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".

Don "The Dragon" Wilson always did well in Bloodfist. But the 6th installment of the film, falls short on the action. He plays a courier in the Air Force when terrorists take over a missile silo. Unknown to the terrorists, he is a one man army. He took out the post watchman easily. And the other men who try to dispatch him fall short of the order. Cat Sassoon plays the insider of the group. I knew about her fighting skills, wished that she could have done more there. This movie has some thrills, it could have done more there. Part 4 was a bigger bummer. This movie could have been more fun. 2 out of 5 stars

"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. (**)

Predictable yarn about bad guys seizing control of a dreadful weapon and threatening to use it. Fun to watch if you can ignore the acting.

I never watched Don the Dragon Wilson's fights so I will take it on good faith that he was/is real good at it. Did he think he would be the next Bruce Lee? Hey, good attempt, but no cigar.

I remember Steve Garvey when he was in the National League as an L.A. Dodger and San Diego Padre. He was real good as a baseball player too! He had political plans after retiring from the NL; did they fall through that he had to resort to this low budget yarn?

Robin Curtis was great as the new Lt. Saavik in Star Trek III and IV, plus numerous guest appearances on popular T.V. shows. Was her career really winding down at this point?

Obviously this was light years from even being close to Academy Award Material. It was fun to watch, but it's just sad to see some players who were good in their previous acting gigs, fighting, or sports careers to star in such a film.