High Voltage (1997)

This is one that's been sitting in my Tubi queue for I don't know how long. It's an Isaac Florentine film, so I knew I needed to get to it at some point, but now that we only have this and two others of his left to cover, I figured it was time to make it happen. In addition to us, Chris the Brain at Bulletproof and Ty and Brett at Comeuppance have covered this as well.

High Voltage is about a group of young bank robbers, led by Antonio Sabato Jr., and including Lochlyn Munro and Amy Smart. They think they have the score of their life coming when they rob a bank in Chinatown, but Sabato Jr. discovers as they're raiding the vault that this is the bank where top Vietnamese gangster George Cheung launders his and other gangsters' money. He tries to abort the robbery, but it's too late, Cheung wants his pound of flesh, and will stop at nothing to get it. Initially running felt like the best option, but now Sabato Jr. and crew want to get all Cheung's cash and take him down, and Sabato Jr. knows just the person to help him do it: Shannon Lee, bank manager and unhappy romantic partner to Cheung, she's all too happy to help Sabato Jr. and company so she can get away from Cheung too. Will they succeed?

This is some good old fashioned Florentine here, maybe a tier below his best stuff, but at the top of that second tier for sure. Great action set pieces, with names we recognize, and this fun mix of Westerns, 90s heist flicks, and Hong Kong Gun Fu. We do get some lull points, and some of those work, like the scenes with Sabato Jr. and Lee, but mostly they're there to let us relax between action scenes, even if they have a real purpose of character development. Outside of Sabato Jr. and Lee's characters, do I care if anyone else bites it in this? Probably not, just throw me onto a set somewhere, fire a bunch of guns, blow some shit up, and have some people beat the crap out of each other. It's a time-honored tradition that just works, and this one does that.

By my count this is 17 directed films on the site for Isaac Florentine, plus a half for his work on Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon, which puts him in a three-way tie with Joseph Merhi and Fred Olen Ray for second all-time, behind Albert Pyun (co-director on Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon) and his 44. He has two other films for us to review on the site, Hounds of War, which Ty and I covered on episode 277 of the podcast; and Desert Kickboxer, his first ever directorial feature film. So that means Desert Kickboxer is the only film of his I haven't seen yet, which I think gives me a good idea of where High Voltage ranks among his movies. My favorites of his are the two Ninja movies, Cold Harvest, and Bridge of Dragons. Then we have Special Forces and US Seals II, and I think this slots in with those, fun 90-minute actioners that do what you want from them. What I think is interesting is I would put this above everything he's done since Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, which I think says less about Florentine, and more about the restrictions on DTV filmmaking in the age of streaming and industry consolidation. When I look at his run from this in 1997 to Special Forces in 2003, I don't know that any of those movies would've been given the money and resources to be made at that quality today, and it's not like any of those were breaking the bank! What's great about Tubi though is we can go back and revisit gems like these, or visit them for the first time like I did.

We last saw Antonio Sabato Jr. in 2011 when we covered The Base II, which was his second time on the site after Princess of Mars, so we don't see a lot of him on here, and I discovered that doesn't make sense when you look at his IMDb bio, as he has a lot of other DTV stuff, especially from around this time, but I had no idea and just thought he went more mainstream after this. He does a good enough job here, maybe not the Dolph, Adkins, Daniels, or even Marshall Teague you expect from a Florentine lead, but for what the movie wanted he fit the bill well. Equally great at fitting the bill was Shannon Lee, though it would've been nice to see her do some more martial arts. Unlike Sabato Jr., this is our first time seeing her on the site, and she doesn't have a lot of credits, but there are a few movies of hers out there that we could do, including Cage II, which we talked about last week on The Firing Line post. She did do an episode of the show Warrior in 2023, so maybe she'll do some DTV stuff in the near future as well. Some of these 90s nostalgia films like Last Kumite could use someone like her in them, which would be great to see.

This is probably as good a place as any for a big cast round-up, as there are a lot of people in this. We have Amy Smart as a member of the gang, the same year Starship Troopers is released, and two years before Varsity Blues and Outside Providence, when she really takes off. She has made her way back to the DTV world recently with 2024's Held Hostage in My House, which sounds like a great Lifetime title, but was a direct to Netflix film. Also in the gang was Lochlyn Munro, who's no stranger to our site or the DTV world. Both he and Smart are good as members of the gang, even if his character had more to do than hers. William Zabka's back after we saw him in our SePMtember PM post. Here he's not a scenery chewing baddie, but is fun as an unhinged biker who first helps Sabato Jr. and co., only to double cross them because he wants the money to himself. The baddie is played by George Cheung, who we usually see in more supporting roles, but does a great job as the main baddie. We haven't tagged him yet, and when I looked up his IMDb bio, he doesn't have as much stuff that we've covered on here as I thought, so maybe sometime down the road he'll get that tag. Someone who does have it is the late James Lew, who plays Cheung's second-in-command. Always great to see Lew, he was one of those names that helped make these 90s DTV actioners that much better, and will be missed.

Finally, terms like Tarentino-esque or ripping off Tarentino come up a lot, especially in late 90s movies like this where it was hard to not see the shadow Pulp Fiction was casting over them. That said, it can be reductive if we're not thinking about all the movies that existed before Pulp Fiction that Tarentino was borrowing from too, which begs the question, are they sharing the same influence as opposed to one borrowing from the other? I think you can make the case in this with the scene in the bar where Amy Smart is playing a cover of "I Can't Help Falling in Love" on the jukebox and dancing around to it that that's kind of biting on Pulp Fiction, though it also kind of feels like the 60s movies that Tarentino was taking that kind of thing from too, and part of why I may give Florentine the benefit of the doubt is much of this film feels more like he was drawing from old Westerns and 60s crime movies, and then giving it a modern touch, as opposed to riding the Pulp Fiction wave; but at the very least, you could make the argument that Pulp Fiction and the need to cash in on that gave filmmakers like Florentine the greenlight to add more elements like that in their movies, or even the addition of them made for a better hook for investors and distributors. Probably the most obvious Tarentino rip-off elements we complain about are the quirky gangster conversations, or an overall talkiness that sounds too derivative to be anything but, which this movie doesn't have; but these touches Florentine add in this film that harken back to an earlier movie age are probably better understood as coming from a similar inspiration rather than an out-and-out rip-off, but as I said above, Pulp Fiction cast such a large shadow, that it's not always easy to unpack that when we see it.

And with that, let's wrap this up. You can currently get this on a bunch of streamers here in the States, including Tubi, which I think is a great way to go. This is earlier Florentine with some great names and great action that you may have missed (like I did), or haven't seen in a while, but I think it's worth a watch (or rewatch if that's the case).

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129992

The Firing Line (1988)

This is one I'd been meaning to do for a while, but it wasn't on any streamers--I don't know how many reviews I've written that have started like that, and almost as many times it's Tubi that comes through and the movie finally ends up on there, which was the case here and I was finally able to make it happen. In addition to us, Chris the Brain at Bulletproof Action and Ty and Brett from Comeuppance Reviews have covered this as well.

