No Rules (2005)

 

No Rules (2005)- * * * 

Directed By: Gerry Anderson

Starring: David Dunn, Dian Bachar, Anahit Minasyan, Randy Couture, Gary Busey, Philip Tan, Layzie Bone, Tom Sizemore, Sal Pacino, and Pamela Anderson 

Kurt Diamond (Dunn) is an MMA fighter from Jackson, Michigan. He and his sister Katie (Minasyan), and his trainer Grady (Bachar), are all dreaming of a better life. An opportunity comes when Kurt goes on a rampage after finding out Katie's boyfriend is an abusive drug dealer. After that violent confrontation, the trio flee to California. Seeking to get involved in the fight world on the west coast, Kurt turns up at House of Champions dojo. He notices immediately that they're using a logo that his famous fighting father Kain (Sizemore) always used. After a not-so-auspicious meeting with his father's former trainer Hino (Tan), he sees a flyer for an upcoming "Fight Party", and Kurt is on his way. But along the path to glory, he will have to face physical challenges - i.e., battling Mason (Couture) and his cult (yes, a cult; more on which later), but also the mental challenges of emotionally recovering from witnessing his parents' murder. He also wants to solve the murder, of course. Will Leroy Little (Busey) help him with this? All we know is that in the world of punching and kicking, there are, of course, NO RULES!




There's a lot to love about No Rules, and we might love it even more if we could actually see what was going on. All of the indoor scenes and/or night scenes are SO dark, we have to wonder if it was transferred to DVD incorrectly. Any scene in bright daylight is fine, if still a bit junky-looking, but that's not necessarily a problem. So now that we've registered our (all-too-common) complaint about the poor lighting, we can concentrate on what's good about No Rules.




ADVANCE WARNING: Going forward, should we use the words "stupid", "dumb", or some variation thereof, it is NOT to be taken as an insult. This may seem counterintuitive, but there is a shade of stupidity/dumbness that is, well, stupid, yes, but it's so earnest and enjoyable, you cannot use the word insultingly. No Rules has found that shade.




Kurt Diamond's fighting name is Diamond Boy. When ring announcers proclaim, "Kurt 'Diamond Boy' Diamond" is on the way, it does smack of a certain lack of creativity. Diamond Boy also has trouble saying the words "Santa Monica", so he may have been hit in the head one too many times.




A certain 2005 nostalgia may also be required to enjoy No Rules, as characters wearing Von Dutch shirts and hats are soundtracked to Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine soundalikes. All that is stopped during any scene featuring, or about to feature, Philip Tan, so that stereotypically-Asian-sounding music can be heard.




Sometimes the stupidity is so all-encompassing it becomes dizzying, such as when a peacock walks by in the background of a scene for no reason, a slapfight breaks out a punk rock show featuring the band The Defects, or the endless parade of cameos that are fun to see, but also make you wonder why they're there or how the filmmakers got them to be involved in a bargain basement production like this. The presence of a few seconds of Pamela Anderson makes sense, because co-director/writer Gerry Anderson (presumably not the guy who did Thunderbirds) worked with her on some of her other projects, such as VIP, Stripperella, and Stacked, among others. Less explainable are Sal (not Al - Al's father) Pacino, and Kathy Pacino, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, and Layzie Bone, not to mention a whole host of fight-world-associated people like Bruce Buffer, Gene LeBell and others. It all adds to the odd and quizzical vibe of the whole thing.




Perhaps they spent too much time gathering cameos, because the movie overall could have used more Sizemore and Busey. Busey doesn't even show up until 72 minutes in. That being said, another thing that sets No Rules apart from being a standard Puncher is that the Mason character is the leader of a cult of red-robed meatheads. They unenthusiastically chant sayings and other repetitions. We can honestly say we've never seen a meathead cult before, which was great, but not nearly enough was done with this idea. Same thing with the plot thread that Kain Diamond wrote detailed "fight books" that Kurt inherited - that look exactly like The Evil Dead's Necronomicon. Interesting ideas - not a lot of follow-through. But there are some lovably dumb fight scenes and questionable acting that power you along and take the place of those things. It's all a pretty heady brew.




So, because when any scene fades to black it really doesn't have very far to go, we're hoping that a digitally-brightened, remastered print of No Rules finds its way to Blu-ray soon. Should that ever happen, we believe it will find an audience and people will appreciate what's going on here. Unless and until that happens, we're afraid No Rules may just languish in the darkness of obscurity.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Strength and Honour (2007)

 

Strength and Honour (2007)- * * *

Directed: Mark Mahon

Starring: Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, Luke Whelton, Richard Chamberlain, and Patrick Bergin

Sean Kelleher (Madsen) used to be 'The Best' - in this case, the best boxer in County Cork, Ireland. When he accidentally kills a man in the ring, he gives up punching forever. He even promises his young son Michael (Whelton) he'll never box again. Things change drastically when it turns out that Michael has a rare heart condition that only a Los Angeles doctor and $300,000 will cure. Going back to what he knows, Sean is aware that a local no rules bareknuckle fighting tournament called the Puck could be the answer to his money woes.



So, because he's been out of the game for so long, he goes back to his old trainer, O'Leary (Chamberlain). But the current champion of the Puck is a dangerously violent and unstable lunatic named Smasher O'Driscoll (Jones). Apparently, you don't just win the Puck - if you win, you are the Puck. You are also crowned King of the Travellers. Someone with a stable house (i.e. not a trailer) is not even allowed to enter the Puck. You have to be a Traveller, which appears to our American eyes to be a sort of Irish Gypsy. Leader of these people, Papa Boss (Bergin), helps Sean and his supporters in their mission. Now Sean is fighting for a cause. Not because he just enjoys hitting people, like Smasher, but because his son's life is on the line. To defeat Smasher and win/become the Puck, and become King of the Travellers, he's going to need Strength - but does he have the Honour?



Strength and Honour is an earnest Irish drama that also happens to be a Punchfighter. That might account for the divided opinion that seems to follow the film. Lovers of earnest Irish dramas probably aren't going to watch it (or will never have heard of it), but the sort of viewer that enjoys the simple-minded spectacle of shirtless men endlessly punching each other likely won't warm to the more dramatic aspects.


The familiar story trajectory we've seen many times before, rather than grating on the viewer with cliches, feels more comfortable this time around, kind of like coming home. While the Puck is Punchfighting through and through, the rabid crowds don't clutch cash in their hands. That's because these working-class people probably don't have much cash to spare, but also because the Puck is not about money. It's about tradition, and, yes, Strength and Honour.


We're spelling "Honour" like that because this film never received a U.S. release, so American distributors never got the chance to change it to the U-less spelling. In any case, What makes all the difference is that Madsen really seems to care about the proceedings. Like Marlon Brando or Burt Reynolds, Madsen is an actor that, if he feels the material is not worth caring about, he openly just doesn't. But, thankfully, here he does. DTV fans may just want to tune in for the final fight between Vinnie Jones and Michael Madsen, a confrontation not seen before or since (as of this writing).


