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Three Days to a Kill (1992)

At the very least, it's a one-time watch.

When Ambassador Barnes (Brown) is kidnapped by a Colombian drug lord named Perez (Silva) and his sidekick Pepe (Landham), Captain Wright (Connors) calls a man named Cal (Williamson). Why did he call Cal? Because Cal is "The Best", of course. Tasked with going to Colombia to rescue the ambassador, Cal enlists the help of Rick Masters (Svenson), an explosives expert.



It just so happens that Rick is in prison, but Cal promises him an early release, along with some bonus cash, if he can help execute the mission. The last member of the team arrives in the form of Yolanda (Dakour), a military contact masquerading as a stripper. While dealing with the troublemaking Rick Masters is going to be a handful, Cal and Yolanda forge ahead. Naturally, there are many pitfalls (i.e. shootouts) along the way, and maybe a conspiracy or two that will go all the way to...well, you know where. Will our trio save the ambassador? Or will it be THREE DAYS TO A KILL...for him?



Three Days To A Kill (which sounds a bit like a Seagal title, don't you think?) is a film of firsts and lasts. It was Van Johnson's last feature film, Chuck Connors's last feature film, the first - and last - Fred Williamson made-for-HBO film, and, perhaps most importantly, it's both the first and last production of Snizzlefritz Productions. When we first started this site, we made a vow to see every Snizzlefritz production. And now we have.





With that triumph under our belts, we can now talk about the film itself. As we never tire of saying, Fred Williamson is one cool customer. Everything he does, says, and wears is just cool. He has a lot of charisma and it's a joy to watch him onscreen. When he's paired with Bo Svenson - who has his own unique brand of charisma - they make a great team. An original odd couple, you might say.

While Three Days gets off to a bang-up start - with fan-favorite Connors using a smaller weapon than most viewers are used to seeing him with; he went from being the Rifleman to being the Pistolman - it does tend to lose steam in many spots. There will be a shootout or some sort of action scene, and then it'll settle back down.

The proceedings get a huge shot in the arm when the characters of Slick (Joyner) and his associate Godzilla (Rochelle) show up. These two almost singlehandedly (if it's possible for two people to do something singlehandedly) steal the movie. Heck, they should have gotten their own movie! To think that they stole the show when classic/veteran actors like Connors, Johnson, Williamson, Silva, Landham and Svenson are all here is truly saying something.





The cast is clearly a strong one, but the material surrounding them is not befitting of their talents. Sure, the Van Johnson role is of the sit-down variety, but in this case it's understandable as he passed away shortly thereafter. While Johnson did indeed go to that big Priority Red One in the sky, his co-star from that outing, Fred Williamson, carried on. He inevitably faces off against Silva, forever a baddie, and Landham, who really does the evil underling role with gusto this time around.

Of course, someone says "We got company!" and it's rather obvious that the whole thing is just a made-for-cable version of 48 Hrs. (1982) but with the races reversed. It's all just entertaining enough - especially if you're a fan of any of the personalities involved - but there are definitely some dead spots (or at least slower spots) along the way.

At the very least, it's a one-time watch. It's not bad, it's not great, but Three Days To A Kill has one thing that literally no other movie in existence has. In a word: Snizzlefritz.

Enter the Blood Ring (1995)

Enter The Blood Ring appears to be one of the lesser-seen entries in the Punchfighting genre,

After the death of his wife, Punchfighter Luke Genera (Kobby) is struggling to take care of their son, Adam. Sadly, Adam has a brain tumor and Luke's day job as a cab driver isn't making ends meet, so he fights in underground Punchfighting matches at night. His goal is to save up enough money to move from L.A. to Australia because they're working on an experimental new treatment for tumors there. When gangster/fight promoter Sal D'Angelo (Z'Dar) announces a tournament where the winner walks away with $500,000, Luke trains like he's never trained before. Will Luke come out victorious after he decides to ENTER THE BLOOD RING?

Enter The Blood Ring appears to be one of the lesser-seen entries in the Punchfighting genre, at least here in America. It seems its low-budget origins ensured that it didn't get much penetration into the marketplace, even though video stores were hungry for this sort of thing at the time. You'd think that the presence of Malibu alone would guarantee it would be on every video store shelf in the U.S., but unfortunately that didn't turn out to be the case.

Star Benjamin Kobby (AKA Ben Maccabee) puts in a very Steven Niijar-esque performance. While he does tend to mumble (and have an accent), the audience warms to him because he has a likable personality and he's not fighting for personal or monetary gain, he's doing it to save his son's life.





Apparently this was based on a true story, but is that itself true? We may never know. He also wears a suede vest and no shirt, and that is something we do know for sure. The fact that he's a likable cab driver/fighter drawn into the world of L.A. gangsters will inevitably draw comparisons to Lee Canalito and The Glass Jungle (1988).

One thing The Glass Jungle doesn't have - or any other movie that we can name, for that matter - is a gangster who looks like Jerry Seinfeld but speaks like Marlon Brando. This very unusual and jarring combination of traits is something you just have to see. His scenes with Z'Dar are quite bizarre (or should we say B'Zar?)





Further setting itself apart from others of its ilk, ETBR has these interstitial black and white bits where different fighters are being interviewed. There's a subplot about a writer named Thompson who is writing a book about underground fighting, so he goes around with his video camera conducting interviews. Interpolating this "mockumentary" into the main thrust of the film was a nice idea and it helped to move things along. It almost could have been a full movie unto itself.

There's the classic sax on the soundtrack and the classic wailing guitar on the soundtrack - sometimes these things are much louder in the sound mix than the dialogue, which seems to have been recorded quietly. But, any sound issues aside, the chance to see Ben Kobby, Malibu, Robert Z'Dar, Robert Chapin of Ring of Steel (1994) fame, Rod Kei of Ring of Fire (1991) fame, and T.J. Storm of The Ultimate Game (2001) fame all together is surely worth your time. (Storm and Chapin also starred together in Dragon Fury, for those keeping track at home).

For some classic mid-90's Punchfighting, do check out Enter the Blood Ring.

Scar City (1998)

Scarred City is a pretty entertaining romp through the world of DTV police thrillers.

NYC cop John Trace (Baldwin) is very close to being On The Edge. Because of his trigger-happy style of policing, he is noticed by Lt. Laine Devon (Palminteri), the head of the SCAR Unit. The SCAR Unit is a super-secret sect within the police department that is more or less a vigilante-style execution squad that kills baddies with no remorse or consequences. Because John Trace is basically a good guy, he doesn't really fit in with the SCAR's rogue, and, at times, amoral ways.

When he saves the life of Candy (Carrere) during a SCAR raid on a Colombian drug lord's home, the two must go on the run because they're now a threat to this mostly-illegal operation. Now Trace's former compatriots are after him, and, as we've seen, they are relentless in their pursuit of who they deem is a threat. Will Trace and Candy ride off into the sunset...or will they be just two more victims of the SCARRED CITY?





Sort of Sudden Impact (1983) meets The Sweeper (1996), Scarred City is a pretty entertaining romp through the world of DTV police thrillers. One of the things that sets Scarred City apart from the other "rogue police unit" movies is that it gets right to the vigilante-ism. It doesn't make you wait like the other entries. It wants to get that going right out of the gate so it can concentrate on how Trace and Candy are going to figure out what to do next once the SCAR Unit is after them.

The movie never totally explained what SCAR stands for, but they did give us the first two letters - Selected Crime. The A and the R are apparently up for debate. Arrest Record? Able Resource? Acapulco Remoulade? We may never know. Well, it's not that important. But it does tie back into the title of the film, so you'd think they'd make it more clear. One of the alternate titles was Scar City, and there is indeed a scarcity of explanation about that.





There is a lot of gun-shooting and a car chase. It's a Nu-Image movie but Charla Driver from PM was involved in the production. So it's something of a mix of the styles those production companies are known for. For a DTV movie from 1998 with Stephen Baldwin, it's a lot better than you might expect. There are some cool moments and the script is above average.

Tia Carrere helps a lot. She sings two songs and she rises above what could have been the cliched "annoying sidekick along for the ride" role. We're grateful they didn't go down that road. Her character becomes a true partner to Trace and she does get in on the action. Baldwin and Palminteri reunite here after The Usual Suspects (1995) and it really shows how Hollywood is a funny place.

One minute you're starring in a pretty much universally-beloved film with wide distribution, and the next, you're doing a low-budget cop movie with Chuck Zito as Guard #3. That's the magic of the DTV world, we suppose. That's why we'll keep bringing movies like this to light as long as we can.

Sometimes these late-90's DTV outings can get kind of dire, but Scarred City manages to set itself apart from the many lesser entries in the low budget, cop/shooting subgenre. If that sounds good to you, it's certainly worth checking out.

Higher Ground (1988)

Higher Ground is one of those oddball items that's more than worthy of a one-time watch.

