Pushed too hard. Pushed too far. Now they're pushing back!
Movie Review:
Jim Roth (David Carradine, Kill Bill, Kung Fu, Deathrace 2000) owns a bar which is frequented by his father Burt (Lee Van Cleef, The Good The Bad The Ugly, Escape From New York) and his brother Tommy (Brent Huff, Cop Game, Strike Commando II). Third brother Clay (David Goss) and partner Cory are private investigators hired by crime boss Akira Tanaka (Mako) to retrieve a stolen jade statue from a couple of professional crooks. The trade of a suitcase full of money for the statue, of course, goes sour and Clay is killed. Now it is up to the rest of the Roth clan enact their ARMED RESPONSE and avenge their brother.
Sometimes you put a DVD in the player, hit start and you can't wipe the smile off your face for the next hour and a half. That was this film. I thought I would be in for a good time when I saw the cover: David Carradine. Lee Van Cleef. An exploding car. This was going to be vintage 1980's action and it was going to be awesome. But the second the credits rolled it was even more awesome than I was expecting. The aforementioned Brent Huff. Mako from The Perfect Weapon as the crime boss Tanaka. And Directed by genre stalwart Fred Olen Ray - whose 80's films are a guarantee for a good time - what more could you ask for?
The names keep coming too. This film is just filled to the brim with 'that guy' guys. As well as the previously mentioned names from the credits, we also get Michael Berryman (a very unique looking man, most famous for The Hills Have Eyes, Cut and Run, Weird Science) who plays lead thug for Tanaka, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa in a non-speaking thug role that would traditionally go to Al Leong - I was actually waiting for him to show - and the 'that guy' to end all other that guy's, Dick Miller. His scene as the criminal with the stolen statue is so short they probably kept his car running, but his amazing red suit jacket is totally worth the price of entry.
Is the film violent? To quote Clarence Boddiker from Robocop; "Guns, guns, guns!" Shotguns, machine guns, massive .44 Magnums, sniper rifles, grenades exploding that throw a guy into the air backwards in a fireball, Japanese torture, knives, bottles of scotch over the head - and it wouldn't be a David Carradine film without some kung-fu! All it needed was a freaking crossbow. You won't be disappointed with the action in this one.
There's some choice dialogue to be heard here, primarily from the Roth clan. Jim, in reference to the statue; "Take your jade suppository and get outta here!". Burt in discussing Tanaka's style; "He's a two-bit thug in a three-piece suit." and best of all, Clay after Cory blows away a blonde with a well-endowed chest; "You shot her tits off!" Wow. Just, wow.
The 80's-ness of Armed Response is spectacular. All the cliches you want to see are here. Carradine has a Nam flashback (I swear this footage is pulled from one of Carradine's numerous Nam films, too) when he pulls a shotgun on a guy in his bar. The ubiquitous scene at a titty club. Yakuza vs. Tongs. A car chase that involves a car smashing through a phone box and a trolley full of tin cans, and a cop car flying up the back of three other crashed cars, then exploding. Carradine quipping "Go in pieces" after blowing up a guy. The electro-rock soundtrack with wailing guitar solos. Chicks with machine guns.
Armed Response never bothers itself too much about a complicated plot or any subplots at all. It's a very simple revenge-vigilante flick and it works so well for that. It's all here, folks, and it's all amazing. And at 82 minutes long it never, ever gets boring.
Highlight:
I mentioned a few choice lines above, but this exchange made me truly laugh out loud.
Mako: "Tell me where the statue is!"
Huff: "Go play with yourself!"
Until recently, The Perfect Weapon was only available on VHS or a bootleg Australian DVD (mastered from VHS) that had made it's way worldwide due to the demand for this film. Finally in February, Olive Films in the US gave this one it's first DVD and Blu-ray release. It's always been renowned as one of, if not the, best film that Jeff Speakman was involved in so it's about time it got some loving, digital attention.
Jeff Sanders (Jeff Speakman) receives a distressed phone call from his long time friend and Korean shop owner, Kim (Mako). During his long drive back home to rescue Kim, Jeff reminisces about his past, which gives us the opportunity to see how he learned the martial art-form Kenpo at age 10, and how at age 17 is disowned by his father for being a bad influence on his younger brother. When he arrives at Kim's shop he sees Kim being threatened by local Korean mafia, whom he dispatches with a blinding array of punches, kicks and stick smashing.
