A look back at how Speed still keeps up with its ultimate action!
Released in 1994 starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and the late Dennis Hopper, this was the second film released about a mad bomber released in 1994, the other one was Blown Away, this one is better.
This Die Hard on a bus thriller stars Keanu Reeves as Jack Traven an LAPD detective who in the opening of the film foils the plot of mad bomber Howard Payne who has hijacked an elevator with 30 people in a LA building, the scene is exhilarating from the start and Speed has its foot on the pedal and does not take it off until the very end.
Howard Payne returns and informs Jack that he has placed a bomb on a bus and if the bus reaches 50 mph the bomb will arm itself and if the bomb falls below 50 mph the bomb detonates, such a simple plot but it works and this is where the action is centered.
Speed is a classic action from the 90’s filled with all the ingredients of a classic 90s action movie, explosions, suspense, great score and sly humour. Speed works thanks to great performances and an impressive directorial debut from Jan De Bont who started as a cinematographer and worked on such hits as Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, The Hunt for Red October and so forth and would direct another exhilarating film in 1996 Twister.
As I said the bulk of the action takes place on the bus and this could have been over exhausted but it works thanks to a diverse range of passengers on the bus who all bring something unique to the narrative, including an excellent scene stealing Sandra Bullock as Annie a passenger who has had a driving licence revoked and handles the driving like a pro. The bus racing through the streets of Los Angeles during rush hour brings a whole lot of thrills and spills and edge of your seat action.
Howard Payne is brilliantly played by Dennis Hopper, the problem with his character is that his motives are not made clear in the movie why did he plant that bomb in that particular building and bus, but you know what the film is so exciting you don’t really care.
This is one of Keanu Reeves’s best roles next Neo, John Wick and Johnny Utah in Point Break, his character does not say much and those types of roles suit Keanu’s acting ability and Sandra Bullock is incredibly like-able as Annie and the rest of the supporting cast from Jeff Daniels and the bus passengers are on top form, great score.
Speed has brilliant action set pieces and stunts, from the bus crashing into an airplane to the finale on the train it is a shame that they do not make films like this anymore, you can watch this time and time again and still be engaged time and time again and Speed is an Oscar winning film also winning two Oscars for Best Sound and Editing, the writing is also crisp from Graham Yost who would write Broken Arrow and another underrated film Hard Rain.
Speed is a great film, loaded with tension, humour and lots of energy and they don’t make films like this anymore, which is a shame, what is shameful is the sequel that they made in 1997.
MR P grew up in London has been a film fanatic for as long as he can remember always watching films and grew up watching hi-octane blockbusters from the 80s and 90s like Terminator, Commando, predator, Tango and Cash, Double Impact, Beverly Hills Cop, Die Hard, Speed and so many more. Mr P decided to turn his love for watching films into a hobby by creating his own YouTube channel – The Mr P Film Review!
Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock (5878646b) James Hong Big Trouble In Little China - 1986 Director: John Carpenter 20th Century Fox USA Scene Still Action/Adventure Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin
It’s a James Hong-athon with these Top 10 Ultimate Action Movies.
We may be a deeply divided nation at times but almost all of us can agree that legendary character actor and low-key badass James Hong deserves a star on the Walk of Fame. With 67 years of acting experience and over 500 TV and movie credits to his name, the fact that Daniel Dae Kim had to organize a campaign to secure his star was shockingly baffling. What wasn’t surprising was that they raised the necessary $55,000 funding goal in a mere three days. We love James Hong and celebrate his incredible and ongoing career. The man is 91, has four projects in post-production according to IMDB, and looks and sounds as lively as he did in his Big Trouble in Little China days. Come to think of it, James Hong may actually be Lo Pan.
Although he’s had a diverse career in various supporting roles across all genres, Hong’s work in 80s and 90s action deserves special recognition. Whether you needed a Vietnamese General or a Korean Kingpin, James Hong was your man back then. What makes Hong’s performances ultimate though is that he rarely ever played a random goon or sniveling peasant. He convincingly played, and still does, imposing authority figures that commanded respect. Hong may not have the brawn for such roles but he has the brains, cunning, and occasional ancient Chinese magic to pull it off.
Here are the top 10 ultimate action movies, ranked by performance and overall ultimate-ness, that feature James Hong kicking ass and elevating productions from 1984 to 1996.
This action/fantasy Eddie Murphy vehicle is a bit of a clunker and had many more ideas than the VFX department could handle. They tried to insert Axel Foley into an international child abduction caper filled with demons, dragons, and dancing soda cans but it just didn’t work, especially when you compare it to an ultimate 80s action/fantasy movie that premiered later that year (keep reading).
Fortunately, James Hong was there to offer crucial plot points and backstory to drive the plot along, from arranging a meeting with the mysterious dragon lady to sending Eddie on a quest to find the mystical demon-slaying dagger. Hong got the job done and made it seem like keeping a smoking she-dragon monster in a musty basement was just par for the course in his world.
Who do you turn to when you need to brush off two pesky cops who are bringing a bit too much heat down on your nefarious narcotics activities? Quan, the local Triad boss, that’s who. Hong’s Quan has the connections and pull in LA’s underworld to help plant evidence and orchestrate the sinister scheme. He may not have a ton of screen time in this late 80s buddy cop movie but it’s amusing to see a much more sensible James Hong play off of Jack Palance’s comic book villain antics. Next time just take Quan’s advice and off them when you have the chance. Leave the convoluted payback schemes to the Bond villains.
