Contour

Contour is a fast-paced, wildly entertaining martial arts action film that punches far above its weight. Made on a shoestring budget by The Stunt People, this indie gem proves that creativity, dedication, and raw talent can outshine Hollywood gloss.

Eric Jacobus (who also directs) leads a cast of skilled martial artists who deliver jaw-dropping fight choreography that's as inventive as it is brutal. The action is shot with clarity and energy-no shaky cam, no rapid-fire editing-just clean, expertly executed stunts that harken back to the golden age of Hong Kong action cinema.

What makes Contour more than just a stunt reel is its offbeat sense of humor and self-aware storytelling. The plot is quirky and chaotic in the best way, blending crime drama, buddy comedy, and martial arts spectacle into a genre-bending ride.

This is DIY filmmaking at its best. If you're a fan of Jackie Chan, Tony Jaa, or just great physical performance, Contour is an absolute must-watch. It's a cult classic in the making and a great showcase for some of the most underrated action talent out there.

The first thing i should say is why is this movie have have a better rating than 6.5 really i mean i think Transformers 2 got that rating and there is no way that this movie should get a 6.5 rating. I know if you have read my other reviews you will see that i love action movies and hong kong action movies and this movie is one of the best American made martial art action movies ever made in America (did that make sense). If you know American action movies they may contain fights that are lame or some action scenes that my cousin who is 6 could do better fights. I mean really in recent years hong kong style action have gone down in Hollywood i mean don't you remember in the late 90's when a lot of hong kong guys like jackie chan and jet li or donnie yen came over to Hollywood and gave Hollywood a good boost in talent well that lasted for about a good 5 years or maybe 7 years know Hollywood has good to back to bad action movies or just bad movie making when it comes to action movies. Well in recent years a group of martial artist have formed a group based i believe out of San Franisco that are called Stunt people. If you watch there website or seen there shorts that they made than you are getting a taste for what is to come. Contour plot is simple it stars Eric Jacobs who plays a criminal who is really bad at stealing stuff but really good at kicking the stuff out of bad guys. Eric plays the main lead as his day job is to be a taxi cab person who drive people around town well he just happens to pick up a prince and his bodyguard who are in town. That is really is all the plot you need as most of the most consist of humour and action. I know some people have talked about the humor not being funny well i beg to differ i laughed a lot well i also have a weird sense of humour but the humor is a mixture of good jokes bad jokes and a lot of slapstick humor. But really the best thing about the movie the only thing you need to know about the movie is Action. My friend this movie delivers the best action stuff that America has produced in many years i mean that. Transformers 2 or Gi joe or anything released this year or this decade has delivered anything this good. The only American action movie that i can thing that has been close in recent years are Undisputed 2 or Drive but they are not even close to this great fun movie. I know another thing about the movie that has been written is that the acting is not good ....really people acting in a American martial art movie. I mean the acting is suitable for this type of movie i mean people this movie is not trying to be Rageing Bull or Departed it is trying to be a kick the stuff out people in how many ways there is. The action is this movie is so good that it even beats a lot of hong kong movies in years to. I mean really hong kong action movies have gone down in years heck it really has not been good since 1995 but why carp. I mean the only good action left in hong kong is Donnie yen or or ....well that is about it because jackie and jet have been taking it easy in the last couple of years so the only great thing left in hong kong is donnie yen. There is also Tony Jaa i have yet to see ong bak 2 but i have heard mixed things so i will see that is and i mean really Tony does it take 5 years or so to make a movie. But back to the Contour the movie mixed different martial arts which makes the fights even more exciting there is tradition kung fu and many other types of martial arts and the way the fights are filmed are excellent. I believe Hollywood should call these guy to see if they are willing to work for them. The stunt these guys pull off here are excellent i mean the people are really getting hit and they are really taking hard fall , mad props to these guy because i know those so called Hollywood stars would not be taking falls like this. In the end this movies deserves a higher score and should have a bigger fan base heck i bought my disc at Fry's so i don't know why more people are not talking about this movie. It is a straight fun low budget action fun( i mean low budget i believe someone said the movie cost less than $5000 which if that is the case this movie deserves even more attention). Contour is the real deal my friend . Contour gets a A- (A- =A+ for action)

