Final Impact

This film is about an up and coming kickboxer, Danny (Michael Worth), who is trained by an ex-champ, Nick (Lorenzo Lamas), who also, it turns out, is a total idiot! And, an idiot with little in the range of acting.

Danny thinks he's ready for the big kickboxing tourney in Las Vegas. While he's good, he's also cocky and has a lot to learn. Nick takes him under his wing and very briefly trains him. Soon, Danny is kicking butt and doing great in the tournament....and Nick, inexplicably, starts acting like a total idiot. Can Danny win the big tournament even though his mentor has less common sense than a tomato?

This film is really good....and really bad. The martial arts are done well and Michael Worth is really good...though way too small to be a light heavyweight and fight with some of these opponents. But it looks good and he's impressive when in action. Lamas, in his limited fight scenes is pretty good. It's when it comes to story and acting it all falls apart. Too many cliches, too many times Lamas' character is an idiot and too little in the way of realism. Still, you don't watch a kickboxing movie because you expect an Oscar-contender! Brainless and enjoyable at the same time. My score of 3 might be a big generous.

Best scene in movie was the final big fight for the championship was very well done. The worst scenes were many.

This time Lorenzo Lamas plays a retired kickboxing champion who trains a new martial artist (Michael Worth) the ropes, while planning on getting revenge on the ruthless fighter who humiliated him. The final fight is there but...hey where are you going? Final Impact sounds more like a porno flick, or indeed my last case of constipation then it does an action film. I mean what final impact is there to be had? Is it possible the the generic title has something to do with the impact of Lorenzo's feet colliding with people's heads? Whatever the case maybe, you'll have more fun debating this rather than watching the final product. Which amounts to nothing but a sub par kickboxing action flick that is short on action and low on inspiration.

*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

My review was written in January 1992 after watching the movie on a PM video cassette.

Actor Lorenzo Lamas continues to make inroads in the popular kick fighting genre with "Final Impact", a "Rocky V"-styled aging warrior picture.

After impressing in "Night of the Warrior", Lamas is cast as a cynical ex-champ who now manages fighters. Pushy young Michael Worth wants Lamas to pilot his career and Lamas agrees to do so, plotting to use Worth for his revenge against the current champ, Jeff Langton.

At times, the pic has a more serious, even somber, tone than usual for the format, though directors Joseph Merhi and Stephen Smoke include exploitation angles such as sexy female oil wrestlers in the opening segment.

Though he's not a bona fide champ in real life, Lamas brings an animation to his role that's often lacking in belt holders. Worth is a promising newcomer, and Lamas' wife Kathleen Kinmont provides convincing support. There's also a nice bit by Kathrin Lautner as a Las Vegas hooker who reduces Lamas' self-esteem to zero.

The fights, choreographed by Eric Lee, are frequent and unexceptional.

Very entertaining martial arts film, starring Lorenzo Lamas as a washed up fighter. The cast includes Kathleen Kinmont (Lamas' wife at the time) as his girlfriend and a very young Michael Worth as Lama's protégé, a skilled fighter heading to Las Vegas for the World Kickboxing championship. The filmmakers waste no time in setting the tone, B film nonsense, by opening the film with bikini clad models covered in oil entertaining bar patrons. This film is notable for the entertaining storyline (seen a hundred times before, but always fun), the nice fight scenes, and the very good performances (as far as B films go). Jeff Langton as the evil kickboxing character Jake is the type of villain that makes these films so much fun.

Both Lamas and Worth headed up their own MA films, but there are a few faces in Final Impact that did as well, starring as ring fighters are Gary Daniels and Art Camacho (who would go on to direct many MA films himself). And Mimi Lesseos, who was the lead in several MA films, has a small role as Jake's girlfriend. Joseph Merhi (himself an MA star) co-directs here, with Richard Pepin serving as cinematographer. Both men went on to form the now famous (and defunct) PM Entertainment.

In my search to catch up on all the PM Entertainment movies that have somehow eluded me over the years, I finally checked out 'Final Impact' today. And I have to say that I enjoyed it.

I was a little disappointed by the lack of action, but genuinely surprised by the amount of drama.

Llamas plays Nick, a former champion kickboxer who can't handle the realities of life after losing to over-the-top bad guy Jake Gerrard, succumbing to alcoholism and depression. Nick finds a way to turn it all around by training a young Michael Worth (who delivers a good performance) to take on Jake and exact his revenge in the ring, fist-to-fist.

It's no 'Rocky,' though it tries to be. The fight scenes are decent and shot pretty well (the foley work is laughably cheese at times). But the performances are all around solid and the music is enjoyable. Vegas made for a beautiful backdrop to the film as well.

'Final Impact' reminded me greatly of another PM classic, 'Deadly Bet.' Though, 'Deadly Bet' has slightly better action so I give that one the advantage.

If you like PM Entertainment films, or a little drama with your kickboxing, you really can't do any better than 'Final Impact.'