Bloodfist

Plot synopsis:
A man gets beaten by his opponent, but after he finds out the fight was rigged, he decides to fight back. He kills his opponent and is announced as the winner. On his way back to his home, another man kills him.
Back in the United States, retired boxer Jake Raye and co-owner of Hal and Jake's self-defense class receives a call from the Philippines police department. He is told his half-brother Michael is dead, and he must pick up the body in Manila. Raye travels to Manila and collects the body, but he decides to stay there and find his brother's killer. Raye gets training help from a man named Kwong and stays with local kickboxer Baby Davies, upon whom local Filipino neighbor Angela has a crush, and his sister Nancy. Kwong tells Raye about a gladiator-like tournament known as the Red Fist Tournament where only one comes out alive, and his brother's killer will likely be there.
Kwong trains Raye for the tournament and enters him. He manages to win all the fights and proceeds to the final match, where he faces off with Chin Woo. Kwong tells him that Chin Woo is his brother's killer and also the fighter who put Baby Davis in a coma. Hal, who has come from California to watch Raye's final bout, informs Raye that Kwong is the killer after Kwong drugs Raye. Angela comes in with a gun, but dies at the hands of Chin Woo. Woo is defeated by Raye, who sets off after Michael's true killer. Kwong reveals that has a brother who died at the hands of Michael that night, and Kwong is the one who murdered him. Kwong fights Raye in the same alley where Michael died. Raye is badly wounded but impales Kwong on a fence. Nancy and Raye walk off into the night.

Tags: cult, violence

Review:
Don "The Dragon" Wilson plays a kickboxer named Jake Raye.
He meets a man named Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana), who trains him to compete in a martial-arts tournament called "Ta Chang" -- because he suspects that one of the fighters there was Michael's killer.Some of the actors (excepting Wilson and Joe Mari Avellana) are quite bad, and the fight scenes aren't choreographed very well (you can make out that the fighters aren't really hitting each other).
Still, this is an entertaining movie."Bloodfist" was remade twice (at least as far as I know), as "Full Contact (1992)" and "Dragon Fire (1993)".
"Full Contact" is the best of the lot (and it would have been even better had Don "The Dragon" Wilson been in it instead of Jerry Trimble).Seven sequels (to date) have followed "Bloodfist" -- most of them have nothing to do with the first one.
They're all better than this movie (especially parts 6 and 7).If you like low budget action movies, and if you are a fan of Don "The Dragon" Wilson, you might want to see this early movie of his.
Fast, Cheap and Fun. Bloodfist (1989) ** (out of 4) THE KARATE KID meets KICKBOXER Roger Corman style in this 80's cult favorite.
Don 'The Dragon' Wilson plays Jake Raye, a retired fighter who travels to the Philipeans to get his brothers ashes and seek vengeance against his killer.
First starring role for Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Don "The Dragon" Wilson, 'Bloodfist' is worth every penny of the $4.95 I spent on the bargain DVD.Forget the critics.
This is one of Roger Corman's earliest ventures into the martial arts genre, and, like much of the Corman library, there's lots of respectable bang for the few bucks spent on the production.First, let's get past the name thing.
Prior to 'Bloodfist', he was the only Don Wilson anyone had ever heard of in showbiz.Would you have lined up at the box office for a martial arts movie starring that guy?The Set-up: Wilson's half-brother is a prizefighter in a shady Manila fight club who ends up dead after winning a fixed fight.
One assumes that he also had one kidney (the donated one), unless Wilson generously gave one of his away because he felt his brother should have two ...?As in the best Corman films, the action takes over fast, and the field trip isn't even out of the building before Don gets the call that his brother's dead.The Dragon hops the next thing smokin' to the Philippines, officially to claim the body, but I can't help thinking that in the back of his mind, Don didn't wonder just a little about getting that kidney back.