Jim Clayton (Denver) is an L.A. FBI agent who isn't quite On The Edge, but he's getting close. So to prevent getting there, he relocates to Jordan, Alaska to start a new life as a bush pilot. While there, he reconnects with his old buddy Rick (Kove) and his wife and son, and pretty soon, all three are flying the friendly skies with Annakin Airlines. But perhaps things aren't as friendly as they first appeared.

It seems the nefarious McClain (Masur) has an illegal bootlegging operation running, and Rick gets caught in the middle of it all. So now Clayton must go it alone and find out the truth about McClain, the bootleggers, and just why alcohol is illegal in Alaska anyway. Will he fall on his face...or reach HIGHER GROUND?

Schwarzenegger. Stallone. Seagal. Van Damme. Denver. A pantheon of the action gods, I tell ya. To be fair, Higher Ground is a decent enough TV movie from 1988 that was also a pilot for a prospective show. And pilot is indeed the operative word, as Denver and Kove fly all over Alaska (or is it Canada?) in search of those dastardly bootleggers.





Because it was made for TV - and this was long before the dominance of cable - it's all pretty tame stuff. There's no real violence, no nudity, and no bad language. Despite what you may have hoped for, John Denver does not shoot anyone in the head. He doesn't go on any drinking benders, killing sprees, Punchfighting tournaments, or anything of the sort. Hell, he doesn't even get involved in any car chases. But there are exactly two scenes of Denver-Fu. That's right, he all but shouts "Rocky Mountain Hi-Ya!" as he beats up some dudes. Now that's entertainment. Those scenes should have been longer. Much longer.

So think Airwolf meets Northern Exposure, maybe with a dash of Wings, but without the humor. But I repeat myself. Hey, we kid Wings because we love Wings (or do we?)





Anyway, John Denver looks like John Ritter meets Don Johnson. He's glasses-less this time around and he takes time out from his transition from FBI man to plane-flying man with a good ol' country singalong. Apropos of (almost) nothing, at a party, Clayton just happens to whip out his acoustic guitar and he plays the song "Alaska and Me" in its entirety. And the rest of the partygoers all know the words. It was a movie highlight for sure.

Denver is backed up with some solid support - Martin Kove as his buddy Rick was a more than welcome addition, and John Rhys-Davies as Lt. Smight, the Scottish-accented policeman on the case was a nice casting choice as well.

Richard Masur is another underrated character actor and he brought a lot to the role, which would have been much duller in lesser hands. But, as usual, one of the side characters steals the show. The local restauranteur, named Don, is a friendly, bearded man and he offers all his patrons his specialty of moose burgers. He was a great face and a great presence and we don't even know his name! But kudos to him nonetheless.

While he really should have mowed down many baddies with a machine gun in a Final Warehouse Fight a la Travis Blackstone, what we get is a nice, decent, middling affair that would have been perfect for the PAX channel back in the day. It could have been on after Doc in back-to-back programming featuring country stars turned actors. It should've aired in PAX's 10 o'clock timeslot for a slightly edgier, 'PAX After Dark' kind of vibe.

While it's not exactly unprecedented - Higher Ground is truly the Short Fuse of its day - to see a somewhat unorthodox John Denver taking the lead as a man of action seeking justice (however tepid) - Higher Ground is one of those oddball items that's more than worthy of a one-time watch.

Accident Man (2018)

Scott Adkins and the gang have turned in another winner, and we absolutely recommend Accident Man.

Mike Fallon (Adkins) is part of a firm of hitmen (and one hitwoman) who each have their own specialties when it comes to killing. Some are brutal, some are careful, but Mike's own unique brand of offing his clients comes in the form of making their demise look like an accident. He was brought up under the wing of Big Ray (Stevenson), his mentor and fellow hitman who now runs the local pub where all the hitpeople congregate.

When his beloved Beth (Brooke Johnston) becomes the target of assassination, Mike goes rogue to find out who ordered the hit. While it's bad that this course of revenge shatters his carefully-crafted life, the really bad part is that he is then the subject of a dreaded "Kill Brief" and all his former compatriots now come after him, and he has to fight his former friends and expert killers one by one. Will he finally get to the truth? Will it be a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top? What will become of the ACCIDENT MAN?





Not to be confused with the Yahoo Serious romp Mr. Accident (2000), Accident Man is an entertaining good time starring the ever-reliable Scott Adkins. He's joined this time around by a very solid cast of fan favorites such as Lady Bloodfight herself, Amy Johnston, as well as Ray Stevenson and Michael Jai White, among others. Adkins and White have not one, but two fights together and the action overall is well-executed. There's a strong sense of humor throughout and a lot of good energy propelling it all along.

It appears the story was based on a comic book, and that feel is definitely there. It's like a DTV Guy Ritchie movie, but better, and there appears to be a healthy dose of the John Wick series added to the mix for some extra flavor.

But the whole thing is uniquely British and Adkins really seems in his element here. There are several references to their English identity, including pro-Brexit sentiment. Two songs by The Jam are on the soundtrack (can you guess which ones?) and Adkins does a very enjoyable voice-over narration of the tale. The soundtrack has some nice synthy moments that 80's fans will appreciate.





Speaking of 80's classics, we have Michael Jai White screaming while shooting a machine gun and a classic barfight. The idea of a hitman club with its own unique characters, which then splinters and becomes a case of "best vs. the best" is an appealing one. It's done with style and you care about what's going on. It's all totally professional and should have gone to the theater here in the U.S. In days gone by it would have, but these days it doesn't have a chance at a theater release, sadly. But there's always Blu-Ray, DVD, and streaming services.

Scott Adkins and the gang have turned in another winner, and we absolutely recommend Accident Man.

Escuadrón (1988)

Nothing about it stands out enough for us to give it a wholehearted recommendation.

Somewhere in a foreign land, The Dictator (Forster) is causing trouble. No real surprise there, unless you consider the fact that he's known only as "The Dictator". Even the news reports about him call him that. Because there's a pro-democracy politician named Kassar (Jourdan) who opposes The Dictator, the U.S. sends in the COUNTERFORCE to protect him because he now has a target on his back.

Counterforce, who have their own, specially-branded hats and jackets so you know it's them, is a elite squad of soldiers who are the best of the best. They consist of Colby (Kennedy), their leader, Nash (Stevens), the spiritual guy who likes zen and meditation, Ballard (Hayes), the muscle, Harris (Rivero), who leads the men in the field, and Sutherland (Bernhardt), who everyone calls "flyboy" because he likes planes. Will the Counterforce protect Kassar and put an end to the reign of terror of The Dictator?

If you like the A-Team, you'll probably like Counterforce. It's very, very A-Team-esque. The whole movie plays out like a feature-length version of the show. Each member of Counterforce corresponds to an A-Team character. Instead of Mr. T, they got Isaac Hayes. Instead of George Peppard, they got George Kennedy. Of course, for the characters of Face and Howling Mad Murdock, they got Jorge Rivero and Andrew Stevens. And Kevin Bernhardt. Even the shooting, car stunts and blow-ups seem heavily inspired by a certain 80's TV show. And it's not Mama's Family.





Now that that's out of the way, we can talk about the main reason why anyone would go out of their way to see Counterforce: the cast. It's an impressive lineup of B-Movie favorites and regulars. You get Robert Forster as an out-of-control Arab dictator, complete with an indefinable accent and a proclivity towards wearing capes over his normal clothes. There's Jorge Rivero, who last starred in director De La Loma's Killing Machine (1984), AKA Goma-2. He's very no-nonsense this time around, and his ability to load a pistol one-handed is very impressive.

Andrew Stevens and Isaac Hayes are the original odd couple and provide most of the humor in the film. George Kennedy, as usual, holds things together. At this point in his career, Kevin Bernhardt was on the ascendancy, as Counterforce was sandwiched in between Kick Or Die (1987) and Midnight Warrior (1989). Whether those qualify as video store classics is debatable, but it seems Bernhardt was everywhere in the late 80's.





As if all that wasn't enough, familiar faces such as Louis Jourdan, Simon Andreu, and Hugo Stiglitz round out the cast, which was truly international. The only real female cast member, Susana Dosamantes, was a mainstay in Mexican movies and TV but is probably best known for being in Rio Lobo (1970) with John Wayne.

While there are a handful of cool bits and some nice, mild humor, it's all very standard. It's an El Presidente slog by any other name. Yes, the scene in the gym where the Counterforce are all lifting weights, except for Andrew Stevens, who is meditating, is a highlight, but it's all so middle of the road.

Counterforce is by no means a failure, or even unpleasant to watch, but nothing about it stands out enough for us to give it a wholehearted recommendation.

Fatal Deviation (1998)

Easy to love! Silly fun all the way

After ten years in a reform school, a young Martial Artist named Jimmy Bennett (Bennett) returns to his hometown of Trim in County Meath, Ireland. It's not long before trouble finds him. The evil gangsters that killed his father are harassing him and his newfound love, Nicola (O'Sullivan). Jimmy is invited to take part in a local no-rules Punchfighting tournament called The Bealtaine.

