Ironheart

An LAPD cop goes after a powerful drug dealer, Richard Norton, following him to Portland, Oregon. The best part of this film is the cop has to face off with Norton's henchmen, the near-mute actor Bolo Yeung (the beefy villain from iconic martial arts classics ENTER THE DRAGON and BLOODSPORT). Watching this early 90s martial arts flick, I think I was most excited to realize it was filmed in Portland, Oregon when I spotted Mr. Hood in the background of one shot, which means Bolo Yeung and Richard Norton were in Oregon at some point! This is only one of two films that lead actor Britton K. Lee appeared in. He's a pretty terrible actor and martial artist, so I'm pretty sure he only got the part because he also served as a producer on the film. Director by Robert Clouse, director of the seminal Bruce Lee film ENTER THE DRAGON, I'd have hoped for better, though outside of that film, Clouse never made another descent film (unless you want to include GYMKATA, which needs to be seen to be believed! I will admit I'm a sucker for THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR though.). Although this film was made in the '90s, it has a strong 80s vibe to it, featuring Jazzercize, loads of synthesizer music, and some terrific 80s hairdos and fashion, which did add to the film's entertainment value, but overall this is a so-bad-it's-good type of action flick that I quite enjoyed, but probably only die-hard Bolo and Norton fans will be entertained by this one.

Robert Clouse, Bolo Yeung and Richard Norton in the credits of working in the movie, what can go wrong? Well, the movie is in a desperate need for a better script and star. Do not get me wrong, Britton got the martial arts skills and believability to be a hero but the script and his acting are severely lacking to give the movie narrative thrust. The only characterization he has got is that he knows martial arts and that he is a cop which leaves us - the audience - with nothing much to root for. Even worse are the villains who are apparently just evil because the movie demands it.

Bolo Yeung and Richard Norton being in the movie should make it quite entertaining because both actors have been in bad movies where they outshine the stars of the bad movies. But they are barely utilized and we are instead stuck with a lot of other unknown actors who are equally as thinly characterized as our main character. Which is frustrating because the movie had potential to be good but it is severely handicapped with a badly written script and flat acting with equally flat characters. Not to mention the movie lacks any sort of tension or ambiance where the music just feels out of place. The plot is also just there where it feels like the writer and director just kind of forgot about it.

The only few good things about the movie is the cinematography, choreography and directing. It is not the worst I have seen but it is certainly a wasted potential.

They got him in the poster, his name is on the poster so you may be forgiven for assuming that he is the star of the show. He is not, he is just another henchman, doing what he usually does, but not with much effort. Instead the star is a guy who beats up random dudes who attack joggers and parks and drives his car a lot! In fact, pretty sure that fight with the random scumbags attacking the jogger was 10x longer than his fight with the star of the film Bolo...

The movie has a girl being kidnapped, leaving a club with someone who was rich and taking the easy way out. Yes, that is how it is described to the hero when the person who was kidnapped explains to him that the girl quit dancing and tried to get a rich man, thus taking the easy way and deserving of what she gets! Harsh dance teacher. Well the hero is more concerned that these guys killed his former partner and so we got lots of action with our bad ass martial arts cop! Well, not really. Honestly, Samurai Cop was more action packed than this thing was and featured way more action as we mainly see our hero parking...

I understand why they featured Bolo on the poster with his name featured as he is the only person I recognized in this thing! The hero's English is not too good, but he is not horrible (what a compliment). Then there is the dance teacher who looks like Pam Dawber from Mork and Mindy. Not unattractive, but not all that great and she certainly would not have stood out and been kidnapped at the club when she goes undercover. Then there is pizza guy who dated the actually hot girl who got kidnapped at the beginning, I guess he could not make a pizza to her satisfaction!

This one is definitely not good, but amusing. Where else you gonna save a jogger and she runs from you screaming too? This is a movie, she is supposed to be thankful, though her reaction was probably more realistic. The cop's was not as he just left the men dead or dying behind. Then you get a anticlimactic finale where Bolo must of been like, "let's just get this over with, man..." You will witness more than your fair share of parking though!

While I agree that this was the most horrendous movie ever made, I am proud to say I own a copy simply because myself and a bunch of my friends were extras (mostly in the dance club scenes, but a few others as well. This movie had potential with Bolo and the director of Enter the Dragon signed on, but as someone who was on set most every day I can tell you that Robert Clouse was an old and confused individual, at least during the making of this movie. It was a wonder he could find his way to the set everyday. I would also like to think that this might have been a better movie if a lot of it had not been destroyed in a fire at Morning Calm studios. I can't say that it would have been for sure, but it would be nice to think so. I was actually surprised that it was ever released, and that someone like Bolo would attach his name to it without a fight. Oh well. Also look at the extras for pro wrestler Scott Levy, AKA Raven. He was a wrestler in Portland at the time...nice guy, very smart.

Well, I have to admit that I was having a hard time seeing why fans of Bolo Yeung consider this a cult classic, because Bolo Yeung wasn't really in the movie for all that long. Yeah, he had very limited time on the screen, yet he was showcased on the movie's cover and was the only name on the cover as well. Guess it was because he was the only semi-famous performer in this 1992 movie.

The storyline in "Ironheart", as written by Lawrence Riggins, was a pretty archetypical early 1990s action martial arts screenplay, you know, where some law enforcement officer who knows martial arts takes matters into his own hands and goes postal on the bad guys. Talk about vigilante justice, huh?

It can't really be said that "Ironheart" was harboring a great many famous actors or actresses. I was familiar with Richard Norton (playing Milverstead) and of course Bolo Yeung (playing Ice), the latter whom had very limited time on the screen. The acting performances in "Ironheart" was as expected, I mean, this is an early 1990s action martial arts movie, so you're not exactly in for a Shakespearian performance of any sorts.

The martial arts sequences in the movie were fair enough, though you knew the outcome of the movie from the very beginning of each fight, and Britton K. Lee (playing John Keem) definitely had some martial arts skills, but there was just a lack of natural fluidity missing to it, as it felt somewhat scripted and rigid in its choreography.

Director Robert Clouse's 1992 movie "Ironheart" is not a movie that impressed me, and it is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. Now, late in 2022, was actually the very first time I heard about it.

My rating of "Ironheart" lands on a four out of ten stars.