1 comments about Angel of Vengeance.

1. 
   Angel of Vengeance is a cheap movie that looks to be made in Taiwan. The weird music at the start should tell you right away this is probably not going to be good. Yukari Oshima is an assassin who is looking to take down down super villian Chung Fat because he killed her parents when she was little and because he now has her sister as one of his prostitutes. Now I should give this movie a 1 star because of an unexcusable rape scene that I guess is meant to show us that rape would be a difficult thing to have happen to you. But since it has a couple of average ation sequences, I will give it a low 2.
   
   Chung Fat unfortunately doesn't get to do a lot of fighting, just like a lot of his movies. Yukari Oshima definitely gets the most fighitng time and thank God for her. No scenes you will be watching over and over again but it is always great to see her in action. Alexander Lo Rei(Ninja in the USA) is Oshima's fiend and it is a dream to see him back in action in a modern day(1993) crime movie. Alex Fong shows up to do basically nothing and some blind woman gives maybe the best performance of the movies as Fat's bodyguard. The final fight is incredibly stupid and when I spotted Ngai Sing(Red Wolf) as one of the henchman, I was excited throughout the entire movie only to see him die without even throwing a punch. and that pretty much sums up the movie, not enough action where you had all the stars you needed and even a couple of great extras. The story basically revolves around a girl doing research for a thesis she is doing on brothels. The only thing this leads to is her being raped and other horrible scenes in the brothel. Like I said, it deserves a 1 star rating but I am a sucker for seeing a bunch of my favorite kung fu stars even if they are not in proper action sequences.
   
   I love my 'Angel of Vengeance' t-shirt most of all and the picture quality on the DVD is superb. FIlm print damage occurs a few times but Image either got a gret print or cleaned it up remarkably. It is also animorphically widesceened so we can see the one or two good action sequences like they were meant to be seen.

5 comments about Fist of Fear, Touch of Death.

1. Unlike me, you have the help of these hilarious reviews to spell it out for you: this is a very uproarious rip-off of Bruce Lee. It's kinda like Shaft and Tiger Lily sitting down to dinner at the Cleaver's. It's so shockingly bad, it's good. I paid a buck for a copy. It was a good price.



2. This has to be one of those intentionally bad films. They mislead you by saying it's about Bruce Lee's career. Pretty much everything is fake, but they didn't really try to hide this fact. The setting is the 1979 World Karate Championships at Madison Square Garden where the successor to Bruce Lee is supposed to be determined as a result of media attention. Bruce Lee actually died several years before. Before you know it, they go to the halftime show that depicts Bruce's early days and his great grandfather, who was one of the best samurai swordfighters of the 19th century. The flashback of Bruce's great grandfather in color is most likely re-dubbed scenes from a fictional film set in ancient China,not the 19th century, where the martial artists have unrealistic abilities. The scenes depicting Bruce's early days in black and white have nothing to do with the karate lessons that the poorly dubbed dialogue is talking about, since the characters just sit around and do nothing the whole time. Anyway, everyone knows samurai are not from China or the 19th century. Adolf Caesar mentions Bruce Lee as the king of kung fu in the beginning, but in the flashbacks and other parts, they say that Bruce does karate, which is also from Japan and not China. A karate tournament that happens every year hardly seems to be appropriate in determining the succesor to Bruce's title, especially since the championship fight that lasts only two rounds features two fighters who are probably no better than the couch potatoes in your local martial arts class. Perhaps even more insulting than a karate match resembling a boxing match determining the king of kung fu title is that the suggestion that the winner might inherit Bruce Lee's supposed curse, the touch of death. At least the main characters had the decency to conclude that the event could not live up to Bruce Lee's legacy.
   The convesations with Bruce Lee are two or more scenes of a person alternated between each other, with the words edited and entirely different backgrounds. When Bruce is supposed to be showing Aaron Banks his new move, they simply cut to Aaron Bank's face and play some fake karate noise in the background. The two of them don't even wear the same clothes throughout the whole conversation. The fight scenes where Ron Van Clief and Bill Louie beat up sex crazy street gangs teaming up on women joggers in parks are entertaining, but not very impressive. The main events are skinny guys in pajamas sparring with each other, rather than the promised highlights from Bruce Lee's career. The demonstrators need protective gear for kicks, but if Bill Louie tosses someone's eyes to the crowd, it's just part of the show. Aaron Banks demonstration of the touch of death or vibrating palm turns out to be nothing more than breaking a board with his fist. Fred Williamson is supposed to be starring with Bruce Lee, which of course is no longer possible, but he doesn't even do any fighting in this film. And his "girlfriend", who looks like she got a face transplant and had all the color bleached from her skin, begs him to satisfy her. Why would Fred be sleeping with someone he doesn't want to have sex with? He gets mistaken for Harry Belafonte, just like how every Chinese film ever made happens to be about Bruce Lee in this movie. In some versions, there is a Casper the Ghost cartoon in the special features, which is apparently just for the sake of having special features. Even though it's a cheap film, there's no excuse for the Chinese samurai and other blatant inaccuracies. After the tournament is over, Adolph Caesar says it's good that Bruce can no longer be beaten and asks "why should we try to topple his legacy", which is exactly what this film is doing.



