True Vengeance

Saw this on TV years ago, I was surprised to see Daniel Bernhardt, I like his martial arts on screen, and he proved that after "Bloodsport" sequels, although he copied Van Damme a lot. I think that the director of this film was obviously inspired by Commando (1985). It has that good old element of daughter/son kidnap and than, usually a rampaging dad (who is, of course an ex-navy seal) go berserk, armed to the teeth, seeking his little precious bundle of joy and have his revenge. I liked this film, because I think that fighting scenes are good and I love Yakuza element here. All other things, do not pay any attention to them, this film is extremely low budget, so try to enjoy in solid action. Do not expect anything from actors either, Daniel Bernhardt is pretty stiff, trying to look like Van Damme in some scenes… now… when you look at him, he looks like John Matrix dressed all in black, to look more cool, you know, tall, dark and handsome, he had that long trench coat, ah yes and there's a scene where he enters a striptease bar and he spreads his coat just for bouncer to see that he is fully armed. That element was used before Matrix (1999) in this film. Keeanu Reeves, eat your heart out! Bernhardt did it before, and to mention that Bernhardt appeared as agent Johnson in Matrix Reloaded (2002)… as for other actors, we have George Cheung who appeared in most of these low budget martial arts films, he was solid as a leading villain, we have Miles O' Keeffe who plays a supporting villain who came back to serve his own revenge to Bernhardt and we also have martial artist Leo Lee and Roger Yuan, who did good job at kicking some butt. And to mention smoking hot Beverly Johnson as a military lieutenant Kada Wilson, the girl can't act, but she was, oooohhhhh… so hot! That body, those legs… marry me, Bev! :) OK, only kidding… this is strictly for martial arts fans, so enjoy in it.

Firstly, the correct title for this film is TRUE VENGEANCE. Bernhardt portrays Allen Griffin, an ex-Navy SEAL who's daughter is kidnapped by her Yakuza grandfather to force Griffin to kill an exec of a rival company so he can take it over. Racing against time, Griffin is determined to get his daughter back at all costs. While being chased by the police for the murder, he takes on the Yakuza.

Being a martial arts film fan has its ups and downs, as you come across a lot of dross. However, this film was refreshing in that it was quite brutal about it's content. It was an adult action film therefore it had adult action in it. The main character was single minded in his objective and nothing would stop him. Basically he was a hard man.

The fights are pretty much by the numbers stuff but there is at least one kick of note, allowing Bernhardt to show his flexibility. It was pretty well paced and contained all the conventional set-ups for a fight (eg; has to ask some "tough guys" some questions they don't want to answer)

As in all these B movies the gunfights have no basis in reality but are done with enough aplomb to be passable.

All in all a real Friday night treat. Pizza and beers boys and you'll enjoy. And by far better than Perfect Target or Bloodsport 3 & 4.

This is a decent action film although with a bigger budget it could have done better, but the fight sequences are good and the plot is reasonable. This would have to be Bernhardt's second best film after Bloodsport 2.

True Vengeance delivers lots of hardcore action for all you martial arts fans, but the plot had some room for improvement. Being the action buff that I am; I loved this movie. David Bernhardt is going to be the next "Van Damme". If you liked the way he handled himself in True Vengeance then you definitely need to check him out in Bloodsport 2 & 3. This movie is definitely action packed.