Review by ma-cortes

Exciting picture full of brawls by means of fierce bare-knuckled combats staged in the slums . In a world where street gangs collide with the law, neighborhood friends from infancy , Raymond ( Russell Wong of ¨Romeo must die¨ ) and Gabriel (Jason Barry of ¨Beyond Re-animator¨), must decide which side of the battle to join . This will be the ultimate fight - the one for power, family, and honor. This thrilling movie deals with a tight-lipped young who is introduced to the world of underground street fierce brawling . Two friends are separated of brutal manner after an accident , Raymond leads to prison and Gabriel to exile . Both of whom learn martial arts to survive and take different sides to fight . Raymond goes out from jail and Gabriel returns home where meet his adopted parents , the recently retired Lt Tyrell (Roddy Piper of ¨They live¨ ) and his wife (Joanna Pacula of ¨Escape from Sobibor¨) . Gabriel attempts to come up with a way to get enough money to live , but there emerges a dangerous contender versus Raymond who arranges his bare-knuckled bouts . Gabriel teams up with a police woman (Linda Park od ¨Enterprise¨ series ) to defend his family against the nasty Raymond and his hoodlums . Gabriel is soon fighting various contenders -ranging from Harlem bouncing to Oriental fighters . Gabriel decides that he has something worth brawling for and sets everything on the line to vanquish in these no-holds-barred bare-knuckle fights . Although Gabriel only wants to bash opponents long enough to gain enough honor , he is reluctant to let tricks in combats on the fighting . Every knock-out brings him closer to the existence he's always wished , but also carries him in a deadly cobweb he can't getaway . At the ending , the two old friends are forced to fight in a deadly confrontation .

The picture contains violence , drama ,thrills , and lots of brutal brawls plenty of punch , kicks, and knockouts . Acceptable performance from Jason Barry as impulsive young becoming a professional street-fighter and battling a variety of contenders , plus Roddy Pipper gives a surprisingly good acting as veteran police and special mention to Russel Wong as cruel villain . The picture belongs to sub-genre about street combats as ¨Lionheart¨ with Jean Claude Van Damme and whose maxim representation turns out to be the classic ¨Hard times¨ by Walter Hill with Charles Bronson and James Coburn ; furthermore , recent adaptation titled ¨Fighting ¨ by Dito Montiel with Channing Tatum and Luis Guzman . It's a colorful but violent entertainment that results to be the last film of his director Michael Worth . He's an expert on art martial movies as he realized Jean Claude Van Damme vehicles as ¨Kickboxer¨ and ¨Bloodsport¨ and Cynthia Rothrock as ¨Lady Dragon I and II¨. Worth is also a notorious cinematographer who photographed for Clint Eastwood various films as ¨Any which way you can¨ and ¨Bronco Billy¨ . Rating : 4,5 passable , only for those who like films in which fist-play are staged ¨ad nauseam¨.