The Firing Line has Reb Brown as Mark Hardin (trying saying that three times fast with a Mass accent), a military advisor who's been called in to help a Central American dictatorship deal with their rebel problem. He unfortunately discovers what's really going on, after he helps capture the rebel leader (Mike Monty), and that guy was killed by those who Hardin thought were the good guys. But before that happens, he happens upon Sandra Spencer (Shannon Tweed) in a local bar, and when the military decides Hardin's no longer on their side, Spencer gets caught in the dragnet as well, and when Hardin breaks out, he and Tweed join the rebels so he can get his revenge. They fucked with the wrong military advisor.

This wasn't a bad deal. Fun Reb Brown, a game Shannon Tweed, and all the "Philippines passing for another location with a war" excitement you can handle. One thing I had difficulty with it though was the rebels and the government soldiers sometimes wore the same outfits, and I had trouble understanding who was who, but I'd not sure how much that matters. Was that a rebel soldier who fell over a railing to their death after the explosion behind them, or a government soldier? Does it matter? I mean, when Reb Brown was hosing people down with machine gun fire, it was possible the shimmying victims were rebels instead of government soldiers, and again, does it matter? I would say no, it's Reb Brown being beefy and screaming, Shannon Tweed being statuesque and beautiful, and the Philippines being "insert jungle location here." If you like movies like this, you'll enjoy this one.

We'll start with Mr. Brown, who's now at 12 films on the site. There are definitely more iconic films of his you can turn to, but if you've seen those already, this is the next place to go. It's the beefy "Lump Beefbroth" or "Gristle McThornbody" you want when you see his name on the tin. The mustache adds a nice touch too, like when he's hitting on Shannon Tweed when they first meet, him smiling at her over his shoulder as he buys her a drink has an added layer when that smile includes a mustache. (If I were more of a Millennial or Gen Z I might say it "hits different," but I'm not an asshole like that.) In looking at his IMDb bio, we don't have a lot left of his to review, but two obvious omissions are the Cage films, so I need to track them down and make them happen toot sweet. So maybe he won't make 20 films on the site, let alone 30 Club or 40 Club, but he's give us some classics, which makes him a true Hall of Famer, and while this isn't quite at the level of those, it's still a fun time, and a large part of that is him.

Our other Hall of Famer is Shannon Tweed, who's a bit out of her element in this one, but as I said above, she was totally game for it, and what's fascinating is, almost 30 years later, she became the bigger name than Reb Brown, so now many covers feature her on the tin or thumbnail instead of him. I actually almost missed where this was on Tubi to get these images, because the thumbnail now is an anonymous woman shown from the neck down holding a gun while her dress is blowing in the wind and revealing her legs, leading anyone seeing it to believe this is some kind of sexy Erotic Thriller as opposed to a late 80s Rambo-esque jungle slog shot in the Philippines. That kind of thing only happens because Tweed is in the film, and I wonder if there's some AI algorithm that looks at the cast and generates thumbnails based on that--do they do that now, "dynamic thumbnails?" This is now 11 films for Shannon Tweed, which puts her one behind Julie Strain for third-most all time among woman actors, and which is still 37 behind Rothrock for the most all time. If you're curious, I looked at Tweed's IMDb bio, and see about 30 movies of her left for us to review, which means she can't catch Rothrock, but we could get her close, so we'll just need to make more of an effort to cover more of her movies.

We often hear that New York City is a character on its own in a film, which makes a lot of sense, but what I never expected when I started doing this site was to see how the Philippines is a character on its own too, but unlike New Nork who always plays itself, the Philippines were often standing in for other locations. It's like the ultimate character actor of locations, like an M. Emmett Walsh, doing yeoman's work pretending to be Vietnam or Hong Kong or a random Central or South American republic, and it wasn't just DTV flicks, mainstream films like Platoon, Apocalypse Now, and Born on the Fourth of July filmed there too. Maybe there's a crassness to it when you're watching one of these DTV films on its own, but after seeing dozens of them, there's a charm in it, the way there's a charm in M. Emmett Walsh being thrown through a plate glass window in Critters. In recent years, as filming in the US has gotten cheaper, we're seeing fewer of these, as we're seeing fewer films made in Eastern Europe too, but we did get one recently in Scott Adkins's Prisoner of War, which I still have to see, so it's nice to know that, unlike the character actors of old who are sadly leaving us, the Philippines is still carrying on.

Finally, Reb Brown's character introduces himself to Shannon Tweed's character with the classic mating ritual of buying her a drink despite her not requesting it. Because he's a good looking fellow, Tweed's happy he did it, and invites him to sit at her table. In real life though, I never tried this, and no one I know who has tried it has been successful. At best it's a creepy imposition, unless the other person has made it clear they're attracted to you as well, but at that point why not just ask if you can buy them a drink? It goes back to this idea that women are there to be won by men, as opposed to being human beings with their own agency and will to decide whom they want to be with romantically. That's not what happens here though, Brown doesn't "win" Tweed, she sees that he's the guy that bought her the drink and is like "well hell-o!" Anyway, all this to say, perhaps this is a mating ritual that needs to go away, but it's fun to see it in the historical context of this DTV Philippine production where a well-mustachioed Reb Brown is shooting a shot he knows he's going to make.

And with that, let's wrap this up. Currently this is available on Tubi here in the States. I'd say watch it while you can, because it may disappear from there. It's a fun one with Brown and Tweed, and the Philippines playing another country.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101883/

Prey of Wrath (2026)

This is one Ty and I covered on the podcast, episode 273 in the archives, which was one we had to record twice, because I accidentally deleted the first one! Either way, it needed a post on the site too, so we're making it happen now. In addition to us, Chris the Brain at Bulletproof Action has covered this as well.

Prey of Wrath has Tatiana Neva as Lyudmilla Alekseyenko, a Russian special forces agent sent to the US to track down some rogue agents who absconded with some nuclear warheads. One of those agents, the ring leader, happens to be her mentor, Gray Michael Sallies (Viktor Reznikov), and the question is can she pull the trigger when it comes time to take him down? At the very least, she can't kill his innocent wife when ordered to, so that means she's going rogue too. At the same time, two CIA agents (Cynthia Rothrock and Leonard Zhang) are interested in these warheads, for obvious reasons, and when they encounter Neva, it's a question of whether or not they can trust her. Do they have a choice though, considering the alternative?

This isn't bad, and the main reason for that is Tatiana Neva. She was fantastic, great screen presence, solid martial arts, a more grounded version of Marvel's Black Widow character, which made for a great action lead. Some of the special effects, especially the greenscreen effects, revealed the film's budgetary limitation, but Neva does what a star should do, and lifts the material beyond those limitations. From there we have DTVC 40 Club member and one of the best to do it, Cynthia Rothrock, who has her own fight scene which looked great too. I think her name on the tin is what will get people to click play, and even though Neva is the one to watch, for people who tuned in for Rothrock, it's good to be rewarded. Then we have the all important runtime, and this clocks in at a cool 79 minutes, including credits, so another plus in its favor. Finally, it's free to stream on Xumo here in the States. Add that to the short runtime, an up-and-coming star and one who's already a legend, and you have yourself a fun actioner.