The baddies don't want him to win, but Bennett plays by his own rules. Also, thankfully, he and Nicola befriend a wise monk from the abbey (Murray), and he helps Bennett train and train and train. It all comes to an explosive head when said baddies kidnap Nicola and Bennett is forced to go into overdrive to save her - and save the day. What in the world is a FATAL DEVIATION? All will be explained...

What can we say about the great Fatal Deviation that hasn't already been said? It's billed as "Ireland's first Martial Arts action movie" and this shot-on-video project has a DIY feel and a ton of heart that's easy to love. It's funny and fantastically entertaining. It's unique and one-of-a-kind. We here in the U.S. had Razor Sharpe (2001). Ireland had Fatal Deviation. It's the movie that dares to make the natural connection of "County Meath, Ireland" with "Martial Arts". You've got to see it. You just have to!





The star of the show is, of course, James "Jimmy" Bennett. He was born to be an action star. He clearly has spent the time working on not just his physique, but also his technique. His line readings are gold. If Schwarzenegger can come from Austria to make it big in the U.S., why not Bennett? It was nice to see such a Van Damme fan get to indulge his fantasies (VanTasies?) - Bennett:

• Does splits like Van Damme

• Stands on a motorbike and shoots his pistol like JCVD does in Hard Target

• Wears a similar blue shirt to Chance Boudreaux

• Fights in a tournament as Van Damme does in The Quest (1996)

• Has flashbacks to childhood training like in Bloodsport (1988)

• He leaves St. Claude's Academy at the beginning of the film

...and we could probably go on. Yes, there are monks, but since Dennis Rodman was not involved, they're not of the Cyber variety. They may not have been able to get Rodman, but they did get Mikey Graham from the boy band Boyzone.

One thing we have yet to see is Van Damme riding bumper cars at the Funfair or beating up miscreants at the local market. There is a lot of charm on display here, and it's just fun to see.

There are many more examples, but another one is, when the gangsters are threatening Bennett to take a dive in the tournament, they hand him a note that says "Loose or Else". At first we weren't sure what sort of threat that could possibly be. But, then again, baddies aren't known for their spelling.

Featuring an unknown song that's a lot like "Young, Cool, and Groovy" from Houseboat Horror (1989), A better Ireland tourism video you could not find. Fatal Deviation almost inadvertently combines the natural beauty of the Emerald Isle with the awesomeness of Jimmy Bennett. Fatal Deviation is a must-see.

Furious (1984)

Furious is a classic of the VHS era!

An attempt at a plot description for Furious would be like trying to describe the plot of Eraserhead (1977), or Begotten (1990), or some other piece of impressionistic, surrealistic cinema. It's not impossible, per se, but it won't really convey what you see on screen. You just have to watch it for yourself.

The tagline for the DVD (which is out of print and expensive) is "Karate Heroes Fight Aliens For Control of the Astral Plane!" And, yes, Simon Rhee, playing a young Martial Artist named Simon, in some way, manner, or form, battles it out with many strange assailants, including Master Chan (Phillip Rhee). But what happens along the way simply must be seen. Mere words can't do it justice.

Furious is the netherworld between a dream, a drug trip, and a student film. There's very minimal dialogue, there's magic, there's chickens, there's a swordsman entertaining patrons of a restaurant, there's a Devo-esque band playing, there's an evil corporation and angry sherpas, there's a Karate school of children, and a heck of a lot more besides. We wouldn't dare spoil anything you're about to see.



We're not sure how much of this is intentional and how much is unintentional, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. It's certainly unexplainable. It's wacky and you never know what directors Everitt and Sartori are going to throw at you next. Fun, entertainment, and smiles follow.

Furious is a classic of the VHS era. It made going to the video store in the 80's worth doing. You might think, if you didn't know any better, that this was just a run-of-the-mill, standard Martial Arts film. Nothing could be further from the truth. If someone took a chance on renting Furious back then, they would've been hit with something unexpected. Getting rewarded with something so left-field fueled the addiction to video stores. But the power of Furious continues into the present day.

Consequently, Furious is one of the best films we've seen this year. I'm sure we'll be talking about it and referencing it from now until kingdom come. Only one question remains: Where's the Blu-Ray?

Triple Threat (2019)

A top-notch example of modern-day action

Xian (Jade) is a wealthy woman who uses her money to put forth an initiative to clean up the communities around her. You wouldn't think this would be such a bad thing, but it really upsets the local baddies. Part of her clean-up plan involves getting rid of the local gangsters. So the evil Collins (Adkins) and Devereaux (White), along with their legion of evildoers, set out to kidnap Xian, and it appears no one can stand in their way.

That is, until our heroes Payu (Jaa), Jaka (Uwais), and Long Fei (Chen) show up on the scene. They end up protecting Xian and fighting the bad guys tooth and nail. Naturally, that leads to a lot of shooting and fighting. Who will survive the TRIPLE THREAT?

We know what you're thinking and the answer is no, Triple Threat is not the long-awaited biopic of Harvey Fierstein. We all know he can sing, dance, and act. Until such time as that potential blockbuster is unleashed on the public, however, we have the movie at hand today, which is an entertaining and worthwhile beat-em-up. Strangely, it doesn't quite reach the electrifying heights its superb cast would seem to indicate.

Putting fan favorites Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen all in one film together is pretty much the action fan's dream cast in 2019. While it's certainly not a case of Lone Tiger Effect (which, for those who are new to the site, is what we call it when a stellar cast is assembled but the movie itself is a dud), because the film is far too good for that, somehow it feels like some ingredients are missing. And we think we know what they are.





But before we reveal what we think that might be, let's talk about what works in Triple Threat. First, and most obvious, is the Martial Arts fighting. It's stupendous and our superstar cast really 'brings it'. Perhaps they felt a bit of friendly competition with each other, but everyone brings their A game, and each has their own unique style.

It was a treat to watch the Jaa-Adkins fight, and the Jaa-Iko-Adkins brawl was manna from action heaven. We appreciate all the work that goes into such scenes. Without listing each and every fight, let's just say that, even more so than the gun-shooting scenes, these combat sections are movie highlights. But that being said, the whole thing is quite violent and has a high kill count.

With that in mind, Triple Threat certainly aims to please, as it starts off as your classic jungle shoot-em-up, complete with exploding huts. Then it moves to a scene of Punchfighting. Then it settles into its urban action scenario. So it seems that fans are being very well served with a bunch of familiar settings they'd be used to from action movies past. Overall it's shot very well and feels professional.





We also felt it was different to have not just Adkins as a baddie, but also Michael Jai White as one as well. Both men are primarily known as heroes, so it was unusual to have not just one of them playing against type, but two. We liked that as a change of pace.

But, as promised, here's what we felt could have been improved. Not very surprisingly, it was the plot and characterizations. The former was minimal, and the latter was nil. As action fans, this is not new to us, and we're all very used to this, I'm sure.

But what would have knocked Triple Threat out of the park as a complete and satisfying whole would have been a compelling plotline with characters you really get to know and care about. Not that you don't care about our heroes, but you know what we mean. A little more detail or perhaps a little bit of emotion would have gone a long way.





But that's our only real gripe with Triple Threat. Otherwise, it's a top-notch example of modern-day action. We couldn't be happier that movies like this are still being made. We say keep 'em coming. So, while the absence of more formal plot and character elements may keep the audience from totally engaging, as an exercise in action violence, Triple Threat is recommended.

Dark Day Express (1989)

Dark Day Express is a blow-em-up gem

A group of adventurers is formed in true "Assemble a Team" fashion: Dr. Raymond is a man who looks like a cross between Sammo Hung and James Earl Jones, and he gets the ball rolling. They find a tough American guy named Tony (Kluppel), a mulleted Punchfighter named Samuel, a wacky girl-guide named Pam, a jean jacket-wearing ruffian named Patrick, and a worldly-wise woman named Pauline, and they all trek out into the Thai jungle to recover a lost relic.

They're promised two million dollars each if they can find it, but it's not going to be easy. Not only do they have to deal with the pitfalls of the jungle and interpersonal differences, it seems everyone in Thailand with a machine gun is after them as well. Will it be a DARK DAY for our expedition, or will our MISSION HUNTERs find their...mission? Find out if you dare!



Dark Day Express is an enjoyable jungle-blow-em-up-guard-tower-fall-exploding-hut-machine-gun shooter...with a difference! With confidence I can compare it to the classic slasher Final Exam (1981), because in that film, for the most part, for the first hour we get to know the characters, and in the last section, the slashing starts.

While Dark Day Express will never be remembered for its character development, what it does well is keeping its powder dry until the showstopping final third. We then see a half-hour-long climax of blow-ups, Martial Arts, shooting, and motorbike stunts. If you're not really feeling it for the first hour, hold on. We're about to reach Commander (1988)-level awesomeness.

