Prisoner of War

Prisoner of War is a refreshing entry in Scott Adkins' filmography-one that blends martial arts action with the grit of a World War II survival story. Adkins plays a British POW forced into brutal fights against Japanese soldiers determined to break his spirit, all while plotting to escape the camp.

The movie feels like a clever genre mash-up: part The Great Escape, part martial arts tournament film, and part survival drama. It works because it doesn't get lost in the crowd of generic action flicks-there simply aren't many (if any) World War II tournament-style prison escape movies out there. That uniqueness alone makes it stand out.

What really sells the film is its solid storytelling. The objectives are clear, the characters are compelling, and the stakes feel personal. It's not just another flashy martial arts showcase-it's a down-and-dirty survival tale, with echoes of The Deer Hunter's intensity and the grit of Bridge on the River Kwai, but scaled to fit the kind of stripped-down storytelling that suits Adkins' best work.

The action is thoughtfully staged, with wide takes that let you appreciate the choreography. When Adkins faces multiple opponents, it feels grounded and believable rather than over-the-top. At the same time, the emotional hooks run deep-particularly the rivalry between Adkins' character and the Japanese camp commander, which gives the fights weight beyond just physical spectacle.

Ultimately, Prisoner of War is one of the stronger Scott Adkins vehicles in recent years. It balances genre-blending with tight, impactful storytelling, making it not just one of the best Adkins films but also one of the strongest direct-to-video action releases of the year.

Ever since i saw him in Undisputed 2, i have been watching pretty much any movies he star in. I consider myself a Scott Adkins big fan. So when i heard about this movie, i was really hyped. Grabbed some beers, and was ready for an old school martial art extravaganza. Sadly i didn't connect much with the story and the fights, while competent, never really griped me.

The movie has a fun intro but it is set several years after the events of the actual movie. Of course there is a bit of "guys waiting their turn to engage" trope but otherwise its what you would expect from a movie like this. Then you get taken back and the actual story of the movie start with little introduction. James Wright (Scott Adkins) plane is shot down and he get captured.

My biggest issue is the movie then become more of a war movie than a martial art one. Yes there is several fight scenes, but its too often random Japanese soldiers with zero personalities doing 3 on 1 fights against Adkins just for the sake of aknowledging we watching a Scott Adkins movie.

You never get the exitement, or the feeling of anticipation, for him to overcome the next fight or next vilain if you prefer. Normally you would expect the next opponent to be bigger, badder and be more of a struggle, but its not the case. The movie kinda even pull a "switcharoo" on this. Its like it want you to care more about "The Great Escape" part.

While the side characters who are also POW do have some personalities and distinctive looks, i never really cared for any of them. I think this is probably my biggest issue with the movie as a whole, i didn't care much about the characters and the main vilain seem to switch back and forth between cruel and evil to honorable.

Overall its not a bad movie or anything. If you like Scott Adkins you should find entertainement in it. I did to a degree. I didn't "dislike" the movie. But i guess i was expecting this movie to be more of an 8 and it turned out more of a 6.5/10.

That said, i do think the movie was made on a very small budget, so they still managed to make something decent with what they got.

I am gonna round it up to a 7 by IMDB's notation system. I actually enjoyed it more than several movies i gave a 7. But i think because my hype was much higher, i felt disapointement more than if i watched a random movie i had no expectations for.

At least Scott Adkins seem to pump out these low budget martial arts/action movies quite frequently, so its fine if i don't absolutely love them all. Ill be looking for the next one.

A slightly unusual take on a war film, created and written by Mr Adler himself. In these days of political correctness and international cooperation with Japan, it's unusual to find a film which revisits (at least some of) their brutality to POWs during World War II and shows them in a bad light.

Scott Adkins attempts to demonstrate that some of the Japanese followed the Bushido code of honour, but that aspect of the film is largely lost even in the limited cruelty and violence shown here.

The film is a must-see for Scott Adkins fight fans, and he performs in spades.

However, if you are a WWII afficianado, close your eyes and move on. Historically and militarily accurate it is not. To be fair, any film dealing accurately with this subject matter would be sickeningly unwatchable. At least Mr Adkins has created something reasonably entertaining if you leave your brain at the door.

Scott Adkins has made some really good movies like: Undisputed, Ip man, Hard Target, Avengment, Universal Soldier etc.

However, I felt lately that some of his movies were going a bit down hill. In JW4 I didn't like his character it was like he was put in there just to be with Keanu. Then Diablo, both Marko zaror and Adkins are great martial artists but the fighting in that movie was poor. Killer's game with Batista, it was just comical and didn't suit Adkins, it had such a good line up of action stars but was done poorly.

Now to the main point there was good action scenes in this from the start; Adkins surviving in the orient, it provided a good thrill and great use of camaraderie between the characters. I enjoyed the fighting scenes in the pitch. The scenery reminded me a bit of hard target 2 and Savage dog. The only downfall I would say of this movie was the setting, too small and felt cyclical; it was just the fighting pitch and the sleeping bunker which was making it a little montonous. If it explored other areas like the jungle or had a few more locations it would have been done better. Still, alright movie and Scott these are the types of action we want to see.

If you love watching martial arts action films then I can assume that you know who Scott Adkins is and how great he is in doing marital arts, so here is is back with another WW 2 time era set action flick which will keep you entertained throughout the entire time in which some prisoners of war are trying to survive and escape a Japanese camp.. There is nothing very special about this one but I will say this is one of Scott Adkins's better films that he has done in recent years despite having a low budget entire WW 2 setting looked believable and rest of the cast also did well.. It's very unfortunate that a great martial artist and a good looking actor like Scott Adkins is stuck in doing B movies which release direct to video instead of the big screens, Hollywood has done him dirty.. Anyways support him by watching his films and if you enjoy action films with some highly choreographed fight scenes then this one is for you without any doubt...