Category Archives: Asian Related

Ultimate Justice (2017) Review

Director: Martin Christopher Bode Cast: Mark Dacascos, Brandon Rhea, Matthias Hues, Mike Möller, Mike Leeder, Wolfgang Riehm, Martin Baden, Henry Muller, Verena Konietschke, Bartholomäus Kowalski Running Time: 93 min. By Paul Bramhall After a tumultuous couple of years of post-production, in 2017 the sophomore feature from production company Silent Partners (made up of Hong Kong film industry veteran Mike Leeder, and German producer Ruediger Kuemmerle) finally hit DVD in the … Continue reading

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Black Scar Blues (2015) Review

"Black Scar Blues" Theatrical Poster

Director: Leroy Nguyen Cast: Leroy Nguyen, Edmond Shum, Jen Barnard, Donald Williams, Daniel Sim, Mahdi Eltigani Running Time: 80 min. By Jeff Bona Sorry folks, no Kris Wu lookalikes here. In other words, if you’re expecting skinny jeans, sleeve tattoos, DJ counter culture or any of that other now-pretentious bullshit, then Black Scar Blues is NOT the film for you. It’s more honest than that. It’s a film that goes against what Millennials would expect from … Continue reading

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Death Note (2017) Review

"Death Note" Poster

Director: Adam Wingard Cast: Nat Wolff, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, Shea Whigham, Paul Nakauchi, Jason Liles, Willem Dafoe, Jack Ettlinger, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Chris Britton Running Time: 100 min. By Z Ravas The Hollywood remake of Death Note is a project that’s been passed like a hot potato from filmmaker to filmmaker for the better part of a decade. Back in 2011, it looked like Lethal Weapon scribe and Iron Man 3 director Shane Black … Continue reading

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Enter the Warrior’s Gate (2016) Review

"Enter the Warrior's Gate" Chinese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Warrior’s Gate Director: Matthias Hoene Cast: Mark Chao, Ni Ni, Uriah Shelton, Dave Bautista, Francis Ng, Sienna Guillory, Ron Smoorenburg, Dakota Daulby, Kara Hui, Dakota Daulby, Zha Ka Running Time: 108 min. By Z Ravas Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a meek and bullied young Anglo kid finds himself transported to a distant world of Chinese mysticism and martial arts, where he teams with a band of powerful … Continue reading

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Female Fight Squad (2016) Review

Female Fight Squad | DVD (Lionsgate)

AKA: Female Fight Club Director: Miguel A. Ferrer Cast: Amy Johnston, Cortney Palm, Rey Goyos, Sean Faris, Dolph Lundgren, Shaun Brown, Levy Tran, Folake Olowofoyeku, Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez, Jeanette Samano, Briana Marin, Chuck Zito Running Time: 90 min. By Z Ravas Hot on the heels of Lady Bloodfight’s Netflix debut, Lionsgate has released Amy Johnston’s other martial arts film, the movie formerly known as Female Fight Club, via On Demand services. Unfortunately for fans of the … Continue reading

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Death Fighter | aka White Tiger (2017) Review

"White Tiger" International Theatrical Poster

Director: Toby Russell Cast: Matt Mullins, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Chiranan Manochaem, Joe Lewis, Jawed El Berni, Gigi Velicitat, Yuhkoh Matsuguchi, Prasit Suanphaka Running Time: 88 min. By Z Ravas The movie once known as White Tiger, now titled Death Fighter, has seen a long and winding road to release. I say this primarily because the film represents the last appearance by Joe Lewis, Karate Champion and friend of Bruce Lee, … Continue reading

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Lady Bloodfight (2016) Review

Lady Bloodfight | DVD (Lionsgate)

AKA: Lady Bloodsport Director: Chris Nahon Cast: Amy Johnston, Muriel Hofmann, Jenny Wu, Kathy Wu, Jet Tranter, Mayling Ng, Sunny Coelst, Rosemary Vandebrouck, Lisa Cheng Running Time: 100 min. By Z Ravas Ever wonder what happened to Chris Nahon? After helming Kiss of the Dragon – what many fans consider to be one of Jet Li’s best English-language films, if not the best – way back in 2001, the filmmaker chose to keep a relatively low profile … Continue reading