3. First off the movie is an obvious comedy that knows it is being funny. It IS a funny movie that is a piss take on all the fake Bruce Lee movies being done at the time. The violence is comic to start with. Scenes like the eyeballs are played for laughs. Making Lee's voice fem was an obvious joke too, as was his "Samurai" background. The black and white footage IS Bruce as a child actor. Redubbed to be satirically biographical it cuts between the old film and the 70s B Samurai movie in a direct parody of "The Real Bruce Lee". The skits are meant to be funny as are the would be attackers. There are some real martial arts in the film by excellent practitioners and the point of the whole movie is that you should be yourself. The message is use Bruce to inspire you but be your own self in martial arts and in acting. I liked this very much its fun cheese that doesn't take itself seriously.



4. This is not a real Bruce Lee film. Some people said it was funny, but it is really just horrible. I couldn't even watch the whole thing. The extra cartoon "Casper" is probably the best part. If you want real Bruce Lee fighting action, you may have to spend more than $4.99.



5. I thanked him and said nothing. I had already viewed this "Messterpiece" long before on one of those "Mega" collections of Martial Arts movies. Yes, Masterpiece is miss spelled on purpose, so no coments please. As for this junk, skip it and watch "Game Of Death", As bad as it is, its better than this crap!!!!!!!!!!

No comments about Essential Striking For MMA by Greg Nelson.

5 comments about UFC Vol 13.

1. Two 4-man tournaments and a superfight. The fight between Mezger and Leninger is slow. If Leninger didn't wear a gi, it might have been more interesting. Inuoe versus Alger was sweet, but what the hell happened to Inuoe for the finals? Randy Coture was very impressive, taking out two giants, including Tony 'First I'll try to punch him as hard as I can. Then I'll headbutt him as hard as I can. If that doesn't work, I'll rip his arm off or his leg off or something.' Halme. Watch the Belfort-Abbott suerfight. See Tank decide that he doesn't want to punch with his smaller opponent. See Tank unable to grapple with his smaller opponent. See Tank shake his opponent's hand! A night of surprises!



2. this event sets the stage for ufc 15. couture debuts and looks terrific, vitor shuts tanks beer filled mouth, and mezger gets a win which he doesn't deserve. tito shows the ufc its most useful version of the side cradle. the superfight alone is worth the price



3. I have to say that Ultimate force (UFC 13)is really a video that all fans of the Ufc should watch. the matches are really that good. They are broken into weight divisions, but the hits are good. The highlight of the video is Randy Couture, a wrestler from Oregon, I believe, who takes Greco-Roman Wrestling to a new height with his Awesome performance against Steve Graham. You will be amazed, I guarantee you, once you witness the heavyweight bout between these two gentlemen (Graham vs Couture.) recommended ufc video to all women and males who are into the sport, or to those who are looking for great fight matches-on vhs.



4. I thought this was one of the best UFC's. Vitor Belfort is amazing. I like how Mezger took a pretty good beating and then was able to slip a guillotine choke on Ortiz to win the championship. And yes, Mezger deserved it. It wasn't his or Tito's fault that the Referee stood them up. John Mcarthy's main job is the safety of the fighters. Mezger was bleeding bad and it was thought that they were going to stop the fight, but they easily stopped the bleeding and Tito made a mistake. Anyways, this is a great tape. I would buy this.



5. On May 30, 1997, the Octagon landed in Augusta, Georgia for one of the best shows the UFC has ever put on. The Lightweight tournament featured really skilled fighters, Cristophe Leninger, an expert in Judo, Guy Mezger, an excellent kickboxer and veteren in the octagon, Royce Alger, a wrestler from Iwoa State, and Enson Inoue, a shooto fighter from Japan. This was a great tournament and had the first apperance of Tito Ortiz inside the Octagon. The Heavyweight tournament also featured some good fight and the debut of Randy Cotour. However, the Superfight was awesome. It was style against Guile as Vitor Belfort took on Tank Abbott. What a battle. Overall, a great show. Worth the buy

No comments about Heavy Bag.

5 comments about Only the Strong.

