This one took some time to get from Netflix. It was one of those ones they had to send from White River Junction, Vermont. Based on how they can't dump his filmography quick enough-- probably due to them going of print, but still-- I'm surprised I even got this at all. Even if it's not worth the wait, it's another Gary Daniels flick in the bag.
Full Impact has Daniels as a former cop now PI/bodyguard who tries to get back in with the police force so he can investigate the return of a serial killer he lost his job investigating. At the same time, he has a relationship with his estranged wife to patch up. As he delves deeper, signs point to a possible corrupt police involvement, meaning it'll be that much tougher for him to do his job.
This one seemed to hit all the right spots of great 80s/90s bad action. Great bad hair, fight scenes that were either solid or hilarious in their poorness-- one was so bad a stuntman apologizes for kicking Daniels too hard--, and atrocious dialog and acting that never carried on so long that it detracted from the fun factor. No, it's no Commando, but it works for a late night turn your brain off flick, or if you're looking to do a bad movie night centered around Gary Daniels. If you can't have fun with this one, maybe you need to take yourself less seriously.
This marks 30 tags for Gary Daniels, putting him with Dolph and Dudikoff as the only actors to hold that honor. This is definitely of lower quality than anything those two ever did, but therein lies its charm. Also, he has much longer hair than either of those two ever had. It's like bad hair band roadie length. I have a feeling, with all of the higher quality flicks that Daniels has taken smaller roles in lately, he probably wishes Netflix would get rid of all of these earlier ones. No such luck baby.
This film is indicative of Daniels' Cine Excel period, recycling a lot of the sets, actors, even scenes of films like American Streetfighter and Capital Punishment. I went back to my Capital Punishment post, and I had even more fun with that one, and it was even worse. They have a distinct amateurish quality, and you either dig that or you don't; but I think in terms of what people come to the DTVC for, or what they think of when they see the title Direct to Video Connoisseur, it's stuff like this more than anything that they're thinking of, and I'm good with that. Hey, if you can't find the fun in stuff like this, there's always the "Next Blog" button, because this is what we do here at the DTVC.
Daniels's old buddy is played by this older bald dude with a slow, deep voice. He gets into a fight with Daniels that's not quite as a nice as the one in They Live, but it's not bad either. He has four credits on imdb, and they're all Daniels flicks: this one, Capital Punishment, American Streetfighter, and Pocket Ninjas; but I don't remember him at all.
Speaking of that guy, you may have noticed that there aren't any pics of anybody but Daniels, and that includes the image page. I don't know, I figured what the hell, lets just load up on Daniels. The opening credits has a montage of clips of Daniels training and pointing a gun at imaginary objects, which was pretty sweet. I don't know why more Daniels films don't start like that-- and with footage from this film specifically, of course.
Now I'm rambling, so I should wrap this up. If you like fun, bad action from the late 80s/early 90s, this is for you, and if you can get it on DVD from Netflix, more power to you. I'm sure you can also find it cheap from Amazon or another used movie seller. Sometimes so bad it's good really doesn't work, but it does here.
For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101928/
Excellent, happy this is a good one. Not sure if I have it in the collection yet; have to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteWell I strongly disagree, I didn't think film was the least bit "fun" it was just incredibly tedious and ineptly directed(especially the action scenes, which seemed to be filmed in the laziest possible way imaginable) Daniels just seemed to be going through the motions, Capital Punishment was decent, but this film just sucks major ass, so much so that it makes City Of Fear look like a masterpiece by comparison.
ReplyDeleteGary Daniels is a great fighter but this is pretty terrible compared to his other work. I think I got this in a 2 disc DVD set with American Streetfighter and made the mistake of watching both back to back.
ReplyDeleteSome better Daniels flicks that I don't think you've covered yet are Recoil (a classic PM Entertainment flick), Hawke's Vengeance and Fatal Blade (aka Gedo) isn't too shabby.
I think you'll dig this if you go into it with the right mindset, because it is terrible, but like I said, if you can't have fun with a bad one like this, maybe you're taking yourself too seriously.
ReplyDeleteHere's Hawk's Vengeance. Recoil and Fatal Blade were clipped by Netflix before I had a chance to review them, so it may be a little while before we get to them. Eventually we'll do them all.
Yeah, I've got to get on Netflix my DVD collection is getting too large.
ReplyDeleteBeing British I've always particularly liked Gary Daniels flicks. I love how they usually put in a little bit of dialogue at the beginning to explain why he's British but fighting crime in America. Oh, right he's ex-SAS.
The Netflix account is good, because I can get a flick for less overhead, but if you're a collector, it's good to do both, or use Netflix as a gauge on what you want to buy.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how they do that with Daniels or Van Damme. Dolph sometimes they'll just say he's American because his accent is subtle. I think it would be more fun if they did that with Daniels, don't explain at all why he has an English accent but works in the US military.
Good Review! Looks like a silly Daniels flick like American Streetfighter!
ReplyDeleteI always see this in a plastic sleeve at our local FYE in CT. Will buy it soon.
Definitely a good one for your blog, and if you had fun with American Streetfighter, you'll have fun with this one.
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