User reviews

I've yet to watch a movie starring Cynthia Rothrock that wasn't rife with peculiarities, and at that, usually all the same ones. Her films are generally blunt and over the top in most significant aspects, including writing and acting if not also direction, and often ham-handed and inauthentic on top. She's not uncommonly no more than second fiddle in her own starring vehicles - and yet for all that, the fight choreography is broadly well done. It's an odd mixture at all times, and 'Martial law' doesn't try hard to convince us that it's any different. From excessive sound cues (such "whooshes" as fists or feet flying through the air or hitting their marks), to massively done-up and visually distinct hair, makeup, or costume design; from small, gratuitous flourishes, to an enjoyable but curious score from Elliot Solomon that oscillates between guitar fireworks, fanfare that wouldn't sound out of place opening 'Saturday Night Live,' and synth-driven ambient pieces - there's a lot going on here. Most prominent actor Chad McQueen, playing actual protagonist Thompson, really does look like a Joe Piscopo impersonator; a scene set in a nightclub features a very 80s hair metal band and song (accordingly Tempest, performing "Sauza" - I won't lie, I liked it); and there's a brusqueness to the execution of some action sequences that somewhat defies suspension of disbelief.

Through it all, I'm surprised to find myself thinking that 'Martial law' is, in some ways, better than I anticipated. Maybe it's director Steve Cohen's guidance of the cast that we have to thank, but the acting feels unexpectedly restrained and sober compared to other Rothrock films. For all the flair here and there, including sequencing and otherwise editing that echoes that cheeky tenor, it almost seems like the production is played straight, declining the greater bombast we're used to seeing from her and those with whom she shares the screen. David Carradine, Philip Tan, John Fujioka - and yes, even Rothrock - all show glimmers of real nuance in their acting that's a far cry from the tomfoolery we saw in, say, 'Honor and glory,' or 'Tiger claws.' Even when performances are overdone (for better or worse I'm looking at you, Vincent Craig Dupree), it's unmistakably intentional, and though he has a small part, it's always a minor joy to see Professor Toru Tanaka. The cinematography and sound design are crisp and clear, the orchestration of every shot and scene is suitable - honestly, in a lot of ways, 'Martial laws seems pretty well made.

The biggest question,though, is of course the writing. Richard Brandes doesn't have a lot of credits to his name in that capacity, with one of the few others being this picture's sequel. There's no substantial depth to most characters, and they mostly fill familiar action-thriller crime flick archetypes. There's occasional cleverness to the dialogue, but so much of it just feels unremarkable and downright uninteresting. The scene writing is a little stronger, but varies wildly in accordance with the needs of the story - some bits seem well thought out and work to engage our attention, advance the plot, or enrich the experience as a whole, while other instances just feel overblown or unnecessary. And as to that plot: it's complete, coherent, and cohesive. It's also oafishly slow and meandering as it switches gears at intervals from criminal enterprise, to criminal investigation, to family drama, and back again, with martial arts sprinkled throughout. For that matter: apart from some key scenes, the cinema-ready disciplines are weirdly deemphasized in the screenplay, letting the other elements take precedence to the disadvantage of 'Martial law' - while antagonist Rhoades' (Carradine) signature finishing move is overused until it fails to provide invigoration. The result of it all is a title that's hard to get excited about, not least of all as the core plot doesn't seem to go much of anywhere until the last third of the runtime, and even then it comes and goes with minimal impact.

The feature has a leg up on some of its brethren when it comes to technical craft, so I suppose that's worth something. But even if we generously put aside the major dearth of screen time for top-billed Rothrock, which still blows my mind, there's still so little about the movie that inspires, or gets the blood flowing. As the length lackadaisically saunters to the climax - and a final fight that is admittedly quite well done - one can't help but ask what it was all for. Everyone involved does their part, more or less - so what? I'd much sooner watch a romp buzzing with ridiculous, exaggerated ham-handedness and questionable construction than a solidly built snooze. Unfortunately, by and large, that's just what we get in 'Martial law,' and I wonder if I'm not being too kind in my assessment as it stands.

What's kind of sad is that it really didn't have to be this way. More than anything else, all the feature needed was more martial arts - and, once more to highlight, more Rothrock - to improve upon the actual finished product. Oh well. Cautiously recommendable for martial arts fanatics and utmost fans of the cast, and halfheartedly enjoyable for those receptive to all the wide variety that cinema has to offer. There's just no need to seek this out, though, and actively keep your expectations in check if you decide to sit for it nonetheless.