There's the classic dubbing we all love and enjoy, and the whole outing has that "third-world charm" we often speak of. It was clearly designed to please the Asian audiences of the day (there doesn't seem to have been much of a push for more viewership outside of that part of the world), and presumably that includes some of our hated bathroom humor. That aside, characters yell while they shoot machine guns, and, especially in the last section, the action quotient is fairly well off the charts.

Usually in the big finale, there's either a Martial Arts battle or a series of shootouts or some blow-ups. Here, quite unusually, we get all three at once! We cut back from one to the other to the other. It deserves credit for that alone. Further enhancing the "it's foreign to us!" vibe is the music by Thoodore Green. No, that's not a typo. At least not by us. There's a guy credited as Thoodore who made the music, which was great, by the way, including a copyright infringement-defying crib of John Carpenter's Halloween theme at one point.

What's more, other names in the credits include director Lewis Peacock - if that is his real name - and other people with the last names of Plum and Mustard. Did they just open a box of Clue to get their anglicized names? And do they think those are normal, common names for Americans or Brits to have?

Nevertheless, it's a shame this is the only credited effort for director Peacock. He could have, and should have, gone on to do more. If he can show his ability to blow up a hut or two with his debut, imagine what could have come later? But we're lucky we got what we got.

Dark Day Express is a blow-em-up gem that will surely please fans of that subgenre of action known as the jungle-based Exploding-Hutter (such as ourselves, and probably you). The golden year of 1989 has given us yet another winner, and the film deserves to be more widely seen and appreciated.

Skin Traffik (2015)

Sure, some of the action scenes are a bit rough around the edges, but the viewer can tell they were done with a lot of heart.

Bradley (Daniels) was a hitman, but he gave it all up. But a chance meeting on the streets of London with a prostitute named Anna Peel (Swain) slowly embroils him in the danger of the underworld once again.

Not only does he have to face the goons sent forth by the guy that used to run him, known only as The Executive (Roberts), but also a pair of evil SKIN TRAFFIKers named The Boss (Madsen) and Zhanna (Hannah) are wise to Bradley ruining all their operations. Teaming up with a mysterious diamond merchant named Jacob Andries (Fahey), the two men aim to find Anna's missing sister...and take down the baddies's operations forever. But what will Vogel (Rourke) have to say about all this? Find out when a HITMAN IN LONDON comes to your screen...



Thank goodness for Ara Paiaya. He's one of the few people out there delivering old school-style action movies for the fans. We saw the follow-up to Skin Traffik, Instant Death (2017), first, and really enjoyed it. But we liked Skin Traffik even more. It's very hard to lose when you put Gary Daniels in the main hero role and he goes around busting heads. Surround him with a top-notch cast of B-Movie regulars and you have a real winner on your hands.

The plot is sort of Urban Justice (2007) meets Taken (2008) meets the aforementioned Instant Death. Again, a very winning formula. The whole thing kicks off, quite literally, with Gary Daniels looking for the time-honored "Disk" just like in all the action movies of the old days.

The only difference now is he's asking Mickey Rourke, who is almost unrecognizable here. If it wasn't for his voice, we wouldn't have recognized him at all. Whatever happened to growing old gracefully? He looks like a cross between what happened to Kenny Rogers, Jocelyn Wildenstein, and an old Hollywood agent. Gary Daniels still looks good and seems vital because he doesn't go in for any of that superficial muck.





Fan favorite Madsen brings his classic charisma and his gravelly voice to the proceedings. It would have been nice to see him and Daryl Hannah in other settings besides just that one room, but we're still happy they're there. Same goes for Eric Roberts, who also puts in an enjoyable performance, but for most of it, it's a classic sit-down role. To be fair, he does get up later, however. The whole rest of the cast is fantastic and we're very happy they all agreed to be in this low-budget DTV action movie.

Sure, some of the action scenes are a bit rough around the edges, but the viewer can tell they were done with a lot of heart. The sped-up action and the CGI were not even needed. For a true old-school feel, they should have been eschewed, especially with Gary Daniels at the helm. But, on the whole, those are minor quibbles and we really enjoyed Skin Traffik immensely.





You can tell that Paiaya and his compatriots really cared about what they were doing, and that shines through to us, the viewer. If he chooses to continue down this road of action filmmaking, which he clearly has a lot of affection for, the sky's the limit for what he can do in the future. We wholeheartedly recommend Skin Traffik.

Mission Kill (1985)

Despite some slow passages, we do get a healthy amount of shooting and blow-ups.

Cooper (Ginty) was a demolitions expert in 'Nam. He parlayed that into a career of blowing stuff up after returning home. When he meets up with his buddy, an older fellow Marine named Harry (Cam), at the Little Nashville Club to take in some ladies oil wrestling, Harry tells him he's running guns to the rebels in the South American country of Santa Maria. Harry, filled with a sense of patriotic pride (although what that has to do with the people of Santa Maria I'm not exactly sure), in his enthusiasm convinces the reluctant Cooper to come with him on one of his gun runs south of the border.

The two men hop into Harry's big rig, named Harry's Dream Machine, and they eventually reach their destination. However, much trouble follows as the baddies proceed to ambush them and Harry goes to the big oil wrestling ring in the sky.



So Cooper figures the best way to get revenge is to join the rebels and slaughter as many of El Presidente's goons as he can. Thanks to an embedded wartime journalist named Bingo Thomas (Baron - unforgettable to Seinfeld fans as the irascible Jack Klompus), Cooper becomes an inadvertent media celebrity and the fight against El Presidente Ariban (Rojas) and the entrenched bureaucracy represented by Senor Borghini (Darrow) escalates to much bigger proportions than the rebels ever imagined before Cooper's arrival. But what about Sydney Borghini (Van Kamp)? Where do her true allegiances lie? You'll find out if you accept the mission that Ginty accepted: MISSION KILL.

In the 80's, there was a lot in the news about the turmoil in certain South American countries such as El Salvador and Nicaragua. While not South American, the incident on Grenada captured the public's attention as well. And, with the possible help of Stripes (1981), there was a renewed national fasciation with oil wrestling. With this context in mind, we have Mission Kill, yet another addition to the seemingly-endless El Presidente Boom of the 80's. Not just ninjas had a Boom back then, let's not forget.





Mission Kill falls in with compatriots such as Cocaine Wars (1985) and Hour of the Assassin (1987). It's not particularly distinguished but it's not awful. It does have fan favorites Ginty and Cam, after all. Nothing with them could ever be a total disaster. But a better example of their pairing is another Winters film, Code Name: Vengeance (1987). In that case they're in Africa, not South America. But, you know, six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Despite some slow passages, we do get a healthy amount of shooting and blow-ups. The score has some very nice synthy moments underpinning it all. A brief exploding helicopter is also present and accounted for. We liked the plot device of Ginty being a demolitions expert: it gave a reason for the explosions (though one is never really needed, of course). He blew in Vietnam, and he blows today.





Naturally, preceding all of this is an on-screen quote by William Faulkner from his 1950 Nobel Prize speech. Of course there is.

Featuring the catchy and memorable end credits song "Stand" by Jesse Frederick - which absolutely should have been used at about the mid-way point in the movie during a training sequence in order to pump things up but unfortunately isn't - Mission Kill can certainly be categorized as one of the El Presidente movies that took up video store shelf space in the 80's. It's not in any way bad, but it needed more focus and drive. If choosing between this and Code Name: Vengeance, pick Code Name: Vengeance. It's sillier and a bit more fun.

Ultimate Justice (2017)

Ultimate Justice delivers the goods for action fans in this modern era of DTV.

Gustav-Ferdinand Von Behren (Dacascos) - his friends call him Gus - is the leader of VME, a team of highly-skilled A-Team types who execute dangerous missions and fight the baddies. After a mission goes wrong, the team splits up and they all go their separate ways. However, the owner of VME, Hans (Riehm) has his own problems.

When his wife is attacked and his daughter kidnapped, that's enough impetus for Gus to get the old team back together. Kicking into high gear, Gus re-teams with Andreas (Rhea), Radowsky (Hues), Benny (Moller), and other members. After some twists and turns, we finally find out who is on the receiving end of the ULTIMATE JUSTICE.

We really liked Ultimate Justice. First-time director Martin Christopher Bode really seems to know what fans want and he delivers it. We couldn't be happier that there are still people out there making "Assemble a Team" movies, and the inclusion of fan favorites Dacascos and Hues only sweetens the deal. We enjoyed all the really cool fights and the German backdrop provides a nice setting. You can tell they really cared and that was infectious.

Yes, unfortunately there is some CGI as it relates to the bullet hits, muzzle flashes and such, and if that wasn't there, it would rank even higher in our eyes. It just wasn't needed in this tribute to old-school action. That's really our only complaint - although some people may find the unintentionally humorous dubbing off-putting. We thought it just added to the throwback feel that we're used to. Plus it provides a couple of laffs.





