Customer Reviews

Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight

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4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

That's it - I'm done with Don Wilson movies. Nothing against Don or even his movies, but I've simply come to learn that they are not going to get much better than everything I've already seen. For the layman, if you've seen Red Sun Rising, Bloodfist, and/or Bloodfist IV: Die Trying, then you've seen everything that the man has to offer as far as commercial value is concerned. For certified fans, this is in fact one of his better flicks - probably among the best in the entire "Bloodfist" series - but it pretty much goes for you too when I say that there's not much new to see here.

The story: Japanese/American kickboxer Jimmy Boland (Wilson) is falsely accused of manslaughter and sent to prison. Inside the cruel walls operated by a self-absorbed warden, he finds himself caught up in a war of racial hatred. Only through a chance meeting and eventual friendship with an enlightened ex-lawyer (Richard Roundtree, Shaft) can he hope to attain the strength and will to survive his term.

Yes, yes, I'll write about the fight scenes right away. Plainly, these may be some of Wilson's best moves ever - he performs kicks galore, including some complicated combos and an impressive flying kick - but they're thoroughly undermined by unnecessary quick-cut editing that removes any ebb or flow that they fights might have had. There are about four of these hand-to-hand encounters, some of them longer than others with marginally better camerawork than most of Don's future fight scenes, but none of these really stand out among anything else that martial arts enthusiasts will have already seen.

More than anything, "Forced to Fight" does a good job at telling a story, and is acted slightly above-average for this kind of movie. Richard Roundtree steals the how from his very first scene as a Malcolm X-inspired fight-the-system character and the sole voice of reason in the prison; he even seems to bring out a little something extra in Wilson, whose character is darker, more intense, and more legitimately acted than the types he usually plays. Rick Dean (Carnosaur II) and Gregory McKinney (who played Jax for a few seconds in Mortal Kombat) are respective white/black bad guys who have it out for Wilson, and even they don't do particularly bad. Co-stars include Richard Paul (The People vs. Larry Flynt) as the apathetic warden, Charles Boswell (Hard to Kill) and inmates Brad Blaisdell (ten episodes of "Three's Company") and kickboxing champion Stan Longinidis (Kick to the Head), all who fail to stand out but don't do poorly...and in this case, not sucking entirely is worth a point.

"Bloodfist III" isn't a very realistic prison movie: it seems the only time that the prisoners are not walking around unhindered or even supervised by security is when the script calls for it, and apparently good behavior buys you your own outdoor garden, as is the case with Richard Roundtree's character. With that being said, incarceration is never made light of or softened (the film opens with a rape/murder), and for that, I can easily dub this Wilson's most mature movie to date. It's as good a place as any for new Wilson fans to start watching, but as is the case with me, it's easy to see why this was the last film that Don would release through theaters.

Bloodfist 3 is probably the most average film in the Bloodfist series. It doesn't have the story strength of the 4th and 5th entry, or the martial arts action of the 1st and 2nd, but it has more appeal than the last 3 Bloodfist films, which tended to fuse out on action and overall interest. While this is a typical prison movie, it somehow held my interest. The story was simple and action was decent, but I think its the fact that the production value on such a film wasn't too shabby that held it all together in the end.

The story is rather simple, and is basically the bad guys of the prison (in ties with the warden) wanting the good guys dead. Jimmy Boland (Wilson) is the reason tensions grow so high, after he kills a man who raped and killed a younger man. The man Jimmy kills was the lead supplier of drugs etc. in the prison, and the guy who used to receive them free of charge gets upset real quick. He gathers a group of inmates to take out Jimmy, leading to several fights here and there. Impressive fights that look great, but don't last too long. Eventually, with the help of a wise and older black guy, most of the gang decides there is no point to fight, but the bad guy and one of his buddys still want revenge and begin to kill particular inmates. The ending isn't quite as exciting as I had hoped, and there is a final fight but it wasn't too exciting. There is a pleasant conclusion to the story though.

The acting, characters and action are actually ok for this kind of movie. I actually expected worse, and while there isn't much to the story, the film still had my attention. Pacing between action and important scenes of dialouge seemed to work well, and there were even a few scenes of some decent and uplifting words (though perhaps a little cheesy to some). A bit above average overall, this isn't the strongest entry in the series, but its not the worst either.

Though there is a "III" in the title, this sequel is totally unrelated to the first to pictures. This film was originally made as "Force to Fight" but was retitled to part of the Bloodfist series when it was released video (Yes, believe it or not this baby was theatrically released). This time we get Don "The Dragon" Wilson being wrongfully accused of a crime and being sent to prison and is "forced to fight" in order to say alive, much like the Van Damne picture Death Warrent. Not a terrible low budget action outing, but far from the best in the overly long series.

IN THIS UNRELATED CHAPTER OF THE ''BLOODFIST'' SERIES, A PENETENTIARY INMATE [DON ''THE DRAGON'' WILSON] MUST FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE INSIDE CELLBLOCK C. BENEFITS LARGELY FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE ORIGINAL SHAFT HIMSELF RICHARD ROUNDTREE, WHO PLAYS AN INMATE NAMED STARKS IN THIS MOVIE. OTHER THAN THAT, THIS IS JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRISON MOVIE THAT HAPPENS TO HAVE SOME MARTIAL ARTS IN IT. ''DEATH WARRANT'' DID THIS A LITTLE BETTER.

Any TRUE Martial Arts fan who has seen the Bloodfist films will agree with me when I say that this flick rocks AND rolls (Although I can't help but feel that the caption FORCED TO FIGHT may have worked better for Bloodfist II.)As both a Kickboxer (who held many championships in the World Kickboxing Association)and an action star, Don "The Dragon" Wilson is superb. There's not much story here other than the bad guys want The good guy dead, but this movie is set in a maximum security prison, so the story is very much an secondary consideration (which is often the case with kung fu movies.) Not only is the fighting terrific, but Don "The Dragon" even gets to do more acting than usual in his films. FORCED TO FIGHT may not be a critical favorite, but it works exceptionally well.

if you're watching the bloodfist series in order then you're in for a very nasty surprise when you hit number 3. gone is the charm and fun of the first 2 and in its place is a hard hitting relatively speaking)prison drama covering male rape, paedophilia, race relations (or rather lack of). don the dragon has become ultra invincible so all his fights lost any interest for me. he's beefed up a lot for this role as well. i preferred the first 2.

First of all in my opinion; Don 'The Dragon' Wilson is a brilliant fighter. I have seen some of his actual fights and he's just as good in the ring as well as on camera. This movie doesn't continue from the first and second volume of bloodfist although it has the same title name but the character has a different name. The main thing is that the fight scenes are just as good as the first two. My favourite fight scene is when he matched up with Stan 'the man' Longinidis an australian and Kickboxing Legend. Bloodfist 1,2 & 3 are far better than the rest of the bloodfist series.