Final Impact

Nick(Lorenzo Lamas) is an ex-kickboxing champion. He was cruelly beaten and to add insult to injury lost his wife to the new champion. Danny(Mike Worth) is a contender and Nick is his idol. Together they pair up to kick ass. But don't think you've got it all figured out. This is a throw back to when movies had a plot and characters were more then one dimensional. The whole cast is top quality. And Lamas is adorable in a cowboy hat and heavy jewelry.

Very entertaining martial arts film, starring Lorenzo Lamas as a washed up fighter. The cast includes Kathleen Kinmont (Lamas' wife at the time) as his girlfriend and a very young Michael Worth as Lama's protégé, a skilled fighter heading to Las Vegas for the World Kickboxing championship. The filmmakers waste no time in setting the tone, B film nonsense, by opening the film with bikini clad models covered in oil entertaining bar patrons. This film is notable for the entertaining storyline (seen a hundred times before, but always fun), the nice fight scenes, and the very good performances (as far as B films go). Jeff Langton as the evil kickboxing character Jake is the type of villain that makes these films so much fun.

Both Lamas and Worth headed up their own MA films, but there are a few faces in Final Impact that did as well, starring as ring fighters are Gary Daniels and Art Camacho (who would go on to direct many MA films himself). And Mimi Lesseos, who was the lead in several MA films, has a small role as Jake's girlfriend. Joseph Merhi (himself an MA star) co-directs here, with Richard Pepin serving as cinematographer. Both men went on to form the now famous (and defunct) PM Entertainment.

Final Impact is one of my favorite kick-boxing movies. We're talking about B-movies, I know it, but the 9 I gave wasn't out of place at all. I couldn't say how many times I re-seen this flick principally for the action scenes, stunning and entertaining, truly at Van Damme's level. Mike Worth is a tough guy and a good actor too. Don't you think he's quite underrated ?

The story was a pure cliché of the genre, the formula is the same of Karate Kid or the latest "kickboxer" episodes, but here was before it became rotten (mid 90s) and out-of-date. I hope many of you agree with me about the fantastic scene of the cumulative fights of the championship. Well shot, breathtaking edited, blow by blow in a whirling minute of action. It's a classic for these kind of movies, but even Bloodsport's or Kickboxer's aren't at this level. Probably just Mehri's next year "To be the best" (a must see movie) or Bloodsport 2 (another pearl). Gary Daniels was a great fighter and his two bouts against Worth are thrilling and cheesy. Too bad Ian Jacklin didn't have a role; we barely see him in the starting scene. He made a great job in other movies either as the bad or the good guy.

The DVD doesn't offer a thing. No extra scenes, rare material or interviews. I hope in the future (when perhaps, I hope, this genre will return mainstream) will be release a decent product, worthy to be called "DVD".

This film will please solely the genre lovers, but being so underrated seems just an average, meaningless clone.

This time Lorenzo Lamas plays a retired kickboxing champion who trains a new martial artist (Michael Worth) the ropes, while planning on getting revenge on the ruthless fighter who humiliated him. The final fight is there but...hey where are you going? Final Impact sounds more like a porno flick, or indeed my last case of constipation then it does an action film. I mean what final impact is there to be had? Is it possible the the generic title has something to do with the impact of Lorenzo's feet colliding with people's heads? Whatever the case maybe, you'll have more fun debating this rather than watching the final product. Which amounts to nothing but a sub par kickboxing action flick that is short on action and low on inspiration.

*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

In my search to catch up on all the PM Entertainment movies that have somehow eluded me over the years, I finally checked out 'Final Impact' today. And I have to say that I enjoyed it.

I was a little disappointed by the lack of action, but genuinely surprised by the amount of drama.

Llamas plays Nick, a former champion kickboxer who can't handle the realities of life after losing to over-the-top bad guy Jake Gerrard, succumbing to alcoholism and depression. Nick finds a way to turn it all around by training a young Michael Worth (who delivers a good performance) to take on Jake and exact his revenge in the ring, fist-to-fist.

It's no 'Rocky,' though it tries to be. The fight scenes are decent and shot pretty well (the foley work is laughably cheese at times). But the performances are all around solid and the music is enjoyable. Vegas made for a beautiful backdrop to the film as well.

'Final Impact' reminded me greatly of another PM classic, 'Deadly Bet.' Though, 'Deadly Bet' has slightly better action so I give that one the advantage.

If you like PM Entertainment films, or a little drama with your kickboxing, you really can't do any better than 'Final Impact.'