steve-545

I decided to rent NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER II due to the man also responsible for Jet Li's fight choreography...however not even Corey Yuen's stylish chop socky could save this....not saying it wasn't fun though. Cross a low budget Rambo rip off with a quality hong kong kung fu film and you've got NRNS 2. Hero Scott Wylde (Loren Avedon) travels to Thailand to meet with his fiance (who is also daughter of a wealthy business man financing anti Soviet forces in Cambodia). The obligatory kidnapping of the fiance takes place forcing Scott to join forces with weapon specialist Mac and pilot/martial artist Terry (Cynthia Rothrock) as they make their way into Cambodia to take on the Soviet forces led by one big Russki known as Yuri (Matthias Hues).

If you can survive the ridiculous dialogue between the three leads(especially former lovers Mac and Terry), outdated one man army shootouts, and Matthias Hues's facial expressions then you may be in for a treat. Although not "Grade A" martial arts sequences, the film does provide entertaining brawls in the opening sequence between kidnappers and Scott, Scott and Mac vs others in an outdoor dining establishment, the three leads vs an army of monks (netting included) and finally the climatic showdown between Scott and a barechested (wouldn't you tear off your shirt if you were buff as hell before a bare knuckled melee?)Yuri. Once again this movie is highly cheesy and lost credibility as a true action movie once you push the VCR play button. Seen as an action parody through the eyes of any martial arts fans, NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER II may still have a chance. What gives this viewing priority over such direct to video turkeys as POINT BLANK and any offering by the PM group is in the fights...imported straight from Hong Kong.

This followup to FROM DUSK TILL DAWN reestablishes the series as a credible action/horror flick amongst the other direct to video bombs on the shelves. Many would agree the first sequel hardly lived up to the production values of the first (despite a creative directorial effort by Scott Spiegel). So what do Tarantino/Rodriguez do with their next FDTD? Set it back 100 years to explore the origin of Satanico Pandemonium (played by Salma Hayek in the original) and the infamous vamp-infested bar. The film begins with a short introduction of novelist and journalist Ambrose Pierce mysteriously disappearing and then surviving (God knows how) a shooting squad. He sets his sights on joining a revolutionary's forces somewhere south of the border. His journey leads to a small town where a young outlaw, Johnny Madrid, is sentenced to death by hanging. In a spectacular sequence, Johnny escapes with the help of an unknown aspiring to be just like him and takes the Hangman's very own daughter (who has a very bad relationship with daddy and has the whip scars to prove it) as a willing hostage. The beginning of the story is very similiar to the original except set in the wild west with obviously Rodriguez inspired gun battles and characters who want to rip each others throats out (a la Tarantino). If you thought the uneasy alliance in the first was bad, imagine a group consisting of Johnny, the Hangman (whose daughter was kidnapped by Johnny), a recently married pseudo religious conman who recently lost his wife to the vamps, one of the Hangman's cronies who hates the conman, and finally Ambrose Pierce whose despised by just about everyone. Add a bar/inn full of vampires with all new characteristics and this time good KNB effects (look out for a face literally being blown off and spilled intestines) and you've got yourself an official sequel with some flair. Don't expect anything wildly originally that hasn't been covered in the first, just a good old fun rehash with some gunslinging characters and a western backdrop. FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3: THE HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER was definitely worthy of a theatrical release but went direct to video instead.

I decided to roll the dice when renting POINT BLANK. My desire for a B-action film became unbearable and past experience proves that solid B-action films do exist in the direct to video market (e.g. Black Cat Run, The Guyver II: Dark Hero). Mickey Rourke is an established actor (YEAR OF THE DRAGON) who in the past years traded his legitimacy for a few inches on his bicep (I did enjoy DOUBLE TEAM however). But then the ripoffs within POINT BLANK became unbearable... Mickey Rourke plays an ex-military, ex-Texas Ranger now working for Pa who mentions to him one day that his brother is one of a group of convict escapees now holding an entire shopping mall hostage. Pa also mentions his brother's future is in his hands. An overriding theme of sentimentality plays well in the movie between the two brothers and even with some of the convicts revealing their human side. I also enjoyed the music played during these sequences. But that's about it... Paul Ben Victor (over)plays a gay ex-business man convicted of money laundering coming back to roost in his office underneath a mall, now stashed with military weaponry. Having masterminded the convict breakout, his motives conflict with the other convicts including Rourke's brother (who merely wants freedom and money....I think....the storyline gets a tad muddled here). With the ok from lead Tex Ranger in charge, Rourke makes his way into the mall and "pays homage" to many of the action movie greats of the 1990's: Martial arts by a non-martial artist, two gunmen shooting at each other between obstacles a la John Woo's Hard Boiled and Hard Target (but looking MUCH more clumsy), high floor mini gun without the dramatic punch of T2, and finally the most blatant artistic theft possibly EVER coming straight from Luc Besson's THE PROFESSIONAL (you've got to see it to believe it). Couple this with extremely sloppy editing and you've got yourself a film that maintains the reputation that direct to video films are of low quality. As an action hero, Mickey Rourke does have potential. He possesses a cool, calm bad ass quality reminiscint of an early MAN WITH NO NAME Clint. His physique compares to that of a Van Damme (of course without the grace or charisma). However, if he ever wants legitimacy as an action hero, a film of "grander" (not necessarily more expensive) proportions is needed.