O Desafio Final

Rarely does one experience in the world of movie making a work that both shocks and enthralls. Undefeatable is a powerhouse. As is its sexy cast of butt kickin' martial arts ladies. The setting, University of Maryland gymnasium. The script, poetic. The action, jolting. The production, one that elicits comparison to a Lord of the Rings. The producers certainly make use of technology utilizing action photography techniques used in mega budget films like the Matrix.

Although not recommended for children, this feel good cinematic adventure gives new meaning to the integration of performance art and dismemberment.

Bravo! Rumors are swirling about the sequel 'Undefeatable II - Return of the Eyeballs'.

Another epic piece of art from director Godfrey Ho, the man who has directed about 100 films with the word Ninja in the title! This doesn't have ninja in the title but don't be fooled there is plenty of martial arts action. Like his other films this is a shockingly cheap and hilariously bad movie. The acting is especially poor. Leading the movie is the queen of martial arts, her hotness; Cynthia Rothrock (kill me now Cynthia!!). Cynthia does her usual ass kicking routine as she stars as a waitress who also fights illegally for money on the side. When her sister is killed she vows revenge. Rothrock can't really act worth a hill a beans really and she proves that when identifying her sisters body. She looks at the corpse and just as I thought they would have her do the typical action star scowl, clenching of the fist, before running out the building to do damage, she burst into tears. Now you may think "Wow, stretching!" However it is scary. She is so over the top and loud that I was actually frightened (frightened but still being aroused by her presence). Having said that Rothrock is not the worst actor in this picture, in fact she is the best which gives you some indication at the level this film is made. It is like a Troma film without all the gore and female nudity, even though there is a little gore, and a little female nudity (not Rothrock lads!). While Cynthia had her little "where's my academy award?" moments, bad guy Don Niam was atrocious. Niam, sporting the worst, most permed mullet ever seen is so ridiculously cheesy that he merely has to appear on screen for me to laugh manically at him. When he speaks he is even funnier. His face has a kind of "please hit me!" look to it and the way his mullet sways about is very amusing. My brother put it best about ¾ of the way through when he said "I swear that mullet gets bigger in every scene!" I thought that too. There are a few mullets in the film and some fashion that makes this film look very 80's, however it was made in the mid 90's!

Once again, like Ho's other epics, this has some good fights. Particularly a superbly rough fight between Don Niam and John Miller that ends hilariously (it involves a hook and an eye socket but you'll really have to see it.). What I love is the whole cheesiness of B-movies like this. They take it a step beyond your average DTV film and as such something this cheesy is far more entertaining than something plain bad and boring, staring Steven Seagal. To sum up how cheesy and stupid this film is: In the middle of the climactic fight scene between Niam and Miller, they both tear their shirts off (for no good reason) and continue the fight bare chested, yet miraculously they are oiled up to the eye balls. It is an hilariously macho scene that comes across as more homo-erotic, with oily men grabbing and hitting each other, it couldn't have been gayer if they'd have recreated Olly Reed and Alan Bates nude wrestling match. I think there is something Godfrey isn't telling us!

So with ample fist fights and plenty of bad acting, this film has good entertainment values, as well as some excellent fight scenes. Unfortunately no Scorpion kick from Rothrock in this.**

It is not often I can sit through a martial arts movie. I put the remote down when I ran accross this masterpiece while channel surfing with my wife. We were locked in at the start with the deep character and plot development. The main cop just floored us and the lady in yard when they were going in that house was the best actress in the world.

The movie is so great we watched the credits to see what the actors names were and hope they made many more awesome movies together. Other movies in this genre are as follows:

Karate Kid IV (Bad Mojo Dojo's Revenge) Mortal Kombat III (Raiden has the runs) Hidden Turkey Crouching Grandma (see Raiden)

Cynthia Rothrock plays a street-fighter who teams up with a martial arts expert cop (John Miller) to avenge the death of her sister at the hands of a diabolical cage fighter who seemingly calls his wife "Mommy" and who snaps after his wife walks out on him, so he kills every woman who even looks like her. He also calls himself Stingray and spray paints red lines in his permed mullet. Oh boy, what can I say? I actually saw this martial arts gem when I was a teen, at the time it was merely a throwaway kung fu flick but with the You Tube revival of this movie, I eagerly awaited the June 16th DVD release and now that I have it, I can say, that paying the 10 dollars I paid, I got my money's worth. This thing is utterly surreal. One minute we see a woman talking to her shrink, than the curly haired psycho fighting a black guy, Rothrock fighting a guy with football pads and Sting Ray smashing a table and remembering how his mother deserted him for her boyfriend. All of this is done in the most incompetently hilarious fashion. This movie would merely be a lame kung fu take on 10 To Midnight, if it wasn't for the acting of Don Niam. Niam is about as subtle as a jackhammer, his eyes go to maximum density, his voice is soft spoken and every single moment he's on screen the movie is hands down funnier than any comedy ever made. For some reason he calls every redhead dresses like Niam's estranged wife, and for some reason everyone knows martial arts, whether it be Rothrock's sister to the female shrink. Don Niam is the movie, he's the reason the climatic fight is so funny. In fact had this movie featured a good actor the movie might've been offensive but with Niam, he somehow makes the unsavory material of rape, murder and eye gouging hilarious. Indeed George Carlin must have had this movie in mind when he said rape can be funny. Quality wise the movie is god-awful, the plot makes no sense, the production values rival 70s Kung Fu films (and this was made 20 years later) and the usually lively and likable Cynthia Rothrock seems to struggle to contain her contempt, of course that said she's easily the best actress in the cast. The fight sequences are admittedly decently handled, the choreography is generally decent, it's just the movie is so hokey, the film so badly made and dramatically lame that this is all for naught. As far as martial arts films go, this is bottom of the barrel, amateurish nonsense, but as unintentional comedies go, they don't come any funnier than this.

*1/2 Out of 4-(Poor)

This is the worst movie I have ever seen. I felt compelled to write this review however, not because I think the film should be avoided, but on the contrary, I believe everyone should own a copy of "Undefeatable (that barely even sounds like a grammatically correct word)." The plot, the acting, the fighting, and the lines (oh my goodness the lines are great) are so far below even your average C- film that combined, they create a comprehensively miserable whole. Go out and rent this video, buy a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon, call up your buddies, and sit down for what might be one of the more memorable movie experiences of your life.