Usually we'd start with our film's Hall of Famer--and in this case 40 Club member--but I wanted to start with Tatiana Neva because she was so great here. I could see this character in multiple movies, but I think anything in the action genre with her as the star would work. Before this she had been playing Black Widow in some short fan movie productions, which look like they could be fun, but what I liked here was she was playing an authentic original character, one that was larger than life in the action movie sense, but more grounded than something in the superhero genre. People often ask who the next big action stars are going to be, but I think we've seen two of them here recently between Neva and Shaina West. A team-up between those two is the action movie I'd want to see. Come on Mr. Nevsky, you can make that happen, can't you? Even a Western with those two would work, and considering he has Matthias Hues on speed dial, I think we have our baddie lined up too. Even if it's not with Shaina West, after seeing what Neva can do in this film, I'm looking forward to whatever her next project is. 

Now to Rothrock, who is in her 48th film on the site, which is three ahead of Don "The Dragon" Wilson for third all time among actors, and 14 behind Gary Daniels's 62, who's in second. As I said above, this isn't a big role, but I'm okay with that, because she already has dozens of movies where she was the lead, including her own film Black Creek, and the amount of her we get in this, including the fight scene, was actually a pleasant surprise. We've seen ones like Darkness of Man where she only has a one-scene cameo, and this definitely isn't that. I don't know that it's a passing the torch to Neva kind of thing either though, and I don't know if we'll ever see that, as one, I don't think Rothrock sees her career as at that point where the torch should be passed; but two, I think it's more a matter of the torch being taken from her by mainstream actors and she's been trying to reclaim it, or at least reclaim the credit for the work she did. Every clickbait list of the "Top Female Action Stars" that doesn't have her on it, let alone at or near the top, is a reminder of that, and I don't blame her for wanting people to know about the path she blazed. So while this is Neva's movie, and she should be part of the next wave of great action stars, Rothrock's wave hasn't crested yet, which means we have a lot of other movies of hers to review, so the 50 Club is definitely on the horizon.

As you know, we have a thing for Presidential Portraits here at the DTVC. It started more unofficially, so I didn't tag them at first, which means from time to time I'll go back through our archives and find another to add--like I did recently with the Dudikoff flick Chain of Command. In this film though, instead of a possible Trump, we got a Putin, which leads to the question, does that count? The only other time this has happened as far as I know was former Mexican president Vicente Fox's portrait in Shark Attack 3 (which is know for much more than that!), but that one also had George W. Bush (plus VP Dick Cheney), so it was getting tagged regardless. The other category of these we've seen is the fictitious movie president having a portrait, like Eric Roberts in Top Gunner: America vs Russia, where we had a Roberts portrait conspicuously tacked on the wall in one of the rooms he was in. I didn't tag that one, and I think I'm going to say no on tagging this for now too, unless we get a spate of Putins or other foreign leader portraits, then I'll reconsider. Part of that is wanting to stick to American Presidents for this, at least for now; and part of that is the fact that we live on the second story, so I think I could survive any defenestration attempts should Putin get his back up about this--though to be fair, a letter from one of his aides would be more than enough to get me to tag him, hopefully precluding any attempts at defenestration, even if I'd survive the fall anyway.

Finally (that previous paragraph felt like the finally, didn't it?), this and all of Nevsky's recent films are going straight to Xumo, which is great because we can see them, but also interesting on two levels. One, IMDb doesn't list Xumo as a place where you can see something, so as far as they're concerned, this is only available to rent on Amazon for $4.99. Letterboxd does list it, and that applies to a lot of other streaming sources, so I've found it's better to go there to see if a movie's available. And two, Xumo doesn't have a search function. You think I'm fucking with you? Well I'm not fucking with you, they really don't have a search function. I know, it's 2026, and a search function would've been a prerequisite back in 1996, but they ain't got one. Usually films like this are visible on the first bar of scrolling, so you don't need to search, but still, how do you find something that's not featured? A lot of times I'll find it on Letterboxd and click the link from there. I think it was in episode 261 of the podcast where Jon Cross and I are discussing Body of Influence, which is also in Xumo, where Jon gives his theory on how he thinks Xumo ended up without a search function. It involves a group of overweight, aging, organized crime types eating greasy sandwiches and trying to cut corners while telling a young computer programmer what they want the site to look like. It makes as much sense as anything.

And with that, let's wrap this up. Xumo is the best way to go, unless you really want to go above and beyond when it comes to supporting indie films, and then you can get it on VOD on Amazon for $4.99. Tatiana Neva is the main reason to watch this, but Rothrock and the 79-minute runtime don't hurt either. and check out the podcast episode Ty and I did on this, number 273 in the archives.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13650572/

For Life or Death (1996)

This past week we lost an absolute legend, one of the best to do it in the DTV action world, James Lew. As such, we needed to do a post in his honor, and I figured because this one had a lot of Lew in it, it would do the trick. As Nicolette Larson said, "it's gonna take a lotta Lew..." In addition to us, Ty and Brett at Comeuppance have covered this as well.

For Life of Death has Lew as Kaan Woo, formerly part of a mystical cult of martial arts warriors with magical powers, he left them, but, as cults are wont to do, they come and try to take him back by force. The leader of the cult, Ling Li (Nancy Kwan), was hoping to marry Kaan Woo, so when he left her and found a younger woman in Caren (Grace Una), Li sent her best monks after him, including Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, and Richard "no nickname needed" Norton. Recognizing he's outnumbered, Kaan Woo transfers his soul into the body of Earl (Mark Pellegrino), a man dealing with alcohol addiction and housing insecurity. Now Li wants Earl, but if Earl discovers whose soul is sharing his body in time, perhaps he and Woo together can take Li down.

Maybe I shouldn't have followed Nicolette Larson's advice and gone for the movie that had a lotta Lew, because I don't know if this is the best movie overall. Lew was fight choreographer, and between him and the fantastic names involved, which, in addition to the names I mentioned above, also included Karen Sheperd and Gerald Okamura, the talent was there, and it came through at times. Most of the time though those great fights were obscured by editing choices. Sped-up film, awkward cuts, attempts at Hong Kong cinema that looked more like someone parodying it than paying homage to it. The story had issues as well, probably foremost among them, it felt like we were just spinning our wheels until Lew came back, which meant from the time he leaves us early on, until he comes back near the end, it all feels like padding in a way. Why not just have it be Lew the whole time? Is there a law that says you can only have Lew for limited screen time? Still, in celebrating the life of someone as great as Lew, someone who did a lot more supporting work or even cameos, to have something like this where he has a more robust part, and that movie being available on Tubi, makes it a good choice if you're looking for something to celebrate him, and maybe that's what counts most.

