This is the third movie collaboration of Billy Blanks and Jalal Merhi that I have watched, and it is the weakest of the three. The other two ("TC 2000", "Expect No Mercy") had futuristic angles that gave them at least a hint of creativity; on the other hand, "Talons Of The Eagle" is about as generic as a low-budget action flick can get. And it doesn't deliver on its promise of a martial arts tournament, either: there are three matches and then it's all forgotten. The fight scenes are also not as good as they were in the aforementioned two flicks: the editing is sometimes poor, and the lack of contact in some hits too obvious. Also, having the 60+ years old James Hong going against Jalal Merhi at the end does not really work. And I wonder why Kelly Gallant, who is a quite proficient martial artist, didn't get the starring female role instead of Priscilla Barnes. All in all, "Talons Of The Eagle" is worth a look for fans of the genre, but only if they've seen "TC 2000" and "Expect No Mercy" first. ** out of 4.
8 Reviews
Interesting fighting movie
sveknu14 May 2005
If anyone say that this is a B-movie, then I suppose they are right about that. If anyone say that this is low-budget, I guess they are right about that too. But these minor details don't mean that this movie isn't good. Personally, I think this is pure entertainment from beginning to end. Good fight scenes, especially from Blanks. It was also interesting to see that Matthias Hues were in it as a bad guy. As always, he does that job in an excellent way. And if you like James Hong, he's here too. All in all a good fighting movie with excellent teamwork between Billy Blanks and Jalal Merhi. The ending proves just that.
Some funny bad moments but dull fighting
facebooknowork20 June 2020
Pretty passable overall, some of the bad acting is funny and some of your standard schlocky B-movie stuff is too. However the fighting is for the most part a bit dull and feels slow, and is shot so it's obvious that stuff doesn't connect. It' also felt like certain parts had been cut out?
Minor martial arts movie
lor_7 August 2023
My review was written in November 1992 after watching the film on MCA video cassette.
No-frills martial arts action is displayed in "Talons of the Eagle", an acceptable B title that opened regionally on November 6 and is a Yule video item.
With Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme having successfully moved on to mainstream features, the martial arts vacuum is being filled by a number of interesting types notably Don (The Dragon) Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock.
This feature teams muscular thesp Billy Blanks (usually a villain) with ponytailed producer/star Jalal Merhi. Their moves are fine but acting-wise they both need immediate and intensive sessions with Stella Adler.
Blanks plays a Drug Enforcement Agency operative sent from New York to Toronto to team with local agent Merhi on an undercover mission targeting local drug kingpin James Hong. They get to see the seamier side of Sin City, including a higher sexploitation quotient than usual for the genre.
With undercover agent Priscilla Barnes cast as Hong's girlfriend, the trio get the goods on him, but typical of genre plotting, it's mainly kicking, shooting and explosions that resolve matters.
Pic's main defect is deficient fight choreography, with missed kicks and pulled punches far more obvious than usual. Both leads are otherwise convincing in their roles and Barnes is appealing as a femme fatale.
Hong steals the show with his smooth villainy and a showy scene in which he uses a fan as a weapon. Oversized Matthias Hues is a worthy opponent in the climactic fights.
No-frills martial arts action is displayed in "Talons of the Eagle", an acceptable B title that opened regionally on November 6 and is a Yule video item.
With Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme having successfully moved on to mainstream features, the martial arts vacuum is being filled by a number of interesting types notably Don (The Dragon) Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock.
This feature teams muscular thesp Billy Blanks (usually a villain) with ponytailed producer/star Jalal Merhi. Their moves are fine but acting-wise they both need immediate and intensive sessions with Stella Adler.
Blanks plays a Drug Enforcement Agency operative sent from New York to Toronto to team with local agent Merhi on an undercover mission targeting local drug kingpin James Hong. They get to see the seamier side of Sin City, including a higher sexploitation quotient than usual for the genre.
With undercover agent Priscilla Barnes cast as Hong's girlfriend, the trio get the goods on him, but typical of genre plotting, it's mainly kicking, shooting and explosions that resolve matters.
Pic's main defect is deficient fight choreography, with missed kicks and pulled punches far more obvious than usual. Both leads are otherwise convincing in their roles and Barnes is appealing as a femme fatale.
Hong steals the show with his smooth villainy and a showy scene in which he uses a fan as a weapon. Oversized Matthias Hues is a worthy opponent in the climactic fights.
The Worst
nepreneaux15 July 2017
The attempts at comedy, wooden acting, fake from beginning to end. Who writes this crap? Worse who invests real money and time into this tripe? The two leads cannot act to save their lives much less the attempt at a movie. I am only glad that it was a dollar rental and not a pricey ticket stub I had in my hand. Literally one of the three worst movies I have ever seen.
ok but not great
talllwoood1316 February 2024
I'd give this a 5.5 maximum out of 10. This movie stars a dollar store hybrid of a shorter Steven Seagal as he sports a pony tail and the leather jackets, JCVD with the unidentifiable accent and the good looks of someone along the lines of Joe Pesci or Sardo (Richard Dumont) from Are You Afraid Of The Dark minus those beautiful curls. What surprised me is how almost every training scene he's sweaty. The only thing nice I'll say about the actor is I love his Ellesse track suit. He looks like a walking, talking Jazz paper cup. I kept calling the actor Steven Fauxgal.
