tasteful title card after the film that informs us about trafficking, what we’re here for is the action, and there’s plenty of it. It’s all framed around what is probably our favorite plot, the revenge framework.

Dolph even assembled a dream cast for this one. You can’t do better than having Dolph, Tony Jaa, Michael Jai White (MJW as we call him), Ron Perlman and Peter Weller all together, can you? Weller’s part is necessarily restrained, but he does bring his classic voice and intensity to the role. Perlman, honestly, doesn’t get a ton of screen time either, but he makes the most of what he has. The Dolph-Tony Jaa fight amongst all the falling rice was a movie highlight, as was another dream pairing, the MJW-Tony Jaa fight.

It looks professional and non-junky, thank goodness, and the stellar cast only reinforces the “this could have gone to the theater here and probably did in other countries around the world” vibe. Dolph does walk away from an explosion, which is always cool, but sadly it’s a CGI explosion. While we really liked the movie overall, and there is plenty to commend within it, the use of CGI explosions, bullet hits, sparks, etc., plus the annoying use of cut frames was a bit bothersome. But it’s very clear the positives outweigh those minor negatives.

We applaud everyone involved, especially Dolph, for producing Skin Trade. On the one hand it has brutal violence and top-notch fights from the best in the business, and on the other hand it delivers an important message about one of the evils in the world today. The fact that Dolph and the gang found a way to marry those two together is impressive and noteworthy. Skin Trade is worth seeing and recommending. 

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

Forced To Fight (2011)

Forced To Fight (2011)- * *1\2

Directed by: Jonas Quastel

Starring: Gary Daniels, Arkie Reece, Corbin Thomas, Alexandra Weaver, and Peter Weller













Shane Slavin (Daniels) is a former Punchfighter but now shuns violence and works as a humble auto mechanic. When his brother Scotty (Reece) follows in his footsteps and begins underground fighting for ruthless fight promoter Danny G (Weller), he makes a terrible mistake. He begins borrowing against his fight winnings, and soon he owes Mr. G 64,000 dollars. But he can’t earn it back because G’s goons give him a severe beating. When G approaches Shane about earning the money in lieu of his brother in a “comeback” role, Shane of course says no.

Seeing no other way to earn the money, he’s then “Forced To Fight”. The only problem is, the fight game has become even more brutal since Shane left, and, to compete with younger, stronger fighters, Shane has to train and train to remain in the game. But it begins to negatively affect his personality, and he becomes a jerk to his wife Connie (Weaver) and his son  James (Thomas). What with Danny G forcing him to take dives, and even kidnapping his wife and son, the stakes have never been higher for Shane Slavin. But is he truly forced to fight...or does he enjoy it and now he’s  fighting for his honor and pride? Find out today...

It was great to see an older, wiser Gary Daniels. Especially when he can Punchfight with the best of them. But you also care about his character Shane, who goes from a nonviolent mechanic to the guy who gets “in too deep” and his whole demeanor becomes darker. Whether intentional or not, the theme of the film seems to be that the older fighters have more heart. The younger guys might have flashier moves, more bulk, and stupider tattoos, but Shane Slavin refuses to fight dirty and initially is resistant even to MMA-style floor grappling, insisting he’s a “stand-up” fighter (in more ways than one). Peter Weller then makes a hilarious remark about how it looks gay anyway.

While it is, frankly, amazing that in 2011 Punchfighters of this type are still being made, and we are happy about that, it does kind of make you long for the old days. Probably much like Shane Slavin. Look at a movie like Shootfighter (1992), where fighters had colorful, individual personalities and fighting styles like Boa and Mongoose. Compare that with today where we have a bunch of heartless, soulless, characterless, humorless, merciless thugs as fighters. Screaming fans in the audience no longer hold cash in their hands. Now it’s all done on a computer, and rather than clutching their cash, they now clutch their iPhones. Sure, Punchfighters are still being made, but at what cost? 

The presence of Gary Daniels not only keeps the movie afloat, it highlights and underlines this change of the world to a harsher, less fun reality.

If you watch a lot of Punchfighters (and we assume you do if you’re reading this site) then plotwise, Forced to Fight is nothing you haven’t seen before. It has every single cliche (not meant in a negative way) these movies tend to have. It would be pointless to list them all, because the movie itself is one big cliche. 

But movies like this are made for fans who want to see them - hence you can actually SEE the fights and there, mercifully, isn’t a reliance on quick cuts and nu-metal. That’s absolutely to the movie’s credit, but you may get “punch fatigue” towards the end if your tolerance for shirtless, hulking men in small shorts wailing on each other isn’t super high (i.e. if you are a normal human being).

Fortunately, Forced to Fight is, if nothing else, evidence that our beloved Gary Daniels has still got it. That alone makes the movie worth seeing, and the presence of Peter Weller only sweetens the deal. But if some of the things we mentioned earlier turn you off, thanks to the predictability of it all, at least you’ll know what to expect going in.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out write-ups from our buddies, Cool Target and DTVC!

