2 comments about The Ultimate Game.

1. THE ULTIMATE GAME is one of those martial arts movies that appeals to the testosterone and T&A that's in all of us. Who of us over the age of..never mind..wouldn't like to have bodies like J.D. Rifkin or Paul Logan? What about the foxy chicks? The lush island setting?
   ULTIMATE GAME is an average film focusing on a tournament held for a million dollar prize, and the good team vs. the bad team. The fight sequences are fairly imaginative (choreographed by T. J. Storm, who also appears in the film) and there's a nice twist at the end.
   Rifkin is the All American hero; Paul Logan is the studly bad guy. It's a lot better than some of the other films recently released, so if you like kung fu fighting, join in.



2. The Ultimate Game is one of those movies that tries to use all flash and very little else. There are good fights, fighters with extremely ripped bodies, and a fighting locale that is beautiful. Unfortunately there is no beauty within the movie itself.
   
   The worst thing about this movie is the sound. The sound is crappy, from voices to effects. You can actually hear the actors speaking into a microphone and footsteps outside are dubbed with footsteps in a hallway. In some scenes you can hear ocean waves on the beach and other scene you hear no waves, even though they are cleary there. The acting is pretty bad, but the muscle build of these male actors can make up for it, especially the villains. My favorite is Sam Slater, played by Paul Logan. If he could act a little better, he would make a really good villain.
   
   The first 45 minutes of the movies is very slow. There is no story, but instead tiresome scenes of retrieving fighters for the tournament. The tournament is about the only good thing in the movie. It takes place on a beautiful beach and there are several fights with lots of decent choreography. The final fight between the main character (played by J.D. Rifkin) and Slater (Paul Logan) is about 3 minutes with nothing too exciting in the way of choreography. The only nice thing about the fight is the two guys end up fighting in the ocean water.
   
   There is a little twist at the end I did not expect, only surprise in the whole movie.
   
   In the end, this movie was about what I expected. Considering how low budget it is and the actors involved, it could be worse. If you enjoy movies with lenghty tournaments for lots of fights, than Ultimate Game may please. Don't be fooled by the dvd case cover or dvd cover. The case shows 2 sports cars, which are not in the movie. The dvd cover displays Daniel Bernhardt from Bloodsport 4...no idea why that is on there but he is not in Ultimate Game.

1 comments about Zen of Sword.

1. Zen of Sword was my first Hong Kong film experience. It started me on a crazy binge of HK Action, and it's still my favorite HK movie. The action is awesome, with crazy monks, mad eunuch sorcerers, and insane sword styles. The fights are the most exciting I've seen, on par with Iron Monkey. My jaw dropped with the first fight scene and stayed there til the very end - along with a huge smile. And, most incredible of all...the story is actually good, with fine actors playing well-thought-out roles. All in all - plot, action, actors, effects, editing - Zen of Sword delivers.

5 comments about Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave.

1. Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave - it's a great title for a movie, isn't it? Unless you're just slapping that title on the final product and opening the film with a shot of somebody jumping up out of the ground in front of a fake Bruce Lee tombstone, knowing full well that this movie hasn't the first thing to do with Bruce Lee and that it's all just a scheme for making more money by exploiting the name of the legend. Strangely enough, I don't even mind because I have some sort of obsession with Bruceploitation movies that compels me to watch and usually enjoy any of them I can get hold of. I do have a problem with the plot summary that usually comes attached to this film, however. I knew going in that the film had nothing to do with Bruce Lee, but those without such knowledge are told that Bruce comes back and fights the Black Angel of death in some sort of supernatural kung fu story. Folks, this doesn't happen - no Bruce Lee, no graves, no Black Angel of death. I can't even be sure of whom the star of this film is. The actor is billed as Bruce K.L. Lea but is often referred to as Bruce Le; Bruce Le happens to be my favorite Bruce clone, but I can't make the actor in this film look like the Bruce Le I have come to know in other movies.

   I can't really list any good things about this film, yet for some reason I really enjoyed it. Our hero Wong Han comes to America to see his old friend and fellow kung fu teacher, only to learn that the guy just committed suicide. With no place to go, he bunks down in the school, only to be attacked by a great big axe-wielding black man; afterwards, he finds himself at the police station being berated for what he claims is self-defense. A mystery man bails him out, only to ask Wong to help him find a certain young lady. Wong refuses, but almost immediately he finds himself saving the girl in question from being raped; it turns out that she just happened to be his dead buddy's employee and only friend. Deborah Chaplin plays Susan, and I have to say that the lady is just gorgeous and mesmerizing. Wong's luck seems to be changing as Susan locks on to her new hero. Of course, bad things are afoot. Apparently, the Village People or a horrible facsimile thereof were involved in Wong's friend's demise, and these folks keep attacking and kidnapping Susan. Naturally, Wong has to fight them and find out the truth behind his friend's death. The plot jumps around like a cat walking on a bed of hot coals, but a surprise or two at the end does offer some proof that a plot of some sort actually did exist. The ending is quite a downer, I must say.

   Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave is just weird. Wong carries around his friend's box of ashes (which sports a big photo of the guy on front) around his neck all over town, for one thing. The evil quintet of Village People wannabes is downright silly. The fights aren't bad at all, in my opinion, and there are a good many of them, but the strange relationship between Wong and Susan attracted most of my attention. Susan is thoroughly taken with Wong, basically locking on to him from the start; there seems to be a little romance on both sides eventually, but it sure isn't your typical kind of relationship. The weirdest thing of all about this film, though, is the fact that I enjoyed it as much as I did given the fact that the acting is sub-par, the dubbing is awful, and the plot is exceedingly thin in places.




2. I JUST BOUGHT THIS TRASHY-A** MOVIE TODAY, AND I GOT DONE WATCHING IT JUST 30 MINUTES AGO. AND I'MA TELL YOU THIS, I WANT BACK THE 84 MINUTES THAT I WASTED ON THIS MOVIE! I COULD'VE BEEN DOING SOMETHING MUCH BETTER DURING THAT TIME! ANYWAY, HERE'S THE PLOT; A CHINESE MARTIAL ARTIST [BRUCE LEA] ARRIVES IN LOS ANGELES. SHORTLY AFTER HE ARRIVES, HE FINDS OUT THAT HIS FRIEND HAS DIED UNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. THINKING IT WAS MURDER, HE SETS OUT TO FIND THE PEOPLE THAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS FRIEND'S DEATH. ALL OF THE FIGHTS WERE BORING AND MINDLESS. AFTER WATCHING THIS MOVIE AND AFTER SEEING HOW BORING BRUCE LEA REALLY WAS IN THIS MOVIE, I NOW TEND TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT BRUCE LI. BRUCE LEA IS AS WORSE OF A KUNG FU STAR THAN BRUCE LI EVER WAS! AND TRUST ME, BRUCE LI HAD SOME VERY VERY BAD MOVIES OUT. BUT THIS, THIS IS JUST TOO STUPID FOR IT'S OWN GOOD. I USUALLY DON'T DO THIS, BUT SINCE I REALLY DON'T WANT ANYONE TO PICK UP THIS MOVIE, HERE'S A SPOILER; HIS FRIEND ACTUALLY FAKES HIS DEATH TO GET HIS HANDS ON SOME SERIOUS DRUG MONEY. HE APPEARS AT THE END OF THE MOVIE AND HE FIGHTS BRUCE LEA IN THE FINAL FIGHT. NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE END, YOU DON'T NEED TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID! BUT IF YOU STILL WANNA SEE THIS, I CAN'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!



3. I don't know what is wrong with most of the other reviewers here. Actually, I suppose I do know what is wrong: you couldn't figure out how to enjoy this movie. And that's your right, I guess, so whatever. But I totally loved it. Of course it is a low-budget, horribly-filmed, poorly acted, campy piece of 70's movie garbage. But if you aren't expecting that to begin with, then you are clearly daft. What else would you expect from a movie thus named?

   However, low quality as it may be, for people who enjoy such movies, this is quite nice. I have seen rather a number of these kinds of horrible martial arts flicks, and I must say I generally get some kind of kick from them, whether it be the horrible dialogue, the strange dubbing, the astonishingly wild plot, or at least some good fighting. This film ranks right up there with "Clash of the Ninjas" and "Kung Fu Zombie" as one of my favorite. Why, you ask? Are you really interested in why?

   This film features a laughably terrible transferal to DVD. Everything is wildly blurry. It was so bad that I thought I was actually watching it in a tiny theatre in the 70s. Contrary to most people's preference, I found this endearing. They could have maybe cleaned it up, but they chose to keep the feel of the original release there. It isn't like you really need it to not be blurry- most of the blur is just depth of field blur from the camera having too large an aperture in many shots.

   But let's see... What else does this film offer. And mind you, I'm being serious with all of this.

   One thing I really liked was the relationship between the star and the superbly attractive damsel. Feminists would hate this movie, because the female lead spends most of her time being caught or nearly killed while the hero- a man- keeps saving her tail. I don't care about everything being PC all the time, so I thought this was kind of funny and cute. I'd like to rescue some beautiful girl, too. But the way these two characters interact is quite bizarre, and I found it intriguing. She instantly likes this guy, but he is too focused on other matters at hand to pay any attention to her. This does eventually bite him in the end, though, and it is sad.