One of the things I discovered when I was looking for a film to review for this post, is I hadn't tagged all of Lew's stunt work yet, and when I did that, he ended up with 31 tags overall. That means automatic Hall of Fame entry, but I think that was a given this fall anyway, and it was something that was long overdue. For anyone who watched action films from the late 80s to the mid-90s and onward, Lew was a mainstay, probably more of a That Guy, but for us who watched a lot of these movies, we knew who he was and appreciated what he brought to the table. We weren't the only ones though, he won a Primetime Emmy for his work as stunt coordinator on the Luke Cage TV show, one of my favorite things the MCU has produced, so it was great to see he was given the honor for that; and later this year, Avengers: Endgame will be back in theaters, which he won an Actors Award for along with the rest of the stunt crew. So here's to you Mr. Lew, you were one of the greatest to ever do it, and will truly be missed.

Also missed is Richard Norton, who with this film enters the 30 Club, but we'll do another post later on down the road to fully celebrate that milestone. There were a few scenes where he and Lew fought, and it was hard to watch knowing they're both no longer with us. It's the reality though, that even something like this is thirty years old now, and if these guys were in their 40s then, they'd be in the 70s now, some even older than that, but at least we know that they created a lasting legacy that for the most part we can enjoy on some form of physical media, and in many cases on a free streamer like Tubi. So they may be gone, but not forgotten, and their work endures for us to enjoy, and hopefully for new generations to discover and enjoy too. And maybe this movie isn't the best of his, but he turns in a fun performance that at least enhances the proceedings, which is always good to see.

Kato Kaelin is back, and it's crazy seeing him 30 years later, because when this was made he was only a couple years removed from the OJ trial. As a result, having Kato Kaelin in your movie at that time could provide a boost, though looking at his career prior to the OJ trial, this was the kind of role he had been getting, so maybe he would've been in this film regardless, or may have even committed to it before the trial began. We also had Karen Sheperd, who had a smaller part but a couple nice fight scenes, so that was nice to see. I think there are six or seven DTV movies of hers out there that we haven't covered yet, so hopefully we'll get to those eventually. For a little IMDb-style trivia, both she and Kaelin have been in Cyborg sequels, Sheperd in part 2, Kaelin in part 3. (As an aside, why do people put trivia like that on IMDb trivia pages? I want nuggets about the film that I wouldn't know otherwise, not connections I could make on my own by cherry picking actors' filmographies!) Finally, we had Gerald Okamura in his 20th film on that site. I had no idea he had that many! I'm not sure if 30 Club is possible for him though, because I don't know if he has 10 more films for us to review. He's great here as the ancient master that helps Pellegrino learn his true potential.

Finally, I want to go back to Lew again, because beyond his martial arts and fight choreography work, one of his best contributions to the films we watched was as a henchman to a main baddie. It's a thankless role, you don't get to chew scenery like the main baddie, instead you may have very few lines, and have to generally play a jerk, and then take a beating from the hero in an applause moment. I think that was the most fitting reason to choose this movie, even if it wasn't as good as some of his others, because he was the one beating up henchmen here; and while I say it's a thankless position, for us that have seen a lot of these, when someone like a Lew appears over and over, we do start to appreciate what he's bringing to the table, and that's why we in the action fandom, especially the DTV action fandom, we were so sad to hear the news of Lew's passing. Maybe he didn't have what the kids call "main character energy," but he carved out a great career doing what he loved to do, and I don't know that it gets more main character in life than that.

And with that, let's wrap this up. You can currently stream this free on Tubi and Prime here in the States. Again, it's not exactly the best movie, but you get Lew in a leading role, which makes it a good option if you're watching something in his honor. One of the greatest to do it, he will be missed.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144930

Active Stealth (1999)

Recently Will from Exploding Helicopter posted the exploding helicopter from this film on his Bluesky, and when I looked it up, I thought "how have I not covered this before?" It looks like something I should've done on the site 15 years ago, but somehow slipped through the cracks. In addition to us and Will, Ty and Brett at Comeuppance, Steve Q at Down Among the Z Movies, and Kenner at Movies in the Attic have covered this as well.

Active Stealth has Daniel Baldwin as a special forces kind of guy who thought his buddy was killed in a mission, only to find he's being held hostage by the drug cartel guy they tried to take down some time ago. Their commanding officer, Fred Williamson, sends Baldwin and his team (including Fred Olen Ray mainstays Tim Abell and Chick Vennera) down to get their friend out, and has them use a plane with the latest in active stealth technology as the means to get there. That's it, in and out, and the film is done in a cool 37 minutes--or is it? It's never that easy, and now it's a matter of who will make it with Baldwin back home to see their families, and who will have a dramatic death scene?

This is your classic IMDb 3.5 star rating complete with user reviews touting it as "the worst movie of all time," but for me who's been doing this for almost 1400 movies plus however many more on the podcast, I see something that's professionally made with a few fun moments. What does that mean for you though, because it may not be anywhere near the worst movie ever or as bad as 3.5 stars on IMDb, but is it worth the 100 minutes the movie's asking of you when you have so many options out there? Here are a few things that I would point to that may help you decide. First, Ray and company have a lot of fun touches that harken back to old post-WWII movies, the best of which might be Chick Vennera, who plays the Italian American stereotype so many of those movies had, and caps off his performance with a too sweet helicopter explosion. Or maybe it's the inclusion of another Fred, Fred Williamson, who doesn't do much beyond talk on the phone, but looks great doing it. Then there's Andrew Stevens, who's just there to wear a mustache and talk in military speak, but looks great doing it too. Or finally, Tim Abell, who's there to be the Southern stereotype to Chick Vennera's Italian American stereotype, and again, looks great doing it. The story meanders a bit, and has the holes in it you'd expect from something that was pumped out more because they had the sets available and could do it quick and on the cheap than anything, and I don't know that those touches above is enough to recommend it, but it had its moments for sure. Also, it'll up your percentage on Will's Films with Exploding Helicopters list on Letterboxd.

We're now at 17 directed movies for Fred Olen Ray, depending on whether or not you count Dinosaur Island as 1 or .5, and I count it as 1, but because of that I give the edge in ranking to Joseph Merhi, who's tied with him at 17 for second all-time after Albert Pyun's 44. This is classic Fred Olen Ray, the studio or whoever wanted a quick and dirty military movie that they could throw on video store shelves or cable channels could use for easy programming, he had the location and called a bunch of people he'd worked with before, and along with some bigger names to add to the tin, they made it happen. He's made a career of getting things done like this, across all genres, and here we have something that works more for our audience than Christmas in Palm Springs or Christmas in Vermont, but even with those his process is the same, he's good at pumping them out on the cheap. If we cut out the Christmas movies and the Lifetime movies, he still has enough actioners and Erotic Thrillers remaining to catch Pyun for most all time, it's more a matter of whether or not we'll be doing the site long enough. Next year we'll hit twenty years, so we'll know by 2047 if I kept things going and Ray finally caught him.