If you want your movie to hit the ground running and prepare the audience for the wild opium-fueled ride to come, a smart director will open with a James Hong performance. Hong plays Li Peng, a rival drug lord in Tibet, who wants a bigger piece of the action. He’s hauled in front of a pre-Shadow Lamont Cranston who runs the opium trade and looks like he fronts a hardcore industrial-rock band on weekends. Li Peng is screwed but still manages to go out with a bang in a short but action-packed showing from the living legend.
Weird side note: I’m pretty sure they feature the same mystical dagger in The Shadow that they use in Golden Child. The dagger has a Tibetan origin in both films too but only the Shadow one flies around and bites people. Crazy coincidence or did James Hong have this lying around in his garage and thought it might look cool in a few action movies?
Jeff Speakman takes the lead in his first major role for this somewhat forgotten 90s martial arts extravaganza. He uses his lightning fast Kenpo techniques to take on the Korean mob that murdered his mentor. I wonder who they got to play the mob boss…
That’s right, James Hong plays an untrustworthy crime lord who was suspiciously acquainted with Speakman’s mentor prior to his untimely demise. Hong gets a knife in this one and does his best against Speakman’s flurry of confusing Karate.
Given James Hong’s numerous TV credits over the years, it seems only right to honor his small screen success with two episodes from the 80’s action classic.
“The Maltese Cow” – Wan Chu
Wan Chu is a Tong mafia boss who, among other things, is running a protection racket in Little China. After shooting up a restaurant that belongs to an old war buddy of the A-Team’s, Wan Chu and his Kung-Fu thugs are going to get their just desserts. It’s another ruthless mob boss role for James Hong and he delivers a top notch villain-of-the-week in this thoroughly enjoyable LA shoot/punch-out that explosively ends in a fireworks factory.
“Mind Games” – General Chow
Face is in a world of trouble and adding to it is a vengeful Vietnamese General that takes him hostage in in the General’s compound. Face must pay for dishonoring his daughter during the war. Get this, Face hooked up with a random local girl for a brief time. The General has him tied to a chair as Face waxes philosophically about love. Fortunately, Murdock is flying around the compound in a jet pack and chucking grenades everywhere. Face is rescued and the tables are turned as they take General Chow hostage and stuff him into a helicopter.
In a movie full of crazy, the scene with James Hong is the wildest one. He plays a Japanese mystic/exorcist who tries like hell to dislodge the ninja demon inside Christie. He makes her change into some heavy-duty bondage gear and take a drag off his magic pipe before the real show starts. It seems to be going well until demon Christie blows her evil stank breath all over his face. This unsurprisingly wears down his resolve to continue. This flick gets a higher ranking than it probably should, only because it looked like a ton of fun to film and Hong must have been having a blast.
Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese…in Hollywood, they’re Asian. Oh well, it kept James Hong in business for six decades. This particular James Hong Vietnamese General stood up to the one and only Chuck Norris, which deserves a few extra points in the ranking. General Trau is a fantastic one act villain that really sets the tone and propels the story forward.
Chuck Norris’ Col. Braddock leaves the General hanging on an unreciprocated handshake at their initial meet-and-greet on the tarmac. Trau soon answers this impolite behavior with a very public denunciation where he accuses Braddock of committing a laundry list of war crimes. Check mate, Chuck! Later, Braddock tosses out the chess board and grabs a knife to help him question Trau in the middle of the night while he’s sleeping. Still, like other great Hong characters, this badass won’t go down without a fight.
It took eight years to make the sequel but it looks and feels like it was made only a year after the original. James Hong’s Sun meets dollar store JCVD, Daniel Bernhardt, in a prison somewhere in East Asia and agrees to train him in the mysterious “Iron Hand” martial arts. Rent-a-Van-Damme was caught thieving from Mr. Miyagi of all people, so that’s some pretty hard time right there. Sun is a Kumite veteran and believes that not-Frank Dux can redeem himself and get back on the straight and narrow by training for and competing in the next Kumite.
The whole story is told from Sun’s perspective, which he is recounting for his students as a morality tale. Everyone has good and evil within them but these traits aren’t set in stone. Great lesson and a wonderful Hong performance that are deserving of a better karate movie. The other actors pale in comparison and a goofy appearance by Donald Gibb (Ray, the trucker guy buddy from the first one) can’t quite make me care about the outcome. The Kumite itself is a bit sad and cheap looking but the fight scenes are well executed with some talented martial artists showing off a variety of techniques.
Ok, now before you spit out your coffee all over the screen, yes I realize no one would seriously consider Wayne’s World 2 an action movie but you KNOW the scene I’m talking about. Cassandra’s disapproving father comes to visit at Wayne’s apartment and a kung fu parody breaks out. You probably don’t remember much from that movie but that scene became an instant classic and still makes us laugh today. James Hong’s intensity sells it, the dubbing delivers, and the stunt work is the icing on the cake. Action-packed hilarity in an otherwise forgettable sequel.
You knew this would be number one after reading the title of the article and how can it not be? Lo Pan is one of the best villains in 80’s cinema. A living ghost, an ancient mystical being that harnesses supernatural powers, Lo Pan is one tough dude with a discriminating taste in women. This really was the perfect role for James Hong. In one instance, he appears to be a harmless, doddering old man and in the next he’s shooting blue energy beams out of his mouth and taking out a small army. Appearances aren’t always what they seem and never underestimate James Hong.