But there's a lot more going on here to sink your teeth into. Patrick Bergin and Richard Chamberlain of all people round out the more well-known names in the cast. Both are quite welcome and help the film to rise above its low-budget station. Better-than-average outdoor cinematography (the indoor scenes are a bit dark) also helps a lot, and even in the more downtrodden places, the viewer gets a glimpse of the beauty of Ireland. The acting is also top-shelf and there's plenty of grit to go around.

Now, the last time we saw an Irish film about someone who trains for a fighting tournament - a sort of Irish Kumite, if you will - it was Fatal Deviation (1998). Besides the plot similarities, these two outings could not be more different. S&H is somber and downbeat. FD is silly and ridiculous. If you feel like comparing and contrasting, a double feature would probably be an interesting night's entertainment.



To quote Imdb user themoviehunter-1: "Strength and Honor is a story of hope and personal triumph, and in this world filled with Matrix-wannabees, B-level comedy full of toilet humor, and 300 million dollar glitz, it's refreshing to find a film with no gratuitous sex, gore, or profanity. This film has such a strong and simple theme, you won't have a feeling of apprehension taking your 13 year-old daughter to see it (and she'll probably hug you on the way out of the theater). To put it in a single phrase, this movie is what good film-making is all about."

While Strength and Honour may be serious-minded, we still get a flamboyant psycho as only Vinnie Jones can do it, regarding the Smasher character. There's much else to recommend here, so we won't mention everything, but we will definitely give Strength and Honour a strong recommendation.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Full Contact (1993)

 

Full Contact (1993)- * * *

Directed by: Rick Jacobson 

Starring: Jerry Trimble, Marcus Aurelius, Denise Buick, Reginald VelJohnson, and Michael Jai White

Luke Powers (Trimble) is a self-described "farm boy" who journeys to the dark underbelly of L.A. to get to the truth about his murdered brother. It turns out that Luke's bro was heavily involved with "Alley Fights" (what we call Punchfighting). To achieve his goal, he links up with Pep (Aurelius), a fight trainer/alcoholic/Art of War quote enthusiast. Romance blooms with dancer Tori (Buick, whose only other feature film role is the same year's Angelfist). Will Luke be able to summon all of his POWERS to beat the baddies and find out what really happened to his sibling? And who is REALLY behind all this alley-fighing stuff? Make FULL CONTACT with your remote control and find out today...

Not to be confused with the prior year's Full Contact starring Chow Yun-Fat and Simon Yam, THIS Full Contact is a moment in time for fan favorite Jerry Trimble to shine. It all opens with textbook Punchfighting as enthusiastic fans scream, yell, and clutch cash in their hands as they enjoy said punching in an abandoned warehouse.

The whole thing has a very Corman feel, as he's done this plot numerous times before, i.e. Bloodfist, Dragon Fire, Bloodfist 2050, etc. There's also at least one scene in a strip club, which was a Corman trademark/obsession around this time period. Happily, we can report that Full Contact is one of the better run-throughs of this plotline. There's plenty of sax and synth on the soundtrack, there's ridiculously stupid dialogue (in a good way), wacky situations, and punching, punching, punching. Characters, mainly Trimble, jumpkick their opponents in slow motion as they just stand there waiting to be kicked in the head. Somehow, against all odds, this all gels in the world of Full Contact.

Trimble is great as he resembles a melange of Emilio Estevez, Sean Penn, and Kirk Douglas. Tori's initial dance routine is gold, and when she meets Luke Powers, both of them are clad head-to-toe in denim and they have long blonde hair. It's clearly a match made in 1993 heaven.

It starts to run out of steam when the tournament fighting begins about two-thirds of the way through, but we do give Full Contact full credit because they actually bothered to include a twist towards the end, which a lot of similar films never actually do. There's also the time-honored barfight. Plus, there's an utterly ridiculous stick fight near a dumpster, and Powers's main training goal is to outrun a city bus with a wacky bus driver.

Director Rick Jacobson, no stranger to this sort of material, also worked as a fight coordinator on the film, and has a cameo as "Bar Heckler". Early appearances from Michael Jai White and Reginald VelJohnson round things out nicely. VelJohnson plays "Fighter #2", so if you've ever wanted to see Carl Winslow engaging in illegal alley fights, now's your chance.

The end titles song is "Sometimes You've Got To Fight", credited to no performer. The singer has an odd, quavering voice. Charles Philip Moore is one of the writers, who has a writer/director pedigree in the action field.

In the end, Full Contact is better than you might think. It's not intelligent, but it's entertaining. And that's the important thing.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Female Fight Squad (2016)

 Female Fight Squad (2016)- * * *

AKA: Female Fight Club

Directed by: Miguel Angel Ferrer 

Starring: Amy Johnston, Dolph Lundgren, Sean Faris, Levy Tran, Courtney Palm, Rey Goyos, Folake Olowofoyeku, Jeanette Samano, and Chuck Zito

Rebecca "Bex" Holt (Johnston) just wants to leave her former life as an underground Punchfighter behind. She now works at Waggin' Tails animal pound and dreams of moving to another animal sanctuary in Africa. However, when she's approached by her wayward sister Kate (Palm), and she tells Bex that she owes evil Punchfighting promoter Landon Jones (Goyos) $125,000, Bex is forced into a tough spot. Moving from L.A. to Vegas to help Kate, she ends up training not just her, but her fellow female fighters Winter (Olowofoyeku), Lisa AKA Spring Roll (Tran), and Gaby (Samano). Meanwhile, Bex reconnects with figures from her former life, such as old flame Potter (Faris) and trainer Zeke (Zito). But on top of everything else, she must iron out the issues with her wrongfully-imprisoned father (Dolph). Can Bex train and punch her way out of all her personal issues and demons? Or will another approach be required? Find out today...


In the pantheon of like-minded films such as Fight Valley (2016) and Chokehold (2019), Female Fight Squad is perhaps best of the three. It's even on par with fellow Johnston outing Lady Bloodfight (2016). It's certainly a heck of a lot better than Brawler (2011). If you like any or all of the above titles, you'll most likely warm to FFS. The look of the film is professional-low budget, so it's no strain on the eyes. Johnston is well-cast for a number of reasons: her fighting moves are top notch, her acting is improving, and she legitimately looks like she could be Dolph's daughter.

There are some classic and much-loved cliches on display here: not only does Bex not want to fight but eventually does, so do the FFS not want to listen to her sage and masterly advice. They initially mock and ridicule her for some reason, but, of course, they come around to her way of thinking. It's all very reminiscent of Cynthia Rothrock in American Tigers (1996). The Punchfighting goes on in the back of an import/export warehouse, and the FFS are all a ragtag, multi-ethnic Benetton rainbow. Bex's boyfriend is played by noted Himbo Sean Faris. His status as a Himbo, first noticed in The King of Fighters (2010), remains unchanged here.


But going back to actors who have markedly improved, we have one of Chuck Zito's best roles we've seen to date. He practically steals the movie, just like he did with Redline (1995). But for slightly different reasons. Now, on to the Dolphiness of this outing. He's not in it all that much, but, to be fair, he's not the main character. Perhaps they shot this around the time of Riot (2015), because he was stuck in jail in that one too. He gets a nice fight scene and a handful of decent moments. To be even more fair to the Dolphster, even the gals of the FFS aren't in the movie as much as you'd think - and it's called Female Fight Squad! The focus, naturally enough, is on the Bex character and her struggles.