I'd be lying if I say I do not love this movie, Bloodfist was one of those movies you see on TV all the time to fill some space in the programming, is a typical martial arts film of the nineties,enters the fighting tournaments genre,nineties were plagued by this type of movies and it was awesome,the titles in those movies were very generic like Bloodsport,blood fist,blood match,ring of fire,forcé to fight,showdown,American kick boxer,you put two words together than meant something intense and you had your title,it is more likely that if you saw two or three of these films saw virtually all,with a minimum differentiate in each one all these tournament fighting movies had the same plot, but Bloodfist was the most cliché of all these films, not only that this film was cloned at least twice: Full Contact (1993)and Dragon Fire (1993)which does not involve a dragon or a technique called fire dragon,these three films have in common the same exact plot, I mean scene by scene they are exactly the same movie just in different locations and with different actors but dialog and the characters are the same in each of the films.This is because these three films have the same writer credited to each one Robert King if you think this was his nadir, he is one of those responsible for the screenplay of Cutthroat island his most decent work was red corner (1995),back to Bloodfist as any illegal martial arts tournament film it begins when the protagonist learns that his brother was killed by participating in an illegal tournament, in search of the murderer and the ends participating in the tournament and wins it, that basically sums up this movie, one has little interest in the plot what catches our attention are the fight scenes in the movie, they usually use real martial artists in this movies for their credit they accomplish more believable fighting scenes what makes this film so entertaining,in other hand the acting is not that great but who cares let's see some kicking and punching.another remarkable thing in this film are the so cliché characters let's start with the protagonist starring Don 'The Dragon' Wilson as Jake Raye, Wilson was the star of all the nine Bloodfist movies, This is the best known of all, Jake Rayne is the archetype of the good guy in this films, clean cut nice guy who believes in the fundamentals of martial arts, always looking for justice/revenge, never starts a fight but always trouble is looking for him, basically random people will pick a fight with him and they will always go one at the time even if they are 50 they will let their friend get beat up so the next one can go and get kicked as well, we have his new found best friend Baby (Michael Shaner) a compulsive gambler and kick boxer if you ask why his called Baby its explained in the movie and trust me it is as bad as joke can get, he serves as comic relief and as the guy that always gets killed fighting the main villain because it's his friend, baby has a girlfriend called Angela that I won't talk about (nothing interesting to say about this character) but he has a sister Nancy (Riley Bowman...her first and last film ) that is the F.R.I.
: forced romantic interest, in all B-grade American martial arts film is full of this lazy strategy to put T&A in the movie, then we have Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana),our ¨Mr. Miyagi¨ who knows the tournament inside out and offers to train Jake in the martial arts so he can compete in the tournament in hopes of finding his brother's killer.
Then we have the competition usually there's not much story about them but they have some character trades such as Raton (Dutch kick boxing champion Rob Kaman), who listens to music to get his adrenaline pumping, like many of athlete's do but somehow listening to music makes him a super fighter just don't mix his music or he will get distracted and loose then there's Black Rose (Billy Blanks),Tae Bo creator plays a high-kicking powerhouse, he has his menacing stare that makes him look like a rapist more than a fighting stare and of cores his nickname has to include the word black and Chin Woo (Kris Aguilar), a monster fighter who uses his brute strength to take out/kill his opponents, if you see him fighting it actually looks like his killing them more than taking them out , but hey his the main villain he has to do villainies stuff like killing it common sense right, he looks like the Asian Mr. T , if you're asking if his the one that killed Jakes brother you have to find out and see in the end you probably won't care who did it you will be glad it's over .
After his brother, Mike, is murdered in Manila, Jake (Don Wilson) travels down there to claim the body and must use his kick-boxing expertise to deal with the local highly-trained hooligans that had to do with his brother's untimely demise.
He meets and stays with Baby and his sister Nancy (Riley Bowman)If there's one fatal flaw with the film, I mean aside from the mediocre fight scenes, is the character of Baby, he's awful and brings the otherwise enjoyable , if not particularly good in the conventional sense of the word, don whenever he's on-screen.
