Death Fighter

One of the best martial arts action movies I've seen in recent years. They say they don't make 'em like they used to, but they did here. Mullins is an accomplished stunt/fight choreographer but this is just more proof he needs to be in front of the camera more often. A good showcase for The Dragon too, one of his best in years. Good to see Rothrock in some good scenes as well. Filled with great fight scenes, never a dull moment.

Not a big budget film by any stretch but it does have a lot of hard hitting martial arts and some really good action scenes. And it seems to be shot on location in Asia. It's great seeing Don 'The Dragon' Wilso, Cynthia Rothrock, Matt Mullins, and Joe Lewis all in one film. It's an enjoyable film and a fun ride!

Overview: This film is worth watching for the exotic locale, straightforward plot and realistic fight sequences.

I think that "Death Fighter" marks the successful return of Cynthia Rothrock and Don Wilson to high-quality martial arts cinema. This is my first Matt Mullins film, but he is highly skilled and trained.

The plot is quite familiar and we have all seen the characters before, but film does an excellent job at leveraging the beauty of the Thai jungle and the rawness of the streets.

I think the film appropriately approaches the ugly reality of human trafficking by using a fast-paced plot and focusing on the interactions between the characters.

Having visited Thailand, lived in Manila and studied kung fu in China, I can honestly say that the martial arts sequences were excellent and well-choreographed.

There are excellent fight scenes in congested spaces with multiple opponents that pay homage to the masters of Hong Kong martial arts cinema.

This film won't win any Oscars, but it has won a place in my highly selective movie collection.

Note: this film reminded me of other recent, excellent martial arts filmed in the SE Asia, two of which also raise important awareness about human trafficking.

-Dolph Lundren/Tony Jaa in "Skin Trade" -Scott Atkins in "Hard Target 2" -JCVD in "Pound of Flesh"

To be honest, I was not expecting much from this movie. Though I love martial arts films, I only watched this one because I live in Thailand, and enjoy Thai movies. Having studied martial arts, I was amazed and quite pleased with the fight scenes in this! That said, kudos to the camera-men for capturing it all so well, and editing crew. I had never heard of Director Toby Russell, but will be looking out for more of his work. The Thai language sequences have English subs, but the Thai is beginner level. It's extra amusing if you speak any Thai, and listen to actor Matt Mullins chop the language, speaking the feminine version of hello, in imitation of the woman he would impress... 'ka' instead of 'kup'! A Thai might speculate about whether he identifies as the third sex: a lady-boy, trans-gendered person etc. Death Fighter is only 88 minutes, and feels like less. It's a fun, easy to follow little film. I thought it was slightly under-rated, having nothing overtly wrong with it. A few laughs, lots of great fights. If that's not your thing, don't watch it. But I would rate it a 7.5, leaning towards an 8/10.

Matt Mullins, Don The Dragon Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock. This movie was made by peoples very passionate about the martial arts movie industry and it show.

Obviously this is a low budget movie and it is totally aimed at the fans of those main actors listed above. Is it good? Yes it is. Is it perfect? Nop...

Matt Mullins plays a very credible and lovable lead. Don Wilson plays a decent "sidekick" and both of them show they can still kick major asses ! Matt look just as young as 10 years ago and still move like it while Don obviously has aged but still does much better than Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme combined despite being of similar age.

Cynthia Rothrock plays on the villain team this time around and to keep this spoiler free, i will only say that her screen presence is limited but more of a simple cameo as some of her most recent roles. She does fight on screen.

The fights are pretty good. There is a few jump cuts and camera angle changes at times, a little more than i had wish for, but overall they still immerse you very well in the movie and even tough not "Boyka Level" they do are way above most western movies i see in that budget bracket.

The story is probably the weak spot of the movie. The context that start the movie leaves you a bit wondering and even tough the characters motivations are clearly stated afterward, i had trouble getting behind them a little. Its not that there acting is not convincing, its really just how the story is borough up. At times i was like "cmon ... lets have some fight now please" . Thanksfully the third act has plenty of them and they are rather satisfying.

It is worth mentioning that i had no idea who was Prasit Suanphaka and Chiranan Manochaem and they deliver some kick ass action ! Overall i feel this is movie made by peoples passionate about the martial arts industry FOR the lovers of those. Its not great by any mean and at times the small budget does show, but yet the peoples involved managed to work around that to deliver a very decent and enjoyable movie. Pretty much a love letter at the fans of low budget Martial Arts movies.

Boyka's crown is easily safe, but a solid effort !