John Carpenter’s narrative themes also align with Hong’s mission to boost Asian-American actors and normalize them as leads or at least play characters that are equal to everyone else. Growing as an actor in the studio system, Hong wasn’t comfortable with constantly seeing minority characters acting as bumbling sidekicks. Big Trouble flipped the script and delivered a unique action movie with a soul, in more ways than one. Lo Pan demonstrates Hong’s range and investment in the characters he plays. His performance is emblematic of his larger body of work that gives his characters dignity, no matter how small the role. For that, he is owed a bit of gratitude and a little brass star somewhere around Hollywood and Vine.
Remembering one of Arnold’s best – and perhaps the last ultimate action movie ever with The Last Stand(2013)…
Arnold Schwarzenegger took an eight-year hiatus from acting due to his duties as Governor of California, with the exception of a cameo in the first Expendables movie. His comeback as a lead actor was The Last Stand, which came out in 2013.
The first time I watched it I was just happy to see Arnie back on the big screen, and thought it was an awesome movie. Now, with some time having passed since its release, I watched it again, and my conclusion is that it’s still pretty awesome.
The Western-like setting features a small desert town that is overrun by bandits with advanced firepower. Their goal is to pave the way for the escape of a mafia boss over the nearby border to Mexico. The gangsters came to the wrong town, though, as no one gets past Sheriff Ray Owens and his deputies.
In The Last Stand, Arnie plays one of the most easy going characters he ever portrayed, even though we can already tell from the beginning that he’s going to be bad-ass when things get ugly. He seems to be quite enjoying himself in his role, and many times in the movie he seems so deeply relaxed like you have not seen him in another movie before or after this. He even stoically endures a couple of jokes in the script that are not very subtly pointing to his advanced age.
The Last Stand has a simple plot without fancy complications. The beginning of the movie features a fairly lengthy cat and mouse game between the villains and the federal police, that includes a couple of nice car chase sequences, and an original way of snatching a prisoner car from a police convoy.
If this segment would have been trimmed by ten minutes or so it would have made The Last Stand a bit more crunchy, but it’s not really a big issue. In the second half of the movie all brakes come off, and it’s non-stop carnage. Everything that needs to be in a good action movie is there, bloody shootouts, car action, brawls and explosions. Add to this plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor from all of the protagonists, some cool one-liners from Arnie, and we’re in old-school heaven.
As a director, Jee-Won Kim took the helm in his first and only US production so far. In his home country of South Korea he achieved critical and commercial success with his dark and brutal crime thriller I Saw The Devil. His direction of the The Last Stand is flawless, the movie flows smoothly and with good timing for switching between thrills, action and humor.
Besides Schwarzenegger, the rest of the cast seems to be enjoying themselves, too. Forest Whitaker is great as somewhat twitchy federal agent that is frequently patronized by Sheriff Owens over the phone. Peter Stormare gives his familiar over-the-top villain impression, and Johnny Knoxville attempts a nostalgic throwback to his Jackass days with an actually charming performance as the village wacko with his heart at the right place.
The Last Stand never tries to be anything but classic action entertainment, and fully succeeds in it. It was a very good even though not spectacular comeback for Arnold Schwarzenegger after his break, and for me is one of the best movies he made in the last 25 years.
“The past isn’t dead” – Second trailer for James Bond’s No Time To Die released.
(Image copyright: Universal Pictures, Danjaq, LLC and MGM)
The dormant marketing campaign for the upcoming 007 adventure No Time To Die has finally woken up this September with a new poster and a 2:35 trailer. The new poster is quite minimalistic, heavily influenced by the Skyfall character posters where James Bond appears, in tuxedo, in front of a white background with a black 007 gun logo. Despite its simplicity, it could very well be the most “Bondian” of all the other efforts used to promote the film when it was set for an April 2020 release, before the COVID-19 crisis that forced Universal Pictures and EON Productions to reschedule the movie for November, which now seems to be the final release date.
No Time To Die’s second trailer reworks some elements seen on the initial December 2019 trailer: a car chase involving the classic Aston Martin DB5 through the ancient city of Matera in Italy, an infiltration to a high-tech laboratory led by Primo (Dali Benssalah), apparently a SPECTRE agent; action scenes involving the characters of Ana De Armas and Lashana Lynch, and some conflicts regarding the relationship between James Bond and Madeleine Swann, played by Léa Seydoux. We are informed that she appears to have a personal connection with Rami Malek’s villain Safin: “What does he want?”, Bond asks. “Revenge. Me”, replies Madeleine.
Hard-edged aficionados that have consumed 007 in more than one media will distinguish two interesting music cues in the “James Bond Theme” arrangement for the trailer: the first one, as the villains rappel down through the big building, is a bit reminiscent to Sean Callery’s version of the trademark tune for the 2004 video game Everything or Nothing, albeit with more horns in the background. The second one is a cue from Thunderball’s main musical motif composed by John Barry, which can be especially heard during “Bond Below Disco Volante” on the soundtrack album for the fourth James Bond movie, released in 1965.
“The past isn’t dead”, anticipates a bruised and battered 007 to Madeleine, although he isn’t referring to the aforementioned homage but to plot lines that harkens back to Casino Royale in 2006, film that set characters that would eventually been retconned as members of the infamous organization SPECTRE. As a matter of fact, Bond visits the organization’s leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, imprisoned at the Wakefield detention facility after the events of the previous film. “Now my enemy is your enemy”, he declares, implicating that Safin isn’t exactly one of his most loyal followers. Was he one in the first place? We’ll have to see that in a couple of months.
