Bloodsport III

Fans of martial art flicks will find pieces to like in 'Bloodsport 3', but the formula is starting to wear thin. The fights are alright, but saving grace is it's cast (many returning faces). By now you know the drill - training montages, revenge, spirituality - and while this entry doesn't have a satisfying finale, it's still got a level of b-movie charm. Once again the tale is told in flashback.

Alex Cardo (Daniel Bernhardt) won the Kumite in Bangkok and then retired from fighting to be a successful gambler in India. After beating off some ninjas at the local casino and retrieving a stolen package for the owners, he meets mob boss Duvalier (John Rhy-Davies) who's gonna host a Kumite and wants him involved. When Alex declines, he lashes out at people close to him, tries to have him killed or at the very least denied entrance to the tournament. He's put all his money on his fighter 'The Beast' and doesn't want him to upset his plans to win.

James Hong returns in a minor way as Sun again. Ditto Pat Morita as Leung and even Judge Macado (Hee-il Cho). They're not specific about how much time has passed, but Cardo has a young son (no word on the mother) now which he tells the tale. Honestly the story is piecemeal at best and illogical at worst. Obviously low budget and very simple. Few scraps along the way to the finale and there's hints of romance, but nothing ever comes of two ladies.

'Bloodsport 3' stands on it's own in the sense that you don't have to see the flicks that came before it, but being familiar with '2' adds heart. Bernhardt is still up to task, returning cameos help and while Davies doesn't get the opportunity to chew the scenery like the way he did in 'Cyborg Cop' just having him was nice. I can't discount though that I became bored and the Kumite, end villain was rather underwhelming.

I knew that this 1996 movie existed, though I never got around to watching it before now in 2023. I can't claim that I was overly interested in "Bloodsport" without Jean-Claude Van Damme. But having just sat through the "Bloodsport 2" movie prior to watching part three, of course I opted to continue on watching the movies.

The storyline in "Bloodsport III", as written by James Williams, was a pretty straightforward and generic one. This time, Alex Cardo (played by Daniel Bernhardt) is out camping with his son Jason (played by David Schatz), when he tells his son the tale of how he won his second Kumite. Yeah, that was about the essence of this movie. Pretty weak storyline actually, but of course writer James Williams was boiling soup on a broth that was already watered down.

Initially I was thrilled to see John Rhys-Davies on the cast list, however his talent was not utilized at all throughout the course of the 91 minutes that the movie ran for. Instead, we get to watch Daniel Bernhardt take on a heap of fighters once again and emerging victorious, all the while doing his best to look like Van Damme in the original 1988 "Bloodsport" movie. Actors James Hong and Pat Morita show up for short appearances in the movie, which was a nice touch. A shame that they didn't opt to give actress Uni Park a bigger part to play.

The fighting in "Bloodsport III" is definitely what keep the movie afloat and keeps it semi-watchable. But of course you know the outcome of the entire ordeal prior to sitting down to watch the movie, so there are no surprises along the way from director Alan Mehrez.

The "Bloodsport III" movie is an archetypical example of a franchise that should have stopped when the going was good.

My rating of "Bloodsport III" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

Not interesting at all, plot is also bad. Bloodsport I was okay, II was kinda watchable, but III and IV are terrible! Poor acting, poor fighting scenes... This movie is one of those movies where you want to leave the cinema although you paid to watch it. Of course I didn't watch it in the cinema, but I was like "dear God, will it end already". You get bored watching it, you know the ending, there are no surprising parts, twists, nothing. I give it 5/10 while being very very generous! It's better than Bloodsport IV, but hey, that's not so hard since IV is one of the worst movies ever made! It would be better for director if he hadn't made sequels after first Bloodsport movie with van Damme. I'm really disappointed.

Swiss martial arts dude Daniel Bernhardt stands in again for Van Damme in this second sequel to "Bloodsport". Alex Cardo has retired from martial arts after winning the Kumite in the last flick, but rich heavy Jonathan Rhys-Davies wants him to compete in a new Kumite he's putting on. When our hero refuses, Davies kills his former teacher James Hong (who wisely appears to have agreed to be in this movie for less than 5 minutes). Cardo seeks out Pat Morita (also in this flick for mere minutes), who hooks Cardo up with his brother, who trains him, even though it is repeatedly stated that Cardo is the best martial artist in the world. He returns to take revenge on Davies by entering the Kumite ... which is actually what Davies wanted him to do in the first place. I confess to being confused at this point. Cardo "gets revenge" by winning the competition, which is what Davies wanted ... but now he doesn't???

Daniel Bernhardt returns as Alex Cardo as he tells in flashback to his son, how his mentor James Hong was killed, how he wins the kumite against "The Beast" who is a titan and along the way discusses how he met the lad's mother. Also on how the kid's grandfather was a no good scumbag, in other words it is Bloodsport for a younger generation. Bloodsport II wasn't exactly great (In fact far from good) but when compared to this boring dud of a sequel, it almost feels as if you can sense how bored the movie is with itself. The fight sequences this time are terribly staged, with martial artistry so sloppy, you'd swear you walked in on a drunken fight. The movie starts off reasonably well enough but once the training montage begins, you'll be so bored that your only excitement in the fight sequences, will be getting closer to the ending. The movie is just so lame. Also the singing in which Amber van Lynt does, is quite positively more damaging to the human body, then any harm "The Beast" inflicts. (I'm not sure if i'm the first to bring that up, but how nobody remembers such awful singing is mind boggling.)

* out of 4-(Bad)