   The plot of the movie is interesting for this type of genre where things are usually fairly cut and dry- set 'em up and knock 'em down. This story is a tale of betrayal, subterfuge, and manipulation that keeps going until the very end. The pacing of the movie keeps things flowing, as well- there are few lagging points in this story. And I also enjoyed the tone of the film, which was rather serious. It was a serious drama speckled with bits of kung fu fighting. And, while the acting and film quality maybe have been some of the very worst, I don't think this film would have the same feeling if these things were better. It would not have the same charm if it was all well acted- more than likely, this movie would just blend in with lots of other well-acted crap from the 70's. As it is, the recipe produces something not quite reproducible, and therefore, to me, unique.

   The kung fu was also good, but that is not the main reason I watch these movies, paradoxically enough.

   If you are going to spend your time trying to watch these types of movies, you might as well look for things to enjoy. Once you learn to look at them correctly, you will find the true and priceless value of their existence.

   Cheers,

   Gregory Scott




4. I would've voted this one as worth ZERO stars but Amazon wouldn't let me. Having picked up this film on sale for $5.99 and watched it(only once before leaving it in the halls of Ga Perimeter College without a 2nd thought), I'm going to keep it short & sweet: no Bruce Lee(or Bruce Lee lookalikes for that matter), no graves, no Black Angel of Death, no plot, no choreography, and NO SENSE! And on top of that, the synopsis on the backside of the cover is FALSE. Therefore...I crown this DISGRACE the WORST BRUCEploitation film of all time. DON'T SPEND A CENT ON THIS ONE.



5. I mean the trailers have his grave like blowing up. They show this at the start of the movie, and then the movie actually starts. The kung fu is decent at best and the story is not worth going over. It is your standard modern day boring kung fu story and left me wishing I hadn't wasted 90 minutes on this when I was finished with it.

No comments about Kenpo 4 - KENPO HAND CONNECTIONS.

No comments about Kenpo 2 - ADVANCED KENPO HANDS.

No comments about Fighting Arts Of Indonesia: Combat Secrets Of Silat And Kuntao.

No comments about Kenpo 1 - KENPO HANDS.

1 comments about Broken Oath.

1. Definitely worth collecting. An old school chop sockey. Low on sense and plot. Good picture but not remastered. Not Ms Mao's best work but not the worst movie she's ever been in either. Do not buy this movie to see Sammo Hung though he's barely in it near the end of the movie in his typical bad guy-henchman role.

2 comments about Just One Look.

1. A Fan (Shawn Yu) hated Crazy so much. He thought Crazy was the killer of his father (since he heard that Crazy would 'kill' the father if the father doesn't pay back his debt). In fact, his father was suicide, feeling hopeless of the life. In the father's coffin, A Fan found a big frog and he thought the frog was the reincarnation of the father...and that frog died because Crazy stepped on it! That's why for years A Fan regarded Crazy as the killer of his father. But without power, A fan couldn't do anything but hitting Crazy's head with stones for 10 years!
   
   That's the beginning of the overall story. Basically, it's a simple story talking about how two grown-up guys chasing their dream girls and how they deal with day-to-day challenges. A Fan did a romantic (but cheating) letter to his dream girl by copying drama movies' tag lines into his love letter.
   
   Funny, compelling and tickling your inner sense.



2. "Of course it's not real. It's just a movie," the nun explains to the little girl at the beginning of "Just One Look." We all have heard or made such remark some time or other. "Just One Look" is a film that tries to capture the power movies have in our lives.
   Fan (played by Shawn Yue) and Ming (Wong You Nam) are best friends who work in their families' food stalls right outside the town's movie theater. When they are not selling sugar cane and fried fish balls, they are watching movies and cruising with their friends. Like any teenaged boys of sixteen or seventeen, they talk and fantasize about sports (kung fu in this case), sex and girls. For better or for worse, their perceptions on all three subjects are influenced by the movies. By the end of "Just One Look," however, they will learn that not everything in life is like in the movies.
   Fan may see himself in the place of the hero of the movies he watches. He wishes he were blasting away "Crazy" (Anthony Wong), the man he thinks murdered his father. But in reality, he has to content himself with taking shots at him covertly with a sling. Ming admires the kung fu warriors of the films but time and again his teacher denounces the gravity defying fighting in the movies as a debasement of real martial arts and the glorification of violence. Nam (Charlene Chou) is nicknamed the Chivalrous Lady, but it is hard to be chivalrous when the guy she likes doesn't like her back. Movies, however, can be a positive influence too. They entertain us. They become forever associated with memorable times in our lives. They can open our eyes to the existence of a wider world as they do for Yueh (Gillian Chung), the girl who grew up in a convent.
   "Just One Look" is a much more thoughtful movie than the blurb on the back of the box would let on to be. People expecting a happily-ever-after ending will be disappointed. Like real life, this movie is bittersweet. So disregard what the box says and enjoy this coming-of-age story where the main character, Fan must come to terms with the truth about his father's death, deals with unrequited love and at the same time discovers the joys and heartbreak of first love. "Just One Look" takes us along his journey to adulthood while celebrating the spell movies cast in our lives.