It all comes to a head as Bex has to fight her way to Landon Jones, and then there's the inevitable final showdown with him. It's here that the movie really shines and there should have been more of that sort of thing. That being said, it's all done in a slicker way than you might expect and the drama is not bad, if it is a bit standard. It would have been a cool addition if Jones had an evil underling (or two or three) that Bex had to fight her way through in order to get to the big boss. But, still and all, Female Fight Squad is solid and entertaining.


In the end, fans of Punchfighting, Dolph, and Amy Johnston will get the most out of this, and they - and others with adjacent interests - are encouraged to check it out.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Mortal Challenge (1996)

 Mortal Challenge (1996) - * *

AKA: Death Game 

Directed by: Randy Cheveldave

Starring: Timothy Bottoms, David McCallum, Vince Murdocco, Nicolas Hill, Jody Thompson, and Evan Lurie

In the far-off future of 2024, Los Angeles is split in two: New L.A., where most of the people fight for survival after a big earthquake, and an island where the rich can afford to live. Naturally, a crazed madman named Malius (McCallum) is the mastermind of a series of underground Punchfighting matches that audiences just kind of sit around and watch. One of the fighters is named Alex (Murdocco).

When a detective named Jack (Bottoms) starts investigating a girl's disappearance, he and some other people, including Hawk (Hill) and Tori (Thompson) are spirited away to a large compound where a cyborg of some sort named Grepp (Lurie) is stalking them. After a lot of running around in the dark, and some fighting, the final confrontation ensues. But who will win the DEATH GAME and be victorious in the MORTAL CHALLENGE?


As Bruce Springsteen once famously sang, "This gun's for hire, even if we're just Punchfighting in the dark". I'm reasonably sure those were the lyrics. If they weren't, they certainly should've been, especially if the subject at hand was Mortal Challenge. Now, 'Challenge doesn't have as much Punchfighting as you might think there would be. Yes, there is some, but it's more of an American Cyborg: Steel Warrior-type affair where people are on the run trying to avoid a killer robot on the loose. It's less The Terminator (1984), and more Shocking Dark (1989). In this case, very dark. Lighting-wise, of course.


Around about this time in the 90's, Roger Corman and his companies became interested in Punchfighting, or fighting of some sort, so they made the same movie over and over again: Future Kick (1991), Bloodfist 2050 (2005), Blackbelt (1992), New Crime City (1994), Alien Terminator (1995), etc., etc. Most of them are set in the future and have minimal lighting so you can't see much. They usually have only a few cheap sets and the audio isn't so hot. We know we're in the world of very low budget films, but that doesn't mean the script, as such, has to suffer and the audience has to lose brain cells. Unfortunately, that's pretty much the situation with Mortal Challenge.



The solid cast is utterly wasted in this tripe. Vince Murdocco is under-used, and it's amazing they were able to get David McCallum to be in this. Evan Lurie seems in his element as Grepp, as he's played robotic or somehow cybernetic characters before, such as in T-Force (1994) or Hologram Man (1995). Timothy Bottoms, who looks so much like former president George W. Bush that he has portrayed him more than once in other movies and shows, is the main hero here. He's no Don The Dragon, if we're going to compare this to the very similar Future Kick, but we do get to see some instances of George Bush-Fu. So, that was appreciated. Interestingly, crooner Michael Buble is credited with a bit part. Could that possibly be true?


Now, much like the movie itself, that leaves the best bit for last: the title song by Mike Dolgy and Curtis Lee. The fact that the filmmakers left this song for the end credits is a shame and a waste. It should have played during the movie itself. The lyrics and vocals are wonderfully ridiculous, and the music is very reminiscent of the main theme to Mortal Kombat (1995) - as if the name "Mortal Challenge" wasn't an obvious enough reminder that they were trying to cash in on the popularity of that classic game. (One of the other characters is named Freeze - not Subzero, mind you - and the "Centurion" named Rogius is MK on a budget).


Despite the solid cast and maybe a few decent moments, Mortal Challenge is so dumb and stupid, it seemingly doesn't even try to engage the viewer. It's hard to imagine anyone with the intelligence level over that of a turnip actually ENJOYING Mortal Challenge. Were the filmmakers trying to insult the intelligence of the audience? Probably not, but it feels that way. So we cannot in good conscience recommend Mortal Challenge. Just listen to the song on YouTube.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Legacy Of Lies (2020)

 

Legacy Of Lies (2020)- * *

Directed by: Adrian Bol 

Starring: Scott Adkins, Yuliia Sobol, and Honor Kneafsey

After an operation doesn't go as planned, Martin Baxter (Adkins) leaves MI6. Constantly on the run with his daughter Lisa (Kneafsey), he fears not just for her safety, but for his as well. After being approached by journalist Sacha (Sobol) while working as a bouncer in a Ukrainian nightclub, things go from bad to worse. The baddies are after "The Files", of course, and Lisa is kidnapped. Now trying to get to the bottom of the LEGACY OF LIES, Martin and Sacha must get to the truth and find out who is responsible for all the chaos. But can they do it in time?


Legacy of Lies, visually, looks quite good. It's shot and lit very well, with many scenes that capture the viewer's eye. But, over the course of 100 minutes, there are many slow and/or dull scenes, especially in the final third, when things should have ratcheted up. When action appears, it's good stuff, with Adkins doing what he does best, but there wasn't nearly enough of it. It's more of a spy drama, with the action thrown in almost as an afterthought. It's probably hard for foreign filmmakers to compete with TV shows like Homeland, but this is an earnest attempt to go down that same road. But fireworks were needed.

Like a lot of material from Eastern Europe, there is a certain bleakness on display. Let's just say that Legacy of Lies isn't exactly "LOL" material. Despite the film's self-seriousness, there are still some action movie staples included, such as a scene each of Punchfighting, Prerequisite Torture, and even a 'Fruit-Cart' car chase.


Honor Kneafsey was a standout as Lisa, and she definitely has a bright future as an actress. Same goes for Yuliia Sobol as Sacha, the Lisbeth Salander-like sidekick. It was also nice to see Matt Mitler of Bums (1993) and The Mutilator (1984) fame show up here as well. Of course, we remain staunch Adkins fans. He was probably happy to lean more on the acting side than the action side here, but Legacy of Lies should have been a more even mix of the two.


While not without its merits, especially on the technical side of the filmmaking, Legacy of Lies is unnecessarily dour and overlong. It needed more of a propulsive pace to satisfy what Adkins fans have come to expect.


Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Bloodfight (1989)

 

Bloodfight (1989)- * * *

Directed by: Shuki Goto

Starring: Bolo Yeung, Simon Yam, Meg Lam, and Yasuki Kurata

Kai Masahiro (Kurata) is a champion in the art of 'Free Fighting', which, as the name implies, is a fighting tournament where all styles may compete against each other. It could be Sumo versus Judo or Karate, or whatever. The top of the Free Fighting heap is an evil baddie named Chang Lee (Bolo). He has a snake tattooed on his face, so he's nicknamed "The Vietnamese Snake". Because it's getting later on in his life and fighting career, Kai decides to retire. 

