To The Limit (1995)

To The Limit (1995)- * *1\2

Directed by: Raymond Martino

Starring: Anna Nicole Smith, Joey Travolta, John Aprea, David Proval, Jack Bannon, Gino Dentie, Floyd Levine, Branscombe Richmond, and Michael Nouri















When a baddie named Arthur Jameson (Bannon), who is so evil he has the ability to blow up helicopters using nothing more than a CD-ROM flight simulator, crosses the wrong woman, Colette Dubois (Smith), all hell breaks loose. In order to avenge the death of her husband, China Smith (Nouri, presumably no relation to Anna Nicole), it turns out Colette must team up with Vietnam vet Frank Davinci (Travolta). While Davinci has enemies of his own, he also has a support system of fellow goombahs such as Elvis (Dentie), Don Williams (Richmond), and Father Rich (Levine). As an ex-CIA agent, Colette has skills of her own. Will the unholy marriage of mobsters and disgruntled ex-government officials prove too much of a challenge for Frank and Colette? Or will your patience be tested…TO THE LIMIT?



While watching To The Limit, you can practically hear the sound of whirring VHS tape as guys who were in their teens and twenties in the 90’s fast-forwarded to get to the Anna Nicole Smith nudity. However, as this is a PM-produced action movie, we tried to keep the action elements in mind, and there are plenty of gunfights, blow-ups (including not one, but two helicopters), and PM’s time-honored car flip/blow-up that has become so near and dear to our hearts over the years. PM had a pip of an exploitable element in Smith; sometimes, in our nation’s darkest days, Joey Travolta alone isn’t enough to get a potential renter to pull a movie off of a video store shelf. 



You have to remember it was the go-go 90’s, and renting To The Limit carried with it less embarrassment than renting a Playboy video (though that’s debatable). Interestingly enough, this is a sequel to Davinci’s War (1993), of all things. Anna Nicole’s PM follow-up, Skyscraper (1996), came the next year. A lot of the same cast and crew of Davinci’s War came back for this particular outing, and it’s easy to hear a variation of this phrase being said during a pre-production meeting: “we’ll produce your film if you put Anna Nicole Smith in it”. That may be just one of the reasons why this movie makes no sense in the plot department and is pretty much a jumble from start to finish. But it matters not – we would say that you would have to watch Davinci’s War or Skyscraper first or this movie would make no sense, but the fact is that it makes no sense whether you see those movies first or not.

Though it must be noted that Davinci has a Vietnam flashback where he runs from an explosion in slow motion, and it also must be noted that in the scenes where she wears a brunette wig, Anna Nicole looks alarmingly like Monica Lewinsky. In most of these scenes, she’s talking to Travolta, who looks like George Carlin. At least they have similar hair. Travolta and Carlin I mean. So if you’ve ever wanted to see what it looks like for Monica Lewinsky and George Carlin to have a conversation, now’s your chance. There’s also a guy named Philly Bambino in the movie (Aprea). They couldn’t even get Vanity to reprise her role of Lupe.

Of course, To The Limit makes no sense as a mishmash of Davinci’s War sequel/Playboy video/PM action movie, but you knew that going in, didn’t you? Finding a VHS tape like To The Limit at your local video store was all part of the fun of that era. Thanks to Amazon Prime (as of this writing), you can relive it.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

Lady Bloodfight (2016)

Lady Bloodfight (2016)- * * *

Directed by: Chris Nahon

Starring: Amy Johnston, Kathy Wu, Jenny Wu, and Muriel Hoffmann

“Your arrival lights the flame of the Kumite.”

Jane Jones (Johnston) is a humble waitress in Pittsburgh.  Thanks to her father, she also has formidable fighting skills. She travels to Hong Kong to find out what happened to her beloved dad – all she knows is that he disappeared after becoming involved in the mysterious Kumite. Meanwhile, female fighters from all over the world are specially selected to fight to the death in said Kumite. Trainers and rivals Shu (Hoffmann) and Wai (Kathy Wu) each take on a student to represent them in the tournament because when they last fought each other, they refused to split the prize winnings. We’re not entirely sure how that works either, but Wai trains a street tough named Ling (Jenny Wu), while Shu does the same for Jane Jones. Will a blonde American woman come out victorious in the Kumite? 

We’re definitely happy that an all-female Bloodsport (1988) or Kickboxer (1989) exists, especially in this day and age. Just when you thought the Punchfighting genre had run out of gas, along comes Lady Bloodfight – where women now have to endure grueling training regimens so they can punch each other into oblivion.

There’s a lot to like about the movie – the cast is engaging, it’s well-shot and looks good overall, it’s entertaining, and the concept of all-female underground Punchfighting is a solid one. The fact that it was co-written and co-produced by Bey Logan of Dragon Dynasty fame, and directed by Nahon of Kiss of the Dragon (2001) fame just enhances its bona fides. There’s even a mention of Dim Mak, as there also is in Kiss of the Dragon. Nahon must love the death touch. On the downside, the movie is too long at 100 minutes. The thin plot doesn’t really justify this length – that and the constant tournament fighting scenes will remind you of The Quest (1996). But one thing you have to say is that it doesn’t skimp on the action. There’s a fight scene seemingly every few minutes, and most of the fights are well done. 



Interestingly, nothing is said about this being an all-female Kumite. It just is. Other movies would make a big deal about it. Here it’s not even worth a single mention. Another thing worth noting is that Jane Jones is far from an invincible, flawless heroine – she gets beat up a lot, so much so it’s amazing she can stand up, much less fight, but there just may be a reason why that is…



Action fans will feel comfortable with the dubbing style and training montages, not to mention the near-constant fighting. Of course, the Kumite matches primarily take place in an abandoned warehouse. Jones even has to face off against a fearsome villainess, or “Tong Poette”, as we called her.


All in all, Lady Bloodfight is well worth-watching, and we look forward to seeing what Amy Johnston does in the future.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett