Loren Avedon stars as Jake Donahue
try and guess from the name what his occupation is
yes; correct, he's a cop. Not only that, he's your stereotypical cop on the edge who plays by his own rules, and you can bet that his actions on the streets always have the "mayor up the commissioners a**".
During a visit to Thailand when he was a kid, he witnessed his Kick Boxing champ of a brother get the tar beat out of him by big bad a** Khan (Billy Blanks) His brother died, and then Jake got a spanking too ("Something to remember me by!" Khan). This event turned Jake into the man he is today a right p****d off barrel of p**s and vinegar.
After Jake spanks a bit too much a**e whilst undercover, his captain assigns him to investigate a snuff movie racket in Thailand. Whilst viewing a couple of the movies (one of which just so happens to be No Retreat, No Surrender 3 which starred Avedon) he sees Khan, the man who murdered his brother. Goddamn, Donahue really wants this case bad now, the Mother Hubbard has a score to settle and off to Thailand he goes.
Whilst there he meets Prang (played by good 'ol Keith Cooke) an apparent drunk tramp that once came very close to defeating Khan. And of course, after the usual "No, I will not teach you" tomfoolery, Jake becomes Prangs student to prepare himself for his eventual showdown with Khan in what can only be described as "Kung Fu Thunderdome".
It's all great stuff; you've got all the ingredients for a great b-movie action flick.
Clichéd cop good guy? Yes! Shouty police captain? Yes! Training montage? Yes Cheesy bad guy? Yes! T*t shot? Yes! Swift one liners? Yes! Lots of action & violence? Of course!
The fight scenes are really top notch when compared to other American b-movie fare of the time, they're pretty speedy and intricate OK so they're not 15 minute long epics, and the 3 foot tall Chinese guy that doubles for Avedon's more acrobatic moves sticks out like a sore thumb, but they're still entertaining. It's just a shame that Keith Cooke doesn't get more to do, but what he does do is fantastic. During his main fight scene he shows off his trademark kicking skills with lightning fast accuracy with no signs of under cranking. As Robert Clouse once said, "Cooke is a fast with his feet as Bruce Lee was with his hands," I certainly wouldn't argue with that.
Avedon is someone I've always thought was a great on screen fighter, and very underrated too. He's fast and looks very powerful, although his occasional screams of fury and taunts can be a little on the Edam side of things, but ah, it just adds to the charm of the movie in my opinion if I wanted top quality acting I would be watching something else wouldn't I?
Of course we can't leave out Mr Tae Bo Billy Blanks, yes before he made his fortune with his work out videos he was starring in movies like this. He's great in the movie, sneering constantly, speaking like a robot and kicking plenty a**e. He's a big fella and apart from some occasional cheese, he can be quite intimidating at certain points of the movie.
I can heartily recommend this, depending on your preferences you'll either be grinning from ear to ear or cringing and frowning till your face looks like an anus.
(Taken from my forum - http://sjcultmovies1.proboards23.com)
During a visit to Thailand when he was a kid, he witnessed his Kick Boxing champ of a brother get the tar beat out of him by big bad a** Khan (Billy Blanks) His brother died, and then Jake got a spanking too ("Something to remember me by!" Khan). This event turned Jake into the man he is today a right p****d off barrel of p**s and vinegar.
After Jake spanks a bit too much a**e whilst undercover, his captain assigns him to investigate a snuff movie racket in Thailand. Whilst viewing a couple of the movies (one of which just so happens to be No Retreat, No Surrender 3 which starred Avedon) he sees Khan, the man who murdered his brother. Goddamn, Donahue really wants this case bad now, the Mother Hubbard has a score to settle and off to Thailand he goes.
Whilst there he meets Prang (played by good 'ol Keith Cooke) an apparent drunk tramp that once came very close to defeating Khan. And of course, after the usual "No, I will not teach you" tomfoolery, Jake becomes Prangs student to prepare himself for his eventual showdown with Khan in what can only be described as "Kung Fu Thunderdome".
It's all great stuff; you've got all the ingredients for a great b-movie action flick.
Clichéd cop good guy? Yes! Shouty police captain? Yes! Training montage? Yes Cheesy bad guy? Yes! T*t shot? Yes! Swift one liners? Yes! Lots of action & violence? Of course!
The fight scenes are really top notch when compared to other American b-movie fare of the time, they're pretty speedy and intricate OK so they're not 15 minute long epics, and the 3 foot tall Chinese guy that doubles for Avedon's more acrobatic moves sticks out like a sore thumb, but they're still entertaining. It's just a shame that Keith Cooke doesn't get more to do, but what he does do is fantastic. During his main fight scene he shows off his trademark kicking skills with lightning fast accuracy with no signs of under cranking. As Robert Clouse once said, "Cooke is a fast with his feet as Bruce Lee was with his hands," I certainly wouldn't argue with that.
Avedon is someone I've always thought was a great on screen fighter, and very underrated too. He's fast and looks very powerful, although his occasional screams of fury and taunts can be a little on the Edam side of things, but ah, it just adds to the charm of the movie in my opinion if I wanted top quality acting I would be watching something else wouldn't I?
Of course we can't leave out Mr Tae Bo Billy Blanks, yes before he made his fortune with his work out videos he was starring in movies like this. He's great in the movie, sneering constantly, speaking like a robot and kicking plenty a**e. He's a big fella and apart from some occasional cheese, he can be quite intimidating at certain points of the movie.
I can heartily recommend this, depending on your preferences you'll either be grinning from ear to ear or cringing and frowning till your face looks like an anus.
(Taken from my forum - http://sjcultmovies1.proboards23.com)