Bode opts to let us get to know the characters a bit more than what we usually see, so that was appreciated. But, of course, there's plenty of gun-shooting and Martial Arts action. Naturally, the Prerequisite Torture is here too (and, unrelated to that, we get to see the world's fastest neck snap). Mike Moller - not to be confused with Matt Mullins - stands out as an impressive fighter and we look forward to seeing what he does in the future.

Striking a nice balance between the more serious-minded and the silly, Ultimate Justice delivers the goods for action fans in this modern era of DTV.

Frogmen Operation Stormbringer (2002)

It's not nearly bad enough to hate, we think you may have better things to do.

Rick (Christopher) is the leader of a SEAL team in Albania. He and the rest of his crew have to take along a mysterious man named Andreas (Mitchum) with them as a guide. But what is Andreas's real purpose for being involved with the mission? After a lot of shooting and blow-ups, we finally get to the truth...but what will be the real cost to these FROGMEN?

U.S. SEALS 3 is very standard fare. It doesn't have the unusual plot turnaround of the first outing, or the energy and entertainment of the Isaac Florentine-directed second installment. It's just kinda there. It's not bad, per se, but it does get quite boring and is fairly typical Nu-Image muck. It could've used a name, any name, to pep things up...Tom Sizemore, Jay Roberts, Jr., Kellan Lutz...somebody.

Probably because we're dealing with Navy SEALS, there are plenty of underwater scenes and it does bring something new to the table: underwater grunting. You haven't heard grunting until you've heard underwater grunting. Granted, the characters involved probably wouldn't have heard themselves grunt, but, in the pioneering spirit of the film, we, the audience, get to hear this sonic marvel. Also there's a classic "NOOOOOOoooo!!!", as we frequently hear, but, you guessed it: It's underwater this time. Pretty sweet. I guess.

As is often the case with these military-based outings, much-needed character development is thrown by the wayside. Adding insult to injury, a lot of the characters, especially the SEAL team, look a lot alike. So it's hard to tell - or care - who is speaking or what's really going on. But there is a lot of silly and nonthreatening violence papered over it all. Additionally, when they were trying to explain where they were, they misspelled "Aegean" on the screen. Where was the quality control?

In 1994, before his murder troubles, O.J. Simpson was set to star in a series called Frogmen. Also, Deep Purple has an album called Stormbringer. No doubt inspired by these series of events, Nu-Image concocted this, U.S. Seals 3 AKA Frogmen Operation Stormbringer. It's a 90-minute film released in 2002. It probably runs at 24 frames per second. You can watch it on a screen. We think that pretty much covers all there is to say.

We were not moved in one direction or another by this film. We didn't love it, and it's not nearly bad enough to hate. It simply exists in our world, like rocks and trees and mountains and sand. If that sounds like a ringing endorsement, you can watch it on Amazon Prime. But we think you may have better things to do.

Riot (2015)

One of the better aspects of Riot is, unsurprisingly, Dolph Lundgren.

Jack Stone (Reese) - not to be confused with Hack Stone - was a Cop On The Edge, but now he's a cop in prison. He put himself there so he could get revenge. Super-evil baddie Balam (Liddell) runs the prison with an iron fist from his own plush, private area.



Many inmates are his underlings that do his bidding, so when Jack Stone first arrives on the inside, he's going to have to fight his way all the way to the top - to Balam, the Russian Gangster who ruined his life by committing some vile acts. However, it's not all hopeless; Jack Stone finds some friends along the way, most notably William (Dolph), the kindly janitor. But what is William's secret? Also Alena Childs (Ryan) is on the case along with the good guys. Our three heroes have to fight not just Balam and his goons, but they also have to fight city hall. Corrupt politicians and wardens are on both the take and the make. Naturally it all ends in a classic prison RIOT...

Riot - not to be confused with the classic Gary Daniels Riot - is a decent enough example of a latter-day DTV prison action outing. It's very clearly influenced by Death Warrant (1990) and Bloodfist 3 (1992), among other examples you could possibly name. As for our main hero, Matthew Reese, he's in the grand tradition of Joe Flanagan and Dean Ambrose.

One of the better aspects of Riot is, unsurprisingly, Dolph Lundgren. Perhaps sensing that Matthew Reese couldn't carry the entire film on his shoulders, producers brought in the almighty Dolph. (To be fair, we don't know for a fact that that's what happened, but it's as likely a scenario as any). Dolph puts in a genuinely excellent performance, and even gets to stretch a little as an actor. Casual fans might not believe it, but casual fans won't be watching Riot anyway.





There are plenty of prison fights, including a handful on the female side of the prison (we assume the male and female prisons are on opposite sides of the same building?) - and we believe Danielle C. Ryan can have a bright future in DTV action if she wants one.

While the stunts and brawls are more than competently executed, in the editing they did that annoying thing where they take out frames of film during the fight, presumably to increase the speed and the impact level. Consequently, it has a bit of a herky-jerky look that they're not even trying to hide. Modern-day DTV filmmakers seem to think that it's just a matter of course to do things this way these days, and we're all supposed to accept it. Well, we don't like that very much. We say let the fights speak for themselves, with no trickery.

In classic fashion, people are after the information that's on "the discs", but because we're now in 2015, they also want what's on "the thumb drives". Similarly, Riot adheres to what we've seen before in the realm of the prison movie. The problem with that is there is only so much you can do in that setting, and it starts to get a bit repetitive after a while. But, naturally, it all comes to a head in the time-honored prison riot, which is done quite well.

In the end, Riot delivers exactly what you would expect - and what you would want - in a beat-em-up prison movie. It doesn't undercut your expectations, nor does it exceed them

Showdown in Manila (2016)

Showdown In Manila was a pleasant surprise.

Nick Peyton (Nevsky) and Charlie Benz (Van Dien) are buddies and private detectives, but they seem more like mercenaries. After her beloved husband, Matthew Wells (Dacascos), is slaughtered by some baddies, including Dorn (Hues), a certain Mrs. Wells (Carrere) pays a visit to Nick and Charlie. She wants both answers and revenge, so she goes with the best. It turns out the super-evil Aldric Cole (Tagawa) is behind all the chaos. One of the smarter moves made by Peyton and Benz includes calling in some most excellent reinforcements: Haines (Rothrock), Dillon (The Dragon), and Ford (Gruner). What will happen after the SHOWDOWN IN MANILA?



Showdown In Manila was a pleasant surprise. As it is the long-awaited directorial debut of Mark Dacascos, we knew he wouldn't let us down, and he didn't. The man knows too much about what works and what doesn't work in the world of action movies to really produce a dud. As it was produced, in part, by Dacascos, Nevsky, and Andrzej Bartkowiak, and features a lot of the same cast members, this could have been another Maximum Impact (2017). Thankfully, it isn't. It's a lot better. It's snappier, shorter, and the humor works a lot more. It mercifully doesn't include Tom Arnold making references to his bladder.



Even the setting of the Philippines is a nod to the golden age of action in the 70's and 80's, as is the title, which is reminiscent of Showdown In Little Tokyo (1991), Showdown (1993), or pretty much any action movie in the past where people were having some sort of showdown. It seemed to happen a lot back then.



Clearly, the standout aspect of 'Manila is its stellar cast. For our two main heroes, we have the power team we've all been waiting to see together - Nevsky and Van Dien. Both are likable and they make a great duo. For some reason Nevsky seems to get a lot of "shade" online but we think he's a solid action presence and has a Schwarzenegger-esque sense of humor. He doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, but he can still give the baddies a quality pounding. Nevsky should have been around in the 80's, but now that he's in our era, he can act as a sort of "throwback" action star of the type we're more used to.







Matthias Hues feels like an old friend at this point, and Tagawa always - ALWAYS - plays the baddie. He must have that kind of face. Carrere isn't hunting relics anymore and it was nice to see her (and she was, of course, in the aforementioned Showdown In Little Tokyo, as was Tagawa). Things pick up when our heroes meet up with the reinforcements in the jungle. Seeing fan favorites Rothrock, The Dragon, and Gruner shooting and fighting people in the jungle really brought us back. It's a direct reference to the 80's and early 90's. There just should have been less (or, ideally, no) CGI or questionable muzzle flashes. But that's a minor quibble when we see our favorite stars back in action. Literally.



The three reinforcements should have had more screen time, but we're happy with what we have. While they're all wearing camo in the jungle, including Rothrock, her bright pink hair streaks kind of defeat that purpose...but it's all part of the fun. The movie is filled with silly shootouts and amusing humor. It would've gone to theaters in the 80's for sure.



Featuring the T.a.T.u-esque theme song, "Another Life" by Polina Butorina (who was in both this and Maximum Impact and sings both theme tunes), Showdown In Manila is about as close as we're going to come these days to golden era-style action, and we applaud Nevsky, Dacascos, and the gang for that. We say keep 'em coming.