Despite her being all over the cover, she's barely in this. Instead you get sub-Joe Piscapo look a like Chad McQueen in a dorky jacket stumbling through fight scenes and looking like a goof. Nothing to see here.

Cynthia Rothrock kicked off her movie career in Hong Kong, but was eventually lured back to the U.S. to star in numerous martial arts films, very few of which come close to the quality of her Eastern output. Martial Law, one of her earlier American efforts, is a forgettable action flick with Ms. Rothrock relegated to supporting character, vice cop Billie Blake, love interest of Sean Thompson (Chad McQueen), who goes undercover to bring down the bad guys responsible for the death of his wayward younger brother Michael (Andy McCutcheon).

With such a clichéd plot and with Cindy playing second fiddle to McQueen, the film doesn't offer much for fans of the lovely lethal lady to get excited about. There are sporadic fight scenes that fail to impress thanks to uninspired direction from Steve Cohen and weak choreography, and the casting of David Carradine as crime-lord Dalton Rhodes leads to a rather disappointing final showdown, the actor (54 at time of shooting) unable to pull off any impressive moves. The most memorable performance is by Philip Tan as Rhodes' Cockney right-hand man Wu Han - he's a blast. Also look out for the great Bennie 'The Jet' Urquidez as a nameless henchman.

Now, I have been been a fan of Cynthia Rothrock, and I have always avoided her movies during my youth. But within the recent years, I have started to watch her movies, if I have had a chance to sit down and do so. Not that I am actively seeking out her movies, nor am I a fan of hers in any way, but since I haven't seen her movies before, I do so whenever I get a chance.

And thus I happened to come across the 1990 crime action movie "Martial Law" here in 2022. Sure, I knew about the movie by its title, but I had actually never seen it before now in 2022. Were I impressed? No, not really. Sure, "Martial Law" was a watchable enough movie, but it was a rather generic martial arts movie, so writer Richard Brandes and director Steve Cohen weren't exactly delivering gold here.

The acting in the movie was adequate, with the likes of Chad McQueen, Cynthia Rothrock, David Carradine and others on the cast list. While I still am not a converted fan of Cynthia Rothrock, I will say that she does know how to fight.

"Martial Law" had adequate martial arts and fighting sequences to it, which made the movie all the more bearable to watch, truth be told.

Having seen "Martial Law" now, for the first time, I am not particularly much a fan of the movie, and I doubt that I will ever return to watch it a second time.

My rating of "Martial Law" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

I never thought I'd see another flick feature the Dim Mak "death touch" like 'Bloodsport', but it's here. 'Martial Law' is a b-movie through and through. The type of which I'm starting to have an appreciation for, but it can't be denied that the story on display is second rate. Carradine and Rothrock have their moments though in this standard beat 'em up.

Sean Thompson (Chad McQueen) is a cop that goes by the nickname "Martial Law". Yes, seriously. Crooks around town call him that. He spent a few years in Japan so of course he's a martial arts expert. After ridiculously busting up a hostage situation in the opening, he has to contend with his younger brother Michael who's gotten himself in too deep stealing cars for Dalton Rhodes (David Carradine). An all around bad dude dealing in a lot of shady stuff, owner of a martials arts studio and a badass himself. Lending Sean a hand is fellow cop, martial arts practitioner and part time lover Billie Blake (Cynthia Rothrock).

Carradine was no stranger to b-movie roles in the 80's and early 90's, but he puts in a sober performance here. Cynthia plays 2nd fiddle but still gets to display her chops. Chad McQueen - son to the legendary Steve McQueen - is another matter. He's not quite out of shape, but looks a little doughy for the hero tough-guy role he's supposed to be pulling off though his martial arts are on point. Oh and when your brother is arrested for GTA after hopping out of a Porsche 911 and feeds you the story he was just hitchhiking and you believe it - you're an idiot. What kind of Porsche owner gives random strangers a ride!?

'Martial Law' has some gunplay, the fisticuffs you expect, but you gotta contend with a few annoying characters and a few too many stupid moments in the story. Kill an informant right in front of the cops for instance. A step-up sequel followed a year later with Rothrock and Jeff Wincott taking on the Sean Thompson role and is a better package.

Cheap DVD + Cynthia Rothrock + David Carradine + Chad McQueen as a butt-kicking cop whose nickname is Martial Law = Instant winner.

