Tiger Claws III

After a less than mediocre 1991 "Tiger Claws" and an even worse 1996 sequel "Tiger Claws II", then I should just have steered clear of the 2000 "Tiger Claws III: The Final Conflict" movie. But still, it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I ended up sitting down to watch what writer and director J. Stephen Maunder had to throw at me as a viewer.

And let me just be the first to say that what J. Stephen Maunder had to offer wasn't much to write home about. And just as I had expected, then "Tiger Claws III: The Final Conflict" was even worse than the preceding two movies.

The movie didn't have Bolo Yeung in it, whom was essentially the core reason for why I watched the first two movies. And I can't claim to be a fan of neither Cynthia Rothrock or Jalal Merhi, whom starred in this third movie. Well, Cynthia Rothrock wasn't really in the movie all that much, so fan of hers are striking out on this 2000 movie.

The storyline in "Tiger Claws III: The Final Conflict" was just not interesting and it was a sluggish movie to sit through. And it was downright abysmal to see the direction in which J. Stephen Maunder took the movie. I wasn't sure if I was watching an Asian parody of the old Christopher Reeve movie "Superman II" or if J. Stephen Maunder was so inspired by that movie that he was doing an homage. I mean those three magically resurrected Asian villains were just so far out there that it was difficult to take the movie serious. All hail General Zod, I suppose?

What does carry the movie and makes it barely watchable is the action and fight scenes, though the gun fights are rather cheesy. But hey, being 22 years old already, the movie hasn't really aged all that well.

My rating of "Tiger Claws III: The Final Conflict" lands on a generous two out of ten stars. This movie was bad.

First of all, i watched this movie in 2010, so yeah i do get the part where special effects seem to come up from Mortal Kombat Conquest... the lighting stuff was kind of goofy sometimes, but thats just one part of the movie. The story itself was average, if your OK with supernatural stuff. Personally i can't stand Asian movies with people flying in the air or stuff like that, but i don't mind a supernatural aspect in a fighting movie if the fights looks real and good. And sure they did look good in this one. I saw better sure, but i saw way worst and overall i was pretty much satisfied. I saw people complaining that Cynthia wasn't that much in the movie... I have yet to saw Tiger Claws 1(cause its not on DVD) but in part 2 it was way more Jalal than her that had the lead. It seems to me the lead was always Jalal anyway and Cynthia was a good sidekick. They sure probably put her on the cover for publicity, but everybody that saw the first 2 movies, or even just the second will know she is NOT the lead actor. Then the other popular thing people like to complain... "the superman 2 rejects". Just because the bad guys are 3 and "stronger" than normal people dosen't mean it copy Superman 2... Except being 3 they have nothing in common with the superman 2 guys.. (Zod and his guys, yeah i do like Superman) Thinking this way you could say that every movie release since the original Die Hard with Terrorist taking over something would be a copy... Lets just say that overall Tiger Claws is a fun martial arts movie, not a big one that would be remembered like Bloodsport or something like that, but a fan to enjoy movie for fans of the style.

1991's 'Tiger claws' was, much to my delight, a whole lot of fun, balancing ham-handedness with earnest, careful construction to serve up satisfying entertainment. 1996's 'Tiger claws II' was regrettably no fun at all, for at the same time that it tried to adopt a more serious tone it also languished under a meandering pace, deemphasized action, and declined the deliberate gaucheness that worked to make its predecessor such a blast. One might hope that filmmaker J. Stephen Maunder, who wrote the first title and progressed to also directing the sequel, learned from their mistakes to make 'Tiger claws III: The final conflict' at least more balanced, but that's just not the case. Sadly, this struggles just as much as its immediate antecedent to produce any value - and in fact, there's even less here.