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Kill ’em All (2017) Review

"Kill 'em All" Japanese DVD Cover

Director: Peter Malota Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Autumn Reeser, Peter Stormare, María Conchita Alonso, Daniel Bernhardt, Kris Van Damme, Mila Kaladjurdjevic, Peter Organ Running Time: 96 min. By Kelly Warner Stunt performers and fight coordinators are awesome individuals that go largely underappreciated by far too many film fans. I tend to think that may not be the case at City on Fire, but the point remains. These men and women … Continue reading

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Atomic Blonde (2017) Review

"Atomic Blonde" International Theatrical Poster

Director: David Leitch Writer: Kurt Johnstad Cast: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella, Toby Jones, Bill Skarsgård, Daniel Bernhardt, Sam Hargrave, James Faulkner, Roland Møller, Lili Gesler Running Time: 115 min. By Kelly Warner With a bit of fancy editing and a dash of special effects, movies can make just about anyone into an action hero these days. But every once in a while, a … Continue reading

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Cartels | aka Killing Salazar (2016) Review

Cartels | aka Killing Salazar | Blu-ray & DVD (Lionsgate)

Director: Keoni Waxman Cast: Steven Seagal, Georges St. Pierre, Luke Goss, Darren E. Scott, Florin Piersic Jr., Martine Argent, Lauro Chartrand, Bruce Crawford, Claudiu Bleont, Howard Dell, George Ramos, Adina Galupa Running Time: 93 min. By Paul Bramhall In Cartels the not-so-dynamic duo of director Keoni Waxman, and his muse Steven Seagal, collaborate once again on one of their countless direct-to-DVD titles. Interestingly Cartels was originally due for release in … Continue reading

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Savage Dog (2017) Review

Savage Dog | Blu-ray & DVD (Xlrator)

Director: Jesse V. Johnson Writer: Jesse V. Johnson Cast: Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Cung Le, JuJu Chan, Vladimir Kulich, Keith David, Charles Fathy, Matthew Marsden, Sheena Chou, Luke Massy, Aki Aleong Runnning Time: 94 min. By Paul Bramhall The transition from stuntman to director should, by nature, not be an easy one. However recently guys like Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, the pair of stuntmen turned directors behind John Wick, have been making it seem like a walk … Continue reading

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Okja (2017) Review

"Okja" Teaser Poster

Director: Bong Joon-ho Cast: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Byun Hee-bong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Je-moon, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Choi Woo-shik, Giancarlo Esposito, Jake Gyllenhaal Running Time: 120 min.  By Kelly Warner “Here, you’ve got to try this,” is something I think we’ve all heard from somebody in the presence of food. And maybe we’ve even been secretly waiting for such an invitation to sample … Continue reading

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Mifune: The Last Samurai (2016) Review

"Mifune: The Last Samurai" Theatrical Poster

Director: Steven Okazaki Cast: Keanu Reeves, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Koji Yakusho, Sadao Nakajima, Kyoko Kagawa Running Time: 80 min. By Kelly Warner “The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression; Mifune needed only three.” – Akira Kurosawa Like many others, I have Godzilla to thank for first introducing me to Japanese movies. But when the day finally came for me … Continue reading

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Billy Jack (1971) Review

Director: Tom Laughlin Writer: Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor Cast: Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, Clark Howat, Victor Izay, Julie Webb, Debbie Schock, Teresa Kelly, Lynn Baker, Stan Rice, David Roya, John McClure Running Time: 114 min. By Zach Nix Steven Seagal is one of the most interesting action stars to ever grace the screen and achieve a significant amount of success. He’s always been a personal obsession of mine, especially because … Continue reading

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Diamond Cartel (2017) Review

"Diamond Cartel" Theatrical Poster

AKA: The Whole World at Our Feet Director: Salamat Mukhammed-Ali Cast: Karlygash Mukhamedzhanova, Armand Assante, Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, Bolo Yeung, Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, Peter O’Toole, Michael Madsen, Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister, Aleksey Frandetti, Nurlan Altaev, Serik Bimurzin Running Time: 100 min. By Paul Bramhall As a candidate for the cinematic oddity of 2017, Diamond Cartel is certainly a strong contender for the prize. The Kazakhstan production was originally titled The Whole … Continue reading

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