The King of the Kickboxers

(1990) King of the Kickboxers ACTION

Jake Donahue (Loren Avedon) who is now a cop,seeking retribution after witnessing his brother's death 10 years earlier, against a killer martial artist named Khan (Billy Blanks) involve in attempting to make money from martial arts snuff films in Bangkok Thailand.

The thin backdrop is to showcase actual martial artists do their thing that has similar tone to many Hong Kong films of the 1980's and the 1990's that made them fun to watch in the first place. The person who directed this by the name of Lucas Lowe who directed the most action packed "No Retreat No Surrender" movie of the entire series, which is the third one, the impressive fight sequences are just as realistic and hard hitting as any Hong Kong movie.

A warning to the dramatics who demand great acting- Anyone wanting to see this thinking s/he are going to see some great acting, than many of you are going to be very disappointed, okay! If the genre says action than i want to see some great action, if it's drama then I'll go and see a drama movie. Does that make sense- it makes sense to me!

The makers of this film are certainly no strangers to films that are "Inspired" by mainstream others. The company's earlier effort "No retreat No Surrender" was meant to be a take on the Karate Kid and this film is no different. Let's just get this out of the way now.......it's a Kickboxer rip off! In fact it goes beyond rip off in places with some parts and locations being nearly identical to the Van Damme film, it really is shameless!

Fortunately, Seasonal films are no slouches when it comes to fight scenes and here's where you start to forgive them for being such blatant pilferers. The Fights are truly spectacular, choreographed with such precise flow, speed and with such immense power. This film is a direct descendant of No Retreat No Surrender which was the first film to use western actors set in America with an Oriental production team and like it's ancestor it really is quite something. Gone are the traditional, slow movements of the 70's Kung-Fu films which were so akin to Shaw Brothers films at the time and in their place there is rip roaring torrents of brutal martial arts action.

Billy Blanks as Khan is a great, nay tremendous and utterly terrifying bad guy and it's always great to see the amazingly talented Keith Cooke (who almost steals the show here) but Loren Avedon is as hammy as ever despite his great fighting skill. Of course that's half the charm of these films and that statement is meant fully as a compliment. It certainly has captured the feel of Van Damme's Kickboxer although it doesn't match up to it in terms of polish or drama, but the fights more than make up for it!

Be like me, buy both and enjoy both!

This is how martial arts film should be (excluding Ricky-Oh that is the best movie ever).An undercover "kickboxer" cop travel to Thailand to investigate some kung fu movies were they really kill people, "snuff kung fu" movies. He also have a personal interest, one of the killers is the guy who killed his brother 10 years ago. The movie is similar in structure to Kickboxer(the one with Van Damme) but this one is ten times more entertaining...you know, the guy who seeks revenge, training and fighting. The dialogs are ridiculous like in every movie of this kind but some fights are very cool. but the plus of the "snuff" movies is the key. Also, the character played by Billy Blanks as the "executor" in the snuff films looks like an inspiration to Machine in 8mm.Very recommended!

The King of the Kickboxers (1991) was another U.S./Hong Kong co-production from N.G. and the other folks at Seasonal Films. Like most of N.G.'s productions, the kung-fu films that usual come from Seasonal are cheesy with a heavy dose of high energy fighting. That's what I like about his films. He doesn't even try to be serious or make an attempt to elevate the source material. This film is no exception.

An arrogant fighter is given an assignment to find out who's making "real" kung-fu movies in Thailand (like Mexico where life is cheap). He's also intrigued by the mission because of what happened to him the last time he visited Bangkok. Whilst in Bangkok he learns about the presence of a vicious Kickboxer (Billy Blanks). Not only does he get a free trip to Thailand but he can settle an old score.

Filled with many references to Kickboxer and parodies of other Seasonal Films productions. King of the Kickboxers is a very entertaining film. The film-makers and the actors seem to be having a whole lot of fun making this one. So sit back and relax. When watching this video gem remember "It's only a movie!"

Highly recommended!

A

I played Mr Director, a talking bit-part, in the filming on-location at Khao Yai National Park, Thailand.

I won't bore you with production secrets like Sherri Rose running all the way from the National Park to downtown Bangkok in 17 seconds flat, I'll just focus on content.

Billy Blanks at that time was 7-Time All-World Full-Contact Karate Champion, in excellent form, hard as nails, and Avedon wasn't.

This sets the basic dilemma for the director: Keith Hirabachi was an All-American champion, Billy was a champion, but the STAR of the film wasn't up to much at all, karate-wise! So there are shots in the film where, in the thick of brawling, Avedon's hair changes to the exact color of his stunt-double's hair... or that ridiculous scene in the climax where Billy's thick, kicking leg is stopped by Avedon, who then ADJUSTS IT, in order to flip Billy...

Puh-leeze! Billy's bits, and Keith's and Ong's... they're authentic, and add something to the film... but as good an actor as Avedon is, with this plot/framework/vehicle and his skinny shanks, the film became a verging-on-ludicrous tale of "Chunky Yellow Man Teaches Skinny White Man to Beat BIG, THICK BLACK Man!" Its inauthentic, through and through...

But what the hey! Its a yarn! Karridine/John Kay