The Hard Way (2019)

The Hard Way is yet another middle-of-the-road modern-day DTV actioner.

Payne (White) is just a humble bar owner in New York City who pays his bills, minds his business, and beats up gangsters that try to muscle in on his turf. When he gets word that his brother Cody (Campbell) was killed by baddies, Payne does the only sensible thing: he flies to Bucharest, Romania to get answers.

While there, he links up with Cody's crimefighting partner Mason (Goss). Complicating matters are the fact that there is a psychotic baddie named Joe Vig (Remes) who is torturing and murdering people, including some of Payne's and Mason's beloved girls at the local strip club. Now they're mad and want revenge. But Briggs (Couture) may have something to say about that. Will things be done the Payne/Mason way, or...you guessed it...THE HARD WAY?

Not to be confused with The Hard Way (1989) with Miles O'Keeffe, or The Hard Way (1991) with James Woods and Michael J. Fox, or any other movie called The Hard Way, this particular Hard Way puts fan favorite Michael Jai White in a situation that isn't ideal.

The opening fight scene between White and the gangsters is fun, but then the film becomes much more dour and serious than it needs to be. White goes to Romania (of course it's Romania) and then a lull ensues. A lot of stupid, inane dialogue and an unengaging plot, unfortunately, also ensues.





The Hard Way isn't great. It isn't eye-scratchingly awful either. It's just mediocre. It's watchable enough, we suppose, but you don't care about the characters as much as you should or could. There's nothing extraordinary going on here.

Of course, that doesn't dampen our fandom for Michael Jai White. He's by far the best thing here, but he can't overcome the deficiencies of plot and characterization. None of these weaknesses should come as a surprise from anyone who has seen anything else by director Waxman.

He's made a lot of latter-day DTV outings with Seagal. 'Nuff said. his smartest move this time around was replacing his usual muse Seagal with White. But he needed to go further and make something audiences might actually care about. Lazily leaning on cliches like a crutch isn't going to win you any new fans and converts. It's long past time for Waxman to think outside the box, if he's capable of doing so.





Goss is perfectly fine, if a bit bland, as the support. Toll Road himself, Couture, is here too. He has yet to set the acting world on fire (maybe because of his surprisingly high-pitched voice) like Dave Bautista, but maybe he's just not getting the right material.

Michael Jai White should be in another movie like Blood and Bone (2009) instead of undistinguished fare such as this. As The Hard Way is a Netflix Original Movie, they should have known that, and made something more catered to the fans, not to mention what White excels at.

So, The Hard Way is yet another middle-of-the-road modern-day DTV actioner. While it certainly had the potential to be something special, we didn't think it was anything to get excited about.

Extraction (2013)

If Extraction could've been tightened up a bit, we'd be dealing with a real winner.

When General Harding (Glover) instructs Mercy Callo (Foo) and his team to fly to Chechnya and EXTRACT a high-value target, Martin (Hentschel), from one of their infamous prisons, the mission isn't going to be easy. While Agent Meyers (Kelly) and Kyle Black (Astin) watch over the mission from their command center, Callo and the guys enter the prison - but they are ambushed and only Callo remains.

Even though he's found Martin, the evil (?) head of the prison, Ivan Rudovsky (Jones) has opened all the cells and instructs all the hardened prisoners to eliminate Callo and Martin. So the two guys must form an uneasy alliance in order to leave the Chechen prison alive. Who will survive this particular EXTRACTION?

Extraction - not to be confused with Extraction (2015) with Bruce Willis and our old pal Kellan Lutz - is a made-for-Crackle original movie. Because it was specifically made for this online streaming service, it's not as well known as it perhaps should be. As of this writing, you can't see it anywhere else. But it is a pioneer: According to the Internet Movie Database, Extraction is the first full-length feature film produced for the internet. We're happy that honor can go to an action film.

In 2013, we were all in the grip of two things: Homeland fever and The Raid (2011) fever. It seems writer/director Giglio had the idea to fuse those two things together, and Extraction is the result. Joanne Kelly plays the Carrie Mathison-esque character and Jon Foo (which is his name and not a new form of Martial Arts) plays the Peter Quinn-crossed-with-Rama main hero.

While Foo can definitely fight, he doesn't rate high in the charisma department (although that's nothing new in the world of action movies, as you doubtlessly well know). He's not likable on the level of a Gary Daniels, Richard Norton, or a Jet Li, but who is? Still, he acquits himself well. We last saw him in Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009), but we never guessed he'd make the leap to central action hero, and we congratulate him on that.





The fight in the weight room and parts of the final brawl are real highlights and are classic action setpieces. The main problem with Extraction is that it's too long. Trying to fit two Homeland episodes and parts of The Raid into one 106-minute film didn't really work as well as it could have or should have. It reminded us of Riot (2018), another recent action film with a somewhat similar plot (Chuck Liddell is in the Vinnie Jones role in that one) and that also had a bloated running time. Additionally, there are some horrendous CGI bullet hits that are SyFy Channel Original Movie territory.





We only bring these complaints up because we know the makers of Extraction are capable of better. The stunts, fights, shooting, and violence are executed well. But it gets bogged down in unnecessary plot machinations the audience doesn't care much about. A lot of the 'Danny Glover and Sean Astin watching screens' scenes could have been cut or eliminated altogether.

A lot of the 'intrigue' surrounding the Natalie character could have been trimmed as well. And there seems to be some misplaced slo-mo that could've been speeded up. (Don't get us wrong; we're fans of slo-mo, but why did we need to see a smoke bomb thrown in slow motion with operatic music behind it? It wasn't that big a deal). And the use of Beethoven's Ode to Joy only underlines, as if that was needed, its DieHardInA qualities.

Watching Extraction is a bit like playing the water level (AKA Labyrinth Zone) from the original Sonic the Hedgehog game for Genesis. Remember how right when Sonic is running out of air because he's underwater and can't breathe, you'd often find an air bubble and Sonic could continue? Well, with Extraction, right when our interest would wane - to a critical degree - something would happen and we'd perk back up and our interest continued. It was just like getting an air bubble. In most cases, that was when Vinnie Jones appeared.





I think it's fair to say we're both big Vinnie Jones fans, and he adds a LOT to the movie. His presence is very much appreciated. It's a pleasure to watch him bark orders at people, punch and headbutt them, and pull threatening faces. Why does he always play a bad guy? He should be a hero in a DTV film. That would be a welcome change for both him and us, the audience. That should happen soon. Also he has a fish tank with bullets in it in his office. Sure, that's not as impressive as it being in the front yard like in Dance or Die, but it's something.

Hentschel as Martin exudes some Jeremy Piven-esque charm (has anyone ever said that before?) and adds some humor to the proceedings. There isn't exactly Punchfighting in the film, but it gets very close with a scene of Prisonfighting. Presumably prison inmates can't clutch cash in their hands as they scream and yell around the fighters, but they must have some sort of card for their commissary account.

There's a classic scene of someone screaming while shooting a machine gun, and it all ends with a time-honored twist you just may see coming if you watch a lot of these types of movies, but that doesn't really dampen the enjoyment of it. If anything, it ramps it up.

The Homeland-meets-the-Raid idea is a very good one, but the 106-minute running time dilutes its potential impact. If Extraction could've been tightened up a bit, we'd be dealing with a real winner. As it is, it gets very, very close but just misses that cigar. It gets an A for effort, but it's a one-time watch for us.

U.S. Seals (2000)

Fans of this sort of thing may appreciate some of the differences here.

Mike Bradley (Fitzpatrick) is the leader of a SEAL team which also includes his compadres Cosgrove (Collins), A.J. (Miller), Gaines (Williams), and Gepson (Francis). They are routinely sent around the world to dangerous hotspots to do what SEALs do best. Unfortunately, some of the baddies involved in one of their raids enacts a tragic retaliation on Bradley's family. Now burning with revenge, he travels to Albania (of course) to get justice. Along the way, he and his team enlist the help of the mysterious Lucia (Du Mond) - but where do her allegiances truly lie? Will Mike Bradley and his team be the ultimate U.S. SEALS?

What's interesting about U.S. Seals is that it starts off as your standard military slog - you know, the standard, run-of-the-mill type of thing you've seen countless times before. At about the midway point, however, it becomes more of a revenge movie. Against all odds, it picks up steam and becomes more entertaining than it was before. So, that does set it apart from some of its contemporaries.

One of its many problems, however, is that it needed more of a name to help things along. Someone like a Damian Chapa, Nick Mancuso, Arnold Vosloo, Jack Scalia, Antonio Sabato Jr., or maybe a Mandylor. Either Costas or Louis will do. The main guy is sort of Matt LeBlanc-esque and all the other actors seem like they would be more at home on a 90's TV sitcom like Friends or Seinfeld. Odd for a military outing like this.

