Dragon Fire

This movie is, well, not bad. The only bad thing here is acting but if you're looking for good fighting scenes they have it here. The story is very common and is the same in other movies like bloodfist 1. If you're looking for cheap movies with brutal martial arts fighting it's all here.

You will not 'find yourself' in this movie, but if you're looking for some good ass-whoopin's, this is a movie for you.

I wouldn't consider the acting in "Dragon Fire" wholly bad (except for Pamela Pond), either; the rest of the cast in this flick were fairly good-as far as martial arts movies go. The director could have had a little more vision, though: the fights were shot and choreographed very well, but the other parts of the movie lacked drama. I think that makes the acting look worse than it really is.

The plot is done-to-death, but it does have a twist at the end.

Again, if you are looking for an action drama the likes of "Saving Private Ryan," you will not enjoy this movie. But if you just want a kick-ass fighting movie for entertainment that you don't have to put a lot of thought into, check it out.

With so many real-life kickboxing champions in various categories listed on the cover of this film, I expected more - the fight scenes are only average (at least they saved the best one for last). Too many of them are what in pro wrestling is often called "squash matches" - one of the opponents dominates the other completely. The leading man can't act at all, but he does have some funny facial expressions; a few of the other fighters are fun in a comic-book way ("the Hulk"). The movie is pointlessly set in the future, which for the director apparently means that he has to shoot everything through a blue filter (or maybe my VHS copy was just bad). It also wants to be a whodunit, as we don't see the face of the man who kills the hero's brother in the beginning. However, you'll easily guess who it was halfway through. (**)

This was such a dull movie, they shot it at night for 90% of it. Almost this blade runner like feel it seemed someone wanted. This whole futuristic approach was unnecessary. The story is dull and uninspired, the twists and ending you can see a mile away and that last fight in it it so boring and poorly choreographed.

There isn't a single actor in this that I'll remember. The casting of the lead and the guy who trains the lead actor were really poor choices. Most of the movie felt they were fighting in raves with strobe lights and there was way too many strip club like scenes to keep the 5 or so people who watched this interested. Even Steven Seagal would tell them to calm down.

Did this movie make money? I watched it for free and still feel ripped off.

Some time ago, Robert King wrote a fairly standard screenplay about a martial artist who travels to a distant land seeking his brother's killer. This became BLOODFIST, the first starring vehicle of Don Wilson. A while later, Jerry Trimble made his solo debut in FULL CONTACT, a film that shared the same storyline. The same year saw the release of DRAGON FIRE, the sole vehicle of Dominic LaBanca, and wouldn't you know it, it features the exact story as the other two and is credited to the same writer. The template is conducive to a lot of action and very little acting, and I can only guess that filming it three times was easier than writing two new screenplays. Whatever the case, this most recent incarnation's a decent adventure best suited to viewers well-versed in the low-budget martial arts genre.

The story: In 2050, Laker Powers (LaBanca) arrives on a dystopian Earth from an off-world colony in search of his brother, only to find him murdered following a high-stakes street fight. Aided by the shady trainer Slick (Kisu), Laker enters the underground circuit to uncover the killer's identity.

Not unlike its predecessors, DRAGON FIRE sets much store by the athletic abilities of its performers. The cast boasts many real martial artists, several of them former world champions. I can't say this was made the most of, but overall, the fights are decent. The editing is a little bothersome - way too much slow motion and cutting - but the choreography's good enough to be noticed. LaBanca makes for a decent Van Damme stand-in, but the varied fighting styles of the other onscreen competitors are where the real excitement's at. Michael Blanks shows off some cool jump kicks, and Dennis Keiffer has a pretty decent opening brawl. Karate master Val Mijailovic and kung fu exponent Harold Hazeldine do a particularly good job of representing their real-life styles. None of this is going to blow you away, but thanks to their sheer quantity, at least a few of the 16 fights (!) ought to please every viewer.

Those who've seen the film's predecessors can have some fun comparing the three. Though some of the roles are played differently, others are almost direct copies. Kisu as the trainer was previously played by Joe Mari Avellana and Marcus Aurelius; Pamela Pond replaces Marilyn Bautista and Denise Buick as Laker's love interest; Harold Hazeldine rips off Michael Shaner and Gerry Blanck as Laker's goofball buddy; and even Charles Philip-Moore replaces Michael Jai White as the charismatic fight official. Their characters even have the same name! It's a trip, hearing Kisu quoting Avellana quoting Aurelius quoting Sun Tzu. If nothing else, you could get some enjoyment out of buying all three movies and contrasting them beat-by-beat like you could with few others.

While the production values are a little lazy, it's the acting that's really hard to redeem. Viewers will inevitably hit the fast-forward button more than once, jumping ahead to the fight scenes. Despite this, the movie still makes for a relatively fun time and is a nice flashback to a different era of martial arts filmmaking. By no means essential, it's still worth the low price for people who know what they're getting into.