Don the dragon Wilson is one of my favorite martial arts champions so i was thrilled when i got all 8 bloodfists in one huge box set as a present.Watching this first chapter i was so disappointed that i was thinking not to watch the rest of the sequels.
Gladly i changed my mind and watched all the rest.It's a shame cause all of the sequels were great for their standard and only part 1 is so poorly made that disappoints in every level.Only don Wilson can't save this movie.
The fights are bad and the story is so poorly made that is way below average even for these kind of b-movies.Fortunately all the sequels faired a lot better and i suggest u skip this part and begin with part 2.After part 2 there is no plot continuity as don Wilson play different characters so u don't have problems with plot continuity.All in all the bloodfist box set is great but not this movie.If u like don Wilson also check out for the following gems in which he stars...BLACKBELTRING OF FIRE TRILOGYOUT FOR BLOODMOVING TARGETBLOODFIST 2-8.
Roger Corman had an eye of what kind of movies the audience wanted to see....in the 80's and 90's there was a huge boom in the martial arts genre, Corman produced many martial arts movies starring kickboxing champion Don "The Dragon" Wilson.The movie itself is stuff that you already saw: martial arts tournament, revenge and some twists (if you have seen Bloodsport and some other movie like that you know of what i am talking about), but is not so bad to get a 3.8 rating and it's not even the worst martial arts movie ever (trust me, i have seen crappier MA movies) My favorite scene in Bloodfist is the fight scene between Don Wilson and Billy Blanks, the slow-motion sound effects are just worth the whole scene.The sequels are FAR better than this one..
Bloodfist is one of Don Wilson's best movie and only movie.Don Wilson stars as Jake Raye who travels to Manila to find his brother's killer.The trail leads him to boxing club the red fists who every year holds a competition calls the Ta Chang.To find his brother's killer he must enter in the tournament himself,to find the killer.This is Don Wilson's best and only movie he ever made.Seven sequels made after the first Bloodfist and this is only the best movie.Because all Bloodfist's hold different story and Don Wilson play'different't characters except part 2.But Bloodfist 2 is worst movie than part 1.Ok Don play's the same character but it's no th the sequel with 1 it s like Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon and it s to short.The part 2 ruined the first Bloodfist.I did not see all Bloodfist's.But second Bloodfist it s no't good movie,i'did not see part 3,part 4 and part 5.But i' see part 6,7 and 8.For Bloodfist 6 i'said that the movie is too short i's so post to be 20 min.longer not short.Part 7 is good but it s different story and part 8 it's nothing to compeer with first for the part 2 and 3 i said it s copy with different character's in second its dead arena in third it's prison and in the fourth and fifth i don't know what it is,like in seven or eight.For other Wilson's movie i Say'd there the worst movie he made.Like in the Red sun Rising bad story.Lion strike it s also bad movie.I read for the ring of fire that vars the worst movie of Don Wilson he made because he did not fight in the movie,except in the end for 10 min.I'said the when you are Don Wilson 's fan watch this movie it's worded to see for other movies it's up to you tho dissed.I' won't know just why they had the same titles when they are different't story then the first movie.I' recommended that you buy the first movie on DVD and enjoyed..
Don "The Dragon" Wilson stars as Jake Raye a kickboxer who trains for a revenge match, after the murder of his brother.
Bloodfist would be a half way decent movie if it contained crisp actionscenes, however most of these fightscenes are not done well, even the Don "The Dragon" Wilson VS Billy Blanks fight isn't exciting.
OK, so "B"-movie Kickboxing sensation Don "The Dragon" Wilson is no great actor, that's a given.
That he even starred in the Roger Corman-backed "Bloodfist" (1989) and its eight sequels is proof that perhaps Wilson may have something to offer (which I'm sure he can; even I can find the smallest bit of talent in a "B"-movie martial arts star), but the man just hasn't gotten a whole lot of really fair play, not even in the "B"-movies, and "Bloodfist" and "Bloodfist II" (1991) are really all that he has to show for it?In the first "Bloodfist," Wilson is Jake Raye, an American Kickboxing champion who travels to Manila, The Phillippines, to retrieve his brother's ashes after learning he had been murdered.
