Sci-Fighter

Despite the (wooden) family drama and the (half-baked) sci-fi elements, this is essentially a fighting movie, in the style of, say, "Mortal Kombat". The fights are acceptable, but nothing special. The film makes a noble attempt to include a variety of styles (grappling, streetfighting, weapons fighting, "monkey kung fu", etc.), but although all the participants are legitimate martial artists, the director and the choreographers don't get maximum performances out of them. Second and third-billed Cynthia Rothrock and Lorenzo Lamas have one fight each, and Lamas' part is pretty much a cameo; the real second lead after Don "The Dragon" Wilson is Dan Mayid who plays his son, and who is obviously a gifted athlete (and breakdancer!). A lot of cheesy digital effects and some picturesque locations complete the picture....oh, and Rebecca Chaney (The Scorpion) is HOT. Get this girl in more action movies as soon as possible. (**)

Widowed father Jack Tanaka (Don 'the Dragon' Wilson) feels that his son Brad is drifting from him. After catching his son drinking one sip of beer at a party, he grounds him for a week. The grandfather makes a custom virtual reality game in hopes of bringing the father and son closer together again. But when Brad get stuck in the game Jack has to follow him in and save him. No, it's not a exceptionally good film, but what the hell were you thinking when you rented a film starring The Dragon? Hamlet? I didn't think so. If you like Don, you probably will like this one , all others steer clear.

My Grade: D+ (would be higher if it didn't have the Monkeyman in it)

Now just too clarify I wasn't expecting a brilliantly acted, exceptionally well crafted story when I purchased this DVD.

I was however expecting some quality martial arts fight scenes but I was disappointed in this regard as well........there were 2 or 3 that were fairly good but none of them were great........

The story itself was poorly written, the dialogue was weak and the script needed at least 2 or 3 more re-writes...even for a "B" movie this was weak.

It wasn't a bad idea just needed better execution........one watch for me was more than enough.

On another note, I bought this DVD in England as i am a resident of this country, it also doesn't include the "making of documentary" listed on the back of the DVD box.

Also despite "lorezno lamas" being shown on cover he's only in about 10 minutes of the film..............

OK rental if you are a big Don "the dragon" Wilson fan........but wouldn't recommend a purchase.

Imagine my surprise and my glory when I saw this puppy at my local blockbusters, having appeared out of nowhere. I was excited about this all last year because it was a collection of B-movies star to make you proud. Don Wilson, Cynthia (Jubblies! I like the Jubblies!) Rothrock and Lorenzo Lamas. Unfortunately it ended up being standard Don fare with a ludicrous plot about a virtual reality fighting game that goes haywire and in essence is an excuse for loads of fights. The fights are very routinely done and Don Wilson continues his annoying trend of pulling his punches and forcing out the choreogrpahy slowly and without timing. I have never seen him look lightening quick in a film. Granted I have not seen all his movies but for a legendary kick boxer her certainly looks like he can't fight when it comes to his movies. Dan Mayid, who plays his son in this film puts him to shame and looks like he could have a bright future as an action star, he is certainly a better actor than his mentor. Mayid was interestingly enough cast at a marital arts convention. He is a big fan of Don, he showed him a few moves and they cast him as his son. Great stuff.

Problems in this film arise because there are loads of fights and most are from Don, while Mayid and the other leads have a lot less to do. Rothrock has one fight which is good and she still kicks but like the best of them, whilst showing her ample jubilee off in a cleavage boosting low cut dress. Lorenzo has a brief bit but he is essentially a cameo part, which is a shame because he is the best actor of the lot, by far. I'd have preferred him in the lead because he fights better than Don. The film is still reasonably fun though because it is so cheesy and they have some clichéd and hokey drama in it that is so badly done you can't help but laugh.

The film also features a score from Vince DiCola responsible for two scores I loved in the 80's in Transformers and Rocky 4, however this is not 80's style and his score is mostly generic, aside from some moments that have the Vince pazzazz. Overall this film has great curiosity value but for those expecting something great, you'll be disappointed. It was a fairly ambitious idea for a Don film but is letdown by poor execution on most parts. Only Rothrocks boobies and the potential of Mayid (An amazing athlete, and young enough to develop into at least an acceptable actor)make this worthwhile but that's about it. **

Ray Charles did a cracking Job on the choreography!

How does the head set let you perform questionable martial arts moves and dialogue when sat doing nothing???