There were two other Hall of Famers in this, Fred Williamson and Cole S. McKay. For Williamson, this was a unique one, in that his character was captured at the beginning, and he's not the hero, or even portrayed as a badass who could be the hero. It really is his name and how cool he looks holding a phone, which I think works in a film like this. He's sitting at 33 films on the site, and looking at his bio, I'm not sure how many more we'll do in the near future. He has a couple he's directed that we still need to do, but it might be more things like this where there are other names involved, and he's more along for the ride, but it's possible that will be enough to get him into the 40 Club at some point. Speaking of DTVC clubs, Cole S. McKay is now at 69 (hey-oh!) films on the site. Our next PM film is going to be The Power Within, which will be the one that gets Art Camacho into the 60 Club, and which also has McKay on stunts, so that'll be his 70th film, but I think he needs something more prodigious for his 70 Club post, so one idea I had was Star Hunter, which he co-directed with Fred Olen Ray. It's possible in the meantime I'll review another movie he did stunts because he has so many of them!

Rounding out the rest of the cast and crew, we have a lot of names to get through. I guess we should start with the film's star, Daniel Baldwin, who felt a bit out of place with all of the Ray mainstays around him, but he's a Baldwin, so the name on the tin means more than whether he fits or not. DTVC favorite Tim Abell is back with his 16th film on the site. Is it possible he's putting together a Hall of Fame resume? Speaking of which, Andrew Stevens will be getting inducted this fall, as this is his 36th film overall between acting, directing, and producing, and I believe his 11th as an actor. Speaking of Erotic Thrillers, Shannon Whirry plays Baldwin's wife. I had never really looked at it before, but a few years before this it looks like she'd stopped doing Erotic Thrillers and was doing more stuff like this, or mainstream TV roles, which I think is okay, considering how many great Erotic Thrillers she made before this. Jim Wynorski was a producer on this, under the name "Noble Henry." When talking about great DTV directors, he's one that probably should have more on the site, but at least he gets another tag here. Finally, wrestling fans will appreciate Terry Funk, who was great as the baddie's righthand man. We've actually seen him two other times on the site, with Road House and Timestalkers. 

Finally, as we're talking about Fred Olen Ray and the DTVC director's tag list, I thought about a picture someone posted on Bluesky of Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg. In the comments another person asked has anyone had worked with all five of them, and the best me or anyone else could come up with was Tom Cruise, who's worked with all of them but George Lucas. That got me thinking about who a similar five would be for DTV directors. Definitely Albert Pyun, Fred Olen Ray, and Joseph Merhi, who I mentioned above. From there I think Sam Firstenberg has to be included too, so then it's a matter of who the fifth one is. I was between Jim Wynorski and Charles Band, but maybe we add both, and it could be like adding Jonathan Demme or Oliver Stone to that other five (and if we do Stone, that five out of six for Cruise). If that's our six, do we have a DTV Tom Cruise who's worked with four or five of them? I was having trouble finding someone who had worked with five, but Tim Thomerson has worked with all but Merhi and Firstenberg, and Dudikoff and Ice-T have worked with all but Merhi and Band--though Merhi produced an episode of LA Heat Ice-T did. I would not have thought Merhi would be the sticking point in a lot of these, because so many people did PM films, but it looks like the case. 

And with that, let's wrap this up. You can currently stream this on Tubi here in the States. I don't know that it's something to seek out, but if you like the names involved, it might do in a pinch. Also, if you're like me and need to get your percentage up on Will's Films with an Exploding Helicopter list on Letterboxd, this will help there too.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211901

Hellfire (2026)

There was a time when the newest Dolph film would sit in my Netflix queue as I eagerly anticipated when it would finally be released and sent to me, and I would review it soon after. Now we live in the world of streaming and rent VOD, so I need to wait for a $1 movie night from Xfinity instead of ponying up $6 to rent it, which happened last weekend, so we're able to get this review on the site now.

Hellfire is an Isaac Florentine joint that takes place in 1988/2022 and involves a town in Texas/Arkansas that has been totally taken over by drug kingpin Harvey Keitel, and he forces the townsfolk to pack his drugs and do other crimes for him. That's when drifter and former Vietnam Vet Stephen Lang drifts into town, looking for work doing odd jobs so he can get some food and move on--or is he? When he sees a wheelchair bound Chris Mullinax and his daughter Scottie Thompson being terrorized by Keitel's son Michael Sirow, he decides to step in and show off a little Lang Fu. The problem is, has he made more trouble for the town than if he'd just left well enough alone? And is having a mustachioed Dolph as the corrupt sheriff enough to save this movie?

The answer unfortunately is no, because he's barely in this. While it has its moments, and I liked a lot of the modern Western touches, the film misses in a few key areas. One, we get long stretches of nothing happening, especially to start, and I was okay with that because they were building tension, but when we did finally get action, with a car chase leading into a cat-and-mouse shoot-out in an abandoned factory, it was more repetitive than action, which made me feel like "is that it?" Second, part of that tension is wondering if Lang will save these townsfolk, and spoiler alert, he doesn't. Wait, what? Aren't the townsfolk the whole point? Apparently not, so let's just gun them down and massacre them all. And then third... I'm sorry, I need to come back to the townsfolk massacre, so Lang comes into town, and they all end up dead as a result? And this all happens while Lang is lying on the ground with a massive head wound, which he eventually recovers from to deliver some Lang Fu on the baddies. Good for him I guess. If I had had to pay $6 for this I would've been pissed, and if I didn't have a review site where this would've been content, I would've been pissed paying $1 for it, but when it finally makes it to streamers like Tubi, it might be an okay way to spend 90 minutes.

Movie number 77 on the site for Dolph, and while he's not in it much, he does play a mustachioed Southern sheriff, so there's that. I don't know how much more we need from Dolph at this stage in his career, though maybe him being the star would be it? In fact he did a film similar to this, Missionary Man, which I have in my top 20 Dolph films (you can find our Dolph Lundgren Letterboxd list on the left sidebar), and in which he didn't let everyone die. Anyway, 77 means he's close to the 80 Club, which would be a massive milestone among many massive milestones Dolph's had on the site. To get there, we have Sharknado 5, which he's barely been in, but we can do; and the dreaded Fat Slags, which I've been warned against, but will have to do eventually. From there we'll probably need to wait for One Last Shot or Straight Shot to come out, though doing something like Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice would also work. So 80 will happen, it's more a matter of if than when, and you can be sure when we do movies number 78 and 79 for him, this paragraph for those will probably read like this one does.

