Heatseeker

Keith Cooke plays the last human kickboxer who competes in a tournament where men with cybernetic replacements, (Or are they cyborgs, whatever the case my braincells were lost during the transition) of course he is forced to fight because his girlfriend (Tina Cote) has been abducted and is being forced to train Xao (Gary Daniels) who is a cyborg. Also aboard is Thom Mathews who looks to redeem himself and his father. The only good thing I can say about Heatseeker is that I didn't have to pay to see it, since I caught it on the Sci-Fi channel. Unfortunately that is all it has going for it. Heatseeker also ranks as one of the dullest features from Albert Pyun. His best efforts being the Kickboxer series (So far what I have seen) have been works of mediocrity but Heatseeker comes from a curse that no good movie has ever been made by Pyun, that involves cyborgs, robots or machines.) His best to date was the confusing and sub par Nemesis. However with Heatseeker, Pyun is desperately out of ideas and imagination, so he simply turns this into a robot jox of the fighting circuit. Also of note is that none of the fight sequences evoke excitement and overall we are left to watch a movie that is hideously dull in it's uninspired tone.

* out of 4-(Bad)

I have often found myself defending Albert Pyun for some of his films that few other people like (like "Nemesis"), but "Heatseeker", a pretentious mix of pseudo-sci-fi and martial arts action, really is one of his worst films. Keith Cooke (whom I first spotted in "China O'Brien 2", where he stole the show from Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton), is an impressive kicker; Gary Daniels is an excellent opponent; and the cast is obviously full of real fighters. If Pyun had cut out all the crap about cyber enhancement and rival bio-engineering companies, we would probably have about 30 minutes of straight fighting. In other words, the movie is watchable, but only if you know how to use your fast-forward button. (*)

No budget, no actors, and a plot that has been used so many times that it is threadbare. Red-and-blue oozing neons tries to hide the fact that this is all done in cheap sets, as most video fodders. Avoir this.

In the future scientifically enhanced fighters do battle at a tournament arranged by the Corporations who developed the technology.

With a bigger budget, a better cast and a more capable director, Heatseeker actually had some potential. Unfortunately, it is poorly acted, badly photographed, and there is a dreadful music score. The sets could also have been much better. The only thing going for it is some halfway decent fight sequences. But this isn't enough to warrant even one star.

this could've been a martial arts B movie classic. But if I didn't know better, I'd swear this was made from a video game. Sadly it's that bad. That said, I've studied martial arts a long time and the choreography was interesting enough to keep me watching. That and Keith Cooke is no joke. He's the real deal and he's been around a long time though he never had a big enough vehicle to really exploit his talent.

I give it a 5 because I'm a martial arts junkie and a huge fan of cyberpunk. Even sucky cyberpunk like Johnny Mneumonic. However the movie was a letdown in that it really didn't establish the cyberpunk theme. Too bad because the premise is great. A totally human fighter enters a tournament of cyber enhanced fighters. But in fact they could've taken the cyber stuff out, and you'd have the same exact movie pretty much. Oh well, for a late night movie on Sci Fi I can't really complain I suppose. :D