“How do you tell the good from bad, villains from heroes, these days?” asks CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright, returning for the role after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace), the man responsible for interrupting Bond’s tranquil life in Jamaica for an off-the-books mission in Cuba. There’s an indication of possible betrayals and tools of the spy trade which were quite frequent in this film series since the 1980s, exacerbated during the Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig eras. The words have an obvious reference to Ian Fleming’s observations on the dirtiness of the spy business on an interview held for the CBS in 1963, but also to the 1953 novel Casino Royale when Bond himself noted that “the villains and the heroes get mixed up”. In the 2008 movie Quantum of Solace, it is Bond’s ally Mathis who points that out.
There is, however, something more important in the trailer: it looks like James is ready to save the world again. “He’s going to kill millions!”, warns Nomi (Lashana Lynch). That appears to be a nice touch of fan service after most of the Craig era movies dealt with personal revenges or minor schemes that involved infiltration into intelligence networks or financing terrorist networks. It appears Safin wants to raise the bet as much as Karl Stromberg or Hugo Drax from The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, something that was also hinted in the original trailer when Bond observed that the villain was “playing God”. The last time we had something similar was some two decades ago when Renard and Elektra King plotted to provoke a meltdown in a nuclear submarine below the Bosphorus in The World Is Not Enough. Or to North Korea’s Colonel Moon in 2002’s Die Another Day who sentenced the West to “shake with fear”. But after that, the megalomaniac desires of Bond’s antagonists seemed a little bit pedestrian in terms to national/worldwide security risks. It looks like Safin is here to change that, as well as Bond is there to stop him on his magnificent, Ken Adam-esque base designed by Mark Tildesley.
Aesthetically, the film really looks beautiful and will surely be among the better photographed Bond adventures of all, courtesy of Linus Sandgren. Erotism, which was toned down in recent Bond adventures, also seems to return with a scene where Madeleine and Bond are gently kissing each other on a hotel room in Matera at dawn, which looks romantic and sexy. Similarly, on many shots Sandgren makes Léa Seydoux look delightfully sensual, an attribute the Parisian actress always had, painfully wasted in the previous film SPECTRE (2015).
The film’s action sequences previewed in the trailer are large-scaled with warships launching missiles, some underwater sequences, hydroplanes, shootouts in a Cuban bar, cargo planes ejecting a much smaller jet commanded by Nomi, and a scene involving Bond in some foggy woods getting booby traps as he avoids enemies on foot and Land Rovers stalking him.
On a less interesting note, this trailer also brings back caption cards, a tradition left behind after 2002 when the theatrical trailer for Die Another Day announced that 007 would be “betrayed, captured and abandoned”. In this case, and on a similar way to the TV spots, the captions indicate that “this mission will change everything”, whatever that really means. See a previous article on this space for more speculation about that.
It’s only a little more than two months before No Time To Die gets to the big screen and, considering has a length of a little less than three hours, we haven’t probably seen too much about it as long as both trailers were. There’s also the chance that we might have been misdirected on a few plot points, recent trailers played with this quite a lot thanks to the wizards of editing. We just have to wait. Waiting is something we really grown accustomed to when it comes to the production of this movie whose original release date was in November 2019 before many script changes and delays. That said, it appears they did put the money on the screen for this one.
Yup, you read that right. Here’s how to get your Michael Jai White action fix right now!
Before we get to the goods, let’s take a moment to consider what you’re asking here. You are a Michael Jai White fan. You know MJW from his early comedy work in the films of Tyler Perry. Or maybe you knew him as Jax Briggs in Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Or maybe even as Cyborg Seth in Universal Soldier: The Return. Or maybe you know him as Mike Tyson in the HBO biopic Tyson. Or MAYBE you know him from his famous parody role in Black Dynamite.
It doesn’t matter really, you’re here to watch MJW do his thing. And more probably, it’s because you want to see Jai White do what he does best – kick butt and take names. You’re in luck too. Michael Jai actually has quite a robust action movie career that’s filled with some under-seen and very under-appreciated hardcore action genre classics.
And many of which you can watch online – for free!But we do have to mention that – if you are a true MJW fan – then you should probably, you know, invest in either renting or buying your Michael Jai White movies so that you can support the man and his action movie friends. But hey, if Netflix, Amazon Prime and platforms like Crackle want to put up his movies on their services for free (or based on subscription) then more power to them. So, here… we… go!
We’re gonna start with one of the ultimate best of Michael Jai White’s action filmography. This. Movie. Slaps. Hard. So hard in fact that it’s #1 on our ranking list of the great MJW films of all time! Seriously – check it out. It’s 100% made for Michael Jai White to star in his most prime form – as a badass fighter with a heart of goal. For an indie movie without a mega budget, it’s beautifully crafted and everything you’ll want for your man MJW.
This is actually a very awesome documentary that examines the influences of Hong Kong martial arts cinema on mainstream ultimate action. It’s a great look throughout action history to see how these genre filmmakers have influenced so much of your favorite action movies and their stars. MJW is featured – so check it out!
Also on Crackle, as well as Amazon Prime and Tubi, Falcon Rising is the ultimate action franchise we always wish we had – but as of yet only have the ultimate beginnings to. Michael Jai White really deserves this to have so many sequels. As you watch it, you’ll see why. It’s one of MJW’s most ambitious projects and showcases his absolute A-List star power – you just have to give him the chance, Hollywood. C’mon!
Michael Jai White in Never Back Down: No Surrender (2016)
While you should probably watch Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown first which also starred Michael Jai White. Or maybe even the original Never Back Down which didn’t star MJW. Never Back Down 3 – aka Never Back Down: No Surrender is the most ultimate edition in the series and one of Jai White’s absolute best. It will seriously punch you in the goddamn face. So be ready for some beatdowns!
