Leofwine_draca Straight-to-video hero Don "The Dragon" Wilson was never going to be one of the big time martial arts stars, but he does well enough with BLACKBELT, a film which may be the best of his career. BLACKBELT is a non-stop assault on the senses of extreme violence, bone-breaking brutality and bloodshed, with a wafer-thin plot that doesn't get in the way of a fight scene every five minutes or so. This is definitely one of the most violent fight flicks I've seen in a long time, and despite heavy cutting on release (both in the UK and the US) it still remains a gruesome exercise in stage blood and bone-breaking sound effects.The plot is nothing special: imagine a hard-assed version of THE BODYGUARD with Wilson replacing Costner and you'll be halfway there. The female leads are non-actresses but attractive enough in their roles, and although Wilson is typically wooden as the hero he packs a wallop in the fight scenes and kicks ass more times than I can count. Matthias Hues (DARK ANGEL) is surprisingly good as the psychopathic killer and I love the flashback scenes which explain his mental disorder. It's a shame the shaggy-haired hardman hasn't appeared in more flicks and has been typecast as the villain; I for one would like to watch him as the hero for a change.BLACKBELT offers one adrenaline-charged fight scene after another during its running time, all battles excellently choreographed by Wilson himself. The budget is low and executive producer Roger Cormaan seems to have played a part in assembling an American-looking Filipino cast to fill out the smaller roles, up to his old tricks again by the look of it. The wealth of action that BLACKBELT offers is impossible to dismiss and this film hits the mark where many others fail. The finale is a class act and his final one-on-one unmissable entertainment.

Comeuppance Reviews Jack Dillon (The Dragon) is an ex-cop turned martial arts instructor. He also does favors on the side for people that need help but can't exactly go to the cops. When up-and-coming singing star Shanna (Imershein) receives a severed finger in a box, she turns to Dillon for help. Shanna has other problems as well, as her "backer" is mobster Eddie Deangelo (Beymer). He's pressuring her to sign a new contract with him, and she doesn't want to. Naturally Deangelo focuses all his rage (and goons) on Jack Dillon, her new protector. Amidst fighting his way through the underworld to protect Shanna, Jack discovers that insane, murderous, psychopathic ex-mercenary killer John Sweet (Hues) is behind all the mayhem. Only a confrontation between Dillon and Sweet will determine the fate of Shanna, among other people. Who will win? As this is a Corman production, it seems he wanted to go with the Bloodfist formula of having real-life martial artists in the cast, and with their screen credit along with their name is their fighting title. Also it's 80 minutes, so right there we see the formula. But Blackbelt is truly Don "The Dragon" Wilson at his best. His lovably wooden performances are here in full, but he gets a ton of great lines (pretty much all of them, and they're almost all snappy one-liners). Wilson worked on the fight choreography, and in true early-90's fashion, the violence is simultaneously brutal and, at times, very funny. Both his, as well as Matthias Hues' entrances are both great and it's a treat to see them together, and their final fight doesn't disappoint.Hues also puts in a career-best performance as the Psycho (1960)-inspired Oedipal bad guy. Sure, Hues is always the baddie, but here he shows some depth as the ironically-named Sweet. Also, according to the plot, his blows are powerful enough to kill people. And his yells and grunts are priceless.Naturally, in a classic cliché, Dillon and Deangelo "go way back" - and it should be noted that even though Dillon isn't officially on the force, he has a partner, Sturges (Blumenfeld). There really should have been a Dillon and Sturges TV show. It would have been a great cop drama - the classic, dedicated but pudgy cop and the Karate-fighting ex-cop solving crimes. What's really criminal is that this was never made. But at least we have Blackbelt. (However, that title is somewhat misleading, as Dillon's, nor anyone else's) belt level is ever talked about, much less fought over.Not to be insulting to Miss Imershein, but the role of Shanna should have gone to someone just a little bit hotter, perhaps Wilson's Ring of Fire (1991) co-star and frequent Corman starlet Maria Ford. Then their relationship would have been more believable. But watch out for the posters of Shanna gracing the cover of "Rock" magazine (not meant to look like Spin, surely), along with Pearl Jam. Hey, it was 1992 after all. But all her accolades are certainly deserved once you see her perform the song "Love Rocket" - along with the background dancers who are so comatose they make Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" girls look like a row of Rip Taylors on speed.As for the VHS box: The story for the movie was co-written by Neva Friedenn (who also wrote for other Wilson vehicles) - and on the cover there is a quote: "The most action packed, sexiest kickboxing movie ever made!!" Note the two exclamation points. And guess who the quote is attributed to? Yes, Neva Friedenn! You can tout your own productions on their VHS boxes like that? Who knew? Additionally, they misspell "Matthias" when talking about the mighty Hues. Just shameful, really.It should also be noted that Ian Jacklin is in this movie for about one second. Despite that, this movie is still worth seeing, as it is an entertaining romp from the golden age with two of the genre's most beloved stars. What's not to like?For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

callanvass This is a surprisingly decent martial arts film, with some good fight scenes and 2 fun performances from Don "The Dragon" Wilson and Matthias Hues!. All the characters are pretty cool, and the story isn't too shabby either, plus Don has quite a bit of charisma and has a certain presence to him!. This has got to be one of the best low budget Martial arts films i have ever seen, and it's also pretty well made, and the acting is above par for this type of film!, plus Matthias Hues is one scary dude!. The characters are really likable, and the martial arts action is pretty good, however i was a bit disappointed in the final fight i thought it could have been a lot better, and most importantly longer!!. It's sad Don continued to do Direct to video films after his 1st 3 Bloodfist films were all a flop, as i thought he had a great deal of potential to be a cool action star!,and the fight choreography was great! plus it's got some of the most violent fight scenes ever!. This is a surprisingly decent martial arts film, with some good fight scenes and 2 fun performances from Don "The Dragon" Wilson", worth the watch. The Direction is decent. Charles Philip Moore and Rick Jacobson do a decent job here with above average camera work, cool angles, and keeping the film at a fast pace!. There is quite a bit of blood and violence. We get lots of very bloody gunshot wounds,severed finger,bloody broken noses,lots of harsh bloody beatings,bloody stabbings,cut off finger,an extremely bloody impaling, and lots of blood.The Acting is surprisingly not bad!.Don 'The Dragon' Wilson is fantastic here, he is a lot of fun to watch, had quite a bit of charisma, did okay in his emotional scenes, is a great martial artist, had okay chemistry with Deirdre Imershein and was great overall!. (Wilson Rules!).Matthias Hues is very menacing as the main villain, and is a frightening presence, and what's more scarier he is a martial artist! (Hues rules). Deirdre Imershein is hot, and did what she had to do decently i rather liked her. Rest of the cast do fine. Overall worth the watch. **1/2 out of 5

feerceone Matthias is the ultimate "bad guy" in this one...and you just love him! He's about the only actor I can think of that you just love to hate. Maybe it's the hypnotic blue eyes, maybe the dimples or maybe its the muscles. Maybe its a combination of all, but he lights up the screen in a way that keeps you coming back for more. Don "the Dragon" Wilson is the "star" of the movie, but Matthias is really the STAR of the movie.Watch it once, you'll watch it twice...watch it twice, you'll watch it trice...and so on and so on. It's a movie you won't get tired of watching. So when you don't know what you want to watch, watch Black Belt. You'll be glad you did!