Dragon Eyes (2012)

Dragon Eyes (2012)-* * *

Directed by: John Hyams

Starring: Cung Le, Crystal Mantecon, Peter Weller, and Jean-Claude Van Damme













A man named Hong (Le) comes to a gang, drug, and crime-infested ‘hood called St. Jude and rents a small apartment. It seems a gang war is brewing between the Devil Dogs, the 6th Street Kings and the Eastsiders. A corrupt cop named Mr. V (Weller) is orchestrating all the mayhem from behind the scenes. But the introduction of Hong into this milieu shakes things up for everyone. 

To innocent residents like Rosanna (Mantecon), he’s a godsend, because he helps clean up the neighborhood (in a classic “cleaning up the neighborhood” montage that we always love to see) - but to his enemies, he’s a thorn in their side. All Hong has to rely on is the Martial Arts training he received from his mentor, a man named Tiano (Van Damme). But what is Hong’s true motivation? He will be put to the ultimate test - will he be the savior of the streets? Find out today...

Dragon Eyes is more or less a “Homie Movie”, but with a difference. The difference being that it is competently acted, directed, edited and has some tough, brutal and engaging fight scenes. 

But we wouldn’t expect anything less from our new favorite director, Mr. Hyams, who delivered the utterly brilliant Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009) immediately preceding Dragon Eyes. Throwback-style action, but perhaps with some added brutality, seems to be Hyams’ trademark. 

After all, this movie is about a loner who comes to a harsh new town, pits two gangs against one another, and contains the casual racism of the old days - as well as the Prerequisite Torture of the hero and the final fight in the...you guessed it, the abandoned warehouse. So all the proper elements are present and accounted for. But this movie has the first instance we can recall of Rakefighting, and Hong wields that rake like nobody’s business. We applaud that.

With the casting of  Peter Weller and Van Damme, we finally have Robocop vs. Timecop. Well, not really, as they don’t share any scenes together. Van Damme’s role is extremely limited, he only appears in dark, shadowy flashbacks as Hong’s mentor. It’s more about the mysterious Hong in a setup that’s like Blood and Bone (2009) meets Urban Justice (2007). Peter Weller, as Mr. V - not to be confused with Danny G from the previous year’s Forced To Fight (2011) - because in Dragon Eyes Mr. V wears a hat. Otherwise the roles are very, very similar. But Weller has a ton of screen presence, so you want to see him do roles like this. It seems just a few years ago, you wouldn’t see stars like Weller in down-and-dirty DTV product like this and Forced To Fight. But if Robert De Niro is going straight to video now, that signals the way for the movie industry, and all actors beneath his stature.

Mr. Hyams is clearly a talented director and knows how to direct a quality fight scene. The movie overall has some good grit and basically delivers what you want. While we prefer Regeneration, Dragon Eyes is certainly worth watching.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out write-ups from our buddies, The Video Vacuum and DTVC!

Decoy (1995)

Decoy (1995)-*1\2

Directed by: Vittorio Rambaldi

Starring: Peter Weller, Robert Patrick, Charlotte Lewis, Darlene Vogel, Peter Breck, and Vladmir Kulich












Travis (Patrick), a former government op, is hired by his old commanding officer, Wellington (Breck) to protect his daughter, Diana (Vogel of Ring Of Steel fame) for a temporary amount of time because bad guys are after him and his family. Travis agrees to the job, but only if he can bring in his buddy Baxter (Weller) to help out. Even though Baxter is a nutty guy, Wellington reluctantly agrees. What then follows is Travis, Baxter and Diana moving from place to place in the woods, as Katya (Lewis), Daniel (Kulich) and other baddies try killing them using various means, but usually shooting. Most of the rest of the movie is this cat-and-mouse game, but there are a few twists every now and again to try to keep the viewers’ interest. Who is the real DECOY?

Sure, Decoy may have some bigger names, like Robert Patrick and Peter Weller, and it may be shot well using picturesque Canadian locations (shot in Regina and La Ronge, Saskatchewan), but don’t be fooled: this is just as dumb and run-of-the-mill as many other DTV productions out there. It was clearly trying to be more upper crust and be almost theater-quality, but ultimately doesn’t get there and is a disappointment.

There are some cool killings, and the baddies have these futuristic wrist rockets that they use on their enemies, but that’s really the only noteworthy invention here. And that doesn’t a good movie make. There are some utterly stupid, time-wasting “romantic” elements between Baxter and Diana for a while, which don’t need to be there. Diana is the cliched “complaining woman dragged along into an adventure” we’ve seen so many times before. On the other end of the female spectrum is Charlotte Lewis, looking amazing with her outfits and high-powered weaponry. It’s quite a change from her role in Men of War (1994). Robert Patrick puts in a personable enough performance, but it’s hard not to compare this to the awesome Zero Tolerance (1994), which is Patrick at his absolute best. Weller puts in a “quirky” performance, with his pseudo-philosophical dialogue, and he’s always good, but Decoy as a whole is mediocre, with tons of “pew-pew” gunfighting scenes that don’t really add much.

