The Ultimate Game

All right, let's just say it: this is not really a good film. The sound is mostly post-dubbed, the sound effects are amateurish. The plot is … well, almost nonexistent, something about a to-the-death contest for supremacy and personal salvation. However, if you are a fan of the genre, this is a back-to-basics martial arts classic. You won't find better-looking or fitter karate warriors, more exotic beach locales, or more genuine fighting. JD Rifkin is gorgeous, huge, and cut like a cover model for Men's Fitness. His pals and opponents are no less impressive. The fights are all well-lit and shot from a little distance back, so you can actually see what's going on. And unlike the current trend, neither computer graphics nor cables and fancy photography figure into this -- all the combat scenes are choreographed but completely genuine. In his other life, Rifkin is a martial arts instructor; everything you see these guys do, they can really do. I've seen them do it-- You'll just have to trust me on that. So if you're tired of the House of Flying Daggers and Kung Fu Hustle special effects and overproduced schlock in the theaters, kick back to the real thing.

The Ultimate Game, while relatively unknown outside of the circles of true American heroes such as myself, is undoubtedly the greatest cinematic achievement of our time. It is as though all of film and movie history had been leading up to the release of this masterpiece. It is the culmination of all previous endeavors in the art form - the apogee, if you will. Everyone else might as well just give up making movies because they will never ever be as good as Kevin Derek and Jack Kaprielian. They are my heroes - true American heroes. I think every movie theater in the world should just play this movie nonstop. It speaks to my heart and brings tears to my soul.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting my life back.

Hi.. When it comes to movies, i think i have really low standards and i would try to enjoy any movie trying to focus mainly on the positives and ignore the negatives, but this movie..Oh boy..this was one of the worst movies i have ever seen, it ranks way up with the top 10 worst movies of all time. Now where do I a start trashing this film from ? i mean it has nothing positive about it, NOTHING ! The plot was ultra boring, shallow characters with very poor acting, terrible music and audio editing, silly fights and i don't agree with a previous reviewer who said that it had nice locations, the locations where below average, and any ways you won't see much of it because of the terrible footage of the movie. and there were no sexy chicks or any attractive chicks for that matter, just plain awful ! The Ultimate Crap is what this movie is, Take my advice and stay as far away as possible from this piece of trash, i won't watch it even if they pay me !!

First of all, I can't consider this movie a real "MOVIE". The storyline is very fragile (c'mon, a fighting contest on an island sure rings "Mortal Kombat" bell), the acting is horrible, the sounds are awkward and the fight scenes are actually FUNNY. I cannot believe someone said the scenes were good. I mean, the actors have well built bodies but my god the moves they do barely connect to their opponents. One can see very clearly that the fists and feet actually hit the air!!! What a lame performance to say the least. Also, what was the actual role of the chick in the team? I believe it was only to add some spice to the original recipe of low budget low quality action flicks. Avoid watching at any cost if you want to watch good real action movies, but you can watch it if you want to have fun with friends laughing at the terrible acting and fight scenes.

If you want to see fit, athletic young men and women in skimpy clothing doing martial arts poses and hand-to-hand combat for about an hour, "The Ultimate Game" is right up your alley. The first 30-40 minutes are slow and stilted, and the sound is sometimes out-of-synch, making the film look as if it had been dubbed. But when we get to the martial arts tournament, held in an exotic island somewhere off the coast of Japan (I think), the movie starts delivering the goods for genre fans. If you can say a negative thing about the fight scenes, it's that sometimes they seem a bit too "rehearsed"; on the other hand, there are LOTS of them, they are shot in broad daylight so you can clearly see them, and the hits look realistic. And it is an equal-opportunity film: women will go crazy over J.D.Rifkin's abs, while men will want to see more of that blonde fighter who, at one point, smiles wickedly and then drops her leg on her opponent's stomach with such force that the other woman probably had a belly ache for several hours afterwards. (**)