Of course, the Korean mafia won't take this kind of insult calmly, and by the next day Kim has been killed by an unknown assailant (though we as the audience know who it is). When Jeff finds out what has happened, via his younger brother Adam (John Dye, Best of the Best) who is now a cop, he plans to take the law into his own hands, and after a routine 'weapons at the ready' montage, take down the heads of the Korean mafia.
"The Tiger is strong and fearless. The Dragon is full of wisdom."
This was absolutely amazing. Talk about a hidden treasure! Jeff Speakman's The Perfect Weapon is right up there with early Steven Seagal films. If you enjoy Marked for Death or Out for Justice, there's simply no question at all that you will like this one. The 80's period set-pieces (even though this came out in 1991, I'm calling it an 80's film) are fantastic. We get beat up brown undercover cop cars, flashing neon sign nightclubs, underground Asian mafia, a multitude of mullets and training montages. The movie starts AND finishes to the tune of Snap's "I've Got the Power". If that doesn't convince you then this is the wrong blog for you.
Speakman brings the Kenpo action fluently, which is no surprise as its the part of the film he doesn't have to act - Jeff is a 8th degree rank in American Kenpo Karate. His arts film very similar to early Seagal (who holds a 7th degree rank in Aikido) with a lot of hand-to-hand fighting. Seagal had his slap-fu, Speakman has this trick where he hits you around the face so fast you don't know what's going on. He only breaks it out once or twice in a movie (we saw it in Deadly Outbreak) but it's fantastic. He is also skilful with Kenpo Sticks, unleashing rabid wooden fury on a few occasions throughout the film, including a great one-against-three fight at a dojo and an even better one-against-four back alley fight. He's really at the top of his game here, and his prowess isn't watered-down by any romantic sub-plot either.
This film has the best secondary Asian character actors from the vintage 80's action period. First of is Mako from Crying Freeman, Sworn to Justice, Midnight Man and Fatal Mission with Peter Fonda. We also get James Hong (Missing in Action, Ninja III: Domination, Big Trouble in Little China) as the red herring bad Mafia boss, playing a suitably evil role as Yung. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat) who we recently saw in Tekken is Yung's Lieutenant, Kai, and while he doesn't get much to do, he has a pretty great fight with Speakman at the end.
There's a supremely awesome and recurring appearance of Professor Toru Tanaka (The Running Man, Martial Law, Hard Justice) - as Tanaka - playing Yung's hitman who sparked Speakman's initial revenge. This is probably the most I've seen of the Professor in a film and he's just amazing. He doesn't say anything except mumbling to himself manically in Korean. He takes two successive taser shots to the chest, after lifting car off his head. Totally awesome stuff. Tanaka can also take claim in this film to being the highlight of one of the best finale wharf explosions in cinema.
The prize appearance for me was the uncredited, blink-and-you'll-miss it scene in the nightlcub fight. Amongst all the bodies throwing themselves at Speakman was Al Leong! The same Al Leong from Die Hard, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Action Jackson, Big Trouble in Little China, Cage, Dark Angel, Steele Justice.. everything amazing from the 80's. He says nothing, hell he doesn't really do anything, but I still teared up when I saw him. I had to rewind to double check that it was him, but it's him. Fantastic.
There's a little bit of comedy in the film. I especially enjoyed a little throwaway scene showing Jeff's brother Adam trying to get information out of a restaurant chef, asking about Kim, receiving a "Yes!" and a box of Kim Gee. Adam tries again and receives another "Yes!" and another box of food. Giving up he says goodbye, to which the the chef replies in fluent English "Have a nice day." Champagne comedy!
I loved Speakman's Deadly Outbreak but this is the kind of action film I really get down with. I like to call them "catalyst revenge" films. All it takes is the death of your respective martial arts Master and it's on like Donkey Kong. It's completely obvious how it will all play out and that allows you to sit back and enjoy the martial arts and haircuts. We aren't very far into Speakman's career here at Explosive Action but I hope that some of his other films (off the top of my head with have The Expert and Street Knight to look forward to) have similar urban settings with gritty street-fights.
Mark DiSalle directed this. He was responsible for directing JCVD's Kickboxer, and was the producer on Death Warrant, Street Knight and Bloodsport. That's a pretty solid heritage to ensure you are getting a quality American martial arts film. He also played the football coach that tends to the oaf that young-Speakman knocks out cold with his kicks. Props must go to DiSalle for getting a live crocodile to appear in a tank at the movies' nightclub, The Croc Bar.
