Savate

I am the first to admit that it sounds a little bit weird to shoot a martial arts movie with a "cowboy scenery", but the movie actually turns out OK.

Olivier Grüner is a former soldier in the french(?) army, who is searching for his long lost enemy... The movie includes the standard good vs bad and good boy gets pretty girl stories, and the movie reaches a climax at a "tough-man" tournament at the end. A tournament in the wild west with capoeira, kung-fu, savate , boxing etc.

Overall the movie is light entertainment with some very good fighting scenes.. (I give it 6/10)

Savate is an exciting, over the top B-flick that borrows heavily from Once Upon A Time In The West, Kung Fu, and Bloodsport. It's no brainer action at it's finest!

Olivier Gruner is a French Legionnare wandering the old west tracking a sinister German fighter played by Marc Singer. Gruner comes to the rescue of a group of homesteaders threatened by land baron R. Lee Ermey (another entertaining performance) and agrees to represent them in Ermey's fight tournament.

Marc Singer is entertainingly cartoonish and pretty menacing as well. The final showdown between Gruner and Singer is quite exciting.

The score steals a few ideas from Ennio Morricone and a flashback scene is a blatant knockoff of Once Upon A Time In The West, but there's enough action to satisfy reasonable martial arts and western fans.

Wasnt expecting much from this film, the dvd was cheap and the cover made it look like a dodgy kickboxing docu-film ... but I was suprised. Grunner delivers a lot of action and shows off his kickboxing skills, which he should do more in his films because his acting isnt what we are watching for! also Ashley Laurence (Hellraiser I/II) co-stars, and still looks fine. ;) The music is good too, coming straight from some of Clints classic Westerns!

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

I'd imagine Olivier Gruner is a man who frequently ponders on the fates Lady Luck draws out for those in life.I mean,he's french,he's a top kickboxing champion and he has questionable acting ability (justified by his laughable emoting in certain parts of this movie).So what gives?Jean Claude Van Damme enjoys a large part of his career as a top ranking Hollywood action star,and all he ever acheives is a career in low budget,STV action movies.What you gonna do,huh?

The plot here has him in 1865 as mysterious army officer Josepth Charlemont,who rides through Texas in full Clint-Eastwood-High-Plains-Drifter style fashion,simply to 'pass through' (you mean there wasn't a shortcut he could have used?).However,when corrupt landowner Jack Benedict (choosing not to be credited,R Lee Ermey (he must have had a gas bill or something to pay.Oh,and,by the way,it's probably just my imagination,but is that not Bloodsport's Donald Gibb as a burly,bearded nearby homeowner?)) and his henchmen try to force people to sell their homes,he decides to teach them all a lesson.And not of the classroom kind.

The expected iffy performances and leaden production values aside,an interesting premise is not done much justice by a bland,witless script which all the fancy kickboxing action and pleasant scenery in the world really can't save.

These things are,however,welcome distractions,which,along with the compatable running time and some unintentional hilarity,make Savate all the more of a rewarding experience.**

Directed by Isaac Florentine (the guy gav martial arts fans Boyka n Undisputed series). I first saw this in the late 90s on cable tv. Fans of martial arts can watch it once. Enough action to satisfy martial arts. The lead guy Oliver Gruner is a talented martial artist. The epic fly scene shudnt b miss by anyone. Bad acting by Ashley Laurence (Hellraiser movies). James Brolin looks as if he doesn't kno what he is doing. Some cool sun soaked settings for western fans.