For a movie shot in Toronto you don't see much of the city and they insist on using US currency. You can spot Canadian money a mile away due to the colors. What surprised me was that Matthias Hues was in this.
The story is pretty bland and forgetful where they seem heavily inspired by films such as Bloodsport (1988), yet after a few poorly shot fights they just go back into this incredibly mediocre action movie. They even got Michael to do the splits. I can't get over how short he is compared to Billy Banks. I hated how much they relied on vents in this movie as well.
Billy and Michael seemed to have chemistry, more so than say Lethal Weapon 1 or 2 or possibly the Rush Hour franchise. There was some heart to this as there was quite a lot of explosions. The fight choreography was OK, not great. Perhaps it was the opponents. I don't know. I'm not in the movie industry. The last 10 or 15 minutes should have been the best but I was just so bored I didn't care. I would have scrapped all the scenes and started over if the budget would have allowed it.
My least favorite scene in the entire movie was where Michael is in the speedo. His shirt is on inside out and there's a really cringy shower scene. You can tell the girl was more in quantum physics. There's some REALLY ugly strippers in this movie as well.
The only two Canadian things in this movie where one biker said "eh", the Toronto police cop car and of course the cop had to watch hockey.
One weird credit they said "tourney fighters" and early on in the movie they had the lights too bright on a corpse and his eyes are twitching.
For a movie shot in Toronto you don't see much of the city and they insist on using US currency. You can spot Canadian money a mile away due to the colors. What surprised me was that Matthias Hues was in this.
The story is pretty bland and forgetful where they seem heavily inspired by films such as Bloodsport (1988), yet after a few poorly shot fights they just go back into this incredibly mediocre action movie. They even got Michael to do the splits. I can't get over how short he is compared to Billy Banks. I hated how much they relied on vents in this movie as well.
Billy and Michael seemed to have chemistry, more so than say Lethal Weapon 1 or 2 or possibly the Rush Hour franchise. There was some heart to this as there was quite a lot of explosions. The fight choreography was OK, not great. Perhaps it was the opponents. I don't know. I'm not in the movie industry. The last 10 or 15 minutes should have been the best but I was just so bored I didn't care. I would have scrapped all the scenes and started over if the budget would have allowed it.
My least favorite scene in the entire movie was where Michael is in the speedo. His shirt is on inside out and there's a really cringy shower scene. You can tell the girl was more in quantum physics. There's some REALLY ugly strippers in this movie as well.
The only two Canadian things in this movie where one biker said "eh", the Toronto police cop car and of course the cop had to watch hockey.
One weird credit they said "tourney fighters" and early on in the movie they had the lights too bright on a corpse and his eyes are twitching.
Talons of the Eagle is silly fun!
tarbosh2200019 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Tyler Wilson (Blanks) is a tough New York City cop who is also proficient in martial arts. Because he is such a "loose cannon", he is shipped off to Toronto to team up with Michael Reeds (Merhi) because he is dubbed a "loose cannon" as well. This police chief is quite a matchmaker. It seems a Mr. Li (Hong) has his hands in drugs, prostitution, gambling, and the like, and, as we've seen before, Li is taping Councilmen and other government officials indulging in these vices, and the corruption goes...wait for it...all the way to the top! But wait, there's more! Li also holds punchfighting competitions to find new recruits for his organization. When the dynamic duo of Reeds and Wilson foil a plot to assassinate Li, Li hires them to be his personal bodyguards. Now they're on the inside, and they team up with Cassandra (Barnes) to bring down the evil empire. They must do so before Li can annex the evil Fong Wai Hut (Foo) and his gang.
Additionally, since Master Pan (Quing Fu as himself) is a noble monk who won't take bribes from Li, and they are at odds, Wilson and Reeds go through rigorous training sessions at Pan's monastery. Here they learn the secret of the "Eagle Claw", which is not to be confused with the "Tiger Claw" from the other Blanks/Merhi production TC 2000 (1993). Master Pan commands an army of bald, white, mustachioed monks that really help out Wilson and Reeds. They're going to have to train hard to defeat Li's henchmen Khan (Hues) and Eric Lee (credited only as "bodyguard").