But he also starts training young Ryu Tenmei (Yam) in his off hours. Ryu, his girlfriend, and the local population are constantly being menaced by the local punks, so that's why Ryu decides to learn from the best. After he enters the Free Fighting championship and tragedy strikes, Kai must come out of retirement to face the ultimate enemy - Chang Lee. Who will reign victorious in the ultimate BLOODFIGHT?

The first half of Bloodfight is a lot of upbeat, wacky fun. The characters in the Free Fighting world are a lot like E. Honda or Dhalsim, there are punks with great outfits and hair that are roaming the neighborhood stealing fruit, and the whole outing is a non-stop welter of thickly-accented broken English. (Thankfully, the MVD DVDs and Blu-rays have subtitles, which you will definitely need). One of the characters has quite the pair of jeans. The ending is a punch-and-kick fest that will definitely satisfy fans of Punchfighting. In between all that are some oddly dramatic moments. It's all a pleasant and entertaining mishmash that's easy to like.


Of course, even the font on the cover of the box for Bloodfight will remind you of Bloodsport (1988). It came out the previous year and has, let's just say, some similarities with Bloodfight. In Bloodsport, Bolo Yeung plays Chong Li. In Bloodfight he plays Chang Lee. Is there a difference? We may never know. Subtlety and nuance are clearly what Bloodfight is all about.



When you're not enjoying the lovably unintelligible dialogue, the score by Micky Oguchi will pick you up. Of course, the music is utilized during the many training sequences that happen before the final fight (incidentally, Final Fight is one of the film's alternate titles). One of the trainers/friends looks like an Asian James Lipton. You think at any moment he will pick up a blue index card and ask him about the art and craft of acting. The bulk of the acting in Bloodfight is pretty tremendous, so one day maybe we will know the secret behind it all.

Surely, in the golden year of 1989, people in video stores across the world rented Bloodfight because they mistakenly thought it was Bloodsport. That's where a lot of the joy comes in. Also, it should be noted that Lady Bloodfight (2016) is not a long-delayed sequel.


So, for the whackadoo first half alone, Bloodfight is worth seeing. Now that it's readily available on disc with Ironheart (1992) on a double feature DVD or Blu-ray, more people should get to see the un-repeatable vintage charm of Bloodfight.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Bloodsport 2 (1996)

 

Bloodsport 2 (1996)- * * *

Directed by: Alan Mehrez

Starring: Daniel Bernhardt, Pat Morita, James Hong, Nicolas Hill, Ron Hall, Ong Soo Han, Chad Stahelski, and Donald Gibb

Alex Cardo (Bernhardt) is what Michael Jackson might have called a "smooth criminal". He's suave with the ladies, but he travels to Thailand so he can steal an ancient and valuable sword. He gets caught and thrown in the pokey, where he makes a lot of enemies, including Demon (Ong), but he makes at least one friend: Master Sun (Hong).


Sun tells Cardo about The Kumite, and trains him mercilessly so he can enter into it. This includes teaching him The Iron Hand, a secret Martial Arts technique that is quite powerful. After all this sword business is behind him, having dealt with antiquities enthusiast David Leung (Morita), Cardo concentrates fully on The Kumite. Thanks to the charismatic Tiny (Gibb), Cardo gets in.


While there, he meets other competitors such as Sergio (Hill) and Cliff (Hall), but the toughest contender is, darn the luck, Demon. That's right, his old nemesis from Thai prison. The stage is set for the ultimate battle. Well, maybe not the ultimate battle, because both Bloodsport movies and Punchfighters continue until the present day, but you know what we mean. Who will be victorious in this, THE NEXT KUMITE?


Here we have the first appearance out of two for the Alex Cardo character in the Bloodsport series. Daniel Bernhardt was the natural choice to replace Van Damme if the series was going to continue without JCVD. They share an uncanny physical similarity and European background. Bernhardt seems very much up for the challenge as he trains his heart out and gets involved in near-constant Martial Arts fights.


Thankfully, Donald Gibb is back as Tiny from the first film, and he always adds a lot. Gibb has "It" - a magnetic screen presence that makes him watchable. This is also one of the best roles we've seen to date for James Hong. Out of his massive filmography, which is 439 credits and counting, he usually doesn't get a role this meaty, where he starts the film by narrating the tale of Alex Cardo to a Karate school filled with tots, and appearing throughout as Cardo's trusty trainer. It's a better showcase for his talents than his usual bit roles, so that was nice to see.


Sun and Cardo - and everyone else in the Thai prison - must wear pink outfits because that's the jailhouse garb. Is it possible that former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio watched Bloodsport 2? Because that's what he made is inmates wear, much to the chagrin of rapper and sometime action star DMX.


Luckily for us, Bloodsport 2 delivers all the Bloodsport 2iness that we could possibly want. While it came out in 1996, it feels more like 1990. Director Mehrez shot this entry in the series and Bloodsport III both in '96. Still, it was a cable and video store staple and easily accessible to anyone who wanted to see it.


It's well-shot and you can always see what's going on. This separates it from many Punchfighters of today, which skimp on the lighting and you can't discern who is who. Back in the 90's, not only was everything much clearer visually, but the fighters had well-defined personalities. We always use the example of the Shootfighter films, but it's equally true here. We as the audience definitely know who is going up against who in The Kumite. Of course, that's a good thing.


Unfortunately, an almost-insurmountable obstacle for any tournament fighting movie is that, at the very least, the final third of the film becomes quite repetitive. You have to show many shirtless men punching and kicking each other - over and over - so, that's what you do. But, to be fair, not all the men are shirtless. Some are in wrestling singlets.


But, presumably the reason why you sought out Bloodsport 2 is for the punching and kicking, and that's certainly what you get. Adding to the win column, there are several non-tournament action scenes that also really liven things up. So, because it's well-lit, well-shot, and features a strong cast of many favorite faces (and clocks in at a reasonable 86 minutes), Bloodsport 2 is a more than worthy follow-up to the classic original.


Released in America on VHS on the CFP video label, Bloodsport 2 is a video store classic and would make a good addition to any 90's action or Punchfighting collection.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Honor (2006)

 Honor (2006)- * *

Directed by: David Worth

Starring: Roddy Piper, Russell Wong, Joanna Pacula, Jason Barry, Linda Park, 

LT Tyrell (Piper) is an L.A. cop and bar owner, and he and his wife Rose (Pacula) are thinking of packing it all up and retiring to Brazil. A guy named Ray (Wong) is the neighborhood baddie, who not only sends out his goons to get protection money from the local businesses, he also stages underground Punchfights. He also has a tragic history with Tyrell.

When the Tyrell's adopted son Gabriel (Barry) comes back from a Special Ops mission, he seems disturbed. The seemingly-ubiquitous Ray forces Gabriel to Punchfight for him, threatening that for every fighter Gabriel beats, that's one member of the Tyrell family he'll leave alone. Even Kate (Park), Tyrell's former partner, is powerless to stop all this feuding and brawling. Will it all be just a matter of HONOR?


Well, it's better than director David Worth's previous effort American Tigers (1996), but that's not saying much. Honor is humorless and dour; the problem with these latter-day Punchfighters is that by this point in time, viewers have seen this type of thing many, many times before. 

