Dans les griffes du dragon rouge

I give this movie a 5 for entertainment value.. This is the worst acting i have ever seen in a movie.. It contained humorous script and bad directing..

The main female character Minako is raped/"irredeemably betrayed" by her 'owner' and feels it necessary to commit suicide.. yet in the following scenes she strips down nude and jumps in a hot tub with a guy she has only just met.. yes, he WAS her knight in shining armour, but come on! THEN she pursues a sexual relationship with him, and the camera displays her as the 'dominate' one. The 'betrayal' doesn't appear to be affecting her in the slightest.

I feel sorry for the Johnny character, he appears to be second best or third wheel throughout the movie. The main villain has a scar in his left cheek.. of which looks better every time it is seen throughout the film. Continuity seems to be an issue.

As much as this film has bad taste bad acting and bad script, it was quite entertaining for myself, as a viewer, due to the above facts. The unintentional humour is what made me watch through to the end, and possibly even again on a day i need some cheering up.

All in all it was not bad for the era it was filmed in. Cheers.

Surely the rating should be higher? This is one of the better Dolph Lundgren-takes-on-all-comers movies, and its got Brandon Lee godamnit!

Ok, so it gets predictable, but isnt that why action movies are so well loved? Its got enough of a storyline not to resemble Red Scorpion in any way, but only just little enough to make it a totally enjoyable flick. I mean, for 1991, what were you expecting? Considering that this was the director who brought us Commando, this is the ultimate in bloke films. If you want to clear the women away, put either one of these films on and enjoy a mens night in!

So its not Minority Report, its not The Shawshank Redemption but its redemption at its best, feet first!

Oh, and Tia Carrare in a hot tub. Gets it at least one point. ;)

People seem to be awful hard on this movie. I guess they must not be action fans. I mean, come on, this movie's only purpose is to entertain. And it does its job well. It moves at a very fast pace for its short 79 minutes, has lots of good action, and a good sense of humor. What more could you ask for in an action movie. I don't know about you,but thats all I ask for in a action movie. Its not art and its not supposed to be. 3 out of 4 stars.

Macho B-movie madness at its sublime best, this crazy action quickie is about as braindead as you can get: wooden acting, a terrible story and a script that truly sucks. But with all the mindless violence on offer who really cares. Gun battles, martial arts, Samurai sword slashing and gory deaths are the order of the day, not to mention plenty of beautiful ladies treated like playthings and shedding clothes at every opportunity. Despite the tits and guns, there is some kind of story: Kenner (Lundgren) is on a mission of vengeance. His parents were killed when he was ickle by crazy Yakuza thug Yoshida (Tagawa), an ice-cool super-villain now specialising in drug dealing and generally looking mean. Kenner, adept in the Samurai ways, grows to be a law-abiding copper who's now right on his tail. Male bonding ensues when policeman Johnny Murata (Lee, in his US debut), a hip-talking dude with street credentials, is assigned as Kenner's partner in crime, and all hell simply breaks loose. You could say that there's an artistic angle to all this fighting, shooting and banging, but then that would be a lie - Showdown in Little Tokyo is a classic in a completely different sense of the word.

Reading some of these comments, it occurred to me no one seems to know how to have fun anymore. This movie is not meant to be a great movie. I don't think any of the actors had intention of trying for an oscar. It's simply a fun movie. The action sequences are pretty cool and the one liners are hysterical. Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee are a great action pair. The chemistry between them is amazing. If you just want to watch a movie that's going to make you laugh, and get some good action with it, I highly recommend Showdown.