There’s certainly plenty more Michael Jai White movies out there to list, but those are our top 5 that you should watch right now if you can. (What else are you gonna do, huh?) We’d highly recommend you checking out some of these search lists on sites like Amazon Prime, Tubi and Vudu as well as… you know… going to your local Best Buy or wherever and buying a damn copy of one of your favorite Michael Jai White actioners. Today! Like right now!
Rev up for the ultimate rankings for everyone’s favorite dystopian car-mayhem action franchise!
Death Race 2000 is a B-movie classic from Roger Corman about a relentless car race through a dystopian United States where the drivers could score extra points by killing pedestrians. Paul W. S. Anderson, who is primarily known for adapting video games into movies, decided that in 2008 the time was right for a remake, and made Death Race.
The only thing it had in common with its predecessor was the existence of a car race with no rules. Instead of a race through the country, the setting was relocated to a prison. Most of the social commentary was also dropped, except for some display of corporate ruthlessness. The first Death Race spawned three sequels where Anderson stayed in creative control as producer and/or writer. In 2017, the movie Death Race 2050 was released, which was not related to Anderson’s Death Race series, and was a more or less faithful remake of the original Death Race 2000.
None of the movies will win a prize for originality, as they all follow the same basic premise of a deadly car race as the centerpiece of the story. That’s not a bad thing in itself, as all of them are fun to watch, and there are still enough differences between them to warrant a closer look. Which one you may like most depends on what you except to get out of your action movies. Production quality and mass appeal were highest with the first part, and with each new installment the franchise got more violent and nasty.
The production budget also decreased with every new release, but that was not a detriment to their entertainment value. The Death Race franchise provides plenty of gritty action, and if you want a change from the glossy and PG-13 rated style of the Fast & Furious series, it’s certainly worth checking out. In this article, I’ll rank the new Death Race movies from bottom to top.
Of all the recent Death Race movies, Death Race 2050 is the only faithful sequel to Death Race 2000. The United Corporations of America rule over most of the world, and to keep the population entertained, every year the Death Race is held. Drivers score points not only for reaching a checkpoint first, but also for running over pedestrians. Frankenstein is the undefeated champion of the Death Race, but faces fierce competition from the other racers, who resort to the most violent means to get ahead in the race.
In the world of Death Race 2050, The American Dream of prosperity has become an agonizing existence for the population, and the country has been ravaged by global warming and environmental disasters. The competitors of Frankenstein are all exaggerated manifestations of the manifold negative aspects of our current society. Death Race 2050 shares similarities in attitude with previous satires on US culture, such as Idiocracy and Postal, most notably the comic-like style and fast succession of plenty of absurd situations and humor. And just as with these two movies it will probably divide audiences, as the satirical aspects probably will not sit well with many people, and an equal amount probably will find the humor too tasteless.
Manu Bennett gives a stoic performance as the movie’s lead character Frankenstein. Everyone else plays their role as crazy as possible, with a memorable performance from Burt Grinstead as genetically engineered superhuman Jed Perfectus, that is highly confused about his sexual orientation. Special effects are cheap, but fit the overall comical tone of the movie.
The racing cars look like they were made from cardboard, and the racing scenes themselves are also shot rather low-key. Practical effects are used frequently when body parts are flying through the air as people are crushed by the race cars. Apart from the racing scenes, there’s plenty of other goofy action going on, such as fights with ninja assassins, motorcycle bandits, and an AI-controlled car with an emerging conscience on a killing spree.
Some nudity is also on display to tick off all the boxes required to get a solid R-rating. Death Race 2050 never gets boring, and is not a bad movie by any means. It’s just a very campy affair, and the action scenes are of relatively low quality, which inevitably means that it takes the last place in this ranking.
The Death Race around masked star driver Frankenstein is back, and this time the race goes through the countryside of South Africa. Frankenstein has won four races, and is only one race away from earning his freedom. The new owner of the franchise, York Niles, is determined to not let him win, as he sees the popularity of the show threatened if Frankenstein’s leaves the field of contestants. Lucas devises a plot to outsmart Niles while fending off his contestants in the different stages of the race.
Both Death Race 2 and 3 were shot in South Africa, but this time the racing crews are also relocated to South Africa for story purposes. Other than that nothing has really changed, the old crew from Death Race 2 is back, which adds some continuity. Dougray Scott takes over the villain role from Sean Bean, a British accent seemed to be required to play the bad guy for these two movies.
Death Race: Inferno delivers almost non-stop action at the expense of anything that would even resemble a coherent plot. The quality of the acting and the dialogues seem to have received less attention than in the predecessors. But if low-cost explosions, stunts and demolitions are your thing, you will be really happy with this one. As the races are about long distances, the editing of the action scenes is less hectic than in the circuit-based races from the previous installments, and there’s a nice variety of racing locations for a change.
There’s also a lot more cleavage than in the previous movies, and a sequence with ultra-brutal catfights between the lightly clad female co-pilot candidates, that features impaled heads, cut-off ears, and exploding bodies. Death Race: Inferno aims even more at the viewer’s lower instincts than the previous two installments, and is certainly a guilty pleasure, but still not as sleazy as it’s successor Death Race: Beyond Anarchy.
In the prison of Terminal Island, a car racing tournament is run by the ruthless prison warden Hennessey and broadcast live to paying audiences. The biggest star of the race, the masked Frankenstein, is killed in one of the races. Ex-racer Jensen is framed for murder, put into prison, and is forced to join the Death Race as a new driver. The first Death Race featured Jason Statham in the lead role.