By the time the 2000's rolled around, makers of Punchfighters could not just retread the same old ground. They either had to bring something new to the table, or at least make it fun. Shootfighter (1993) had colorful characters that were clearly delineated, such as Boa and Mongoose. Fist Fighter (1989) had memorable characters such as Punchy. Warrior of Justice (1995) is just a spasm of pure insanity dreamt up by the fevered mind of Jorgo Ognenovski. Honor has none of these sorts of attributes. By 2006, what Honor was doing was pretty well-worn stuff.


Not that it's all bad, of course. Thankfully, the filmmakers had the good sense to make it 80 minutes. That was a blessing. Something like Honor should be 80 minutes. It's perfect for that sort of running time, and other makers of these sorts of things should "Honor" the viewers' time like this. So points go to them for that. Plus, it's always nice to see one of our heroes, Roddy Piper.


He gives one of his more serious dramatic performances that we've seen to date. The problem with the Tyrell character is that a nice guy like him isn't going to start busting heads right away. He has a long fuse, which means we have to wait quite a while until we see Roddy unleashed. 

Some people might not like that. However, viewers won't fail to miss the They Live graffiti on the wall, as it's shown twice, rather clearly. And Jason Barry as Gabriel was also rather brooding as the estranged son. Russell Wong stands out as the evil baddie that the audience can boo and hiss at.


The directorial career of David Worth is certainly a mixed bag. While we enjoyed Lady Dragon (1992) and Lady Dragon 2 (1993), and Chain of Command (1994), not to mention True Vengeance (1997), we have mixed feelings about Air Strike (2004). We weren't crazy about Soldier's Revenge (1986) and the aforementioned American Tigers is pretty awful. We've been on the record for years about how we think Kickboxer (1989) is overrated. Honor falls into the mid-range/end of the Worth spectrum. It's not entirely "Worth"-less but it definitely could have used some color or pizazz of some sort.

So, for the Piper factor and the reasonable running time, Honor may be 'worth' checking out for Punchfighting fans. But keep your expectations tamped.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Black Spot (1994)

 

Black Spot (1994)- * * *

Directed by: Bruce Le 

Starring: Bruce Le, Fanny Hill, and Rossieo Badin 

Wong Lung (Le) is a living the good life as a Martial Arts instructor, and along with his girlfriend Fanny (presumably Fanny Hill in her only film role to date), the two seem to have it all. When a group of goons interrupts his all-female Kung Fu class, he knows he's in trouble. A former drug kingpin that was "in charge of Southeast Asia", Lung turned his life around. But now some baddies, including a man known only as Mark (Lo Lieh?) are forcing him to use his former expertise as it relates to a massive drug operation in the Golden Triangle. With no place left to turn and with crimefighters such as Nora Badine (likely Rossieo Badin) closing in under the banner of a joint operation called White Horse Action, Wong Lung must wage the ultimate battle for his life. But will he win? And what is this mysterious BLACK SPOT we keep hearing so much about? Tune in to find out...


Ever since we saw Challenge of the Tiger (1980), we've been big Bruce Le fans. When we first see him in Black Spot, he's working out on his home gym while his blonde girlfriend Fanny - of course her name is Fanny - is prancing around in a white one-piece bathing suit. So far, so good. Wong Lung wears a Eurogroup Film sweatshirt and we really root for the guy. There are a lot of nice 80's-style musical stings on the soundtrack, and a lot of funny yelling as well. It's mostly entertaining despite a couple of slow moments.


Apropos of nothing, suddenly Wong Lung is in a cage, facing off against a hulking brute in a Punchfighting match. While most people might drink water or Gatorade during such a contest, this particular brute drinks fresh-squeezed sheep blood. Lung is going to have to be extra resourceful to get out of this situation. Black Spot covers a lot of action bases: it starts off as more of a chop-socky-type film as you might expect from Le, but then there's some Punchfighting, and the last third of the film is more of a war situation with soldiers, tanks, machine gun fire and guard-tower falls. The more fun and ridiculous moments come towards the beginning, as the movie cycles through its changes.



Black Spot is a rare movie that we had been looking for for years. It was released in America on a Tai Seng VHS but quickly disappeared and that was the end of Black Spot for us. Thankfully, some helpful soul put it up on YouTube for the world to enjoy. If you like the Asian action boom of the 90's, and have seen a lot of the Golden Harvest-type stuff with Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Jet Li or movies directed by John Woo and the like, and you want to check out Bruce Le's addition to that canon, Black Spot would fit the bill perfectly. It has a little something for everyone, and that's basically a good thing.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018)

 

Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018)- * *

Directed by: Dimitri Logothetis

Starring: Alain Moussi, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Christopher Lambert, Hafpor Bjornsson, and Mike Tyson

Eighteen months after the events of the prior installment in the series, Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016), we now see that Kurt Sloane (Moussi) is a successful MMA fighter. His success seems to be short-lived, however, as a maniacal fight promoter named Thomas Moore (Lambert) has him kidnapped and shipped back to Thailand. After being imprisoned and regularly tortured, Moore states that if he fights a giant named Mongkut (Bjornsson), he will get a million dollars and his freedom back.


The only problem is that Mongkut is a genetically-engineered beast, bred from the DNA of top former fighters, and injected with chemical adrenalin shots to boot. Also, he's 6'8 and 400 pounds. So Sloane goes back to what he knows: training rigorously with his mentor Durand (Van Damme). He also finds help from his fellow prison inmate Briggs (Tyson). Of course, the day of the final fight arrives and Kurt Sloane has to face his biggest challenge yet. Literally. Will it soon be time for some KICKBOXER RETALIATION?

When you first turn Kickboxer: Retaliation on if you watch it on Netflix, you can't help but notice that the running time is an hour and 50 minutes. For those keeping score at home, that's almost two full hours allotted for the seventh film in the Kickboxer series. What could they possibly have to say that they haven't said before - and that would require that much time to say it in? So we were waiting for a reason - any reason at all - that would justify that length. We never really receive an answer as to why the film couldn't be 90 minutes or less. But that's not to say that there aren't some redeeming moments.

For example, every time Mike Tyson is on screen, things perk up immensely. He should have started his acting career back in the 80's, to capitalize on the fame of Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! for NES. We realize he had some problems back then, but that didn't stop other people. Regardless, we're thankful he launched an acting career at all. He gets a great introduction to his character, and Tyson is undoubtedly one of the best parts of the film.

Fan favorite Christopher Lambert is also here, looking quite a bit like James Caan this time around. In other movie highlights, Van Damme gets into brief fights with both Tyson and Lambert. The one with Lambert is a sword fight, naturally. These are combinations of people we've waited years to see. So the film doesn't let you down in that department. Also the "blues fight" was well-executed. But the final fight with Mongkut goes on for an interminably long amount of time, and if indeed Mongkut has the strength of four men, as was stated, then Tyson and Van Damme should have joined in the fray for a four-way fight. That would have evened the odds. But no, it just gets to the point where you're shouting, "somebody just win already! I don't care who!"

