Product Details

• Actors: Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, Joe Mari Avellana, Rob Kaman, Billy Blanks, Kris Aguilar
• Directors: Terence H. Winkless
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: New Concorde
• DVD Release Date: May 30, 2000
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630582469X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,882 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Bloodfist" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Don Wilson plays retired kickboxer Jake Raye, who travels to Manila, where his brother is favored to win a kickboxing competition. His brother is killed, and Jake realizes he must enter the competition himself to flush out his brother's killer. Format: Color, DVD, NTSC. Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo). Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.). Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1. Number of discs: 1. Rated: R (Restricted). Studio: New Concorde. DVD Release Date: May 30, 2000. Run Time: 85 minutes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This produced seven sequels?!!, July 16, 2002

By 

Brett Johnson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bloodfist (DVD)

I just saw my first movie out of the "Bloodfist" franchise. I decided that perhaps the best place to start would be the beginning. I wish I hadn't.

The production values are embarrassing. I realize that this film didn't have a massive Hollywood budget, but c'mon! Some things don't need a big budget to produce quality. Experienced kickboxers, boxers or karate champions should be able to make fight scenes look realistic. In this film, they often don't even come close. This is some of the absolute worst mock fighting I have ever seen in a movie.

The sound effects were laughable. It's as if the filmmakers used a couple of guys who used to work on old Warner Brothers cartoons or something. I expected huge letters to pop up on the screen - POW! WHAM! - like in the "Batman" TV series. It was that bad!

I especially loved the scene where the two guys were fighting outside in a terrible thunderstorm. There was lots and lots of booming thunder. Funny thing is...there wasn't even one (not one!) flash of lightning. Was the budget so tight that they couldn't afford to simulate lightning? Maybe they didn't understand that lightning creates thunder. If that was the case, I wouldn't be surprised.

"Bloodfist" has awful acting, uninspired directing, terrible editing, atrocious voice dubbing and on and on and on. I sure hope that the sequels were head and shoulders above the movie that started it all. Otherwise, I shudder to think what this world is coming to.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Young Dragons Breathe Small Flames, October 28, 2008

By 

Mike Sehorn "Rezo the Dezo" (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bloodfist (DVD)

It's a shame that young action stars like Don Wilson get stuck with bad films like "Bloodfist" while the likes of Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme were already being handed blockbuster material at the same stage in their careers. Don't get me wrong: I like Don Wilson and believe that he still has a lot of potential, but his Hollywood debut here plainly sucks. I'm sure that had he been given a stronger vehicle to introduce himself to the world with, more people would know his name nowadays.

The story: Wilson plays Jake Raye, a retired boxer who travels to the Philippines to uncover the murderer of his brother. Taken under the wing of the elderly trainer Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana, Behind Enemy Lines), Raye must learn the art of kickboxing to enter a deadly tournament in which he's sure to meet the killer one-on-one.

The film's plot immediately reminded me of titles like Bloodsport and Kickboxer, but the movie retains none of their style or flair. Essentially, "Bloodfist" is a martial arts B-movie produced in the late '80s that looks as though it had been made in the '70s: everything about it seems dated and screams mediocrity, from a cast that can't act (inexperienced Don is only the tip of the iceberg - wait until Michael Shaner and Marilyn Bautista go to work on your ears) to poor production values (the picture has a washed-out look to it and the audio can get pretty fuzzy) and lackluster fight choreography.

Even though the movie boasts real-life kickboxing and karate champions Rob Kaman (Maximum Risk), Billy Blanks (The King of the Kickboxers), and Kris Aguilar (Bloodfist II), the action is largely disappointing. With the exception of the Wilson/Blanks encounter, neither the fighters nor the choreographer seem they knew what they were doing: the fights have neither ebb nor flow to them, beginning and ending erratically and unevenly while the performers play it safe to the point that it's clear that they're not actually hitting eachother. Cheesy sound effects try to convince you otherwise.

This largely killed the film for me, but "Bloodfist" does have some redeeming qualities: Joe Avellana makes the most of his role as Jake's teacher, displaying a confidence among the corniness that's soothing to watch after seeing the other actors stumble around. Also, even though the fight scenes stink, the training scenes are more like it: all the fighters get to show off their legitimate abilities amidst a nice mountainside environment.

Alas, this was nowhere near enough to save the movie, which made $13 million in 1989 but wouldn't earn ten bucks nowadays. If you're wanting to introduce yourself or a friend to "the Dragon", find another title; this one won't do the trick.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars average martial arts movie, August 18, 2006

By 

dominion_ruler "Bryan" (Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bloodfist (DVD)

There is nothing special about Bloodfist, other than the fact that Don "The Dragon" Wilson likes to use real-life martial art champions in his movies. It makes little impact though, since most of the fight scenes are filled with punches and kicks that don't even make contact with the opponent. The story to Bloodfist is the typical avenge, this time, somone killed Don Wilson's character's (Jake Raye) brother. Jake sets out on a quest to find the killer, with the help of a man named Kwan. Kwan leads Jake to a gambling tournament in Manilla, where the killer is supposedly one of the fighters. The tournament is where most of the action takes place, but most of the fights are short and not too impressive. The ending of the movie has a nice little twist, when Jake does discover who the killer is. I don't want to give it away, but this has been done before in many movies before I'm sure. Overall, Bloodfist is just average. The biggest plus is that Don Wilson is actually one of the more decent martial art movie actors. Check out Bloodfist II, it has a simple story too, but a lot of action and a lot of much better fighting.