At that time this was almost a guarantee for a box office success, and the movie was also reasonably successful. Death Race is only very loosely based on the original movie, the only thing the two have in common is that there’s a lethal car race, other than that Death Race creates its own setting. The movie had by far the highest budget of all movies in the franchise, and it shows. It looks slick, the action scenes are elaborate, and with Jason Statham we get the best actor in the main role of all Death Race movies.
While the movie certainly is entertaining is has its share of dull moments, though. First, there’s a lot of shallow melodrama that slows the movie down significantly at times. Also, everything looks just a bit too glossy for a dystopian prison setting, and the movie is too serious for its own good. The race scenes are staged very energetically, but are not exactly crazy as one may have hoped for a movie called Death Race.
The action also suffers from the high-frequency Michael-Bay-style editing that makes it occasionally difficult to follow what’s actually going on. Death Race is the tamest entry in the series, and a fairly sterile, but still fun movie that is mostly saved because of Statham’s charisma and physical presence.
The Sprawl is a large prison complex with hundreds of thousands of prisoners and no guards. Frankenstein is the ruler of the Sprawl, and oversees the Death Race that takes place inside the prison. Connor is part of a new wave of prisoners, and manages to stick out by not getting killed instantly after arrival. He quickly learns how to survive in The Sprawl, and earns himself a driver’s spot in the Death Race.
The fourth regular installment does not connect story-wise to its predecessors. The setting is different, it’s a copy of John Carpenter’s Escape from New York, and Frankenstein takes on the villain role this time. The movie was shot in an abandoned industrial complex in Bulgaria, which provides an even more run-down and filthy setting that the previous movies. The location is used very efficiently, though, and the set pieces look pretty good for a production that was shot with even less money than parts 2 and 3.
Zack McGowan of Black Sails renown plays the new main character, and while he may be trying to give his best Snake Plissken impression, his performance comes across as a bit lazy. Maybe I’m also only imagining this, as everyone else in this movie just acting it out so hysterical, and almost every character looks like they walked over from the set of a Mad Max movie. Death Race: Beyond Anarchy ramps up the profanity, sex and violence even more than any of the previous installments, with a noteworthy example being a fight where naked guys are attacking and dismembering their opponents with chain-saws.
It’s certainly the most exploitative of the whole series, and we don’t get much comic relief. There’s also only one big race towards the end of the movie, but it’s filmed rather well, with a couple of cool stunts and crashes, and a nice selection of crazy cars that look like they were all inspired by video games like Carmageddon or Twisted Metal. Death Race: Beyond Anarchy delivers a wild, sleazy ride that will please everyone looking for unrestrained mayhem on all fronts.
Carl Lucas is a getaway driver for local crime Boss Marcus Kane. One day a heist goes wrong, and he is sent to the prison of Terminal Island. There, the Weyland corporation organizes the Death Match, a deadly martial arts contest, which is reorganized into the Death Race by the devious corporate manager September Jones. Lucas joins the race with the outlook of gaining freedom when winning the race five times, while also needing to fend off Kane’s henchmen who have infiltrated the prison.
The second Death Race movie is actually a prequel to the first movie, just as the third part, which however is a sequel to the second part. From Death Race 2 onwards, budget-wise things were taken down a notch, and none of the movies was released in theaters. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it enabled the franchise to drop some of the compromises that were made in the first part to appeal to a larger audience. That means we get more violence, more cynicism, and generally more voyeurism in every department. For Death Race 2 and 3 Luke Goss took the helm from Jason Statham.
And while he is not an A-list actor, he certainly has the charisma and muscularity needed for his role. He is joined by an illustrious cast which consists of Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames, and Lauren Cohan as vicious femme fatale running the show. Even Sean Bean got talked into participating. He gives a cliched, but enjoyable performance as rude and treacherous mobster boss.
The movie starts with a heist on a bank for cash (in 2010!), and the explosive car chase that follows sets the stage properly. Once Lucas is thrown into prison, things really get going with prisoners and corporate managers alike pursuing their criminal and violent agendas. The action scenes are more modest than in the first part, but still pretty decent, with plenty of nicely filmed car stunts and explosions. Plus there’s some good brawls in the Death Match, that serves as a prelude for the race.
Death Race 2 also utilizes the charming old-school idea that whenever a car crashes into anything, it has to explode. The movie continued with having a sexy female co-pilot for every driver, who for the most part had absolutely nothing to do during the race, other than providing eye candy for male audiences. Despite the actual race only emerging during the second half of the movie, there’s never a dull moment. Death Race 2 may be the “sweet spot” for the series in terms of maximizing entertainment value while not becoming too sleazy or stupid. It’s a well composed piece of old-fashioned genre entertainment that takes the top spot of all the recent Death Race movies for me.
It doesn’t get any better than Martin Lawrence’s comedy-action classic Blue Streak (1999).
Blue Streak is a 1999 comedy starring Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson, William Forsythe, Peter Greene, Nicole Ari Parker and Dave Chappelle.
This comedy tells the story of Miles Logan a burglar who along with his crew is out to rob a valuable diamond, but his latest robbery goes wrong when he is double crossed by his partner played by Peter Greene, Miles hides the diamond in a ventilation shaft in an abandoned building and is subsequently arrested and put in prison. Miles is subsequently released and then discovers the abandoned building he hid the diamond in is now a police station and Miles impersonates a police officer to retrieve his diamond back.
This is based on the 1960’s film The Big Job starring Sid James, Jim Dale and Joan Simms from the Carry on Films (anybody from England will know what I mean).
Blue Streak was one of the better vehicles from Martin Lawrence, I was in a quandary of whether to review this or Life which starred Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy and I preferred Blue Streak. Life had so much potential but I found it disappointing and found the outtakes funnier than the film.