Somehow it has transpired that lead actor Alain Moussi - as Kurt Sloane - resembles John Krasinski (AKA Jim from The Office) even more in this movie than he did in the last one, and this only came out two years later. This leads to audience outcries such as "He's fighting for Pam!" or, "I'll get you, Dwight!"

Nevertheless, the storyline here is a direct continuation from Kickboxer: Vengeance, complete with repeat characters and references to the prior film. But this one adds yet more (time-consuming) elements such as an opening fantasy sequence, Prerequisite Torture, Mongkut-unrelated Punchfighting, and some sort of cat-and-mouse game with scantily-clad assassins. It seems not so long ago that we watched Boyka: Undisputed (2016), which also has a plot where a mere mortal man must mix it up with a massive meathead. You may remember Martyn Ford as the scary Koshmar. However, the opening credits sequence is cool because it pays tribute to Van Damme and past installments.

Much like the Sniper series, it appears that the Kickboxer series is heading down the road of endless, and perhaps unnecessary, DTV installments. The movie is not without its occasional charms (OK let's face it...MIKE TYSON!) but ultimately it doesn't justify its running time, which is more over-inflated than Mongkut himself.


While we certainly didn't hate Kickboxer: Retaliation, it's impossible to get around the fact that it would have been more impactful if it was shorter.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

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

Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)

 Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)- * *

Directed by: John Stockwell 

Starring: Alain Moussi, Darren Shahlavi, Dave Bautista, Gina Carano, and Jean-Claude Van Damme

Kurt (Moussi) and Eric (Shahlavi) Sloane are Kick-Fighting brothers from Venice, CA. When Eric gets an invitation to go fight the infamous Tong Po (Bautista), the audience screams, "No, Eric! Don't do it!" But, of course, Eric flies to Thailand and ends up facing off against Mr. Po to tragic results. Naturally, Kurt follows because he wants KICKBOXER VENGEANCE. While in Thailand, he trains (and trains and trains and trains) with Master Durand (Van Damme), a mysterious Muay Thai master, as his name indicates. Of course, the Bangkok police are on to the illegal Punchfighting matches, and somehow Marcia (Carano) is involved in all this. Will Kurt Sloane avenge his brother by finally vanquishing Tong Po in the ring once and for all?



All of the above might seem a bit familiar to anyone who has seen the original Kickboxer (1989), which, presumably, is anyone reading this. Evidently, this takes place in a different Kickboxer universe than the first one, because Van Damme plays Durand, and Moussi plays Kurt Sloane. While director Stockwell does a good job with the technical aspects - the film is shot well, lit well, etc. - there really aren't too many surprises in store here, and the character development leaves a lot to be desired. That means that audience attention begins to flag around the halfway mark. It all feels like a slickly-done, but "Why?" run-through of classic Kickboxer moments.


As for our main hero, was he Joe Flanagan? Matthew Reese? John Krasinski? It's hard to tell. He seems to do well throughout all the extensive training sequences, but Van Damme looks like he was in shape too. He should have fought Tong Po. Or, if Po is as good as everyone keeps saying, how about a 2-on-1 fight with Durand, Sloane, and Tong Po? That would have been something new. But, no, the film doesn't do any twists or anything like that.


Dave Bautista, or David Bautista, as he's credited here, has very silly hair. Somehow trying to put classic Tong Po hair on his head just doesn't quite look the same. T.J. Storm is here, playing a guy named Storm, which was nice to see. Gina Carano is also on board, but she does no Martial Arts. Fans may be disappointed by that. She and director Stockwell worked together on In The Blood (2014), so maybe she had fun doing that and wanted to do a small role here. Who knows? But her not fighting was a missed opportunity.


The marketplace fight, the barfight, and the fact that one of Kurt's training exercises is to pull Durand around on a rickshaw are movie highlights. But truly the best was saved for last, because at the beginning of the end credits, we get a split screen with a clip of Van Damme doing his classic dance from the original Kickboxer on the right, and Alain Moussi imitating his moves on the left. That was probably the best part of the whole movie. Rather than save it for the end, they should have had Kurt Sloane find himself at a roadside diner in the middle of the film, where he then starts dancing. That might have improved things a bit.


In the end, if you always wanted to see Kickboxer, but really needed to see it done in a modern style with Chokehold (2019)-style flat line deliveries, this is really the movie for you. And where is Sasha Mitchell in all this?

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

New Crime City (1994)

 

New Crime City (1994)- * *

Directed by: Jonathan Winfrey

Starring: Rick Rossovich, Rick Dean, Sherrie Rose and Stacy Keach

In the year 2020 - the future - crime is so rampant in Los Angeles that a huge section is cordoned off and dubbed "Crime City". Naturally, no one wants to go there, but Anthony Ricks (Rossovich) has to, because he's "The Best". At least that's what Police Chief Wynorski (Keach) calls him. After staging a mock execution for Ricks, presumably so he can be, in the eyes of the public, "dead", Wynorski gives him the task of infiltrating Crime City to stop the evil Ironhead (Dean) from unleashing a virus on the city. If he can get an antidote as well, so much the better. Along the way, he meets Darla (Rose), and the two of them face many trials and tribulations on the road to the ultimate confrontation with Ironhead. With the odds stacked against them, will they ever survive NEW CRIME CITY?


New Crime City (which we initially thought was called New Crime City: Los Angeles 2020, but apparently that's just the tagline on the VHS box) is yet another Roger Corman attempt to make Escape From New York (1981) with no budget. Much like Future Kick (1991), Bloodfist 2050 (2005), Dragon Fire (1993), and others, we have our heroes fighting their way through a "futuristic" wasteland on the way to their ultimate goal. These obstacles include, but are not limited to, going to a creepy monastery, Punchfighting, Punchfighting with electrical doohickeys that shock your opponent, and jousting while on dune buggies of some sort. Just like we do in 2020.

Hero Rick Rossovich looks like if Harland Williams was a Baldwin brother. He gives a monotone, monosyllabic performance that is truly Ron Marchini-esque. It's also pretty funny. He comes off as possibly a jerk (?) but the audience doesn't hate him. But they never really grow to like him either. By comparison, Rick Dean as Ironhead puts in a Jim Carrey-like portrayal, so the audience really does hate him. It was the 90's, after all, and Jim Carrey was hot. The box art makes Rossovich look like some kind of robot. He's not. Like us, he's just a man.


It's clear that the makers of Doomsday (2008) must have seen this movie, because the character of Juice (Ross) must have been an influence on that film. We were very happy that fan favorite Sherrie Rose was one of the leads here. She helps a lot in maintaining audience interest. We never really warm to her character either, but at least it's Sherrie Rose. She puts a lot of good energy in, and that was nice to see.


Stacy Keach's role is small but he helps things too. His character name, Wynorski, is a not-so-subtle nod to Jim, who has ties to Corman. Keach has some sort of indefinable accent that presumably is meant to make him seem sinister. Both Rick Rossovich and director Jonathan Winfrey worked with Keach again on the 90's Mike Hammer TV series. The experience of working on New Crime City together must have really bonded them.