You've gotta love Billy Blanks' wide-eyed, childlike delivery of his lines. He has some great martial arts moves in the film as well - doesn't everyone kickbox with a white collared shirt buttoned all the way up? - luckily Blanks makes his trademark funny faces and sounds. Just look at the above picture. Gaze upon Blanks' facial expression for 10 seconds and try not to laugh. And that's just a still shot from the poster! As far as Jalal Merhi (whose hair appears painted on, so we started calling him the Painted On Hair Guy), try to imagine a cross between Steven Seagal and comedian Nick DiPaolo. His "loose cannon" status mentioned earlier is clearly evident in his ponytail and leather outfit. As seen in Tough and Deadly, Reeds loves hockey (this is Canada, don't forget) and Beethoven, and Wilson loves beer and urban R&B music.Will they ever be able to get along? Painted On Hair Guy is smarmy and unlikable, and his fighting is somewhat lackluster. Wilson even calls him, and I quote, a "Bubblehead". Does anyone know if he's related to PM's Joseph Merhi? It couldn't be a coincidence that there are two men named Merhi in the direct to video world, could it? Matthias Hues as Khan snaps his fingers and commands a kung-fu army. With this one snap, he displays ten times the charm of Painted On Hair Guy and we remember why we love Hues. Seeing as the film is set in Toronto, they don't have to hide the fact that it actually is Toronto. That seems like a wise move. The extended (read: most of the movie) training sequences strongly recall the other Blanks vehicle Balance of Power (1996), especially the beach scenes.
For a professionally-made production featuring some familiar faces and, to quote the Video Hound, "Featuring the most advanced fighting techniques ever filmed", and with a memorable title song by Jonas J. Patricko, do check out the silly fun of Talons of the Eagle.
Additionally, since Master Pan (Quing Fu as himself) is a noble monk who won't take bribes from Li, and they are at odds, Wilson and Reeds go through rigorous training sessions at Pan's monastery. Here they learn the secret of the "Eagle Claw", which is not to be confused with the "Tiger Claw" from the other Blanks/Merhi production TC 2000 (1993). Master Pan commands an army of bald, white, mustachioed monks that really help out Wilson and Reeds. They're going to have to train hard to defeat Li's henchmen Khan (Hues) and Eric Lee (credited only as "bodyguard").
You've gotta love Billy Blanks' wide-eyed, childlike delivery of his lines. He has some great martial arts moves in the film as well - doesn't everyone kickbox with a white collared shirt buttoned all the way up? - luckily Blanks makes his trademark funny faces and sounds. Just look at the above picture. Gaze upon Blanks' facial expression for 10 seconds and try not to laugh. And that's just a still shot from the poster! As far as Jalal Merhi (whose hair appears painted on, so we started calling him the Painted On Hair Guy), try to imagine a cross between Steven Seagal and comedian Nick DiPaolo. His "loose cannon" status mentioned earlier is clearly evident in his ponytail and leather outfit. As seen in Tough and Deadly, Reeds loves hockey (this is Canada, don't forget) and Beethoven, and Wilson loves beer and urban R&B music.Will they ever be able to get along? Painted On Hair Guy is smarmy and unlikable, and his fighting is somewhat lackluster. Wilson even calls him, and I quote, a "Bubblehead". Does anyone know if he's related to PM's Joseph Merhi? It couldn't be a coincidence that there are two men named Merhi in the direct to video world, could it? Matthias Hues as Khan snaps his fingers and commands a kung-fu army. With this one snap, he displays ten times the charm of Painted On Hair Guy and we remember why we love Hues. Seeing as the film is set in Toronto, they don't have to hide the fact that it actually is Toronto. That seems like a wise move. The extended (read: most of the movie) training sequences strongly recall the other Blanks vehicle Balance of Power (1996), especially the beach scenes.
For a professionally-made production featuring some familiar faces and, to quote the Video Hound, "Featuring the most advanced fighting techniques ever filmed", and with a memorable title song by Jonas J. Patricko, do check out the silly fun of Talons of the Eagle.
Pretty cool low budget kick em flick
ManBehindTheMask639 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Talons of the Eagle has some good things going for it. Matthias Hues (from I Come In Peace and No Retreat No surrender 2) plays the lead henchman and we get a lot of b-movie fights and shoot outs and a lot of t&a. Billy Blanks'(from "King of the Kickboxers" and those Tai Bo videos)acting is so bad it's good but he does showcase some pretty cool moves and has some great one-liners. Especially when he talks about his balls being made of steel. James Hong stars as the Asian drug lord and we get some lame guy named Jalal Mehri who becomes Blanks partner and gets way too much screen time. Mehri is a pretty bad actor and fighter and i'm pretty sure he only got the role cause he produced the film. There is a pretty cool fight at the end between Blanks and Hues, the Russian bull(for you NRNS2 fans). Overall, it's a low-budget kick 'em up that reminded me of a weaker Showdown in little tokyo. Plus, you get tons of t&a, an old master who teaches Blanks the Eagle Claw, a really odd looking chick on steroids, horrible buddy-cop jokes, and Blanks having a really stupid kitchen fight with some bad guy. It's from SGE.
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