1. Mark Dacascos never really made it big as an action star for whatever reason. However he did seem to have the needed requirements: minimal acting chops, a ripped body, and the ability to do some amazing fight scenes. The last reason is what makes this movie a little known action classic. The movie is completely average, except the amazing kicks & other athletic moves preformed mostly by Dacascos. The best part of the fight scenes however is the fact that they don't look completely fake. With movies today they use so many wires & special effects that they leave whatever sense of reality the movie had previously maintained behind. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes old school action flicks. If you like this movie you will probably like "Drive" another little known classic featuring Dacascos. "Double Dragon" is another movie worth mentioning of his, but only because it was one of the first movies based on a videogame.



2. Very nicely done story and it explores the beautiful movements of Capoeira style martial arts.



3. The plot line, acting and action sequences are all horrible - barely good enough for a "B" movie. This story has been used too many times and still glosses over the reality of fighting. Public fights never end like it is shown in movies - vengence and maiming and death are much more a realistic end to physical violence.
   Further, although the martial art style is exotic and interesting - this is not a fighting system! Sure it may have some distant roots in a camouflaged martial routine - but was and is not a true or even practical fighting system (like Krav Maga or MMA). It takes very little understanding of physics to see that standing upside down on one hand while kicking, is not the most effecient use of balance, weight or speed - all of which are required for effective fighting. Watch something else...



4. Sexy and talented martial arts actor Mark Dacascos gets to show off his fine body and skills in this average plot film. The star is martial arts style known as Brazilian Caporeira and Mark's really good at it. The style developed because slaves were forbidden to be taught the martial skills so it was disguised as dance. Pretty ingenious! If you are interested in seeing this fighting style and Mark Dacascos then I highly recommend this film.



5. Why Mark Dacascos isn't a bigger name in movies confounds me a bit. To me, he's always had the qualities to be a star in action cinema. Guy looks good, is very fit, has an appealing screen presence, and can even act some. And he's definitely got the martial arts cred. I first saw him in ONLY THE STRONG back in 1993, and dude left an impression.
   
   This film takes us back to the days when it was still hip to hoist a ghetto blaster on your shoulder. Louis Stevens (Dacascos), a former Green Beret and fresh off a military stint in Brazil, has just returned home to the seamier side of Miami. When visiting his former school teacher, Louis can't help but note the downhill progression of his old high school. Steel bars and security staff run rampant in school, but do little to stem the thuggery and drug deals going down. When Louis applies his capoeira techniques to fend off several goons on the school grounds, his teacher takes in the students' reactions and hits on the idea of hiring Louis to instruct the art of capoeira to twelve of the worst kids in school.
   
   Predictably, Louis's experimental martial arts program doesn't win the kids over in a day, but, little by little, progress is made and the kids begin to pay attention. But one of his pupils turns out to be a relative of the local drug and chop shop kingpin, Silverio, who himself happens to be a capoeira master. As Louis begins to impact these messed-up kids, Silverio begins to feel threatened. Soon, he and Louis are engaged in a brutal contest to determine who runs these Miami streets.
   
   While ONLY THE STRONG isn't my favorite Dacascos flick (that would be Crying Freeman and the awesomely awesome Drive (Special Collectors Edition)), it's still a very solid action film. The fight choreography is very good, with the film showcasing the Brazilian art of capoeira. Dacascos is a dynamic martial artist, slicing the air as he does with acrobatic strikes and kicks. Dacascos was already well-versed in judo and karate, but had to learn the discipline of capoeira for this movie. I'm no expert so it's not for me to say how convincing he is in demonstrating his capoeira skills, but I came away feeling good about this very rhythmic martial arts. I dig that capoeira exudes such a sense of fun and excitement in its free-wheeling, seemingly improvisational style. Even right now, I feel like busting a ginga (cue the song "Paranaue...").
   
   There's a whiff of Stand and Deliver and Lean on Me in this film, but don't get it twisted, ONLY THE STRONG is, above all, a martial arts movie, so there's a fair amount of violence here. But, hopefully, viewers will come away with an awareness of just how much training, focus, and self-sacrifice it takes to master the martial arts, and also with an appreciation of the inherent beauty and serenity of the thing. The film's plot tends to run its generic course, with the school teacher premise serving more as a backdrop to the capoeira sequences. And, in these sequences, Mark Dacascos shines.
   
   Really, why isn't this guy bigger in movies?

No comments about Dance of Death.

No comments about Filipino Martial Arts Vol 1: Double Stick.

No comments about Ninja Dragon.

1 comments about Shaolin Saber Basic Sequences (YMAA Kung Fu Weapons) DVD.

1. Another very good dvd from Dr.Yang. Plenty of training drills to keep the beginner/intermediate user busy for ages with excellent tutorials for each. Anyone who has viewed one of Dr.Yang's dvd's will be familiar with the presentation and structure of this dvd. Those who have not will be pleasantly suprised by it's quality and easy to use nature. Logical drill progression and easy to skip to chapters. Just make sure you don't put your saber through your TV set! Enjoy!