Also on board as one of the baddies is Vladimir Kulich, who has played the “Eurotrash Bad Guy” in such movies as Crackerjack (1994), Red Scorpion 2 (1995), and Breach Of Trust (1995). We’re definitely getting used to seeing him. There’s also the prerequisite torture scene, but this time the movie opens with it and gets it out of the way. But the problem with Decoy is every time it starts to get good, it pulls back. It’s almost like the movie has a fear of success.

Decoy is ultimately wasteful with what resources it has, and it never rises above your standard action premise.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Shakedown (1988)

Shakedown (1988)-* * *

AKA: Blue Jean Cop

Directed by: James Glickenhaus

Starring: Peter Weller, Richard Brooks, Antonio Fargas, John C. McGinley, and Sam Elliot











 When drug dealer Michael Jones (Brooks) shoots a corrupt cop in New York’s Central Park one night, it falls on idealistic, Jimi Hendrix-loving attorney Roland Dalton (Weller) to defend him. But things get far more complicated when Dalton must team up with an undercover, unorthodox cop, Richie Marks (Elliott) to get to the truth behind all the corrupt cops, drug dealers, thugs and goons. And in a plot device later used, interestingly enough, in Night Of The Wilding (1990), the prosecutor on the Jones case is Roland’s former girlfriend.

What’s great about Shakedown is that it is not mindless. It has real characters in realistic settings. You grow to appreciate both Dalton and Marks. It’s a legal drama but it is filled with action as well - the legal side represented by Peter Weller and the action side by Sam Elliott, who should have appeared in more movies like this. Weller makes plenty of funny faces along with his more normal interpretation of Dalton, the baby boomer attorney.  Another name, Antonio Fargas shows up,  but the fairly fast pace doesn’t allow for him to stay around long.  Richard Brooks would later be on the other side of the law on Law & Order.

Another noteworthy aspect of this movie is its excellent New York City locations. A lot of  scenes were filmed on the famed 42nd street, right before the city was cleaned up. There are plenty of movie marquees on show, everything from X-rated material to movies like The Hidden (1987) and Fatal Beauty, 1987 (also starring Elliott). You can see the famous Lyric theater, among others. As part of Marks’ undercover work, he hides out in a theater watching the Glickenhaus movie The Soldier, 1982 (which you can also see posters for in the lobby). It’s great to see all this stuff. We’re very glad it was preserved here, intentionally or not.

The seamy, New York, 80’s atmosphere, along with the quality stunts, largely good acting combined with a story about adults (no stupid kids are involved) puts Shakedown way above the pack.

Featuring the tune “Lookin’ For Love” by Nikki Ryder, Shakedown is well worth seeking out.

Also check out the write-ups of Shakedown by: Direct To Video Connoisseur and Explosive Action!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

One Man Out (1989)

One Man Out (1989)-*1\2

AKA: Erik

Directed By: Michael Kennedy

Starring: Stephen McHattie



“If you’re not on his side….CHANGE SIDES.”





One Man Out is a run-of-the-mill straight to video actioner with no surprises.

Erik (McHattie) is working for the government of a small South American country, the movie never says which one. The government is paying this gringo to shoot the rebels. When he develops a relationship with a reporter, and the government wants him to dispose of the friendly local printer, Erik refuses and gets in a whole heap of trouble.

To add insult to injury, a guy who looks like a cross between Ed Begley Jr. and Drew Carey has involved him in a deadly drug deal that goes all the way to the top of the corrupt regime. Can Erik get out of this jam alive? Also what is the significance of the painted handprints? You may or may not want to find out.

Some of Erik’s favorite activities include taking an “edge of your seat bath” which seems to entail lying on your back in the bathtub with your eyes bugged out and sitting up abruptly. It is an “X-treme” way to get clean. Practically a subplot, Erik lies on his back a lot in the movie. He stares at the ceiling for hours at a time.

One of the advantages of living in a third-world hellhole is displayed when Erik tells some 6 year old kid to “get me a beer.” When Erik is preparing to go one of his shooting missions (which there should have been more of in the film), he makes sure to put on football quality eyeblack under his eyes. Never mind he is the only white man in the entire country with bright blond spiky hair (on the box cover it is jet black for some reason). No one will ever see him coming.

It is so hot in this country that pants are a major hindrance. There are many male pantsless characters throughout the film. Speaking of torture, we think the filmmakers were trying to make a serious statement about the use of torture around the world. There is even an onscreen message at the beginning of the film talking about it. Firstly, in the movie all the baddies do is dunk people in a tub which people pay for at any carnival. It looks like they are bobbing for apples. Secondly, anyone watching this boring tripe isn’t interested in hearing about human rights abuses. They want to drink a couple brewskies and hang with their buds.

Stephen McHattie really, really, really looks like Peter Weller. Thank goodness for McHattie, if Peter Weller is busy, McHattie is there to pick up the slack. That being said, McHattie does put in a serious performance, which is the only highlight in this dud. The director, Michael Kennedy also helmed The Heist (aka: “Hostile Force”) with Andrew McCarthy.

One Man Out (which is not about baseball) brings nothing new to the table. It doesn’t offer anything different for the action movie viewer.

Opt “Out” of this classic tonight!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty & Brett