Superfights

I studied under Master Cliff Lenderman who played one of the major roles in the movie. As a student of his at the time of the release, I was able to attend the local premier showing.

If you like all out, non-stop, fight action, with some incredibly talented fighters, you need to see this movie. If you like a good, solid story line, with plenty of human interest and a good old fashioned, boy-meets-girl story, you also need to see this movie.

I gave it three thumbs up!

SUPERFIGHTS (***** out of *****)

In the history of martial arts cinema, there have been repeating symbols and themes. This is THE movie that employs these symbols and themes to perfection. The fights are stunningly choreographed, and the story compelling.

Many a person has said that this movie resembles The Karate Kid on steroids, but that is a most unfair comment. Superfights is about Jack Cody's growth as a human being.

Do yourself a favor, and SEE IT. RIGHT NOW.

Also Recommended: Bloodmoon

Not Recommended: The Karate Kid, Tigerheart

I found this video in a bargain bin for $1. That's about the real value of it. I only bought it because I wanted to see Keith Hackney, a former UFC fighter, try his hand at acting. His role is so small that he isn't given much of a chance to fail. Lucky for him because the others fail miserably. This movie is even worse than Ken Shamrock's 'Champions' if that means anything to you. The fights scenes are flashy but embarrassingly bad. They have some young guy wearing a long white wig and beard pretending to be an old Chinese Martial Arts master and it's hilarious.

What an extraordinary film. It has it all: a simple story that highlights the most important thing: foreshadowing a series of fights that end in an extraordinary final sequence. The director, who has had to deal with unin collaborator Western actors for Hong Kong standars such as Loren Avedon or Brendan Gaiines offers us a fantastic job here. A film is good to the extent that it fulfills its goal of surprising and entertaining. And based on this, the movie is wonderful. The director's talent allows the best for Brendan Gaines and one of my all-time favorites, Keith Vitali. I highly recommend it to every action movie lover.

Anyone familiar with the 90s output of HK based Seasonal Films (Gary Daniels' BLOODMOON, American SHAOLIN, KING OF THE KICKBOXERS II) will most likely know what to expect here: excellent fights and plenty of laughs. To paraphrase a friend who also took this film in, "How this 80s movie got made in the 90s is beyond me!" Honestly, I have not laughed this hard while watching a film in a long time. The first 15 minutes had me going scene after scene. Nearly everything thing about SUPERFIGHTS is funny. From the male lead "training" while working his day job as a box boy to the hilarious stereotypes regard wrestling to the amazing theme song ("Superfighter! Kick his ass!"), the film is completely wrongheaded in every aspect. Well, except for one. Like every Seasonal film, the fight choreography is exceptional. Director/fight choreographer Tony Leung Siu Hung captures some great moves from martial arts veterans such as Keith Vitali, Cliff Lenderman & Chuck Jeffreys along with newcomer Brandon Gaines. Gaines is extraordinarily agile, but can't act to save his life. One truly hasn't lived until you have seen Gaines run up the steps of a courthouse a la ROCKY while screaming "Woo hoo!" at the top of his lungs. Writer Keith W. Strandberg is also responsible for the equally hilarious NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER series, so that explains a lot. If you are a fan of high quality fights, then this is definitely recommended. However, if you are a fan of movies so funny that they will make you cry, then SUPERFIGHTS is highly recommended.