Tom Jolliffe delves into The Dusty VHS Corner for the second part of his Bloodfist marathon (read part 1 here)…
In many a film franchise there comes a point where the steam train is running out of steam. Generally the closer you get to hitting double figures, the closer you get to creative oblivion. Some film series might manage to re-ignite and hit new highs, such as the fifth and sixth Fast & Furious films, which were the best of the whole bunch upon finally realising that it didn’t pay to take them too seriously.
Still, the general rule of thumb is that there’s normally a gradual decline, be it Nightmares on Elm Street, Treks in the stars, or the jump the shark brilliance of putting Jason Vorhees in space.
The Bloodfist saga was no different. A first three with not particularly much to pick between them. Then the fourth rolls around and can’t quite hit the series highs (and the bar, let’s face it, was not high). Now as I mentioned last week, beyond the first two Bloodfist films, every entrant in the series was unconnected, with Don “The Dragon” Wilson playing a different character every time. As such there’s no continual arc that needs addressing. They can do whatever they please every film, and introduce whatever characters they see fit, without effecting previous or subsequent films. Even so, despite something of an advantage there in some respects, the fifth film onwards all felt very stale, and somewhat interchangeable.
Wilson while no means the greatest exponent of the craft of acting, was nether-the-less good at his main requirement, which was kicking people. He also tended to portray characters cut from fine cloth. Good through to the bone, no shades of grey and he did it with a kind of affable charm sometimes lacking in his B movie action contemporaries. At this stage of his career, mid-way through the Bloodfist franchise, he’d done a slew of films, including two of his three Ring of Fire films (though the final, again just adopted the franchise name in some distribution). He would also complete two Cybertracker films (really bad Terminator rip offs).
Here comes the final four Bloodfists:
Bloodfist V: Human Target (1994)
In the fifth instalment, Don gets all Bourne on our ass, paving the way for Matt Damon, in this amnesiac thriller. Wilson plays Jim Stanton. He’s shot in the head and wakes in hospital with no memory of who he is. His wife appears, but she’s not really his wife, and he’s being hunted by all manor of criminals and rogue agents whilst he tries to work out whether he’s a secret agent or a criminal. Needless to say, things get convoluted and the film doesn’t really have the energy to keep your attention enough to fully invest in a rather messy plot.
Overly complex plot aside, and despite the amnesia angle, Wilson doesn’t really do anything new here in terms of characterisation. He tended to play fairly one dimensional roles during the majority of his career. That’s not so much his fault of cause, it’s a symptom of the genre he’s in, and more so the level of that genre he’s working in. Kick first, emote later. This instalment doesn’t have quite as much fighting as the earlier films, leading to drawn out patches where the interest wanes and becomes diverted to the pizza leaflet that just got delivered.
Wilson has certainly done worse films, but he’s done better. If you want to know what the ultimate Wilson masterpiece is, then I’ll tell it’s Red Rising Sun. Aside from Wilson, Bloodfist V also features Steve James in one of his final roles, before he sadly passed away in 1993. He was best known as Michael Dudikoff’s sidekick in American Ninja 1 and 2, as well as generally being a bit part support in films like this despite being a good fighter himself and superior actor to many of the guys he was playing second fiddle too. To say he never got the recognition he deserved would be an understatement.
Beer rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bloodfist VI: Ground Zero (1995)
Given the title you might assume this has something to do with nuclear weapons and you’d be right. This is Die Hard at a nuclear power station with Wilson playing a courier who has to step into action to save the day. Imagine John McClane if he’d been removed from the force and was working for UPS before getting into one of his mis-adventures. Idea for Die Hard 6 duly noted…
Now the humble Die Hard rip off has given us everything from Under Siege, to The Rock, and all the way to the other end of the spectrum, such as this. The super cheap, Poundworld imitation version of Die Hard. Generally these Poundworld imitation versions are pretty horrendous, and Bloodfist VI is no different.
We’re stuck in unconvincing, cheap looking locations without much action and certainly no surprises. Wilson gamely does his thing, but this instalment possibly walks off with the Rocky V award for “duffer of the franchise.” The rest of the cast are pretty uninteresting and aside from a re-appearance from Catya Sassoon (Bloodfist IV) there’s little to write home about.
There’s just something lacking in this and the Die Hard formula that’s trotted out doesn’t seem apt for a franchise which started in the Bloodsport vein. There is a lack of elaborate mano-a-mano battles, building up to a main mano-a-mano battle. Around the same time Wilson had also done another similarly dire Die Hard rip off called Terminal Rush, which should have been called Terminal Bore. This however could have been Terminal Bore 2- The Sleepening.
Beer Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Bloodfist VII: Manhunt (1995)
Having gone the Die Hard route in the previous instalment, the seventh film would decide that after two years, enough time had passed to cannily rip off The Fugitive.
Wilson plays Jim Trudell, a man framed as a cop killer by corrupt cop, having killed one of them in self defence. He must stay alive long enough to clear his name. As in all the films after the third, this one sees Wilson put into a situation over his head and hunted down. Though the series doesn’t connect and the stories could be wildly divergent it always pretty much amounts to the same thing, and again, a world away from what made the first three, enjoyable B-fests.
The cast aren’t fantastic, as is usually the norm in this sort of thing, though Stephen Williams (21 Jump Street) is a solid actor who normally delivers a good performance in this sort of film. He does so here as Captain Doyle.
As expected from a manhunt film there’s plenty of chases, mostly on foot and nothing quite as elaborate as reservoir jumps or escapes from buses about to get hit by trains. Wilson gets to unleash some kick-boxing here and there, but those scenes aren’t as plentiful as this film needs to inject some more pace.
Beer rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bloodfist VIII: Trained To Kill (1996)
Bringing to an end Wilson’s illustrious Bloodfist franchise, the eighth instalment (also known as Hard Way Out) would mark something of an oddity, and thus in some ways, a slight return to form. Much like four-through-seven, it’s not brilliant and there’s a lot of “who can Wilson trust” plot elements going on, but the film takes place and was filmed in Ireland. If previous films had aped Die Hard, The Fugitive and Kickboxer to name a few, this borrows some elements from True Lies, just without the (intentional) comedy and huge budget.
In addition the slightly unfathomable nature of Don’s character, a CIA agent turned high school teacher, who has a troubled relationship with his totally unconvincing son, just layers this film with a smothering of cheese that adds to the entertainment. The father/son aspect is brilliantly hackneyed, while John Patrick White’s goofy performance as Wilson’s son adds some so bad its good moments.
This marks, as strange as it is to say, Wilson’s most exotic, eye catching location since departing The Philippines in the second movie. It’s a welcome change, if only because the previous four films seemed to blend into one. That said, Wilson aside, this wasn’t adverse to a bit of recycling from previous fists, with Jillian McWhirter again appearing, having popped up in the previous film.
There is some decent enough action in this, and whilst Wilson still doesn’t really tread new ground with his character, his hair does its best to be become a character all of its own. It’s quite the magnificent do. In the end the final instalment of Wilson’s star making franchise probably marks the most enjoyable since the first three. There’s a simplicity to it that’s refreshing after a number of convoluted entrants in the Bloodfist series. It’s simple. Wilson’s past catches up with him and he becomes a hunted man, heading off to Ireland to hide out.
Beer rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Next time: Albert Pyun Loves Cyborgs.
Tom Jolliffe
