From: schuck@fraser.sfu.ca (Bruce Jonathan Schuck)
Subject: Re: REVIEW: RAPID FIRE
Keywords: author=Dorsett
Reply-To: Bruce_Schuck@sfu.ca
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 21:19:07 GMT

rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett) writes:

>     It's all BS.  Why?  Because, unlike his father, and unlike other
>"minor-league" action leads, such as Norris, Van Damme, Lundgren,
>etc--Brandon has no screen presence.  He has no charisma.  He is not a
>leading man. 

I don't know what movie you were watching, but to say that Norris ,
Van Damme, and Lundgren *have* charisma is a joke. None of them can
act there way out of a wet paper bag. Compared to them Brandon Lee is
Lawrence Olivier. Brandon Lee is *not* a great actor, but he is better
than most of the pretenders to Bruce Lee's crown.

>     What makes this even worse is that the bad guys, played by Nick
>"Stingray" Mancuso, and Tao Lzu, chewed up every single scene they were
>in.  By the end, we're really rooting for the bad guys, more than the
>good guys.  

Really. I was waiting for Powers Boothe and Lee to blow them away.  


>     Among the many implausibilities:

>     - Why didn't Tao whack Mancuso after Mancuso killed his
>       distributor?  Why wasn't there *any* violence from that
>       direction?

The top man was dead and it takes a while to reorganize?

>     - Why did Tao show up at the end, to personally oversee the
>       deliveries?

See above.

>     - Who the hell was Powers Boothe supposed to be, and why was his
>       headquarters in a bowling alley?

He was the head of a special Police Intelligence Squad out to get
Mancuso and Tau and worked out of an old bowling alley. Special squads
like this do not always work out of Police Headquarters. Don't you
watch the news?

>     - Why did the FBI agent miss Lee, an unarmed man, a stationary
>       target, in a well-lighted, closed hallway, fifteen feet away,
>       by over a yard and a half?  Don't they teach shooting at
>       Quantico anymore, even to bad cops?  I think the movie lost me
>       at that point (0:35).

Maybe because the guy had has his nose busted twice. It's amazing how
muc distraction that causes!

>     - Why does Lee like to play with his victims, before killing them?

Good point. I prefer the Seagal type ruthlessness.

>       Spare
>       us the gymnastics: that's once nice aspect of Chuck Norris's
>       movies--they've never really had the dancing (except for reverse
>       roundhouse kicks, of course :-)), but they're slightly more
>       plausible because of that.

Chuck Norris is old and pathetic. Thats why you don't see any
gymnastics. He just can't do it.

>     - Why did Tao, such a cool character at the beginning, end up such
>       a weak weenie at the end?  Why Lee's spectacular fight with his
>       henchman, even though we were being built up to expect it
>       between Lee and Tao?

Tao is only good with sticks?

>     Overall, by about hour into the movie, I was starting to feel
>distinctly uncomfortable about having wasted my matinee dough to see
>this thing.  At the end, I was embarrassed.  And I *like* dumb action
>flicks!

>     This movie is so bad, and so cliche-ridden, that it deserves no
>consideration; the only reason I'm reviewing it is to save other people
>the pain of seeing it.  One star: don't even waste money for it on
>video.  See it on an airplane.  Don't rent the headsets.  See
>UNFORGIVEN, the best movie of the year, instead.

I liked it. Brandon Lee needs some seasoning, but so do most people in
their 2nd or third movie. I liked it a lot better than all the stuff
Norris and Van Damme have put out.

I still prefer Seagal, but I'll definitely check out Lees next movie.

A big plus for me is that Powers Boothe was so over the top. It was
fun watching him and Mancuso. I *love* a good martial arts film where
they concentrate on characters in addition to the *hero*

I give it 3 out of 4 [for martial arts lovers only though]

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