Our film's other Hall of Famer is director Isaac Florentine, and while this is technically his most recent film out, it was shot in 2022 before his second-most recent film, Hounds of War, which Ty and I will be covering on an upcoming podcast episode. Speaking of Hounds of War, it's one of only three films of his that we haven't reviewed on the site, the other two being High Voltage, which I've watched and was going to be reviewed in this slot until I had a chance to get this movie on cheap rental; and Desert Kickboxer, which as far as I know is on YouTube, but is the only one of his I haven't seen. I think High Voltage is a great comparison to this one, because they both play out like modern Westerns, but High Voltage has a higher action quotient, and has a more fun premise too. Because I'm not counting Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon as one of his directed films--Albert Pyun did most of it, but it's still enough for Florentine to get tagged--this makes 15 for him now on the site, and I'd say out of those 15, this is maybe 15th, or 14th above Assassin's Bullet, which makes this sound horrible, but instead I'd say that this shows the high floor Florentine has with his films, because it's not that bad. 15 directed films also puts him alone in fourth all-time on the site, behind Pyun (44), Fred Olen Ray (17), and Joseph Merhi (17), and while three movies left may sound like he can catch Ray and Merhi, they both have a lot more to review, so even if he does catch either of them, it'll be short-lived until he gets more stuff out there. But still, a great run, and as we said, if this is the worst of them, that's not bad.

The two other big names in this were the lead, Stephen Lang; and the lead baddie, Harvey Keitel. Lang was great as the stoic, humble hero, and while maybe the Lang Fu was a bit much, the rest of it really worked. Keitel was a more interesting one, because I caught Who's That Knocking at My Door a few days before I watched this, and the difference in Keitel between the two films was immense, not just because of the difference in age and difference in the quality of the movie. It was hard to reconcile that they were the same person. His part was small here, and didn't require a lot from him, but it does help the film if he's the baddie for even only a few scenes. And then I want to mention Michael Sirow, someone we're more likely to see on a podcast episode with Ty. He does a great rage bait baddie, and reminded me that before we had rage bait on Instagram or TikTok as a way to farm engagement, rage bait was reserved for movies like this, and was designed to enhance the viewing experience, not be the viewing experience in and of itself. It feels like a more noble pursuit, Sirow playing the biggest jerkoff he can so we root for Lang that much more, as opposed to an algorithm pushing me more content of a guy putting insulting bumper stickers on F-450s after their jerkoff owners double-park over two ADA accessible spaces. Less algorithm-drawn rage bait keeping me on my social media apps, and more Sirow taking one for the team like the professional actor he is, that's what we all need.

Finally, I feel like this seventh paragraph is becoming "what song did the film's title get in Matt's head this week?" And true to form, the song is The Prodigy's "Fire," which samples The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's "Fire," repeating the line "I am the God of Hellfire, and I bring you... fire" over and over. In 1997 I went on a school trip to England, and being a Prodigy fan at that time I got as many of their UK release singles as a could, assuming there was no way I could get them in the US. Turned out I was wrong, because as the band had blown up in the States, soon after all of those import CD singles were not only available, but they were cheaper, and I wouldn't have had to lug them from tour stop to tour stop--and would've had more money for the pubs, which was a big deal for an 18-year-old like me who wasn't legal to drink in bars in the US. Also, soon after the trip, I saw a freshman wearing a Prodigy T-shirt, and suddenly they weren't as cool to me anymore. Ah, the capriciousness of youth, right? And here we are almost 30 years later with me remarking about the whole thing in a blog post.

And with that, let's wrap this up. Rent VOD is currently the only way to go on this, and I'd say unless you get a discount, you're better off waiting. This is more a free-streamer time-killer than a $6 splurge, and if you're really craving Dolph, he has like 30 movies in Tubi, you could always give one of those a rewatch.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14507394/

We Die Young (2019)

This is one we covered on the podcast with Sean Malloy of I Must Break This Podcast, back on episode 246, and with Van Damme so close to the 40 Club, I figured we had to make it happen here too. In addition to us, Chris the Brain at Bulletproof, Outlaw Vern, and even Simon Abrams for Roger Ebert have covered this as well.

We Die Young is about a young man named Lucas (Elijah Rodriguez), who makes collections and deals drugs for MS-13 gang leader Rincon (David Castaneda). One of the people he deals to is Daniel (Van Damme) an Afghan War vet whose vocal chords were damaged in the war, and who takes oxys to dull the pain and help with his PTSD. All is going well, until Lucas discovers his 10-year-old brother is being jumped into the gang, and he can't have that. The problem is, he was supposed to deliver some bricks of cash to someone for Rincon, and now that he hasn't done that, the people who were supposed to get said cash are coming for Rincon, who in turn is coming for Lucas. Maybe this Afghan War vet can help.

This has its moments. One, Van Damme turns in another nice performance, and Castaneda was solid too. Also Elijah Rodriguez, whose Lucas character is the center of everything, does a great job making that work. On the other hand, there were some issues, the biggest is the unevenness with Van Damme's character in the story. It felt like maybe his character wasn't meant to be in the movie at all, but when producer Moshe Diamant, who has a long history with Van Damme, found out he could get him for this, they added the part in in order to make that happen. It makes sense, because I wouldn't be watching or reviewing this for the site without Van Damme, let alone include it on a podcast episode, but as I said, it makes the whole thing uneven, as there are elements of Van Damme's character that aren't developed as well, but also we don't know if he's the hero, or Rodriguez. The other thing is, the whole MS-13 thing feels like bad Latin American scare mongering, which in 2019 would've fit in with the rest of the anti-immigrant slander in the US, and great performances by Castaneda and Rodriguez weren't able to overcome that. Finally, we come to a Van Damme film for the action, and while we did get some here, there was also a lot of shaky cam that disrupted it. For me, this is really for Van Damme completists only, but I would watch some of his others first before you get to this one.

Speaking of Van Damme, this is his 37th film on the site. Yes, it's his 38th tag, but one of those was for the 400th post, which was the Van Damme film fest, so it doesn't count as a movie. Based on that, we could get him into the 40 Club if we do The Gardiner along with Swelter and Welcome to the Jungle. He also has some things in production that could get us there. The 40 Club is a big deal, especially for someone like him who also had a large big screen career. And unlike Seagal, who's been stuck on 39 since 2019, and whose movies are mostly all the same, Van Damme has tried a lot of different things, and this movie is testament to that. I think that's what interested him in the project, beyond wanting to do Moshe Diamant a solid, and it does show in his performance, it's just that we lose him for big chunks because we'll following Rodriguez's character and what he's up to. Either way, I do think the fact that Van Damme has been taking projects like this should be applauded.

David Castaneda does a solid job here, taking what was a standard gangster role, that was attempted to be written with nuance, but was pretty one-note, and imbuing it with his own nuance. In 2019 he would also start on The Umbrella Academy, which took his career to another level, and he was able to leave these kinds of movies behind--at least for now anyway. For as solid an actor as he is, it's interesting that one area he's been inhabiting is the bigger name who gets killed off in the first act, as this happens to him in both The Ballerina and Trap House. Hopefully soon he'll get more parts that let him last longer into the movie! It's always cool in the DTV world to get a name like this just before they get bigger, and it brings an added element to watching them beyond the film's main star.

