Reviews
Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor (1994)
Good harmless violent fun
If you're a student of film-making (which I am not), then I'm sure you'd be appalled at the technical holes you could poke through in the acting, lighting, production, etc. However, the whole point of a fight flick is the fighting. The plot exists only as a device to convince the audience of the fighters' motivation to fight, and to that end it works.
As for the fighting, it's really quite good. Unlike the first Kickboxer, the main protagonist actually uses some pretty good Muay Thai to go along with his flashy spinning kicks. He even uses the engaging question at one point, a street fighting classic. The fight choreography is fairly realistic, unlike much of the first Kickboxer which was too "tennis match-y" for my liking (ie: you throw your techniques and I stand there covering until you finish, then we reciprocate). There's even a couple of Machado brothers (Rigan and John), which will please the grapplers. There's even a Frank Zappa lookalike (which I see someone already noticed).
One thing that disappoints me a little is Tong Po. Kamel Krifia does about as well as one could expect, I guess, but he isn't half as menacing as Michel Qissi. Some creative camera angles to make him look bigger, less verbal dialogue and more body language - culminating in a single, memorial line somewhere at a critical point of the movie - would have been better.
Still, overall, if you're looking for some martial arts cheese with good fight action, this is very much worth a look.
Taiyô no ko Esuteban (1982)
Memories...
I watched this when I was 6 or 7 or so, back in the 80s, then soon forgot about it for the next 17 years. I wish I'd remembered more, but then, I wasn't much of a couch potato and didn't catch every episode.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I somehow stumbled on the Wikipedia entry and the memories started coming back. I was a bit too young to be conscious of all the subtexts in the show, but if nothing else, it was what added words like Spaniard, Inca, Olmec, condor, Andes, and El Dorado to my vocabulary. Oh, and I thought Esteban, Zia and especially Tao had funny names. The things one thinks as a kid. I obtained the episodes and started watching. More memories - the voice-over in the intro, the theme, Esteban's medallion.
As for the actual content of the show, it's brilliant stuff, and any thoughtful adult who isn't hung up about watching a "kids show" should watch it if the opportunity arises. I wish it would get re-run for the benefit of today's kids, and if that happens, parents, get your kids to watch it, and don't let them forget it!