High Voltage - Tödliche Bande

An excellent film that was totally under rated. the film comes across as having a very "pulp Fiction" feel to it, and yet it delivers a lot of fun action!! . "High Voltage" really marked the action debut of Shannon Lee , alongside Antonio Sabato Jr looking the most impressive martial arts wise he's ever looked.

The script is bad: the predictable plot overly familiar to fans of such flicks. Much of the casting was obviously driven more by cost than talent. Very low count of Vietnamese actors within the Vietnamese gang - especially those given any lines of dialog. Possibly more geographic authenticity among the stunt guys.

In the plus column, the fights are mostly well-choreographed for a low budget offering. Sabato looks good in action, whether shooting guns or doing MMA-style acrobatics. The best scene of the lot comes late in the film in a biker bar.

Which brings me to the other asset - the underappreciated Donald Gibb. Whenever a slot exists for a bulky biker or biker-adjacent thug, who also looks crazier than Dennis Burkley, Gibb is the go-to guy. Whether the part calls for serious menace or a touch of comic relief, the big dude fits the bill. With 98 roles under his large belt, he's sort of a Caucasian Danny Trejo. Always good to see him doing his thing.

Basically, most of the actors rush their lines, and except for the two Antonios (Lochlyn Munro somewhat OK), the acting basically sucked, which means the directing also sucked.

Weak story, weak writing. Worst of all was the music.

It's also funny that the writer (Mike Mains, the worst actor in the film) wrote himself the part of having the first primary relationship in the film. The interaction between the two of them is about as exciting as that between a turtle and a rock.

The positive reviews here are a joke. It is however, an adequate film for those who want to get high and laugh at how awful this film is.

This movie is really good, especially for a direct to video movie. The gunfights are cool and the fights are well executed. Lots of action to keep people happy. The theme song is awesome! I saw this movie almost a year ago and I still find myself humming the theme from time to time! A sure bet for action fans!

High Voltage which has enough action and fight scenes to satisfy anyone who isn't really concerned about a story. There are certain plot similarities to Don Siegel's classic caper film Charley Varrick which starred Walter Matthau. A light years better bit of cinema.

Antonio Sabato, Jr.'s crew decides to rob a bank and they discover the place is a laundering establishment for the Vietnamese mob headed by George Cheung. At first they try to make some amends, but Cheung ain't having it so the inevitable violent climax occurs.

Just run this one back to back with Charley Varrick and you'll know what a good story and good plot do for a film. High Voltage is for violence junkies.