A little deeper into his brother's actions in Manila lead Jake to an illegal underground Kickboxing tournament, and learns that his brother had been favored to win in the high-stakes combat.In order to find his brother's killer, he enlists the aid of a Kickboxing master named Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana), who takes him under his wing and prepares him to enter the ring against some of the best fighters in the world, a la plot devices found in "Enter the Dragon" (1973), "Bloodsport" (1988), and any other martial arts tournament movie that you can think of.Director Terence H.
Winkless is behind the camera of this low-budget, "B"-grade martial arts vehicle that's a perfect showcase for Wilson's Kickboxing skills, if nothing else.
We've seen a plot like this many times before in the martial arts movies, so not much of what you see here is original.
The only real pleasure here is the fighting, which features Wilson's skills and a few familiar Kickboxing faces (including Billy Blanks as one of Raye's toughest opponents).It would seem that Don "The Dragon" Wilson would only gain a little more respectability with the not-much-better mixed martial arts romp "Bloodfist II" a year later.3/10.
Don Wilson (I refuse to write "The Dragon" after Don) stars as Jake Raye a boxing champion who trains in kickboxing to get revenge on the man who killed his brother.
The fight sequences (Which are the only things that matter in a film like this) are shot with such poor technique that I could often times see the kicks miss by miles and the punches barely graze the body.
Bloodfist helped bring back the martial arts movie, and sprang loose the early fittings for the relentless stuff in Strikeforce and others..
Produced by Roger Corman, there, inexplicably, are nine Bloodfist movies.
The list may go as follows:Blood Kick Punch Cage Fist Fight/Fighter Death Rage Terminal Extreme Force Impact Maximum Best Match SportWe are announcing two new action movies to go into production: "Bloodpunch" and "KickPuncher".
If you have any more words to add to this tentative list, please write in and leave a comment today.Back to the Bloodfist, The Dragon is always watchable, and you like him as Jake, the good-natured fighter.
It's an obvious rip-off of KICKBOXER and BLOODSPORT, detailing the story of a young man forced to take part in a violent martial arts tournament while seeking his brother's murderer.
Although this film is notable for launching the screen career of fight champion Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, it's a complete mess, and frequently unwatchable.The lack of budget and talent is obvious in the poor, uninteresting settings and inadequate lighting.
This makes the many fight sequences laughable, and wastes the genuine talents of the little-seen Billy Blanks and other martial arts competitors.Wilson himself is a bore, never showing the charisma or skill that made Van Damme a star, and he's hardly a hero to root for.
BLOODFIST is definitely one of the worst movies Roger Corman has ever been involved with.
But as he fights his way through the opponents, Jake begins to suspect that Kwong might not be telling the truth about his brother's death & that he might have an ulterior motive in the fight.Bloodfist is one of the martial arts genre's most well-known cult films – the start of a franchise that at time of writing this numbers at nine films long.
It is also the film that brought the world's attention to a kickboxing champion named Don "The Dragon" Wilson.
It might not be a particularly good film – the bad acting & predictable plot (I personally managed to correctly guess the entire story by the fifteen-minute mark, including the revelation that Kwong is responsible for the murder) conspire to rob the film of much of its impact – but it does feature a lot of martial arts combat, which will be quite entertaining for martial arts fans despite the fact that the fights are often poorly choreographed.The film tries hard to get by on some of its stunt casting – Corman had the bright idea of putting in a lot of real-life martial arts champions (Billy Blanks, Rob Kaman, Kris Aguilar & Don Wilson himself) into the film in order to prop up the film's martial arts pedigree.
These supposed-to-be expert fighters and martial artist--with the exception of Don Wilson and Billy Blanks, none of these people should be mentioned in the same conversation with the martial arts!
I don't know where these knuckleheads came from, but their "martial arts" was almost nauseating to watch--especially Wilson's friend that he trained with: how those were supposed to be kicks, I couldn't fathom if I were on PCP!