Zone mortelle

During the 2010s i got deep into all sorts of American martial arts/kickboxing movies and rented, ordered on ebay, found in used market, well basically got my hand on anything i could from anywhere until i felt i had pretty much watched all that was made. Yet i never heard of this one wich i stumble on recently along another one i will surely watch soon as well.

Firepower (what a generic title) stars Gary Daniels and Chad McQueen wich i was not super familiar with beside in the first Karate Kid.

Daniels is one of those underated martial arts actor that usually plays a vilain or a side character. He did star in some movies of that era, but never made it big, probably because his acting was never that great. But he does have the physical moves and presence tough.

McQueen was a bit unconvincing as a "martial artist" and his fight scenes were much less entertaining than Daniels, but he does have a bit of better acting skills.

Now when it comes to the movie itself, well its always funny how movies made in the 90s try to portray a "dystopian futur" of the late 2000s. Watching this in 2025 it always make me chuckle on its own. Police officer here have uniforms that remind you of Robocop, you got the cheesy computer grids of that era as targetting systems, video calls but on old techs, and of course the whole "cities gone so bad there is zones where the police won't dare intervene".

The first part of the movie is a bit hit and miss, as it present to you this world and thats probably my biggest pet peeve of the movie, how the "zone" is basically without any borders and you can come and go at will. Now i seen movies with this concept like New York 97/Los Angeles 2013 where they made some big cities or such a prison and criminals basically operate it as they want, but here its not even a prison, its simply anyone who can enter and leave.

But once the movie really kick in its martial arts aspect in the "death ring", this is when it got a lot more fun for me. There is plenty of fights starring both protagonists, other characters and the vilain "Swordsman" played by The Ultimate Warrior wich was a wrestler in the WWF (now WWE).

Overall i had a "good time" with it because it had been a while i had not watch one of those (at least one i didn't watch before) and it gave me nostalgia vibes of 15 years ago when i started my journey in this subgenre of movies. But objectively reviewing it, it ain't that great of a movie. Some cool fights for sure, but its very cheesy and the story is as basic as it can be.

Still i am happy i watched it and i think it deserve at least a 6 out of 10.

Man is Gary Daniels' acting bad! But man is he a great athlete! They should have given him less dialogue and let him speak more with his body. They did that with Jim "The Warrior" Hellwig, and that guy comes across with a frightening physical presence; however, his long-awaited fight scene with Daniels is short and disappointing. Apart from that, the fight scenes are where this movie shines: the choreography is fast, brutal and well-executed by guys who know what they are doing. It's when the action steps out of the ring that it becomes generic and uninteresting (there IS one plot twist that you won't see coming, but it doesn't really help the film in any way). In my opinion, "Firepower" should have been titled "Death Ring", and should have spent more time in it. (**)

So directors, explain yourself. Why did you call this movie firepower when the story has NOTHING to do with firepower, huh???

With that out of the way, this movie sux. The basic story is that the cops have made a 'zone of personal freedom' in the middle of LA, where there is no police assistance provided. But, those crafty criminals (i thought it would have been pretty obvious), they commit crimes and then run and hide in hellzone. So anyway, one time, the most feared gang leader, the swordsman (ooooohhhhh) is arrested and then his crooks break him out of jail in a bloody attack on the police station. Then, these two cops decide they have no choice but to go in after them.

This is where the movie loses it completely. Why the hell do they need to go in after the crooks into hellzone? Basically, they arrive, see a fighting ring, watch for 10 minutes (the audience is treated to the whole 10 minutes of fighting), and then completely forget about their mission of revenge and decide that their only option is to enter the death ring competition and FIGHT! Apparently this is to infiltrate the baddies (like ANYONE cares, its actually legal anyway), but they achieve nothing as they have numerous oppurtunities to get the baddies. So basically, the ENTIRE movie is fighting. Yep, they soon jettison the story and have non stop death ring matches. I guess i should have seen it coming with a WWF wrestler, but still.........

Anyway, to sum it up i wrote a haiku:

This movie sux hard It has no story and that what a crap movie.

I hope this assists you in making the decision not to watch it (not that you'll be able to find it anyway........)

Some movies just don't give a $#!+ They hit your screen kicking, punching, shooting and sleasing....just the way I like'em. It has its flaws and inconsistencies, like failing to look futuristic especially, in the car department. This movie excels in the action department though, with fantastic martial arts on display by people who actually know what they are doing on or off screen. The late wrestling star The Ultimate Warrior is the menacing bad guy and he plays his part well by breaking bones, sword slashing, and headbutting all the while looking like Dee Schneider from Twisted Sister. Chad McQueen, only son of the late great Steve McQueen plays the dutiful cop well enough but I was unconvinced by his performance in this movie's version of the Thunderdome. 6 stars Check it out late at night when you are looking for an escape from reality.

This movie is a masterpiece. Truth be told the reason I latched onto it was because Gary Daniels was in it and I've been a rabid fan of his for a while. That coupled with a ravaged near future (borderline post apocalyptic) setting and the ULTIMATE WARRIOR as one of the greatest villains to ever grace an action film, makes this a movie to flock to.

The story has been summed up enough and basically rings true and delivers what it promises. The only problem I had with this movie was that Daniels wasn't' the lead actor and was overshadowed by Chad McQueen. McQueen gives a good performance, but watching Daniels in full on action hard-ass mode is one of the greatest cinematic guilty pleasures of all time ( check out Rage, Cold Harvest and Blood Moon for a sample of awesome Gary).

Regardless of my obviously biased review (I can't help it Daniels is an action Icon for me) this film contains enough standard action film fodder to please pretty much anyone. It has car crashes, laser gun fights, CAGE FIGHTING, future wastelands and pretty much anything else they hoped they could squeeze in there. If you're ever lucky enough to happen upon this do yourself a favor and pick it up, you won't be disappointed. MASTERPIECE.