The turnaround from just a plain 'movie on a screen' to an enjoyable revenge plot was the neat trick that U.S. Seals pulls off. Still, you never get to know the characters all that well, so it makes it harder for us, the audience, to care about their plight. But it transforms nicely enough starting from the second half, we suppose.

Of course, there's all the military jargon and mindless shooting you could ever ask for. It's easy to see why the great Isaac Florentine stepped in to direct U.S. Seals 2 (2001). He gave the second installment a lot of life and pizazz, as he usually does. So that was a smart move on Nu-Image's part to bring him into the mix, even if it was just to change things up.

Other items of note: both pagers and minidiscs are seen on display, there are some classic old-school guard-tower falls for fans of that, Bradley's son seems to develop a foreign accent about 45 minutes into the film, and when one of the Seal team members jumps from a train, he yells a very half-hearted (and thus very funny) "Aaaaah."

The main (naturally and cliche-edly Eurotrash) baddie looks like some sort of genetic melange of Kurt Loder, Michael Pare, Sam Donaldson, Peter Jennings, and what Jerry O'Connell will likely look like in the future. But mostly Loder. Instead of preening about and/or fighting our main hero in the time-honored final fight, you think he and Tabitha Soren will deliver us the MTV news.

So, while the first half may be your workaday military slog, the change of course puts U.S. Seals in a somewhat unique position among DTV SEAL movies of this ilk. Is it an all-time classic you must run out and see immediately? Hardly - but fans of this sort of thing may appreciate some of the differences here.

Black Water (2018)

Sadly, the negatives of Black Water outweigh the positives.

Wheeler (Van Damme) is described only as a "deep cover operative" for the government. He's also "The Best". Because his higher-ups, including Rhodes (Sapienza) and Ferris (Kilpatrick) think he "switched sides" and is now a traitor, they imprison him on a submarine.

Because they're stupid enough to think Van Damme switched sides, they deserve everything they may have coming to them. Marco (Dolph) is in the cell next to Wheeler's, and they quickly bond. While (endlessly) trying to figure out who crossed and double-crossed him, Wheeler, and, to a lesser extent, Marco, have to fight their way out of certain situations on this mysterious submarine. Who will resurface from the BLACK WATER?

A Submarine Slog by any other name...

Don't get us wrong, we're very happy that legends like Van Damme and Dolph are still working and delivering product to us, the fans. But Black Water isn't exactly in the same realm as the Universal Soldier series. Except perhaps Universal Soldier: The Return (1999).





We're also happy that you can pretty much see what's going on, at least in the non-submarine moments. There are a handful of shooting and beat-em-up scenes that are executed well enough. Unfortunately, this is where all our goodwill runs out.

The main problem, at least for us, is that we were never fans of movies set on submarines (or Submarine Slogs, as we call them). It's just a dull, uninteresting setting that breeds repetition. This time around there are elements of prison movies and spy thrillers, but that honestly doesn't help things all that much.

I know we're talking about the world of DTV here, but Black Water isn't exactly theater-ready. It's more Wal-Mart ready. Have you ever been to a Wal-Mart (or some equivalent store), and you browse by the DVDs and Blu-Rays, and you see a movie - particularly an action movie - that you've never seen or heard of before? Like, "Black Water? What's this...?" This is pretty much one of those.

Hammering some heavy nails into this coffin are the fact that a. it's boring, b. it's very self-serious, but without much substance or reason to be, c. there's not enough Dolph, and d. the running time for all this is an inexcusable 105 minutes.

If Black Water (get the double meaning? In the movie, Van Damme mentions "black sites" and the title seems to be a reference to that mercenary group that changed its name to X, and also the fact that they're deep underwater) was 80 minutes and featured Dolph and Van Damme fighting through all the baddies that were trying to kill them, The Raid style, Black Water could've been a classic. But oh no, they couldn't do that. That would be too simple. They had to load up the movie with a bunch of inane dialogue about people trying to find "the dongle".

First it was the tape, then it was the disc, then it was the thumb drive, and now the MacGuffin of the modern age apparently is the dongle. Although it is sort of amusing to watch actors try to say the word "dongle" with a completely straight face.

So, sadly, the negatives of Black Water outweigh the positives. The viewer, who clearly would not even be watching this unless they're a fan of Dolph and Van Damme, is submerged in the muck and mire of submarine slogginess. While the two guys are both good in the movie itself, what's swirling around them is more of a cesspool.

Crossing Point (2016)

It makes a valiant attempt to be a good and worthwhile movie, which is rarer than you might think these days.

When Michael (Lock), his girlfriend Olivia (de Faria), and their two friends travel to Mexico for a little vacation, little do they know what they've stumbled into. Olivia gets kidnapped by some drug-dealing baddies, who force Michael to cross the border with a backpack full of said drugs, or else they say they'll kill Olivia.

Desperate and running out of time, Michael stumbles into Pedro (Sizemore), a man he thinks he can turn to for help. But who can he really trust? Meanwhile, hardworking cop Jesus Valencia (Vargas) is on the case, which leads to the entrance of Decker (Goss), an expert in these sorts of tense situations. Will Michael accomplish his mission and save Olivia? Or will something prevent him from reaching the CROSSING POINT?

As far as modern-day DTV actioners are concerned, Crossing Point isn't that bad. It's better than you probably think it is. It appears some energy and thought went into the production, and it's not mindlessly stupid like so many of its competitors. So we give it kudos for that. What the Sicario series is to mainstream cinemas, Crossing Point is to DTV. Keeping their budget constraints in mind, what they managed to pull together here deserves some credit.



It's still hard for us to see characters in these new movies constantly on their cell phones and drinking from plastic water bottles. You may have noticed that tough guys in the films of yore don't do these things. Of course, there's the tattooed stoner character with a man bun. He's the "Shaggy" of the piece. He seems like he should be shirtlessly playing the bongos with Matthew McConaughey. As for our hero, he's another effeminate millennial. He attempts to get less effeminate as the movie goes on, but it really seems like, in a prior age, he would have been on the cover of Tiger Beat magazine along with JTT and Andrew Keegan. Perhaps interestingly, Keegan was in April Rain (2014) with Luke Goss.







Speaking of Goss, he doesn't show up until the 70-minute mark and it's a cameo, despite being front and center on the box art. All the Goss fans out there may be disappointed by this so consider it a warning. As for Sizemore, he really livens up the scenes he's in and the movie as a whole. Again, it's more or less a glorified cameo, but he gets more screen time than Goss. We still have to wait 40 minutes to see him. It's more or less worth the wait, however. In Assassin's Game (2015), his name is El Viejo. In Crossing Point it's Pedro. Are people casting Tom Sizemore as some sort of Hispanic man now? When did this start? And why did it start?



Anyway, it should also be noted that there is a 24-esque timer that periodically pops up on screen to let us know how Michael is doing time-wise. Well, that aside, Crossing Point as a whole is at least trying, which is a good thing, of course. It's also relevant as far as what's in the news today with the border, etc.



In the end, Crossing Point is at least a one-time watch. It makes a valiant attempt to be a good and worthwhile movie, which is rarer than you might think these days.

Evasive Action (1998)

The cast helps keep it from going completely off the rails.

When a group of dangerous criminals has to be transported, they're corralled into a train car which is attached to a regular passenger train. Nothing good can come of this scenario, and, you guessed it, all hell breaks loose. When criminal mastermind Enzo Marcelli (Scheider) breaks his evil compadres out of their chains and commandeers the train, Sheriff Blaidek (Wise) is called in to handle the situation. The hapless and sympathetic prisoner Luke Sinclair (Harewood) is caught up in a situation he can't control and must become the de facto hero. Will the train reach L.A. as it should...or will EVASIVE ACTION be needed?



Funny how these prisoner transports never go right. You've never seen in any movie a group of prisoners being shipped from one location - either by van, truck, train, plane, boat, or hovercraft - and then end up at their intended destination with everyone completely unscathed. They should really stop transporting prisoners altogether. Just leave them where they are.





Anyway, it's rather obvious that this is the DTV version of Con Air (1997), except it's Con Train. As far as DTV train movies go, Evasive Action is better than Death Train (2003), Operation Delta Force (1997), and Derailed (2002), but not nearly as good as Hostage Train (1997). As far as Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), it's up to you to decide. Just why DTV filmmakers thought audiences would be so fascinated with trains remains unknown. It's not exactly new technology. It's not the 1800's anymore. Presumably they thought countless people would see these train movies on video store shelves and shout "Coooooollll!!!" or "These people are on a TRAIN!! WOwwww!!" Surely there are some train fanatics out there, but how many could there be - and why did DTV filmmakers court them so heavily?



While Evasive Action itself is rather middling, at least the cast is here to help buoy it somewhat - of course there's Roy Scheider, doing a standard baddie, Don Swayze doing a standard underling, Ray Wise is a standard Sheriff, and Ed O'Ross is a standard warden. Clint Howard isn't exactly standard like the rest, but his character is really annoying, so I guess it's for the wrong reason.