Chad McQueen stars as Sean Thompson, a cop whose martial-arts skills are so good that even his brother Michael calls him Martial Law more often then Sean. Sean teams up with another cop, Billie Blake (Cynthia Rothrock) to beat bad-guys up and stop a gang of car-smugglers and drug-runners under the command of Dalton Rhodes (David Carradine). Sean and Billie are going to need all of their skills to take on Dalton, as he has a nasty habit of killing nearly everyone he meets.

Plot? What plot? Just remember the term 'Dim Mak', and you'll know how Rhodes goes about killing people. There are some points where McQueen and Rothrock seem to forget that they are in an action B-movie, as McQueen's character laments that he abandoned his brother to go to Hong Hong, and has nothing to show for it apart from martial-arts championship trophies. Awesome.

'Martial Law' has some nice fight scenes, although none stand out as being anything special. It is entertaining, and all that really matters is we get to see Cynthia Rothrock and Chad McQueen in plenty of butt-kicking action.

As far as action B-movies go, 'Martial Law' is nothing special, but is fun to watch - 6/10

Chad McQueen is perhaps one of Hollywood's most underappreciated actors. While his performance in Martial Law is not his best, it is one of the most tender, in that he plays a street-hardened cop torn by the death of his brother. McQueen brings together a fine blend of toe-jamming action and heart-wrenching drama. His sexy co-star Cynthia Rothrock, also comes from the "west coast" drama scene. An accomplished actress through out college and beyond, she lends her acting talents to this fine film. If you've never seen her in the off-Broadway production of "Hair" you haven't lived yet. This movie is a powerful blend of action and drama.

At this point it was clear that Hong Kong movie studios have surpassed the quality of American B movie production studios. This is a movie that features Cynthia Rothrock, but if you compare the quality of the production of this movie to the ones she's starred in in Hong Kong, there's no comparison. There're very little redeeming quality to this movie.

Like other bad B movies, the movie is almost entirely constructed out of low importance teaser. The real action doesn't start until the very last minute.

The story of this movie is so derivative, and the way it's shot is mediocre to bad. There are many scenes with hard shadows that makes them difficult to see what the subject is.

Even with these negatives, if you're a Cynthia Rothrock fan, you'd probably be entertained.

This is a real B movie, and a bad one. Best stay away from it.

Chad McQueen and Cynthia Rothrock star as two martial artist cops who take on a Mr. Big (The always lovable David Carradine) who is also responsible for the senseless murder of McQueen's admittedly not too bright brother, much action ensues as David Carradine manages to convince despite being too old to do martial arts. That is something that you don't want to dismiss, David Carradine has always been a slower martial artist, despite being quite precise and stylish. Carradine has always been more of a self defense styled martial artist so seeing him play a martial arts bad ass is somewhat hilarious due to the fact that Carradine somehow manages to still upstage (Despite being 54) his hopelessly slow co-star Chad McQueen. Worst of all is that while Rothrock is easy on the eyes, her roll in the sack with McQueen provides the viewer with some of the most awkward sex scenes ever. It is mainly David Carradine who steals what little show there is here.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

Weak direct-to-video martial arts action film is a dumb story about a couple of undercover cops, Chad McQueen and Cynthia Rothrock, taking on evil smuggler and martial arts expert, David Carradine. With the exception of Rothrock, who first made her mark on the martial arts world as a world champion and later as an actress in some now classic Hong Kong martial arts action flicks, working with the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Corey Yuen, becoming one of the few western performers to find stardom in the Asian film market. Rothrock is far and away the best martial artist on screen here and is far more interesting to see fight than McQueen or Carradine, although Carradine is the best actor of the bunch, chewing up the scenery and nearly stealing all of his scenes. There's also a fair amount of familiar Asian character actors, such as Professor Toru Tanaka, which does add to the fun, but generally speaking this is a pretty weak martial arts action flick and a rather inauspicious debut for Rothrock into the American film market. You're better off sticking with her Hong Kong films like "Yes, Madam!" or "Righting Wrongs."

