Blackbelt | Blu-ray (Shout! Factory)
Shout! Factory has officially announced a Blu-ray for Charles Philip Moore and Rick Jacobson’s cult martial arts film Black Belt, which may have served inspiration for the 1992 Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner hit film, The Bodyguard (or was it the other way around?)
Also made in 1992, Black Belt stars 11-time World Kickboxing Champion Don “The Dragon” Wilson (Showdown in Manila, Martial Arts Kid) and Matthias Hues (No Retreat, No Surrender II: Raging Thunder).
Rock star Shanna (Deirdre Imershein) needs protection from the ruthless and pathological killer John Sweet (Matthias Hues), who suffers from a mother fixation along with a penchant for brutal violence. Also in pursuit of Shanna is her corrupt business manager, who has his own interests at heart. Reluctantly, she hires ex-cop and martial arts coach Jack Dillon (Don “The Dragon” Wilson) as her bodyguard … and he’ll have his work cut out for him as Deirdre’s enemies close in on her with increasingly desperate determination. Richard Beymer (Twin Peaks, West Side Story) also stars.
Available as an Exclusive at Shout! Factory’s store, the Blu-ray appears to be somewhat of a barebones release (at least it comes with a Trailer!), but for fans who didn’t see it during its theatrical run, its 1.85:1 aspect ratio presentation is its main selling point.
Black Belt is currently available exclusively at Shout! Factory’s online store.
The guy from Westside Story and Twin Peaks is in this and because he’s a good actor and everybody else isn’t (Though the blonde Fabio Bolo Yeung rip off was a passable as a villain) he just completely outacts The Dragon. Like it’s up there with when Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey just acted Steven Seagal off the screen or when Cary Tagawa outacted Dolph Lundgren and (especially) Brandon Lee out of the film’s zip code. The difference in those is that said actors were merely wooden or given terrible dialogue to mangle (See Lundgren and Lee) in Wilson’s case it’s literally like watching a high school drama trying to trade dialogue with DeNiro back when he gave a shit. The fights were good. But seriously next time you watch a Dragon flick, just observe the ridiculous facial expressions with his eyebrows, the way he struggles to match the other actor’s diction and how badly he throws himself into a scene where he fakes getting shot. The man is literally so so so bad at his craft. Still, the movie is a must see for fans if silly schlock cinema. It’s not as fun as American Ninja 1,Revenge Of The Ninja or Bruce Lee The Invincible, but the climax where the Fabio Bolo Yeung cuts off his finger and such magically grows back in his swordfight comes close. A must see for fans of schlock cinema.