5 comments about Shadow: Dead Riot: Special Edition.

1. One would think that Fangoria editor Michael Gingold would have seen enough crappy horror movies to know when he was contributing to the problem, but Shadow: Dead Riot stands as testament to the opposite. It's a good thing that a healthy fraction of the horror fan population seems to relish any movie with bare breasts, gore, and heavy metal tunes, because those are the only people who will give this picture's investors a return on their money.
   
   Skip this flick and go with one of the half-dozen GOOD zombie movies released in the last ten years: 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, something else besides this.



2. How could director Derek Wan have possibly screwed this one up?
   
   I mean, yes, it was almost certainly going to be campy, mixing in zombies with pretty girls behind bars, but campy is supposed to be fun, isn't it? This movie is NOT fun. It's stupid and uninteresting.
   
   Margaret Baker was very well cast as a predatory lesbian guard who sets her sights on pretty female inmates like Misty Mundae and Ruby Larocca. But aside from some brief conversation, nothing ever happens! There's not one halfway decent girls-molesting-other-girls scene in this entire film! Obviously the decision was made to get right to the stupid zombies instead.
   
   What a disappointing dud!



3. I really think that this was made INTENTIONALLY bad! It must fall under the category of "so bad its good." A title bestowed upon classic B movie cheesey ragu sauce like "Plan 9 From Outer Space." Ok so this is no Plan 9 but anything with zombies and Tony todd in the same sentence should be at least DECENT?? NOT SO! Despite having the usually good Tony Todd (Candyman, Night of the living dead remake ) and Tony Leung ( martial arts stunman to Bruce Lee and expert martial arts master hissdamnself ) this is pretty terrible. It is more of an exploitation horror flick, a very cheesy one at that, that has plenty of girl on girl sex and gore. The acting is terrible, and even the stunts are pretty low rate. This is surprising since Tony Leung is a master of the form. The budget they had making this must have been next to nothing. Besides some cool lesbian soft core and a few deent kicks and punches, this is the worst horror movie I've seen in awhile! It incorporates zombies into the already really corny mix of occult and soft core porn. I think this had zombies solely because of Tony Todd, a "zombie flick" alumnus. Better than "Day of the Dead 2" but will this go down in the annals of a "Candyman" or "Night of the Living Dead?" Uhhhh, no! the placement of zombies is just a ploy to get Romero fans and general fans of horror to watch this. It comes off more as reason to touch oneself with ya frat buddies! Really bad and only if you MUST go so low at least absorb the cheese factor for all its worth.



4. The movie starts with a guy called the Shadow Killer (played by The Candyman) being executed, except something goes wrong and blood starts coming out of a bible and the guards end up having to kill all of the prisoners after they are posessed. 20 years later we meet a woman entering the jail. She likes to be called Solitaire because she doesn't play well with others. The prison is now a womens prison. Solitaire finds out that this demon Shadow is still around. We are shown some flashbacks to help explain Shadow and what happened on that day he was executed. It turns out that Shadow is Solitaire's father and Shadow killed her mother. When Shadow gets resurrected, it is on. All of the former inmates also come back to life and the women have to work together to stop them.
   
   There is tons of fun stuff in this movie. Martial arts, a killer baby, and tons of gore, but the movie just didn't work for me. It is a way to kill 90 minutes I guess. I like scary movies, but this didn't do anything for me. It is just mindless gore.
   
   As far as the action goes, there is some good stunt work, but a lot of the stunt doubling is horrible, especially Solitaire's double.
   
   For a low budget movie I guess this is decent.
   
   1.5/5



5. I bought it only because (Candy Man) was in it and I thought it would be a great movie. Boy was I wrong. There is plenty of pretty women in it, but the acting......I could have been in this movie and won an oscar. Even when the "heads" was rolling off the bodies it looked really fake. WWE does a better way of acting then these people. Don't waste you money and wait until it comes on the SciFi channel, then change the channel to the something else.