A Van Damme Classic With Some Incredible Training Sequences, An Engrossing Story And Wonderful Performances!

Rating: Null/10 (15 September 2005)

This is a Van Damme classic, with some incredible training sequences, an engrossing story and wonderful performances!. All the characters are wonderful, and it had some awesome humor in it as well, plus Jean Claude Van Damme is simply amazing in this as usual, as is Dennis Chan!. The Opening is extremely powerful stuff, when Tong Po paralyzes Eric, and the scene when Van Damme is kicking the tree, with full force, made me cringe, plus The Main fight at the end between Van Damme and Michel Qissi was absolutely fantastic, and quite brutal!. Van Damme had excellent chemistry wit Dennis Chan, Dennis Alexio and Rochelle Ashana, and i thought Van Damme's acting was fantastic!, plus Steve Lee is awesome as the slime ball, i was so happy when Van Damme kicked him in the face!. The Scene where Van Damme breaks down when he learns his brother will be paralyzed, is very moving and hilarious at the same time, what made it hilarious is the little stuttering bit, other then that he did a very convincing job in my opinion!, plus The dialog was awesome!.
Of course critics panned this, and once again i can't see why, it's one of the best martial art films out there, and i thought it was very well written as well!, plus the fight choreography by Van Damme was awesome!. The dancing scene where Van Damme gets drunk in the bar was hilarious, plus The location was fantastic!. It has a great cheesy charm at times, and the scenes with Van Damme and Dennis Alexio were just great, plus It had some pretty catchy tunes as well!. While not quite as good as Bloodsport (Then again what martial art movie is, in my opinion), it's still one of my favorites, as it's a classic, with some incredible training sequences, an engrossing story and wonderful performances!, and i say Go see it right this instant!, you won't regret it.
The Direction is Kickass!. Mark DiSalle and David Worth both do a wonderful job here with fantastic camera work, awesome angles, using great locations and keeping the film at an extremely fast pace!.
The Acting is wonderful!. Jean Claude Van Damme is AMAZING as always, and is amazing here, he is extremely likable, very convincing, fantastic in the acting department, had excellent chemistry with Dennis Chan, Dennis Alexio and Rochelle Ashana, seemed very relaxed and focused, and just did an amazing job overall!,and only had a couple moments where he felt off, plus he impressed the hell out of me in his training scenes, he is an amazing martial artist!. (Van Damme Rules!!!!!!! he is the man!). Dennis Alexio is awesome as Van Damme's brother, he was a bit of an ass at 1st, but found him very likable shortly after, he had great chemistry with Van Damme, and just did an awesome job overall!, he is also an amazing martial artist!. Dennis Chan is AMAZING as Van Damme's teacher and mentor, he is extremely hilarious, very likable, cracked me up throughout, and had some wonderful scenes with Van Damme, i loved him! (Dennis Chan Rules!). Michel Qissi is fantastic as the main villain, he scared the crap out of me, was very ruthless and cold, and i will be honest i was very happy when he got what was coming to him!, one of the most chilling performances ever in my opinion!. Haskell V. Anderson III is great as Taylor, he was very likable, and had a good sense of humor i liked him lots. Rochelle Ashana does fine with what she had to do, she was pretty, had good chemistry with Van Damme and did a good job overall, i liked her. Steve Lee is excellent as the slime ball, i hated him and shouted out loud when Van Damme gave him a kick in the face!. Rest of the cast do great. Overall This is a classic Go see it right this instant you won't regret it!. ***** out of 5