Martin Lawrence is a great comedic talent and has not had the perfect vehicle to showcase his fast paced physical comedic ability, Martin did have his own sitcom in the 1990’s called Martin in which he played a fast talking DJ and several other characters in the show. Martin was able to transfer his comedic talents to Blue Streak including impersonating a Pizza guy. Martin’s charm helped give us a very satisfying fast paced action comedy that we have seen before in such hits as Beverly Hills Cop.
Blue Streak does what it says on the tin and that is to entertain and it certainly does that with some hilarious set pieces and action sequences and a cracking soundtrack, just like his 1995 vehicle with Will Smith Bad Boys. Martin Lawrence, Saverio Guerra, and Julio Oscar Mechoso appeared in Bad Boys (1995).
Blue Streak gives martin Lawrence the ability to showcase the range of his talents and his comedic ability and I hope with the right script Martin Lawrence gets more quality roles, Big Momma’s House, Black Knight and National Security were forgettable.
Blue Streak has a great supporting cast in Luke Wilson and William Forsythe who are Rosewood and Taggart to Martin Lawrence’s Axel Foley. We have Peter Greene as Deacon Logan’s treacherous Partner and we get to see legendary comedian Dave Chappelle as Tully who is as likable as always and the scenes between he and Martin Lawrence brought out the laughs. There are also appearances by a then unknown Octavia Spencer who would go on to become an Oscar winner.
All in all Blue Streak is a satisfying watch with great laughs and great action sequences, one of the funnier films from 1999.
MR P grew up in London has been a film fanatic for as long as he can remember always watching films and grew up watching hi-octane blockbusters from the 80s and 90s like Terminator, Commando, predator, Tango and Cash, Double Impact, Beverly Hills Cop, Die Hard, Speed and so many more. Mr P decided to turn his love for watching films into a hobby by creating his own YouTube channel – The Mr P Film Review!
Let’s take a look into some of our UAMC picks for who we’d like to see go mano-a-mano with Keanu!
With three installments in the smash-hit action franchise down (and multiple spin-offs in the works), it seems that our collective John Wick hunger has hardly been satiated. With the recent news that John Wick: Chapter 4 will be shot back-to-back with the previously unannounced (but warmly welcomed) Chapter 5, we at UAMC got to thinking… Who would we want to see square up and shoot it out with the Baba Yaga in these eagerly anticipated sequels? Though some of these badass action icons might be far fetched, we sure can dream, can’t we?
Who better than to throw down with Mr. Wick himself than Yuri Boyka, AKA the indomitable Scott Adkins. With his legendary martial arts prowess and brute strength (not to mention his extremely underrated acting chops), Adkins is one of our clear forerunners to give Keanu a run for his money. Imagine – Scott as a British member of The Continental, dispatched from overseas to take down the Boogeyman after Winston helped fake his death at the end of Chapter 3. Hell, maybe he’s even related to Winston… Adding a whole additional layer of deep personal conflict to this visceral hunt.
With her roles in Haywire and The Mandalorian, not to mention her history of badass ass kicking through her MMA career, Gina Carano would be an incredible addition to the deadly world of John Wick. Though the franchise has certainly done a great job of including strong female characters, starting all the way with the original film, Carano would be a fresh of fresh air as a performer who can fully hold her own against Reeves as well as the entirety of the 87/11 Action Design stunt team. A female assassin who could actually body weight toss Wick clear across a room? Sign us up.
Jean-Claude is experiencing nothing short of a career renaissance. From incredibly intimate (yet still bone-crunchingly brutal) films such as JCVD to reinventions of one of his most iconic roles in the Universal Soldier franchise, a role in John Wick would be the icing on the cake for Van Damme, as well as lending an elder-statesman layer of respectability and gravitas to one of the defining action franchises of the current day. Not to mention it would be bad-ass to watch him throw some insane kicks at Keanu.
There is no doubt that the Mile 22 and The Expendables 3 star knows how to make the pain… just ask Sara McMann. With her technical skill and on-camera fighting experience, the former UFC champ would be an ideal fit to the heightened world of John Wick. With Keanu’s fighting technique being so focused on Judo in the Wick films, Rousey’s training (and her 6th dan black belt) would create a perfect storm of neck breaking combat, pushing both of the action stars choreography to the ultimate limit.
One of the hardest working action icons in the business, Michael Jai White has been breaking bones on screen for three decades. The Spawn and Undisputed star certainly knows his technique, having trained in over half a dozen forms of martial arts, and with his immense stature and raw physical power, would be an amazing counterpoint to the lean and quick style of combat Keanu brings to his titular role.
Who do you want to see John Wick battle to the death as this ultimate franchise continues? Donnie Yen? Maybe Tony Jaa? Hell, maybe you wanna see the GOAT, Jackie Chan bring some next-level physicality to the whole affair. Regardless of who ends up showering John Wick with lead in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, it is a no-brainer that more John Wick will always lead to some absolutely unrivaled action. As Wick himself says… “Be seeing you.”
Enter the Invincible Hero turned out to be in the Bruceploitation category of Kung Fu because of it’s blatant cashing-in on Bruce Lee’s popularity. It stars Dragon Lee, Casanova Wong and Min Kyu Choi. Korean martial artist Dragon Lee was given a Bruce Lee haircut; a stage name combining Enter The Dragon and Bruce Lee; and cast in films like this one. One hopes he had a say in those decisions. Also Korean is Casanova Wong. A fact that segues into something I’ve come to realise about Godfrey Ho’s films.
