The Silent Force

Loren Avedon has come a long way from the "No Retreat, No Surrender" series - unfortunately, I don't mean that as a compliment! Don't get me wrong, he's still got the moves, but he doesn't get to show them much. The best fight scene in "Silent Force" comes within the first 10 minutes, and it's actually just a sparring match between Avedon and multiple "opponents" / trainees; nothing that comes later is equally good. Even more disappointing is the fact that Karen Kim gets absolutely NO fight scenes at all; although it is mentioned at one point that she could out-fight and out-shoot everyone at the police academy, she gets captured and used as a hostage by the bad guys TWICE, without putting up much of a fight. With one exception (a man locating his own executioner through a telescope), the action scenes are uninspired, and there are parts where you're wondering if the filmmakers are going for intentional comedy (bad guy aims at Avedon from a close distance and pulls the trigger, but the gun is empty; this happens at least twice). Even Matthias Hues' uncredited cameo doesn't help much - you just keep wondering where the hell he came from, and where the hell he goes afterwards. *1/2 out of 4.

Gangster boss Pao (George Cheung) has problems with a team of special agents called the Silent Force. He decides to make them even more silent, and permanently! 8 of the 10 agents are killed in a sudden attack, number nine is fed to a shark, but number ten escapes. Well, otherwise it would have been a short movie... Frank Stevens (Loren Avedon) decides to avenge the death of his team-mates, yet he is not completely alone as Mrs Woo (Karen Kim - smashing lady, I remember her from "US Seals II") intends revenge for the late Mr Woo, and the trail leads to the same bad guys.

What we get here is fast, violent action, the usual stereotypes: an average (not bad) genre flick. Uncredited, Matthias Hues appears in one scene to hit the hero a couple of times where it hurts. I guess it's a kind of hobby. Loren Avedon's face isn't exactly looking like granite, it probably would have helped to have a star such as Van Damme or so, but under the circumstances of a cheap production, that's the way it is.

This film had a shoe string budget yet it still conveyed its action story very well. Imagine if you were making a movie and had no budget but still gave it your best shot. This is exactly what this film does. Some clever writing executed brilliantly by Loren Avedon and his sidekick buddy was also pleasing.

This film also had a really cool idea of subtly including a re-match in it's 3rd act between Loren Avedon and Matthias Hues. The pair originally featured in one of the greatest showdowns in cult film history in Corey Yuen's Hong Kong classic "No Retreat No Surrender 2".

The re-match however was not very well executed. It lasted for a very short time and wasn't anywhere near as explosive and dynamic as the one of the original fight. This may have been due to Matthias Hues playing an uncredited cameo in the film. However the idea was still there.

All up I'd recommend this film to B film audiences, Loren Avedon fans and people who are thinking of making their own movie.

If bad acting won awards, this flick would have a shelf full. The cutting is, at best, quite choppy.

The continuity errors are endless. The technical mistakes are too numerous to cite.

Even the fight choreography, the one thing that could have made this worth enduring, is painful. The moves are very stilted and predictable, to the point where even those untrained in martial arts can see what's coming.

The plot is VERY formula: "Man defies overwhelming odds to wreak havoc and revenge".

There is the usual gratuitous sex, and plenty of silicone enhanced topless young ladies, all designed to try and make SOMEthing in this 90 minute exercise in tedium worth watching. In the end, it all fails and you're left with the feeling that this should have gone straight to $1.98 bargain bin at the video store.

If you spent money to watch this movie you should demand a refund. I gave it a 3 out of 10 only because I like silicone.