Bloodfist VI: Ground Zero

"Die Hard" is one of my favorite action movies of all time, so you can probably imagine that I try to watch every rip-off of it as possible. As for *this* particular rip-off, I have a lot of problems finding any enthusiasm for it. Let me make it clear that the faults of this movie do not include Don "The Dragon" Wilson - he brings to the movie some likability and charisma. Unfortunately, the movie he's in is produced by Roger Corman, so you can imagine that the production values of the movie are very low (though I suppose that they could have been even worse than they are.) The action scenes are very disappointing, with inept fight choreography, as well as poor direction and editing. It doesn't help that all the fights are filmed in very tight quarters, and the final fight with the terrorist boss is over in a few seconds. Even if you are a Don "The Dragon" Wilson fan, it's best to skip this one and stick with the surprisingly good BLOODFIST 3.

I guess every action fan out there know that the Bloodfist-series isn't exactly the best action movies around. That means low quality is expected, but some of the Bloodfist-movies are still watchable. (Bloodfist 2 is pretty OK, for example). Bloodfist 6 is very far from being one of them, because it's horrible in every way. It kind of reminds me of the movie "Terminal Rush", also starring Don "the Dragon" Wilson, but only worse. And why is it so bad? It's because everything in the movie sucks. The acting is some of the worst I've seen (OK, I don't really care about the actors being good, but in this movie they were so utterly bad that it was painful to watch), the story is overused to the extreme, and the fighting is easily forgotten. Another failure for "the Dragon".

This time Don Wilson trades in his kickboxing approach for a Bruce Willis style hero who is the last man standing in the way of the launching of a nuke that middle eastern terrorists (Most who look Caucasian) are trying to detonate and then there is the whole...ZZZZZZZ The rules of the Bloodfist sequels do not imply, since parts 2, 3 and 4 were all better than # 1. So one was hoping this would be a fun yet harmlessly stupid take on Die Hard. Problem is, that while Bloodfist VI is stupid it isn't any fun. It is dull with Wilson engaging in mini-action sequences which are over before they barely start. Also of note is that Wilson is one of the better thesps here, with a cast so unconvincing as terrorists that it was just horrendous to watch. Worst of all is that the movie literally has no degree of style or energy, so we watch in sheer boredom as Wilson races around the clock to save us all. Bloodfist VI is basically as awful as # 5 and that is about all that can be said.

* out of 4-(Bad)

"Bloodfist VI" has its amusing moments: some lines of dialogue ("I need all your intellectual power and your technological wizardry - open the fraking door"!), some situations (like a big black dude who challenges Wilson with the phrase "Come on, sissy boy" and can only be defeated with a kick to the groin), some moments of over-the-top violence (early on, a guy gets his neck turned 180 degrees!). It also has its disappointments: the biggest one may be that there is no climactic showdown between Wilson and the No 1 villain. The fights are a little slow, but fairly realistic. But to be honest with you, the main reason I wanted to see this is that it's the last film of Cat Sassoon, who tragically died at the age of only 34. Appearing for the second time alongside Wilson (after "Bloodfist IV"), she plays the sexy villainess quite well and has a great topless scene at the very start, but no real fighting this time. Overall, "Bloodfist VI" is a harmless way to kill some time, and is worth a watch for fans of Wilson, Sassoon or low-budget action. (**)

Don "the dragon" Wilson returns in the sixth installment of the bloodfist series and this time its a low budget clone of Die Hard. Wilson plays a courier who happens to be delivering a package to a underground missile silo just as terrorist are taking over. They want to start a nuclear catastrophe and its up to Wilson to stop them. Yes its low budget but what do you expect from Roger Corman? It is really not that bad if you don't think about it too much. It's a B movie, nothing more, nothing less. Yes the fighting is not that great and some of the dialog is not the best. Plus you throw in some typical clichés from other action movies and wrap it up and you have Ground Zero. This is a good addition to the series and from that standpoint its quite watchable and actually entertaining.