1865. A young French officer, travelling the U.S. in search of the murderer of his best friend, gets involved in a struggle between poor farmers and a rich landowner. To help the farmers, ...
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Title: Savate (Video 1995)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Olivier Gruner | ... | Joseph Charlegrand | |
| Ian Ziering | ... | Cain Parker | |
| Ashley Laurence | ... | Mary Parker | |
| Michael Palance | ... | Mitchum | |
| Donald Gibb | ... | Cody Johnson (as Don Gibb) | |
| Marc Singer | ... | Ziegfield Von Trotta | |
| James Brolin | ... | Colonel Jones | |
 |
Charles Santore | ... | Slim |
| Raliegh Wilson | ... | Emmit | |
| Rance Howard | ... | Farmer | |
|
|
Takis Triggelis | ... | Phillipe (as Takis) |
| Gene Wolande | ... | Zachariah | |
|
|
Zale Kessler | ... | Promoter |
| Scott L. Schwartz | ... | Bruno the Horrible (as Scott Schwartz) | |
| Erik Betts | ... | Brazilian Fighter (as Eric Betts) | |
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Storyline
1865. A young French officer, travelling the U.S. in search of the murderer of his best friend, gets involved in a struggle between poor farmers and a rich landowner. To help the farmers, he offers them his "Savate" (French kickboxing) skills. Written by Homme A. Piest <piest@pobox.leidenuniv.nl>
Plot Keywords:
kickboxing | bare chested male | monocle | street shootout | double barreled shotgun |Taglines:
The True Story of the World's First KickboxerMotion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for martial arts and western violence | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
14 January 1997 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
The Fighter See more »Company Credits
Production Co:
FM Entertainment International N.V., Mark Damon Productions (MDP Worldwide) See more »
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IMDbPro »
Olivier Gruner stars as a french kick-boxer (a stretch that even Gruner can't seem to make credible)who travels to the west and protects a farming community from greedy land developers, while falling for the recently widowed(I think.) Mary Parker (Hellraiser's Ashley Laurence who seems a bit too sexy to really convince as a conservative farm girl) Also for a little more fun the greedy developers hire a lethal kick-boxer (Beastmaster's Marc Singer!) to dispatch Olivier once and for all. Believe it or not The Fighter (AKA Savate) isn't a really rip off of Shane, rather it's a rip off of Nowhere To Run (One of Van Damme's lamest efforts) which was a rip off of Shane, normally i'd say greatness(Shane) begets bad (Nowhere To Run) begets worse (The Fighter) but The Fighter is probably more preferable to Nowhere To Run. At least here we can gawk and laugh at the hilariously hokey dramatics of seeing Olivier Gruner rescue people from a burning farm (Everything is so clichéd) we can marvel at how the action sequences are lacking the swagger that director Issac Florentine(Bridge Of Dragons and Cold Harvest) are known for yet complete with the ridiculousness. Also it's interesting that this has an actor somehow even more laughable then the typically stiff leading man(Olivier Gruner), in Ian Zierning (You know the guy from 90210) and truly the greatest thing about this movie is watching them try and act possessive/protective over Ashley Laurence which is somewhat disturbing because Zierning is supposed to be the brother, while she (even more disturbingly) swoons over both of them.
Although I mentioned it before, Ashley Laurence looks more like Paula Abdoul (back in the 80's) then she does a conservative ranch girl, which the period piece calls for. But she follows a trend, all of the talented actors in this movie are hopelessly lost in their roles. (Marc Singer barely speaks, James Brolin seems bored and R. Lee Ermy is wasted) the movie might've worked better had it starred Marc Singer and had Gruner in the villain role but what we end up with is a horrifyingly lame attempt to martial arts a western. What is somehow even worse is that this trend extended to the even worse Ghost Rock with Gary Busey and Jeff Fahey! Still there is plenty to chuckle at here, (seriously Ian Zierning) making it a perfect choice for my turkey binge. (It is November)
*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)