We often talk about how New York City is a character in itself in a film, and while I don't know if Washington, DC is quite at that level, it is a pretty recognizable city, especially when a set in Bulgaria is supposed to pass for it. Then the comment Lucas makes about how the area they lived in was only 20 minutes from the White House, it made it sound like Lior Geller, the writer and director, hadn't really been to DC before. It was like when the Bush 41 Administration set up a fake crack buy across from the White House in 1989, the guy they got to sell them the drugs had no idea where the White House was or where they wanted him to meet them, the "20 minutes from the White House" was more of the film's anti-Latin American propaganda, like "these evil illegal immigrant gangs are only 20 minutes from the White House!" Beyond the bad propaganda aspect, it just all plays goofy to have what is clearly a studio set in Bulgaria that looks nothing like any part of DC trying to be passed off as DC. My advice to low-budget filmmakers: if you can't shoot there, just make up place and set the film there instead. We'll be more accepting of that than this.

Finally, the film's title for some reason or other gets The Power Station's "We Fight for Love" aka "Someday, Somehow, Someone's Gotta Pay" in my head. Every time I saw it, I thought "we die for young..." which doesn't make any sense, but I guess that's how I think about things musically. I was trying to think from a soundtrack standpoint how many songs are better than that one. It's the punctuation mark on one of the greatest films of all time. I found out this song came after Robert Palmer left the group and was replaced by Michael Des Barres, which is why the vocals are different from things like "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It On." I don't know if it would've been better with Palmer's vocals, but there was a period when they reformed with the original line-up in 1996, which makes me curious to know if Palmer performed this live, or if he insisted on no Des Barres songs while they toured. 

And with that, let's wrap this up. You can get this on Plex here in the States, but it's kind of an odd one because it comes and goes on Tubi too, so you may see it on there again at some point. As I said above, I think this is for Van Damme completists only, but I think those Van Damme fans will find something in his performance. Also, check out the podcast episode Sean and I did on this one, number 246 in the archives.

For more information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7903530

And check out my newest novel, Mark in Sales, on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Shepherd Code: Lapierre (2026)

This is one Ty and I covered on the podcast, episode 269 in the archives, and with the names involved, and because we'd covered the other two films on here as well, I knew it needed a written review too. In addition to us, Chris the Brain at Bulletproof Action has also covered this.

Shepherd Code: Lapierre is a prequel to the previous two films, where we learn how our eponymous hero (Alan Delabie) came to be the guy we saw in those other two entries. After his wife divorces him (and he tells her "I'm disappointed in you" and "look at all I've done for you," because I guess he'd rather his wife be unhappy and stay married to him than file for divorce?) he gets a job from his boss, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, to keep a target safe, one Tania Edwards (Theresa Kassa from the first film), because Lapierre "knows how to handle women." Beyond the chauvinism in that, or that his wife just dumped him and his response was "look at all I've done for you," so maybe he can't "handle women," Lapierre takes the job, and proceeds to fall in love with Tania. Will the dancing and romantic dinners go to his head and prevent him from carrying out his mission?

This is a different movie from the first two, with less action and more drama. What does that mean for you the viewer? Exactly that. It's the opposite of the Elvis song that Dolph performed on a Swedish awards show, so if you're looking for a little less conversation and a little more action, this isn't the movie for you. There is an independent spirit aspect of this though that is worth supporting, an earnestness in what Delabie wanted to do here that I appreciated. To have a vision for a film, and despite limited resources have it completed it and available on places like Tubi where the whole world can see it is something to be applauded. And it isn't all conversation, we do get some fight scenes that look nice and have some inspired moments. On the other hand, the chauvinism should've been left on the cutting room floor. "You know how to handle women" is something out of 1966, not 2026, and something like that can make it harder to champion an indie effort. Overall though I think with this on Tubi and other free streamers here in the US, if you're looking to support independent filmmaking, this is worth a watch.

With an indie film like this, I think there needs to be a different calculus when evaluating it. For example, recently we looked at Kill 'Em All 2, and the question came up, "who was asking for this film?" Right? Did we need a sequel to Kill 'Em All? And the reason we ask that, is that movie is being distributed by Sony, which means they're expecting an audience to be there that will turn them a profit--and they were probably right, because Netflix picked it up. For this film, the "who was asking for this?" question is easier to answer, Alan Delabie asked for this. It was his vision, and he successfully got his vision on the screen and available for us to consume, which I think is fantastic. From there it's a matter of who the audience is, but I don't think we should create art with an audience in mind, we should let the audience find it. And to that end, the podcast episode on our YouTube channel had a comment from someone who really enjoyed this, even saying it was their favorite of the three. For me, I would've liked more action, but that's not the movie he made, and I think that's okay too, there's an audience out there for the vision he wanted to make, even if it didn't work for me, but I wouldn't want him to change his movie for me or anyone else.

We're on our fifth paragraph and only now getting to our film's Hall of Famer and 40 Club member, which gives you a sense of how much he's in the movie, but this is still Don "The Dragon" Wilson's 44th tag nonetheless. Six more movies to 50 could be tough based on how many we have left to do and ones currently in production, but maybe Delabie will make a few more Shepherd Code movies, and Cynthia Rothrock and Alexander Nevsky will make a few more Westerns, and he'll get there. Even if he doesn't get there, he's still one of the greatest to ever do it, and it's great to see him in anything, even it's a small part. Speaking of small parts, Eric Roberts and Patrick Kilpatrick each have one-scene cameos. One idea that Ty and I had to break up some of the monotony that we saw in the long stretches without action, was to have Lapierre call either Roberts or Kilpatrick from time to time, that way they don't need to shoot in additional locations, and can do their scenes at the same time they're doing their one scene with Delabie, but those calls can be spread organically throughout the movie for the audience to enjoy. Just a thought, but I think how a film uses its names when they can only afford them for a limited amount of shooting can really impact how the film comes across overall.

As many films nowadays are wont to do, we have our share of overhead drone establishing shots here, but one shot caught my attention. Before we see our hero in a workout montage showing off his skills, we get an overhead establishing shot of the MMA gym he's going to be working out in, and the roof is covered in solar panels. The gym is Shocx MMA training center, I believe in Brussels, so if you're in the Brussels area and need to practice your grappling or boxing, you can go there and know that they're using sustainable energy to keep the lights on. It's probably no surprise to you that I'm not much of a gym guy, but I do walk a lot, which also helps the environment, so I'm trying to do my part too. We all do what we can, but here's to you Shocx MMA for going the extra mile.

Finally, look at that gem. I think it's a Birmingham Barons hat, which is the AA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They're most famous for being the team Michael Jordan played for during his retirement from basketball in the mid-90s, which, when the Major League Baseball players lockout happened in 1994, their games were aired on ESPN to make up for the lack of Major League games. As you know from any amount of time reading this site, I'm a huge baseball fan, and among my baseball bucket lists, one is seeing a game in every US state that has a professional team. Right now I have 12 plus DC, so I have a long way to go, and Alabama is a state I've never even been to before, let alone see a baseball game, so it's a trip I have to make at some point. Who knows, Major League Baseball is facing another potential lockout for the 2027 season, and if that happens, Minor League Baseball like the Barons will be my only option, so next year might be the perfect time to make it happen, and if I do, I have this movie to thank for reminding me to go.

