Ring of fire II: Sangre y acero

"Ring of Fire II" may be a lot of things, but it certainly isn't lazy: in about 90 minutes you will see at least 3 giant explosions, 2 car chases, and more than a dozen fight scenes. And when you think the movie is over....NO! One more action scene coming your way. But what makes this one stand out in the sea of medium-budget action flicks is mainly its weird and claustrophobic setting: an entire underground system of tunnels and basements right below the surface of L.A., and an entire society, divided into gangs, living there by their own set of rules. The setting actually reminded me of "Alien From L.A." with Kathy Ireland, except that apparently most residents of THIS society spend their time extensively training in the martial arts! And if the gay subtext of half-naked men in leather isn't enough, there is also a gay radio announcer who openly comes on to Don "The Dragon" Wilson! Anyway, the violent fight scenes are occasionally impressive, and the explosions even more so. The film was followed by a very different in style sequel. ** out of 4.

Having just revisited the 1991 "Ring of Fire" movie, I opted to sit down and watch this 1993 sequel titled "Ring of Fire II: Blood and Steel" immediately after. And now in 2023 was actually my very first time to watch this sequel from director Richard W. Munchkin.

Okay, just what were writers Paul Maslak, Richard W. Munchkin and Steve Tymon thinking when they were concocting the script and storyline for this movie? The plot was so laughably weak that it could barely sustain the movie. And sitting through 94 minutes of this was like having stumbled into the discarded alpha level of the old Double Dragon game, the level that never made it past the initial coding stage. I mean, going underground and fighting through subterranean-dwelling martial artist groups to get to a final boss stage. It was just not working in terms of being proper movie material.

It should be said though, that it was nice to see the good guy cast return from the previous movie to reprise their characters in this sequel.

There were a fair amount of martial arts sequences throughout the 94 minutes, which definitely helped to make the movie watchable; but just barely so.

And what were the props department thinking when they were accessorizing and designing the costumes for the bad guys and the henchmen? They looked like they had just stepped off of a hardcore bondage set, wearing leather straps, chains and what not. It was just laughably bad to look at.

"Ring of Fire II: Blood and Steel" is without a doubt the weakest entry in the "Ring of Fire" movie franchise.

My rating of "Ring of Fire II: Blood and Steel" lands on a three out of ten stars.

I wasn't impressed by the first 'Ring Of Fire' as it went thru the barrel of story cliches, low level martial arts. However I've always been a fan of giving credit where credit is due and the follow-up 'Blood and Steel' up's the ante a little. Some legitimate cool explosions, returning faces and a few new ones. If you delight in cheesy beat 'em ups there's pieces to enjoy, but quality does drop off in a real way.

Doctor Johnny Woo (Don "The Dragon" Wilson) and his girlfriend Julie (Maria Ford) are at a jewelry store when a gang of masked thugs start robbing it. Woo leaps into action when Julie gets shot, taking down one of the goons as the rest escape. As she lays in the hospital recovering the gang and leader Kalin (Ian Jacklin) show up to retrieve the member who turns out to be his brother. Fighting them off, Johnny accidently makes the wounded member take a bullet to the head, Kalin swears vengeance, takes Julie hostage where the gang resides underground and men fight to the death in a ring.

With a recap like that, I don't have to spell out the big hunk of cheese that it is. Though it's notable how this pic (and ones like it) had to trim the fat and deliver action beats quick & steadily to it's core audience. Early on and for the finale this supplies those cool explosions I talked about. Like for real ... the pyro guy had a field day. Unfortunately when it retreats to underground the fisticuffs are generic, not shot very well and largely become a bore. Simple villains plus some downright weird ideas injected here. Through dark halls, basements you watch as Woo dispatches goofy dressed thugs then his trailing ragtag group of pals do the same.

Michael DeLano returns as Lopez (detective from the first) but is much less the a-hole. As do Vince Murdocco, Dale Jacoby who were enemies but now friends of Johnny. Ditto Eric Lee, Ron Yuan. Honestly the cast is the best part. Sy Richardson (Repo Man) gets a role as a new ally while Gerald Okamura (Sidaris regular), Evan Lurie (no stranger to martial arts flicks) do baddies. Shockingly none of the ladies here supply any nudity.

'Ring of Fire II: Blood and Steel' is pretty much in the same realm as the original barring minor improvements. Fans of Wilson or PM fare might want to check it out, but it's nothing to get excited about. They'd follow up with another sequel a year later 'Lion Strike' to complete the trilogy (of sorts) about a doc who always saves the day.

Just your average Don "The Dragon" Wilson movie. They guy whose been in all those awful Cyborg Cop movies shows off more "underground street fighting with thugs" style that was so big in the late 80s and early 90s. Playing "Dr. Do-Good" Johnny, Wilson fights a bunch of evil jumpsuit thugs, muscle freaks, and dorks on skates as he tries to save his girl Julie from the evil champion of the underground fighting world, Kalin. So your basic "Double Dragon", "Final Fight" or any other punch-and-kick video game plot plus he's got his comical posse following him slowly and fighting everyone else he encounters. Don also has Sy Richardson as the wise old guy in the form of a disillusioned and always-angry black ex- soldier who wants revenge on Kalin. If this is your kind of movie, enjoy, otherwise.............RUN BEFORE IT GETS YOU!

I guess accidentally stabbing your sister during a kickboxing match with Don "The The" Wilson does ease racial tensions, because everyone from the last film is buddies in this one! I guess they also forgot that Brad killed Johnny's cousin but hey the world keeps on spinning.

Don't worry about having to sit for an hour and a half while Don Wilson romances the ladies because this time some armed robbers have kidnapped her and taken her to an underground layer called Underground, so right from the get go Don is exercising those lightening fast feet by duking it out with gang after gang of homeless people while a DJ describes the action. Kind of like The Warriors, except the DJ here wants to give Don one in his tea towel holder.

So Don's going through this underground lair kicking everyone's arse's heads in while his mates Quan, Brad, Chuck (who seems to have gotten over Don stealing his girlfriend rather quickly) and ponytail guy mopping up behind him. And there's some bad guys who dress like they've walked off the set of Zardoz, great nineties hairdos, and the usual PM production values (people on fire, kickboxing, explosions…you know the drill). Oh, and there's a guy called Gimpy who likes blowing up stuff.

Fun all the way and everyone looks like they enjoyed making it, so this one's a given, if you like kickboxing films from the nineties starring Don "Corleone" Wilson.