Trained to Kill - Bloodfist VIII

This is a solid martial arts/action thriller that has Don "the Dragon" Wilson as an ex-CIA assassin teaming with his teenage son to track down the men trying to kill them. Easily the best of Wilson's numerous martial arts movies, this one effectively combines good writing, stunt work, action scenes, and editing to create an entertaining film that can be appreciated by action fans.

"Bloodfist VIII" is about as watchable as any "Part VIII" of a film series could ever hope to be. Not that it has to do anything with the previous entries anyway - is the name "Bloodfist" such a money maker that they couldn't simply release this as "Trained To Kill"? At first, this appears to be an acting stretch for Don Wilson - he is a math teacher with typical problems in his relationship with his teenage son. But don't worry, we soon find out that he is an ex-CIA agent, targeted for death by Italian hit men and even some of his former employers! The one new element here is the Irish setting for much of the action - and apparently someone thought we were too thick to get the fact that we're in Ireland, because there is this "folk" (I don't know how else to describe it) music score that keeps on playing throughout. At least the close-contact fight scenes are mostly good, with Wilson in top form. (**)

Don "The Dragon" Wilson has done the series of "Bloodfist" justice. Ended it with a Bang. In the first two, he played the same character, 3 through 8, he played different characters. In the 8th installment of the movie, he's a former agent whose teenage son gets to know who his father really is. His son is good at making explosives. Since he lost his mother in a car bombing, he would act out for attention. When his father's past comes out of hiding, he would know what he really did in the past. Fortunately, he can hold on his own, when he gets kidnapped in Ireland by his father's former boss. The fight scenes are top notch. Nothing was lost in this film. To me, part 4 didn't sell me. I enjoyed the series. Only a non fan can say that. What a way to go, Don! 5 Stars!

Don Wilson stars as George MacReady who kicks into high gear, when his son is kidnapped by CIA agents who are targeting him for death because of his secret identity being blown, now he must fight his ex-comrades and save his son, while not ripping his pants in the process. That is not an unworthy observation, Don Wilson wears jeans so tight they might as well be spandex and it becomes quite believable that Wilson is a true martial artist because somehow he can kick way over his head and do so without once tearing a hole in his pants. If anything else though, Bloodfist VIII is a one man show with Wilson quite invincible against assembly line villains who say everything that villains of this nature do. The one interesting element is that the characters are named after classic actors and directors such as George MacReady, Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell. Other then that the production values are better this time around although who ever was behind the radio shock effect should be walloped with a tire-iron, overall i'm saying this is the least terrible of the last 4 sequels. But really this is a fifty cent rental at best, once again Don Wilson fans will enjoy this but other then that it holds little appeal. Also John Patrick White has to be the oldest teenager ever.

*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

The worst of the series, although none of them were that great to begin with. This final Don Wilson entry has him as a former CIA agent now employed as a high school math teacher, and struggling to connect with his long-estranged son. Things pick up when something out of his (recent) past comes back to bite him in the rear. Fight, fight, punch, punch, kick, kick. And the action moves very quickly to...Ireland? Ok. This film's greatest sin was good old-fashioned dullness. There was a decent amount of action, but heavily weighted towards gunplay. What little martial arts was on display was filmed a little too close to really get a good look at the choreography/stunt work. A shame because that's basically the selling point for a Don Wilson movie. Beyond that, there were some line readings that gave me some chuckles. Overall, very inconsequential, even for a direct-to-video action movie.