And with that, let's wrap this up. You can currently get this on a whole host of screeners here in the States, including Tubi, which has the other two as well. The lack of action may turn action fans off, but if you're looking for something a bit different and you want to support indie film, this is a great way to go. Also, be sure to check out the podcast episode Ty and I did on this one, 269 in the archives.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36415829/

And check out my newest novel, Mark in Sales, on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Private Wars (1993)

For our PM flick this month, we're looking at Steve Railsback's one film for them, because who doesn't want to see what Railsback's up to in a PM actioner? And to prove that point further, this has also been covered by Ty and Brett at Comeuppance, Matt Spector at Bulletproof, Karl Brezdin at Fist of the B-List, plus Jon Cross reviewed it on Letterboxd, so I'm a little late to the party.

Private Wars has Railsback as a cop who's sufficiently on the edge, which leads to corrupt chief Michael Champion getting him booted off the force, which leads him to get a job as a PI and crawl into a bottle of liquor. But he's called back into action when an old friend's neighborhood is being terrorized by a gang of toughs. Something about this seems off though, why are these toughs so well organized? Enter The Ben Gazzara in Road House-ish Stuart Whitman, a land developer who wants to scare everyone out and develop the neighborhood on his own. Not only does he have Champion in his pocket, but his hatchet man is none other than James Lew. Is Railsback going to dry up enough to take all these baddies down?

This was a lot of fun. It was like PM's take on the off-beat action comedy, which ended up being perfect for Railsback, but also perfect for the too sweet van flip in the opening chase scene. I mean, that thing jumped higher than Lorenzo Lamas in Viper aka Bad Blood jumping over a car. I don't know what I'd expect a PM version of the off-beat action comedy to be, but this felt like it, and while we didn't get anything as fantastic as "Sweet Freedom," this also had a pretty nice soundtrack too. It did have some jokes that fell flat a bit though, like when Railsback initially turns down the request to help, the community auditions people to help, and the bit that follows is cringe-y at best, and doesn't age well at worst. Still, the action is exactly what we want from PM, especially the three-headed end fight scene, and with Railsback's fun lead, this has a lot to hang its hat on. That begs the question though, what do we do with the PM version of the off-beat action comedy? In terms of ranking, maybe top 30? Which, when you're talking about a studio with the output of PM, top 30 means you're going to enjoy your 90 minutes, you just may not have a classic on your hands. I think that's okay, not everything needs to be a classic, sometimes a fun 90 minutes does the trick. (Oh, and speaking of Lamas, scenes of him from CIA: Code Name Alexa appear on a TV, so he gets another tag, putting him three away from the coveted 40 Club!)

We're now at six Steve Railsback movies, but this is the first one where he was the lead, and I think a lot of it worked. I don't know if I see Railsback in a Recoil or Art of Dying, but for this role he nailed it--and nailed it better than some of the bits we get. I mean I guess who else plays a good drunk, but somehow can also beat up a bunch of bikers, then take on Vince Murdocco and John Salvitti in a fight in a holding cell? When his character's making love to Holly Floria, who is 20 years his junior, while his best friend is getting beaten to death, the demerits that we would give another hero don't stick to Railsback, it's like he can't help himself, but when the chips are down, he's ready with a pump action shotgun. In PM world, that's often all you need, and all the James Lews and Stuart Whitmans need to watch out when he does. He's got a decent amount of stuff out there that we still need to do, and some of it looks pretty good, so hopefully we'll see more Railsback on here soon, because he was a lot of fun in this one.

The late Michael Champion feels like he was created in a lab in Canada to be the perfect baddie in a syndicated TV show or Canadian city passing for an American city movie production, so imagine my surprise when I discovered that he was a Yank from Indiana, and had a long history before the 90s in American TV shows. I mean you look at him here, and it feels like he was plucked right off a Da Vinci Inquest set, even though he never did that show, or any show like it! Wonders never cease, huh? I mean, yes, his pre-90s stuff like Beverly Hills Cop he makes more sense as an American, and in Total Recall he was the recipient of the infamous "look who's talkin' " line, so I'd be forgiven for not recognizing him there, but I think post-The Swordsman he pivots into a full-on syndicated TV/DTV actioner look that feels like it was created in a lab in Alberta or Saskatchewan. We unfortunately lost him in 2021, but in the 90s he was a force that made movies like this just a bit better. Here's to you Michael Champion, you were one of the great ones.

As you can see, there are a lot of other names in this. First off, Art Camacho is now at 59 movies, as he plays the guy in the holding cell that Vince Murdocco beats up. Maybe for next month's PM flick we can do one he directed to celebrate him entering the 60 Club. And then we had stunt team Red Horton and "Broadway" Joe Murphy, with Horton listed as stunt coordinator and action director, but Murphy listed as a second unit director as well. They had some fantastic stuff in this, so kudos to them. Then we had James Lew and his too sweet mullet coming in with his 21st film on the site, which means he could be getting some Hall of Fame consideration; and Vince Murdocco with his 12th movie on the site, which I think when you're talking Vince Murdocco, that's not bad at all. Murdocco and John Salvitti team up with Railsback at the end to create the three-headed end fight scene I mentioned above. What happens is, Whitman calls in two out of town specialists who do a great job showing off how well they can use martial arts weapons, and each of them fight Murdocco and Salvitti, while Railsback fights Lew. What a beautiful way to make the most of the martial artists you have at your disposal, another win in the PM column.

Finally, is that a McDonald's in the background there? It looks like the Golden Arches, doesn't it? This is in the opening chase, and it's looped multiple times, so I got a lot of looks at it, but couldn't tell for sure. If it's not a McDonald's, it looks so similar that a McDonald's representative may have contacted them about it. Could it be a McDowell's kind of thing, but maybe like a gentleman's club? I love the idea of that, opening up a gentleman's club called McDowell's or whatever, using a sign that looks Golden Arches-esque, but people thinking they're getting fast food are getting exotic dancers and two drink minimums instead. "God, I don't want a private dance, I just wanted a couple double cheeseburgers!" Anyway, until we know for sure, I'm erring on the side of yes, which means this is the 22nd time McDonald's has appeared on the site. Are we going to have to induct McDonald's into the DTVC Hall of Fame? I don't even know how we do that, but I guess we'll see when we get there. (And yes, that is a man hanging off the front of that van. And I know, that means I've seen so many of these PM films that a man hanging off the front of a van is so commonplace that I'm more concerned about whether or not that's a McDonald's in the background.)

All right, with that, let's wrap this up. As far as I know, YouTube is the best way to watch this, and the version on there isn't bad. You can find it on my PM Entertainment YouTube playlist, and while you're there, why not subscribe to our channel? It's been a while since I've posted a new original video, but every podcast episode is on there.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107879/

And check out my newest novel, Mark in Sales, on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.