We were happy to see Dorian Harewood step out of the shadows of being a bit part or sideman-type actor. This has to be one of the few times he takes the lead, and we were glad for that. He's rivaled only by one Mallory Farrow as Alex, one of the precocious little girls that these movies tend to have. Oh, and Dick Van Patten does a brief sit-down role as "Parole Officer". It's just like in A Dangerous Place (1994) where he played "Principal". He deserves better - at least give his character a name.



Most of the funny stuff is saved for the end, and the end-credits song, "No Excuses", is sung by Dorian Harewood himself. He did release an album in 1988 so it wasn't his first rodeo behind the microphone. The song is one of the better things about Evasive Action.



It seems DTV producers around this time period had a "one-track" mind when it came to trains. Evasive Action is not the best, nor is it the worst, of this bunch. The cast helps keep it from going completely off the rails. But it's not what we'd call a must-see.

Goma-2 (1984)

A solid cast and music by the De Angelis brothers help things along nicely.

Txema Basterreneche (Rivero) is a simple truck driver who has enough problems in life with people trying to pronounce his name. The last thing he wants is more trouble. But that's just what he gets as he travels the highways between Spain and France as he hauls fruit. Evidently there is a French Produce Mafia who don't take kindly to Txema's fruit runs. The guys in the FPM (we assume that's the union initials for French Produce Mafia) are constantly calling Txema "That dang Spaniard" and "That Spanish jerk". Harsh words indeed, but things escalate from name calling and fruit-stomping to murder when the FPM burns Txema's truck - with his beloved Elisa (Obregon) inside.



Now burning with revenge, Txema hooks back up with former colleague Jacqueline (Hemingway). It seems that in their past, they were both part of a mysterious - and deadly - "organization". Now falling back on his old ways and killing skills, Txema starts taking out the trash - which is, in this case, a bunch of French produce truckers. Picot (Sambrell), Koldo (Stiglitz) and boss Martin (Jaeckel) are all on his list, but Txema eventually works his way up to the final showdown with arch-baddie and produce lawyer Julot (Van Cleef). Will Txema execute his final mission? And what does Tony (Aames) have to do with all this?



Well, you gotta give Killing Machine points for originality. We can't say we've ever seen what we would have to call produce goons before. That's right, produce goons. If you watch enough movies, and dig under every rock, you're bound to find something at least a little bit new and different. Despite some pacing issues, Killing Machine (AKA Goma-2, which is apparently some type of explosive), is enjoyable enough - a sort of European take on F.I.S.T. (1978) meets Death Wish (1974).





A solid cast and music by the De Angelis brothers also help things along nicely. Revenge movies are among our favorites and it was nice to see fan favorite Jorge Rivero do what he does best. Evidently that includes punching French truckers. (How often do you get a chance to write - or read - the phrase "punching French truckers"? You gotta love it).



It was nice to see Margaux Hemingway, as she doesn't pop up too often around these parts, and you really have to appreciate her eye for art and home decor in the film. The legendary Lee Van Cleef was terrific as the main baddie, definitely a "boo-hiss" situation, and Richard Jaeckel as his underling was okay, nothing spectacular.

The rest of the Spanish-language cast was fine too, including mainstays Sambrell and Stiglitz. The team-up we've all been waiting for, Jorge Rivero and Willie Aames, finally appears here. The rumors appear to be unfounded, as of this writing, that Willie Aames has legally changed his name to Willie Bibleman.



For an under the radar - or should we say under the CB - revenge film that should be more well known, do check out Killing Machine.

The Perfect Weapon (2016)

It's better than a lot of other DTV product out there

Axon Rey, code-named "Condor" (Messner), is a hitman who lets his silencer-laden guns do the talking. (Mostly what they say is "pew pew"). In the year 2029, we all live in a dystopian future controlled by The State. There is an underground freedom movement trying to disrupt the all-consuming central powers of our evil government.

That's why The Controller (Tyson) runs Condor and tells him who to mercilessly kill. Haunted by memories of his lost love Nina (Jackson), Condor begins to question his life and his missions, which leads him down a road of no return. Naturally, the evil dictator is Steven Seagal as "The Director". What will become of Condor, and his status as THE PERFECT WEAPON?



Wait. Isn't there already a movie called The Perfect Weapon, starring a certain Jeff Speakman? You would think makers of action movies would know this, and pick a different title. How quickly have they forgotten "No Gun. No Knife. No Equal"? Anyway, get ready for Hitman (2007) meets Blade Runner (1982), DTV-style, with a sprinkling of Seagal added into the mix.





After the near-countless production company logos that precede the film, we see a future where, in true Blade Runner style, giant electronic faces of Steven Seagal are illuminated on skyscrapers as he watches us all. This is not a future I want to be in.



Messner as Axon Rey, AKA Condor - not to be confused with Comdor from The Silencers (1996) - is strongly reminiscent of Mark Strong. At least he's a tough-guy hero and not a fey millennial as we've been seeing lately. Of course, there is the Prerequisite Torture of the hero, along with all the gun-shooting and beat-em-up action.

Most importantly, though, he talks to his home personal assistant, which is a crystal/plastic pyramid like the one Evie talks to on Out of This World. While, on the whole, there is perhaps a bit too much of the romance subplot, which slows things down, we see why the filmmakers went that route. There's an actual reason but we won't give it away.



It was nice to see fan favorite Vernon G. Wells, but it was a missed opportunity to have him be in the cliched torturer role. He should have done something more interesting, like maybe punch Seagal in the face. Our old buddy Seagal isn't in the movie much overall, but it does seem that he has a strong southern accent in the beginning, but completely loses it at the end. He only does minimal Martial Arts, and it's at the final battle. He wears loose-fitting black robes. We'll just leave it at that.



The Perfect Weapon is in no sense original, but it is made well, especially for the budget. It's better than a lot of other DTV product out there, but once again there is an over-reliance on CGI when there needn't have been any at all. It's not overly long, which is more for the win column.



It won't change your life, but there are certainly worse ways to spend your time.

Operation Delta Force (1997)

It doesn't engage the audience and there's nothing different.

When some evil terrorist baddies led by Johan Nash (Lara) break into a South African research facility and steal vials of both an ebola-like virus and the "anti-serum", there's only one thing to do. Call the Delta Force, of course. Soon, Captain Lang (Fahey), McKinney (Zagarino), Junger (Sutherland), and Maj. Tipton (Hudson) are unleashed to take down Nash and his underlings. Admiral Henshaw (Holbrook) is at the command center to keep an eye on the situation. Although the typical Washington empty suits are bickering about what to do, the Delta Force continues on with their mission - until a development occurs that threatens the whole thing. Will OPERATION DELTA FORCE succeed, or will Johan Nash's evil ponytail rule us all? Dare you find out...?

We don't know how or why, but Nu Image continually - almost stubbornly - keeps churning out these run-of-the-mill actioners. It all feels like we've been here countless times before (maybe because we've seen that same train footage in so many other Nu Image movies) but nothing stands out during Operation Delta Force. It's the same-old same-old.

While there is plenty of gun-shooting and good-quality explosions, and it's shot well, somehow a certain spark is missing. A certain je ne sais quoi, if you will. A grounded helicopter blows up, and Joe Lara gets to show off his Afrikaans accent, but somehow that's not enough.







It does feature some fan favorites, such as Jeff Fahey, Ernie Hudson, Frank Zagarino, and the perpetually-elderly Hal Holbrook. Hudson tries valiantly to inject some sort of energy and presence, but it's tough going. Holbrook is trapped in a Joe-Estevez-in-Money-To-Burn situation where he just looks at screens the whole time. He does tout the new technology of "VidLink", which evidently was like the 1997 version of Skype.

One of the more noteworthy subplots involved Zagarino's character, who, apparently, is a misogynist and doesn't approve of Junger being there because she's a woman. It didn't really go anywhere, but it should have, perhaps in a fight between the two. Interestingly, One of Natasha Sutherland's only other credits was in the Joe Lara TV series Tarzan: The Epic Adventures.

At almost-random intervals, it looks like some older stock footage of planes and such is trotted out. It doesn't even come close to matching the newly-shot stuff for the movie at hand. It seems like at any moment, a graphic is going to come on screen that says: "America's Navy: Join Today!" It didn't exactly liven things up, but it shows we were paying attention.

There are many, many similar films out there that are just like Operation Delta Force. Unfortunately, this is just another one. It's not badly made, but it doesn't engage the audience and there's nothing different, special, unique, or weird about it. It's just sort of there.

It seems like the sort of thing that Cinemax or one of the other pay channels would have shown in the 90's just to fill a bit of airtime, perhaps in the afternoon. Director Firstenberg has done some awesome movies in the past, but let's face it: this is no Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.