They’re not from Hong Kong. This whole time I thought I was watching Hong Kong Kung Fu movies. And why wouldn’t I? The team behind them are from Hong Kong. The films themselves are presented as being Hong Kong Kung Fu movies. And there’s almost nothing on IMDb to suggest otherwise. But no. They are at least as much Korean as they are Hong Kong in origin. The stories may be set in China with Chinese characters, but the filming locations are Korean. As are most of the actors, actresses and crew. Often credited with Chinese stage names. Italian and Filipino action movies later used the same tricks to appear American.
The setting for this story is historical. When that is exactly, we’re never told. At first it looks like it’ll be about bandits robbing people. Instead it develops into a story of crime, treachery and double-crossing. Fine, but how good is it? Or to put it another way, how ULTIMATE is Enter the Invincible Hero?
There’s a lot to enjoy about Enter the Invincible Hero. First and foremost is the quantity and pace of action. It fits a lot fight scenes into the film’s 85 minute runtime. More so than eitherThe Blazing Ninja (1973) or The Dynamite Shaolin Heroes (1977). The quality of the fight scenes here is also much higher. Even I can see that the fights are technically well staged and performed. At least compared to what I’ve seen before. As well as kicks and punches, there are swords and sticks. Some of the fights are more intricate and have a Jackie Chan style whimsy. Then there’s the classic era Kung Fu clichés. I’m not supposed to enjoy these, but that’s not going to stop me. Here is my checklist of endearing Chopsocky clichés for Enter the Invincible Hero:
Unintentionally funny English language dubbing.
Scratchy, grainy film.
Crash zoom shots.
Soundtrack that sounds bootlegged from other films and played back on audio cassette.
Overly dramatic acting.
Overuse of “swoosh” and “thwack” sound effects during fights.
The line of dialogue “No… his Kung Fu is too good.” delivered with a straight face.
Old man with long white hair, moustache and beard.
It’s not all good for Enter the Invincible Hero. Like The Dynamite Shaolin Heroes before it, this one suffers in the story and plot department. I spend half the film struggling to figure out what’s happening and why. It gradually becomes clearer, but it could be spelt out more clearly to dummies like me. The first scene has a group of townspeople being attacked by bandits. The leader of those bandits was a hunchback wearing an eye-patch. You’d expect him to be the main bad guy. But no. He is instead a low level henchman. Missed opportunity there, I think. Then there are plot points that aren’t explained at all. Such as the bad guy’s deformed belly button and his medallion which inexplicably makes a “boing” sound effect. Or the strange dots on another bad guy’s fingers. These things should have been explained, but never were.
Overall, I enjoyed Enter the Invincible Hero. I’m happy to recommend it if you either like classic Chopsocky or are open minded enough to try it. It’s perhaps the cheesiest, most clichéd, most entertaining example of the genre I’ve yet seen. The story isn’t as good as The Dynamite Shaolin Heroes, but it compensates with more and better Kung Fu fighting. And that is what we came here for.
Article by: Hywel Price-Evans who specialises in terraforming for The Company. His hobbies include re-establishing contact with the colonists on planet LV-426 and discovering obscure action movies from the home video era.
This article is a follow up on the author’s original review on the Ultimate Action Movie Club sub-reddit which can be found here, be sure to follow our weekly “What Did You Watch?” /r/UAMC discussion here!
Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect based on the initial trailers and promo materials for Project Power. Magic Pills that make you invincible for 5 minutes–it all sounds like a Mario Bros. reboot. It’s a welcome action B-movie in the waning dog days of an especially lackluster blockbuster summer. Project power features a few commendable performances, interesting action set pieces, and stunning visual effects. It’s not winning any awards, just enjoy it for what it is.
The magic pills drive the plot but there’s some heart behind the story. Jamie Foxx, who seems to be phoning it in a bit, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have a mutual goal: eradicate the power pill from the streets. The pill has varying effects in different people–some get super strength, some just kind of catch on fire and explode. From fiery, OD’d thugs to super-powered goons, the two protagonists must figure out how to defeat the standard issue evil military-industrial complex.
The relatively straight-forward plot allows time to introduce a few relevant socio-cultural themes in between VFX bonanzas, which is seen through the eyes of trusty sidekick Robin (hmmm). Robin is played by Dominique Fishback, who delivers the standout performance and elevates the movie while introducing some authenticity to the story.
The efficient action sequences are on par with Cannon B-movies from back in the Golden Age, although it’s much more stylized. The directors, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, have a background in such schlocky horror/thrillers like Paranormal Activity 3 and 4 as well as indie flicks like Nerve and Viral. They’re really trying hard to have a unique filmmaking style in Project Power to the point of being a nuisance, but overall the action scenes are competently shot and engaging. Ditch the damn color gels and dial it back a bit boys! Oh wait, they’re doing a Mega Man movie next…never mind.
The world-building lends itself to a few sequels or, better yet, a series that’ll probably last one season. There should be a lot of material to work with when there’s a new kind of war on drugs that involves defeating increasingly powerful super-human users. Government conspiracies provide the intrigue and when combined with the horror and action elements, a Project Power series would have more potential and flesh out some of the ideas that the movie underdeveloped.
If you’re looking for a serious character study or deep commentary on the human condition, this one probably isn’t for you. If you’re looking for some fun summer entertainment that holds your interest to the final inedible kernels at the bottom of your popcorn tub, this is the movie to stream while we still have some summer left. Project Power solid though. Nothing really new here but it takes a slightly different angle on the superhero genre. But face it, you’re going to watch it for the ultimate action. Now playing on Netflix.