Although her role is actually secondary to Chad McQueen's (who is an OK action lead), Cynthia Rothrock is at her near-best in "Martial Law", both looks-wise and fighting-wise. She even goes 1-on-1 against Benny "The Jet" Urquidez at one point, though her highlight is probably when she delivers 6 or 7 rapid kicks in a row to a guy's head! But the script & direction are perfunctory, the "family drama" stuff is so lame and tiresome that it should have been left out altogether, and David Carradine is a weak, boring villain. If you find yourself watching this movie, my advice is to fast-forward through ALL of the dialogue scenes and focus only on the fight scenes - you won't be missing a thing, and you will be getting the maximum value for your money. (**)

In terms of early '90s martial arts vehicles for Cynthia Rothrock, I really enjoyed CHINA O'BRIEN and its sequel, which were thoroughly entertaining and full of slick action. This film, not so much. It's saddled with the chubby and decidedly uncharismatic Chad McQueen as the lead, and the storyline and action just aren't interesting enough to get excited about.

The plot sees McQueen and Rothrock going up against a minor crime lord, played with overacting relish by David Carradine. Philip Tan is the Cockney-speaking henchman, and there's a hell of a lot of scenes of Rothrock kicking various goons in the head, but it's all underwhelmingly shot with below par choreography. I suppose if you're in a deeply forgiving mood then this sort of thing might just about pass muster, but it's not my cup of tea at all.

I dont know whether to appreciate these these movies or look at them in disbelief. I watched martial law 2 first by accident before I seen this one. And the two were similar and had nothing to do with each other. I remember hearing about cynthia when I was younger so now that I'm 41 years old and have time I decided to catch back up on the 90s action flicks I missed. And I'm impressed.

This disappointing part is how far they go to use stereotypes in these movies. The black dudes always look typical and usually a superstar small role with the same hair cuts. Even the same as the Asian guys. Known karate experts barely talk. It's sad how much they ripped off from Japan.

And of course your typical white guy who seems to have learned from the asians hand taught "grew up in Hong Kong" type. The whole raised by wolves type of plot. One of a kind.

With that said this movie gets a 6 from me only cause it sticks with the plot. You can follow this movie super easy. The one liners were pretty good. But the acting wasnt that terrible. Its definitely re watchable.

I would have gave it an 8 but i dont recall anything blown up. I dont recall any nudity and david carradine saved the bad guy scenes. But not his best acting. Cynthia saved this movie. Her high kicking antics made it watchable

It is a good way to spend the afternoon getting into the cop Vs Crim thing. Very interesting script. L.A is where two main cops try to take a ruthless gang leader who dresses well and has a band of martial arts expects at his hand and a club to hang around.

The story goes that the gang leader is trying to get into the sport promotion scene and ends up doing a couple of murders along the way. The two cops track him down and try to bring him to justice.

As always when you try to bring a Hollywood bad man to justice it ends in a fight. All the martial bad men (and women) fight against the two cops and in the end you've guessed it - the gang leader gets killed in a end film fight (that wasn't that good).

The film is easy to read, no need for heavy thinking. Just enjoy the drama and the fighting. Could of been better though.

Here's a martial art film I say is a real keeper. "Martial Law" is fine, fast, and running and it's full of great action. Chad McQueen(Steve's son) plays a cop who teams with Cynthia Rothrock who also can kick some serious butt. I like it when she does that over the head kick that's really stealthy. David Carradine plays the sinister crime boss, Dalton Rhodes. It was amazing when he does that lethal palm strike to the heart of that huge guy. When done right, it can kill. Unfortunately, Sean's brother Micheal(Andy McCutcheon) fell the powerful impact of it when he was working for Rhodes. I liked the scene where Sean(McQueen) and Billie(Rothrock) took on the thugs, and Billie does the split and did some repeated groin punches on one the thugs. That's enough to make Johnny Cage jealous! I also like the confrontation fight between Sean and Dalton. It was great to see Dalton get a taste of his own blow. That blow is only good for defense, not for fun among friends. This movie is a lot of fun, and it's a keeper in my book! 3 out of 5 stars!

My teenage self who was watching these types of movies would disagree with me as stern as he could. While I hope he would not be tempted to rate it a 10 out of 10, I know he would indulge in it and rate it higher. And some say I'm being too nice with my ratings.

But back to this, which has Cynthia Rothrock and a guy I can't remember seeing in my youth, when I watched hordes of movies like this. He does have a short introduction at the beginning at it is a decent scene overall to be fair. Except that the stunts dated so badly, it hurts watching. Which is incredible if you think about it: you can actually see how the punches are way off target! But of course it was still enough to spawn a sequel, which is also not a bad thing in general