Winfrey would go on to direct both Excessive Force II: Force on Force and Bloodfist VII: Manhunt the next year after this, in 1995. Apparently, New Crime City was shot in Peru. That might explain certain things, including the soundtrack and on-screen appearance of a Spanish-language band labeled in the credits as Frangio Antich & "Los Perros", but are known as simply Los Perros in their native country. Apparently these guys were a pretty big band in Peru, and they supported Ian Gillan on his Peruvian tour in 1992.


New Crime City has some amusing moments, but it's not exactly required viewing. It probably sat on a lot of video store shelves back in the 90's. Only fans of the Corman assembly line that made these sorts of things would be interested in going out of their way to see it.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

G2: Mortal Conquest (1999)

 

G2: Mortal Conquest (1999)- * *

Directed by: Nick Rotundo 

Starring: Daniel Bernhardt and James Hong

The battle for Alexander the Great's sword is on...again! That's right, as if Gladiator Cop: The Swordsman II (1995) wasn't enough for you, never mind The Swordsman (1995), here we get the third and final (?) installment of the supremely silly series. As you'll no doubt remember, in Gladiator Cop: The Swordsman II, James Hong as Parmenion and Lorenzo Lamas as Andrew Garrett were reincarnated figures who had recollections of their past from hundreds of years ago as they tried to get the sword. Meanwhile there were Punchfighting matches in parking lots.


This time around, in G2, James Hong as Parmenion and Daniel Bernhardt as a man named Steven Conlin are reincarnated figures who have recollections of their past from hundreds of years ago as they try to get the sword. Meanwhile there are Punchfighting matches in warehouses. This may seem a little familiar. You'd think after three movies, coherence would somehow emerge. It doesn't, but James Hong has a variety of stylish hats. Will the MORTAL CONQUEST finally reach its end?

Writer/director Nick Rotundo seemingly has a burning desire. A desire to tell the tale - repeatedly over the course of years - of the sword of Alexander the Great, Parmenion, and someone trying to get the sword. Rotundo's quest is almost as long and labyrinthine as the saga of the sword itself. 

Just why he thinks this story is so interesting, and why he's willing to more or less make three movies about it, at the cost of whether any of them make sense or not, has yet to be explained. But he sure has a lot of what you might call 'stick-to-itiveness'. Even the name "G2" seems to indicate that this is the true sequel to Gladiator Cop. Maybe he doesn't like Gladiator Cop: The Swordsman II, which is a shame, because that was the moment when nonsensicality became real entertainment.

Starting with a John-Woo-on-a-budget intro, we then soon realize we're in Adrian Paul-era Highlander territory. Like all good stories about reincarnation, there are repeated Punchfighting matches. Just what meatheads pounding on each other has to do with Alexander the Great only our most venerated historians can tell us. Some of the guys seem like they would be at home as contestants on The Running Man, including one who has some sort of breastplate that shoots fire out of the sides. Jesse Ventura should have been involved.

Rather than explain any of the above with dialogue, the men in the movie make a panoply of silly sounds. These sounds include, but are not limited to, yelling, screaming, shouting, grunting, yelping, hollering, bawling, howling, yowling, screeching, and ululating. Someone in a warehouse hits a gong, and off they go. Do not make a drinking game out of any time someone says, and I quote, "BwwoaaoooaaaahhhhhhAAAAAA!!!!!

Some of Parmenion's goons have a pretty novel method of deflecting bullets. Actress Meeka Schiro was in the Zagarino outing The Protector (1998) the previous year. Other real people from the cast include men with the names John Bonk and Chris Chinchilla. It's not that bad. It's just disjointed and jumbled, in classic Rotundo style.


G2 (AKA Mortal Conquest) won't make much sense to anyone, regardless of whether they've seen the other "G" movies or not. As a cross between Highlander, The Running Man, Excalibur, and a Shirley MacLaine autobiography shot on a low budget in Canada, it works about as well as you might expect.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Fight Valley (2016)

 Fight Valley (2016)- * * *

Directed by: Rob Hawk

Starring: Miesha Tate, Cris Cyborg, Chelsea Durkalec, Kari Kramer, Susie Celek, Cabrina Collesides and Erin O'Brien

On the mean streets of Camden, New Jersey ("the murder capital of America", as we're informed), there is an undisclosed location where girls go to fight. Naturally enough, it's called Fight Valley. It seems only the shady underground fight promoters and the fighters themselves know where it is. When one of the ladies, who is a bit more untrained than the other, more hardened fighters, enters Fight Valley, trouble follows. Tori Coro (Durkalec) finds Fight Valley...but never leaves. Soon thereafter, her sister Windsor (Celek) endeavors to find out what happened to her.

The problem: Windsor comes from an upper-middle class or possibly rich background, and she doesn't fit in at all with the dwellers of the ghettos of Camden. Despite their socioeconomic differences, Windsor ends up befriending the "Knockaround Girls" - Tori's friends Jabs (Tate), Duke (O'Brien), Yanni (Kramer), and Jamie (Collesides). When it becomes apparent that the evil, Tong Po or Ivan The Russian-style baddie is a frightening woman named Church (Cyborg), Windsor and all the others train their hearts out for a big, final showdown in Fight Valley. Who will emerge - if I may borrow a phrase from Tori Spelling (as I often do) - vicTORIous? You'll find out soon enough...

Yes, Fight Valley is a low-budget Punchfighter with non-professional actors. But it's got heart, and, dare we say, charm. We here at Comeuppance Reviews are incredibly impressed that this film was completed and released to the world. It's on Amazon Prime, DVD, cable, and presumably it will hit other formats such as Blu-Ray at some point in the future. It was clearly a labor of love and we respect that. To all the haters out there who are crying into their Tapout shirts and proclaiming this is "the worst movie ever!!!!!" we say: you try doing what the makers of Fight Valley did. How many movies have you made? Oh, zero? Okay. Come back when you've actually risked something, created something, and released something.

In the meantime, all of us non-haters can brush aside the negativity and see that the Fight Valley cast and crew were trying. That goes a long way with us. Sure, it's not perfect and it has its flaws, but we say that about big-budget Hollywood productions. We try to judge everything on a level playing field. Much like Fight Valley itself. Viewers should expect going in that you're not going to get Master Thespian-level acting, but is that why you're watching Fight Valley to begin with? Just about everyone in the cast speaks with what you might call a 'flat affect', which we found endearing, not irritating. 

Compare that to Chokehold (2019), where the female fighters also had flat affects, but were also there to fight, primarily. Not win Oscars, Tonys, and Blockbuster Awards. Anyway, we wouldn't classify Fight Valley as a "Homie Movie", but it's THIS close. There are some strong Homie Movie influences on the production overall. Also, there's a good, old-fashioned training sequence towards the end that we enjoyed. Because it's 2016, the influence of Crossfit and moving tires around seems to have crept into the training montages. Call it a sign of the times.

The plot is your typical Punchfighting plot, and there's plenty of punching to go around. During the credits, in a little box on the side of the screen, we see behind-the-scenes stills that were taken during the production. It was endearing to see that. It's hard to beat the during-the-credits-and-in-a-box sequence of Attrition (2018), but, to be fair, no one could.