The Perfect Weapon is essential viewing for 80's and early 90's action fans. The DVD and Blu-ray put out by Paramount and Olive Films is the first time the film has been released legitimately since the days of VHS. Olive should be applauded for delving into Paramount's back catalogue and bringing this one to a new audience. If you read my old About page you'll see I harp on about how I missed out on obvious action films when I was growing up. Perfect Weapon is definitely one of those films. Buy it now!
The Video:
As mentioned above, we finally have a DVD and Blu-ray release courtesy of Paramount and Olive Films in the US. I can't speak for the DVD but the Blu-ray is All Region ABC and played perfectly on my Region B locked player. The film is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and sports a healthy, natural grain that places the picture as vintage 80's action. Sound is a solid if unremarkable DTS Master stereo track. No extras, just a menu and chapter points, but who cares - this is Perfect Weapon on disc for the first time! Runtime 85 minutes.
Namco's highly popular video game franchise Tekken is finally brought to life on the silver screen! The live-action movie adaptation features the familiar story setting, characters, and their distinctive martial arts styles from the famous fighting game series. Set in a dystopian future where corporations have replaced governments, the fantasy action movie focuses on the Iron Fist Tournament where fighters battle each other to death until only one is standing. A young fighter with a dark secret enters this deadly competition with the aim to avenge his mother's death and confront his evil dad and grandpa. Dwight Little (Brandon Lee's Rapid Fire) directs an ensemble cast that includes Jon Foo (House of Fury), Luke Goss (Hellboy II), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat), and Cung Le (Bodyguards and Assassins), with fight choreography by Dion Lam (Doom, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li).
Movie Review:
I don't know anything about Tekken (the game). I was always a Mortal Kombat kid, and others were Street Fighter kids. By the time Tekken had come around, all arcades local to me were closing down or being replaced with dancing games and the like, so I never had a chance to actually play the thing. Sure it hit the PS2 but by that time I had no desire to really check it out. I don't get to play many games anymore, and when I do it's usually something like Galaga or Phoenix. So with that in mind, this review is based solely on what I watched. I don't know how accurate the representations of the characters were and frankly I don't care. I'm here for the action.
(screenshot from the game that I've never played)
It's sometime in a post-global war future and the corporations run everything, including governments. Eight companies divided up the world, with the Americas going to the largest of them all - Tekken. Each year the companies put on a fight for the punters involving all the best fighters from each corporation, the "Iron Fist" tournament, and this year Tekken will be the host country.
Our main character, Jin Kazama (Jon Foo), is running through the derelicts outside Tekken city known as The Anvil being shot at by renegades and military types, all to the tune of some meathead nu-metal wrestling music. There are posters of the Tekken leader Heihachi Mishima (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) hanging everywhere with the motto "Strength Through Order" emblazoned on them, so you know this is some sort of 1984 future we are dealing with. It's a pretty exciting start to the movie, with Jin bolting along roof tops under the lights of following helicopters and eventually Jin escapes.
He goes to meet a crazy underground technology dealer and offers him a device he has just stolen from the Tekken corporation. Getting a reasonable price for his wares, Jin leaves and goes straight to a bar (though he's like 16 or something) and flaunts his cash around, buying black-market coffee and fruit from another dealer. The end of curfew siren sounds and Jin heads home to his mother who dissaproves of his anti-Tekken runs, no matter how much coffee and oranges it gets him. We have a little emo scene "Is this what father would have wanted?" and Jin bails to go see his bimbo girlfriend. While he gets his end away in an alley, the Tekken military types (they are known as Jacks for some reason. Perhaps jackboots?) smash into both the tech. dealers warehouse and through Jin's mother's roof, yelling at them in Japanese looking for Jin and the stolen wares. Not finding him, the buildings are blown up with missiles from the hovering choppers.
After arriving home to see the devastation Jin has a few flashbacks of his childhood past. Apparently his mother knew martial arts and had taught him from a young age. Jin assumes that Tekken was responsible for the death of his mother so signs himself up for an open fight in the hope of rising to the top and killing the Tekken boss, Heihachi Mishima.
The open call fights are designed to wet the punters appetite before the main tournament and occur in small caged arenas and are televised. Jin gets admitted by former Iron Fist combatant Steve Fox (Luke Goss) and goes up against another former Iron Fist fighter, "Martial Law". Jin gets a few hits in on the guy before going down. But, by the power of his flashbacks, Jin manages to get up and K.O. the guy. Steve Fox is so impressed with the fight he decides to become Jin's manager and get him into the Tekken tournament.