When it comes to amateur martial arts flicks, this is easily top echelon and delivers a shameful thrashing to the craptakular "Dubbed & Dangerous" movies or the truly lousy "Left For Dead." Still, there's no hiding the fact the fact that these guys were more concerned about putting together fights than a decent movie. The film runs waaaaay too long (107m? Come on!), the acting, writing and comedy are dire, the editing is only good when people are kicking each other, and as good as the fight scenes are-- and make no mistake these guys have a tight game-- nothing can hide the fact that you've seen all these moves before, especially if you've been watching martial arts films for any period of time; things are further hampered by the fact that they couldn't afford any collateral damage outside of the occasional broken crate or blood effect so you have fight scenes that build up to not much really. Still, the film is worth watching at least once, just do it with friends and a keg of beer so you have something to do when nobody's fighting and the "Komedy and Laffs" bits stinks up your DVD player.

THE SECOND COMING!

and it has Martial Arts in it and the Stuntpeople.

WoW!!

Where to start my review!

First this:

BEST Martal Arts movie since 'Drunken Master 2'!!}

The exciting eyeopening feeling I got, when I first witnessed Jackie doing tons of versatile excellently choreographed fights with big stunts and falls, was the same when I witnessed CONTOUR!

Stuntpeople really outdid themselves. This movie is highly ambitious without being bloated or pretentious. I really liked a lot of the humor especially when it was fight/stunt related. Situation comedy. (not all the dialog humor worked for me, but that's not really a problem, since the movie has tons and tons of action sequences)

The fights! Well, Like I mentioned , they're very versatile! They all have the thick pizza bottoms (from my theory about a good pizza as analogy to a great fight sequence) which results in; hardcore kick-boxing thickness. And they're flavored with excellent toppings. Like - Insane falls Outstanding fight flow WICKED camera-work (the one that follows the gun in the air is INSANE) Original ideas (the 'tied up' fight, the 'flying bats' fight)

The fights are all super fast and TOUGH, even the fights with girls (which usually, without offense, are the slower and nicer parts in MA movies; people tend to be more gentle toward girls, which is kinda natural of course ) So yeah, Tyler did a great job too! (although her fights can't hold up against the superior level of fights like Eric vs Dennis or Ed vs everyone or Eric vs Andy etc. etc.)

I really see Stuntpeople have developed their own unique style which also explains why I think Contour is one of the best all-time MA movies.

It has a background of 80ies Yuen Woo Ping choreography to it, with Sammo Hung kinda stunts and Janusz Kaminski kinda camera-work. That combined makes for this shattering cocktail of groundbreaking fight-scenes.

Forget Ong Bak! This is a movie where EVERYONE counts. I really think Stuntpeople is the best MA team at the moment, because it's very fair; it does not really pick one of the players as the best, it's team choreography! A thing that is sorely missing these days. As I see Eric Jacobus as main choreographer on the list I think this is his most important input in this style of Fight sequences. Everybody shines.

The bloopers where hardcore too.

The bad things: Well I don't really need to say bad things! I did not fast forward any part! It had so much style, good comedy, witty performances, changing hairstyles in single scenes, and GREAT enthusiasm in it.

You guys are beyond the Hollywood A list, they don't make action like this in Hollywood.

So once again, Props to the entire team Thank you for this good movie and what the future will hold for Stuntpeople.

I caught this film at the Phantasmagoria film festival this weekend and it absolutely blew me away. Contour is easily one of the best martial arts films I've ever seen, and is hilarious to boot. There were a few bits that I felt were a touch out of place, and some of the characters grated a bit, but in terms of amusing characters and red hot action scenes there is very little out there to compete with this, especially not in recent times. The fights have to be seen to believed, including some very funny moments, and they build to a fantastic 3-way final showdown. If you love films like Drive, Drunken Master 2, Dragons Forever and Undisputed 2, then Contour is essential. Great outtake reel too guys, it shows how hard you worked and the sheer passion you have for what you do. Congratulations to everyone involved, you should be very proud indeed.