Fans of the real UFC fighters involved or anyone who enjoys female fight films will most likely be the target audience for Fight Valley.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Chokehold (2019)

Chokehold (2019)- * * *

Directed by: Brian Skiba

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Melissa Croden, Kip Pardue, Corinne Van Ryck de Groot, Gianni Capaldi, Ilona McCrea, and Lochlyn Munro

When a Calgary-based fight trainer named Javier (Van Dien) gets involved in the world of all-female underground Punchfighting, things go bad fast. Russian mobsters believe he owes them money, so they shoot him. His daughter Zoey (Croden) has a career of her own as a more traditional MMA-style fighter in Las Vegas, and her trainer is the by-the-book Uncle Ray (Pardue). After being told what happened to her father, she returns home to Canada to sort out what's going on.

On top of everything else, it turns out Javier was in debt, but not to the gangsters; he is behind on mortgages to both his house and his gym and he was in dire financial trouble. His last employee, a fighter named Renee "The Blade" Hansen (Van Ryck de Groot) is there to console Zoey, but when a shady fight promoter known only as Jones (Munro) enters their lives, things get even more complicated. He wants her to Punchfight, but Renee at first doesn't want her to. But, as you might guess, Zoey wants to enter the underground fight world so she can get to the truth about what happened to her beloved dad.

So she works her way through all the Boxcar Wilhelminas, only to run up against Natalia (McCrea), part of the Russian crime underworld, and a Scottish fight promoter named Feodor (Capaldi). Naturally, even though Uncle Ray disapproves of this more brutal and unregulated fighting style, it all comes to a head in the big, final fight. Will Zoey get to the truth? Or will she be caught in the ultimate CHOKEHOLD? 

Here's the most surprising thing about Chokehold: they're still making movies like this in 2019! Don't get us wrong, we're happy about it, especially when it's done well, as it is here. But seeing as it's in the wake of Bloodsport (1988), Bloodfist (1989), Bloodfist II (1990), and, perhaps most aptly, Lady Bloodfight (2016), it's also surprising they didn't decide to call it "Blood Choke", or something like that.

While we didn't approve of the CGI bone-breaks, or some of the stupider bits of dialogue, we thought, overall, that Chokehold is a good example of the age-old Punchfighting story and it has a lot going for it in the win column.

For example, you can see everything that goes on and it's well-lit. That's no small thing in this era of poor lighting. So it gets points for that. Fan favorite Van Dien is great in his role, brief as it is. He looks grizzled (in a macho way, of course) and he isn't just a trainer; he gets in on some fight action as well. But the filmmakers found a way to cleverly intersperse him throughout the film even after he's supposedly "gone". It provided some welcome emotion to it all.

Another thing we hadn't seen before was, during the Punchfighting matches, there were live DJs playing music while the ladies fought it out. Even more impressively, during one of the fights, there was a live metal band playing. This hybrid of music and punching must have been highly entertaining for the enthusiastic patrons in the audience. If you get bored of the fighting, you can rave it up to the techno and dubstep from the DJs. Or if metal is more your speed, you can bang your head. It was pretty novel. 

When it comes to Melissa Croden as our heroine, Zoey, it's a classic case of what we talked about when we were recently on the Direct To Video Connoisseur's podcast. Namely, that it's preferable to get a fighter to act than it is to get an actor to fight. Clearly she's a real fighter, which went a long way as far as the beat-em-up scenes are concerned. Her flat affect is almost at Don "The Dragon" Wilson-levels, which was charming. Physically she's reminiscent of Julianne Nicholson and she definitely has a future in DTV if she wants one. 

Chokehold does not deviate at all from the formulas of the Punchfighters of yore. There's nothing wrong with that. If anything, its stubbornness in holding fast to the old ways is commendable. Some well-staged fight scenes and B-Movie names add polish to this well-made entry in the underground fighting canon. Fans of the genre (especially of the sub-subgenre of all-female Punchfighting) will want to check it out.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Broken Bars (1995)

Broken Bars (1995)- * *

Directed by: Tom Neuwirth

Starring: Benjamin Kobby, Joe Estevez, Donald Gibb, and Wings Hauser








At Trabuco Federal Prison in Los Angeles, bad stuff is goin' down. A corrupt warden named Pitt (Wings) forces the inmates to Punchfight for his own amusement. If they agree to do this, he rewards them with in-cell delivery of prostitutes, strippers, drugs, and, presumably, cigarettes. He's helped along in all of this by his C.O./henchman, Mr. Jake (Gibb). If anyone disobeys Pitt in any way - including refusing to Punchfight - he spikes their heroin with poison and tosses them away.

Wanting to get to the bottom of the goings-on in Trabuco, Jack Dillon (Estevez) of the F.A.C.T. special ops division (don't ask what it stands for, as it was never said...or if it was, we missed it) sends in his best man: Nick Slater (Kobby). The taciturn Slater then proceeds to either fight or make friends with a series of stereotypes...er...I mean, inmates, until the eventual final showdown with Pitt. Won't anyone reform our criminal justice system?

Broken Bars is nothing if not a parade of men with questionable hair punching the snot out of each other. If that's what you're after (and why wouldn't you be?) then this is the movie for you. An alarming amount of the prison population in 'Bars is ponytailed and shirtless. Or some combination thereof. There are more ponytails per capita in this movie than in an episode of My Little Pony.

All that being said, Broken Bars follows the prison-Punchfighter template pretty much to the letter with no surprises in store. Bloodfist III (1992), Death Warrant (1990) and In Hell (2003) are classic examples. Van Damme is usually involved in some way.

Wings, as he usually does, brings a lot of charisma and command to his performance, and he tries mightily to save an otherwise bog-standard outing, as our friends from the UK might say. With his military uniform and close-cropped blonde hair, he really made us see how much he looks like Guile from Street Fighter. Surely not coincidentally, that's yet another Van Damme connection. 

Fan favorite Donald Gibb also stands out as a cast member who is trying. But, as Death Warrant had a clear-cut evil baddie like The Sandman, and Broken Bars has no such character, it starts to flounder a bit without that focus.

The production company Gun For Hire was behind both this and Enter The Blood Ring (1995), and we noticed some similarities between the two films. Both starred Benjamin Kobby and both featured a ringleader character of some sort who sits in a chair and watches people punchfight. 

In this case it's Wings Hauser, in the other film it's Robert Z'Dar. Evidently, the people at GFH thought this was an incredibly winning formula, but as it turned out, Broken Bars and Enter The Blood Ring are two of the rarest Punchfighters of the 90's. 'Bars barely eked out a VHS release here in America on the York Entertainment label. 1995 was a banner year for Gun For Hire, though.

It's all very much like an episode of Renegade - a ponytailed hero rides into our lives on his motorcycle while blues guitar wails on the soundtrack. There's also the Prerequisite Torture of the hero, among other clichés we all know and love. We do credit the filmmakers for adding some gratuitous female nudity, because without that, we'd be looking at an all-male cast for 95 minutes, and they must have figured that wouldn't go over well with what is probably an all-male viewership.

Broken Bars certainly won't win any points for originality (except maybe for the title, which we're still trying to figure out), but as a semi-lost video store artifact, it has some value. The only problem is that it struggles to hold our full interest for the entire running time. Those two factors pendulumed back and forth for us, as it surely will for you too.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty