3 comments about Aikido Masters Demonstrate.

1. I was happy to see a DVD on Aikido featuring a variety of its masters (rather than Ueshiba alone). But there is a wide discrepancy in the material quality from one master to the next and the end sequences look like someone just added in their own dojo's home movies to this otherwise historic footage of the masters.



2. The first DVD I got didn't have any information on it, so Amazon sent me another copy that did work. Irritating, but good costumer service by Amazon though. The content was dissapointing when compared to what I was led to believe before bying it. The last ten minutes there were three unknown aikidoka demonstrating! They are even presented as "unknown". Certainly not the masters advertised. The segment on Shioda is by far the best in production quality, but it's only about one minute in lenght. Tohei (the one in addition to Shioda, that I was mostly looking forward to watching) got about 30 seconds in slow motion. Saito about 9 minutes. Morihei Ueshiba about 7 minutes, but the picture clarity is lousy, despite what it says on the DVD cover that the black and white part was of very good quality. Since aikido is about fine motor skills and details, it was difficult to see what was going on when O'Sensei demonstrated. In conclusion; the company behind this DVD release should have higher ambitions concerning their business ethics and product quality. By the way, I recommend the DVD series "Practical Aikido" with Robert Koga and "Aikido Self Defense for the Modern Warrior" with David Dye, for real life aikido self-defense techniques. Two great instructors.



3. I've seen this footage elsewhere (and before 2004) contrary to what the ad tries to suggest that this was recently recovered "lost" footage.
   
   Don't waste your money on this poor quality production. The Aikido Journal release "Aikido Classics" DVD is much better quality.

2 comments about Great Sonny Chiba Street Fighter Movies (The Street Fighter / Return Of The Street Fighter / The Street Fighter's Last Revenge).

1. If you love old school martial arts flicks, this is one of the most amazing compilations you can own. Definitely a real man's movie compilation!



2. The street fighter is a martial arts classic, as well of the two sequels included here. In one disc, you can choose all three movies plus some extras, the quality is very acceptable for these widescreen english dubbed versions, no greater defects on picture and sound quality and of course the greatest opportunity to kill three birds in one shot.
   The street fighter greatest achievement is showing the damage inflicted by terry's fists, the cruelty of his fighting techniques upon the opponents bodies. The story is not the best you had seen, mediocre i say, but terry made legend in martial arts world. You wanna know why? just watch him in action.
   Highly recomended for fans and curious first timers.

No comments about Azumi 2 Volume Box set.

3 comments about KANAZAWA MASTERING KARATE: ASHI WAZA.

1. Very clear and proper techniques that show all different kinds of kicks and stances, that show everything to you in this DVD.



2. I strongly recommend it to everyone wanting to learn the secrets to mastering powerful kicks. The section on stances was trully great, and is very handy for kata lovers. If you want to learn from the best Masters Shotokan has to offer, Kancho Kanazawa is the one.



3. While the *visual* demonstration of the various stances in this DVD is fairly clear, Kancho Hirokazu's broken English makes it nearly impossible to understand what he is saying or what the names of the techniques are. As instructional material, it is very poor, since one can't understand what he is saying. I have seen other karate DVDs where a fluent English voice explains what the particular sensei in those DVDs is saying (e.g. "functional karate"). I don't recommend this DVD.

5 comments about Operation Scorpio.

1. I like sword fighting movie. This movie has lots of humour and action. Kelly Hu looks beautiful. Even though the plot is not original but the film greatly entertains me.
   
   I own it.



2. It has violence, more than action. The storyline is poor and unoriginal. The acting is generally speaking nominal. Two-Stars does it.



3. "The Scorpion King" was the first spin-off from Stephen Sommers' sequel "The Mummy Returns" acting as a prequel. This allowed Sommers to tell us a bit more about the fascinating character of the Scorpion King. Although this origin story tidied up different story strands left unanswered in the first film (and revised how the main character got his name slightly in a way which didn't contradict but complimented the original story but also gave us a character slightly different than what we ended up seeing in "The Mummy Returns"), it manages to stand on its own quite well even without any of the original characters (how could they be in a prequel? Well, perhaps Im-Ho-Tep could have figured in somehow but this does take place BEFORE his time)included in from the first two films. Although it wasn't quite up to the quality of "The Mummy" or "The Mummy Returns" in terms of originality, it's a solid b-movie spin-off of the series and very entertaining in its own right.
   
   By the way, there is a direct-to-video sequel without The Rock. I haven't seen it but was initially a bit confused believing this to have been a direct-to-video release (it wasn't although I recall that now when I first wrote the review I had forgotten about its brief but profitable theatrical run)which acts as a prequel to THIS film according to all descriptions. It comes out on August 19th. Whether or not this was a direct-to-video or theatrical release isn't important what IS important is the quality of the movie. I've seen some direct-to-video sequels that have been good and bad so that doesn't impact the quality of the film itself (unless it's a Sci-Fi Channel original movie--those are mostly bad, cheap looking and is an example of everything that is WRONG with Sci-Fi Channel in contrast to "Doctor Who"(which the BBC produces), "Eureka" and "Battlestar: Galatica"
   
   For those who have seen the movie (and if you're reading this I'm going to assume you have. If not and you want a synposis of the plot that's provided at the end of this review), you probably want to know how this looks on Blu-ray. As with "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns", "The Scorpion King" receives a nice transfer marred only by the over use of Edge Enhancement and Digital Noise Reduction to reduce film grain.
   
   All of the extras from the DVD edition (both the original edition and the reissue) are ported over to this fine release and this does include the U-Control feature(something carried over from Universal's HD-DVD releases) that will allow you to customize the extras including watching picture-in-picture commentary and behind-the-scenes footage.
   
   Written and produced (but not directed)by Stephen Sommers, "The Scorpion King" is an entertaining sword and sand epic that is filled with humor and just enough camp to make the film work. Director Chuck Russell does a great job of setting up the action sequences particularly one that takes place in a cave during a sandstorm as Memnon's men hunt for Mathayus. Russell does a terrific job of setting up the action and creating a suspenseful sequence in what could easily have been a muddled scene.
   
   Russwell does a good job of introducing Sommers' humor and story elements that are unique to this film. The Rock does a solid job in the lead role although its not exactly a stretch for him as an actor (does it matter really? This is an action film with the emphasis on the word ACTION), he makes a believable lead for the film.
   
   
   A prequel rather than a sequel, this spin-off tells us about Mathayus (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson)who is among the last of a dying breed of mercenary fighters hired to kill a sorceress Cassandra(Kelly Wu) who can see the future. Memnon (Steven Brand)uses Cassandra to predict the outcome of his battles as he takes over kingdoms. The result is that those who would oppose often give in without a fight.
   
   When Memnon kills Mathayus brother and leaves him for dead, Mathayus makes it his mission to exact both revenge and complete his task.
   
   "The Scorpion King" manages to become an enjoyable and fun prequel to Sommers' hit films. It's not "Citizen Kane" (or "The Godfather") but doesn't pretend to be either. "The Scorpion King" may not be as inventive,original or suspsenseful as either of "The Mummy" films but it is strong enough so that it could easily have been released to theaters and done well. Although it does display Sommers' writing moving towards the camp tendancies that hamstrung "Van Helsing", Russell's smooth direction rescues the film from becoming an overbearing campe fest.



4. Please stop saying this is a straight to video movie. It was in the theatres, I saw it in a theater myself.



5. AS I LIVE IN EUROPE, I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO WATCH THIS BLU RAY DVD.
   THE FORMAT WAS NORMALLY "ALL REGIONS" BUT I GUESS THAT ONLY THE PEOPLE WITH A REGION 1 APPARATUS COULD WATCH IT. SO I SPENT MY MONEY FOR NOTHING. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT. I WANTED TO SEND IT BACK TO AMAZON BUT FINALLY I CHANGED MY MIND BECAUSE I WOULD I HAVE LOST MONEY.
   SO I'LL NEVER PURCHASE THIS KIND OF DVD AGAIN.

5 comments about FMW (Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling) - Legend Dawns.

1. I liked this DVD alot, but I hated how some of the matches were clipped. Most it did not bother me, but the Kanemura/Tanaka match was one I REALLY wanted to see. Instead I got a 5 minutes of clips. It looked good too. I LOVED the Gladiator/Hayabusa match (shown in Full) as well as the Gladiator/Ooya vs Hayabusa, and ??. It was full too. The other DVD was much better. I hope all the matches are unedited next time. It was cool how they translated the speech!



2. This tape is great from start to finish! If you are a fan of Hayabusa than you will love this video! It is the best one of all the US commercialy released tapes! If you never heard of FMW this will be a great introduction. Try it!



3. Well, this is the first FMW video ive ever seen, so... Was it good? It was diferent, ill give you that, but it wasn't what I expected. The wrestling was good and all, but the announcers where the weak spot in the thing... They seemed more concerned with comparing the wrestlers to american wrestler, and with talking about which one of them had worse gas..... But don't let that fool you into thinking that this thing is bad... It isn't.. Its a great video.. The DVD version has some great add ons. The Mr. Pogo match would of been awesome, if it wasn't compleatly dark... but hey it was a lights out match (I think). The 'Gladiator' (Mike Awesome) Vs. Hayabusa (Probably spelt wrong) match was awesome (no pun intended). All in all a pretty good DVD.... Good enough that I will probably buy some other FMW ones too...



4. They say first impressions are important. Well this was my first FMW video and I was impressed. The action was great all-around. First it was supposed to be Comat Toyoda AKA "Mother-in- Law" vs. the Bad Nurse Nakamura. Before the match, Sub Miss Saito begged "Mother-In-Law" to let her wrestle the Bad Nurse. So "Mother -in--law" agreed. You will here the two commentators bantering so much they missed "bad Nurse" pinning Sub Miss. There was a female Muta named Megummi Kuddo she is one of the toughest female wrestlers I've ever seen. The announcers spend more time arguing that calling matches. The Gladiator/Hayabusa match was well put togather. Gladiator is Mike Awesome from ECW fame. There was a lights-out death match that would have been better if there was no lights out stip. There was a crazy tag team coffin match with Mr. Pogo and Horace (Hogan) Boulder vs Super Leather and Matsunaga. Matsunaga gets ... whopped all over this tape. This is a great intro to the world of FMW: Hardcore wrestling Made in Japan



5. this had some good matches but i did not like the lights out death match because you could not see anything,hint hint!!!!!
   
   other than that a medium good dvd from fmw.
   
   ps:that was my first fmw dvd and i just orderd yokohama deathmatch that will be very good as the reviews said.

No comments about Kenpo Ed Parker´s System Larry Tatum.

3 comments about Pride FC - Clash of the Titans.

1. Pride 14 is a very up and down show. There are some great knockouts, some excellent submissions, and two distance fights.

   (not in correct order)

   1) Antonio Schrembi X Johil De Olivera - a great graplling match with multiple submission attempts.

   2) Pele Landi X Daijiru Matsui - Brazilian superstar Pele finally makes his Pride debut. Can he handle the never say die attitude of the Matsui?

   3) Chuck Lidell X Guy Mezger - Lidell makes his Pride debut in a back and forth match that ends in a huge knockout.

   4) Gary Goodridge X Valentijn Overeem - short yet sweet match. Wait till you see Goodridge's anticts after the match!

   5) Vitor Belfort X Heath Herring - a very contraversially decision. Who really wins this fight?

   6) Akira Shoji X Dan Henderson - Dan returns to the ring to fight the second never say die fighter from Japan, Shoji. One man in this fight gets PUNISHED!

   7) Vanderlei Silva X shungo Oyama - Silva returns after KOing Sakuraba. Can he keep up his Japanese winnings?

   8) Igor Vovchanchyn X Gulbert Yvel - In what should be a striking match-up, this fight surprizingly hits the ground and ends in submission.

   9) Yoshihiro Takayama X kazuyuki Fujita - a surprizingly good match-up. Both men show a ton of heart.

   Overall, a pretty darn good show. Unfortunetly, there were a couple slow spots in the matches that for the most, can be overlooked.




2. This Pride event has been overlooked by many (probably because it doesn't contain a Gracie or Sakuraba fight), but it showcases many of the greatest fighters in all of mixed martial arts. If nothing else, buy the event for the Chuck Liddell vs. Guy Mezger fight. It's a great fight from 2 of the best light heavyweights in the world and 2 of the best strikers in the world.

   The lineup also contains Igor Vovchanchyn, Gilbert Yvel, Kazuyuki Fujita, Vanderlei Silva, Gary Goodridge, Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, and Heath Herring. Most of their matches aren't as exciting to watch as they could be, but they're good.




3. I didn't know all the fighters, but most of the matches were pretty action packed. Always fun to watch Chuck Liddell, Vanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger, Igor Vovchanchyn, Dan Henderson, Gary Goodridge, and Gilbert Yvel. This and Cold Fury were two of my favorites.

2 comments about Mastering Tae Kwon Do Tae Kwon Do versus Muay Thai, Boxing etc..

1. This DVD has a very short runtime and is nearly useless. Grand Master Jong Soo Park does not spend very long on each style and only looks at a handful of the common tactics employed by practicioners of the other styles (karate, MMA, etc.).



2. Agreed, runtime is about 40 minutes and Grandmaster Park goes over some basic counters to a couple common attacks from each style. You may get some drill ideas from the material presented here for training against each of the styles, which is good, but I'd say it's probably not worth the price. Too short and too basic with not enough dynamic energy in the video. One other thing that could have made this video better is subtitles as Grandmaster Park is sometimes difficult to understand. The DVD also promises much in terms of each styles weakness, Taekwon-Do's strengths, etc. but it fails to deliver anything extraordinary. Depending on your instructor and training background, you may pick up one or two things.

No comments about Karate Killer.