Inside the flashy walls of Tekken - a total contrast to the slums of The Anvil - Mishima's son and security officer Kazuya (Ian Anthony Dale, who played Scorpion in the awesome Mortal Kombat: Rebirth short/preview - watch that now if you haven't) is doing this years roll call of combatants. They are:
Raven, representing G-Corp - lethal ninjitsu expert and former military intelligence
Eddie Gordo, from Valencorp - capoeira master and underworld enforcer
Sergei Dragonov, from Ruscorp - sambo fighter, trained by the defunct Russian military
Anna Williams and Nina Williams - sisters and assassins, fighting for Eyderdex, and masters of koppo and aikido
Christie Montiero for Vectrocorp - a skilled mixed martial artist, played by the hot Kelly Overton
Miguel Rojo - zapote specialist, basically punches them in the head a lot
Yoshimitsu - master swordsman, wears a full body suit and looks like an android
Bryan Fury - a power boxer, kempo fighter and current Iron Fist champion, played by Gary Daniels
And with Jin as the "People's Choice", there are ten fighters in this years competition. Jin meets all the combatants who generally give him the cold shoulder, except for Christie Montiero who's just a tart at heart. Jin makes evil eyes at Mishima up in the control room.
The fights in the movie are all good quality, which is of course the main reason anyone is watching this (Kelly Overton's rack not withstanding). Starting with Raven vs. Eddie Gordo, we get to see the skills that the actors bring to the table - all of which I understand actually trained in the martial arts they portray in the movie. Eddie Gordo puts on a good display of his cappoeira skills but is ultimately owned by Raven. Jin is picked for the second fight against Miguel Rojo and strolls in to the ring doing his best Bruce Lee impression. Jin lays the first punch but Miguel ducks and weaves his way around the blows before knocking Jin to the ground. "Do you know where you are? This is Iron Fist!"
Jin gets his second wind and drags Miguel around a bit, but again is flattened to the ground. Through the awesome power of the flashback (a recurring medium), Jin gets a third wind and finally connects some decent blows and dislocates Miguel's shoulder. Fueled with anger, Jin keeps laying into the guy well after the bell rings. This impresses Christie who goes to Jin's room after the fight looking for a screw, though the two go for a dance instead. This scene was made for all the horny sixteen year old boys in the audience as the camera is always panning down to Christie's jiggling arse, revealing the two-inch crack left by her well positioned leather pants. After their date, Jin retires to his room and is attacked by a ninja in the dark. He fends the ninja off but is injured; thankfully Christie hears the scuffle and rescues him, the ninja vanishing.
Round three is the one that had to happen to satisfy even more teenage boys watching - Nina Williams vs. Christie Montiero - and it's a total cat fight in purple and white bikinis. Jin says he is sure that Nina was the ninja that attacked him, so Christie makes the fight personal, with flicking hair and one liners, ultimately flattening Nina.
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is always good as a bad guy and this movie is no exception. I can tell without researching that he has been done up to look like his video game character; his eyebrows are so over the top he just has to be. For a megalomaniac that posters the city with his portraits, the guy is rather respectful of the tournament and is annoyed by his son's constant efforts to undermine him. Like a spoiled brat Kazuya has a tantrum, and using his security manager powers orders the Jacks guards to arrest his father. Kazuya declares the rest of the tournament to be fights to the death. He really is the BAD guy in Tekken.
Tekken is a predictable, but enjoyable fighting movie. It's very, very DTV, which makes me all the more surprised that it will be getting a US theatrical release in 2011. A downside to it is it has, as Matt at the Direct to Video Connoisseur would say, a Gary Daniels bait-and-switch. He plays a role almost as small as he does in The Expendables. Ultimately he has a fight with Sergei Dragonov with chains which is pretty brutal, and finally he has a fight with Jin. It is great to see Daniels really putting his kickboxing skills back onto (digital) celluloid. There is a nice sub-plot about his body being half bionic with illegal implants but it's not explored very far. I guess that is the trouble with a movie that has to show ten fighters in the ring in ninety minutes yet still wrap a plot around it all - the fighter you really want to see has to share the ring with the other fighters. I guess that's why anime serial Yu Yu Hakusho spent an entire season of 42 episodes in the ring.
I've no idea if Tekken game fans will enjoy this or if they will get all comic-book-nerd and complain that Bryan Fury's hair was the wrong shade of grey, but as a dumb fight movie it did the job well enough for me.
The Video:
Sharp and clear, but obviously digital cameras were used. The ususal problems are present; the darks gets consume by grain and the lights get blasted with white.