Bolo Yeung is missed after he graced the first two films with his presence, though at least in his stead we now have Carter Wong. Wong's attachment is almost one of name only, however, for while consistently present, he is nonetheless given a supporting role that mostly only puts him on a pedestal as though to say, "look who's here!" Cynthia Rothrock, meanwhile, is billed second only to Jalal Merhi - yet while she was sadly only second fiddle in 1991, and saw character Linda Masterston rather reduced to a bit part in 1996, she's barely involved at all in 2000. But maybe that makes her the smartest person here; I can only assume it was a contractual obligation or favor to her fellows that drew her in, and she seems to have ducked out as quickly as she could. At least Merhi is more prominent here than he was in 'Tiger claws II'; take that as you will.

The music of composer Varouje was one of the definite strengths of the first film, and gratifyingly sincere at that as the synth-driven score lent to a measure of atmosphere. Returning for 'II,' Varouje gave his music a more industrial edge - but also didn't seem to spend much time actually writing, as much of what we heard in the first sequel was distinctly repetitive and overused. Bringing their talents to 'III,' Varouje rather seems to be phoning it in. We get overt "traditional Chinese" music cues, tinges of glitch and IDM circa 2000, a little bit of guitar, slivers of spaced-out synthesizer, and... Oh I'm sorry, I'm bored now. Moving on.

Doubling as both writer and director this time around, Maunder mostly seems to have given up as they helm this production, for there's scarcely one iota of authenticity or earnestness about 'Tiger claws III.' Most aspects herein could best be described as perfunctory - serving their purpose, I suppose, but mostly unconvincingly and halfheartedly. Camerawork, editing, direction (building shots and scenes, guiding the cast), acting, humor (mostly boorish one-liners, almost no cleverness), action scenes, special effects, dialogue, characters, scene writing, plot development, and the overall narrative all fail to capture the imagination, and I rather wonder what the point of any of it was. Rounding details like hair, makeup, and costume design are unremarkable, and filming locations and set design and decoration were apparently given the lowest priority of the budget. The most well put-together scenes may well be those in which Tarek trains at the cabin, but one would be forgiven for thinking that Maunder was pointedly trying to draw upon viewer recollections of 'Rocky IV' in the process. The writing depends on a lot of action-thriller tropes to provide filler. Martial arts are played down even more here than in the 1996 feature, and cursory as all elements are - including the acting - nothing is more completely, astoundingly bland and uninspiring than those scenes that needlessly focus on protagonist Tarek's coworkers.

There are scraps of serviceable ideas here. I suppose one could reasonably argue that 'The final conflict' has no real intention but low-grade entertainment as it finishes the saga begun 9 years prior, and those involved worked to bring it to fruition with what they had. I try to find the worth in everything I watch, no matter how deficient a given title may be. Here, unfortunately, the shortcomings so heavily outweigh and dampen any advantages that there's very little enjoyment to be had. I admit I had low expectations in the first place, but I really did try to give this picture a chance. Fair enough, there are certainly worse films one could stumble upon to watch. The fact remains - when all is said and done, even if you're a die-hard fan of someone in the cast, there's just no compelling reason to check out 'Tiger claws III.'

Oh well.

OK, so she`s not on screen every single second. The film had only been available in Germany and Russia before now. People have been known to learn German just so as to be able to enjoy TC III This release must be way easier to understand; that alone rates a ten right off. Does anyone have CR competition video?

Great movie. Movie Strengths: Fighting arts. Fighting choreography. Directing. Under its "fictional" story front lies a unique and literal purview of the Kung Fu Underworld in the heart and soul of where it all happens: Chinatown. Movie Weaknesses: Dramatic Acting. Budget constraints.

If you can get past the fact that this movie didn't have the luxury of Chow Yun Fat's endless budget, you'll see that it DOES have what Chow doesn't... Pure fighting arts at it's best. The fighters are real. The fights are real and true to the art... revealing an ancient, yet rarely (if ever) seen denomination of high-precision Kung Fu....

The slick black, soggy streets of the Chinatown "slums" embody the ghost district's pungent heart and soul... reminiscent of that banshee-type taste and feel you get in Michael Mann's THIEF.