Riot

Yes, it's time for yet more mayhem from those ever dependable guys at PM Entertainment. This typically fun entry stars Gary Daniels as an SAS soldier who is enlisted to rescue the (very beautiful) daughter of the UK ambassador who has been seized hostage by a group amidst the chaos of an urban riot. As it turns out a) the daughter is also our mans love interest (wow! - what a coincidence eh?!) and b) the miscreants who have taken her are actually secretly employed by an IRA faction who have specifically targeted her in order to lure our hero into their sinister trap (wow! - Now if that's not a ridiculously convoluted plot then I don't know what is!) Of course when one sits to watch a PM Entertainment flick one must immediately disregard the concept of intelligent plotting however, rather one should simply switch off ones disbelief, relax and enjoy the ensuing plethora of crazy stunts and action set pieces. Sure enough, director Joseph Merhi doesn't disappoint and delivers some spectacular action goodies here including a particularly dangerous looking sequence involving a group of bikers attacking our hero.

Special mention also to the presence of former world boxing champ, Sugar Ray Leonard who shows that he's still as nifty as ever with those fists of his; His acting however.....um........well, that's quite another story.....

Good action movie. It may start out a little slow the first 10 or 15 minutes, but once Gary enters the riot zone, the movie becomes a non stop action fest! Lots of shooting and fighting to keep action fans happy. The stunts are good as well. The last one in particular is amazing! See the movie. I bet you will be amazed as well. Another winner from PM! Keep up the good work guys!

While RIOT has absolutely nothing new to offer for the tiresome and tedious action genre, this film does sport a few incredible and breathtaking action sequences that puts this film a few light years ahead of the usual low-budget junk.

On Christmas Eve, 1999, in Florida, full grown teenage racial riots have sparked everywhere... Windows are shattered, lives are devastated, and the national guard cannot do anything that is remotely close to detaining the anarchy.

Amid the violence and the nonstop chaos comes a ruthless, merciless enemy, the IRA. These twisted souls have just kidnapped the daughter (Paige Rowland) of a powerful and popular British ambassador. Working in collusion with some of the street gangs in Florida, the IRA demands a heavy ransom of over 1 million dollars plus from both the United States and British governments, or else, they will return the Ambassador's daughter...mutilated to pieces...

Enter a tough officer and kick-boxing martial artist Shane Alcott (Gary Daniels) along with his buddy, Major Williams (former boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard). They must save the British Ambassador's daughter and soon-to-be Alcott's betroth from beneath all that rubble and consummate destruction in the city. Alcott must kick his way into enemy territory, but to Alcott, he has an old score to settle with the terrorist group, the IRA...

RIOT is an enjoyable film which is big on action and stunts. This movie has its share of car crashes, shoot-outs, explosions, martial arts, and people burned alive. However, RIOT lacks that magic, which is a cohesive plot, that is suppose to keep this film from collapsing under its own weight. RIOT has substantive performances from Daniels, Leonard, and the villains, but this is one of those "been there, done that" type action movies. If you've seen one, you've seen them all...

Evidently, there are no salient features in this movie, RIOT, but it's still worth a look. The escape from an exploding helicopter is a highlight and the nighttime motorcycle chase scene is also well done. Gary Daniels fighting against several roller blade assassins is also fun, exciting and achieved pretty well.

Director Joseph Merhi and producer Richard Pepin, two prolific filmmakers who specialize in making "made-for-video" movies have a gift for designing solid, above average action vehicles. These films, made exclusively for the video market are short on plot, but long on excitement. RIOT is a film that has also done its best to convey a message about the consequences of racial tensions and hatred escalating into shambles. RIOT is a proficiently made, fast-paced movie which is perhaps too cliché at times...

RATING: ** out of ****.

The Story: A riot erupts in a major US city following the deaths of some teenagers at the hands of the police. Shane Alcott, a British soldier, is called in to rescue his former love, the daughter of the British Consulate, who was kidnapped by a gang of hoods. Trapped in the riot zone, Alcott must rescue the girl, stop the hoods & their IRA handlers, who are using the riot to further their own ambitions.

Riot comes from director Joseph Merhi, who has made a whole slew of cheap action films, such as The Glass Jungle, Repo Jake, CIA: Code Name Alexa & the entertaining The Sweeper. Here Merhi uses the background of a riot in order to drive a story about a high-profile kidnapping by hoods employed by the IRA (why the IRA would operate on American shores is something of a mystery). If you want to watch the film expecting riots, you will be disappointed, since the riot scenes are used in the start of the film only. Not to mention the fact that the scenes are played along with Christmas music, which makes the scenes quite funny to watch. As an action film, it is entertaining, with Gary Daniels fighting various hoods & IRA terrorists. But the film falters by not using the riot scenes in the proper way. Grade: C+ Review by M. K. Geist

As far as straight to video action films go, this is superb and is worth adding to your DVD collection, particularly if you are a fan of the other titles from PM Entertainment.

If you are a fan of hard-edged action films like "The Warriors" and "Judgment Night", then you will certainly appreciate the concept of this film. It is basically an on-foot chase movie through deserted streets, punctuated by superb martial arts choreography and action scenes. You will have to be forgiving of the acting in the film, which is quite atrocious and usually commonplace in straight to video fare, but most of the performances are done "tongue in cheek" which makes for a very fun night in! Gary Daniels has never been a very good actor, but he certainly looks great and has nice charisma. But what counts in a film like this is the action and it's fantastic, although maybe a notch down from PM's best work. This is understandable though, because it is more martial arts orientated, as opposed to their usual demolition derby style films.

The martial arts are superb and there is one amazing scene where Gary Daniels single handedly takes on numerous guys on motorbikes. It is quite reminiscent of the finale of "Drive"! The stunts are breathtaking and Joseph Merhi shows off some of his best editing yet, with well-timed cuts of people smashing through panes of glass or hitting the ground violently. The explosions are fantastic and prove why PM are the best in the business for blowing shite up! Cars don't just ignite, they flip over and land dangerously next to actors.

So watch with low expectations and remember that it is very low budget and you will have a great time. Get the DVD, its only $6.99!