Customer Reviews

Full Contact [VHS]

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"Full Contact" isn't the worst you can find when it comes to silly karate B-movies. Most of the films that director Rick Jacobson worked on in the same period (e.g. Star Quest, Bloodfist 6 - Ground Zero) are several steps behind the quality of this one, after all. I suppose it's simply a letdown for me, more than anything: coming off of an awesome fight against Jet Li in The Master, kickboxing sensation Jerry "Golden Boy" Trimble was all set to become the next Jean-Claude Van Damme in his first starring vehicle, but as fate would have it, his phenomenal athletic ability remained overshadowed by his amateur acting skills and a production so firmly mired in its DTV-ness that it seemed determined to not let itself rise above mediocrity. Trimble's following starring flicks were worse, but it's a shame that even his best remains rightfully forgotten by most people.

The story: Luke Powers (Trimble) travels to Los Angeles to find his brother murdered following a back-alley fighting tournament. Shortly into his investigation, he is sought out by Sun Tzu-quoting trainer Pep (Marcus Aurelius, A.P.E.X.), who urges him to join the circuit to uncover his brother's killer.

B-movie veterans will quickly realize that the story is little more than a retelling of Don Wilson's Bloodfist in America, right down to the climatic twist. Like the Wilson picture, "Full Contact" sets a lot of store by athletic legitimacy: in addition to Trimble, the film features champion kickboxers Howard Jackson (RIP), Alvin Prouder, and Gerry Blanck in semi-prominent roles. This is all fine and good, but even with three fight choreographers listed in the credits (director Jacobson, Hiro Koda of the "Power Rangers" series, and Rae Manzon of Bloodfist 5 - Human Target), none of the fights rise above average, let alone come close to when Trimble traded kicks with Jet Li four years prior. There are fifteen of these hand-to-hand battles (!), but they generally don't last longer than 30 seconds, are lazily shot and choreographed, and often involve fighters whom are neither cool nor worth caring about. Of course, Trimble has the best ones, including a stickfight against Latino gangbangers, a decent encounter with Alvin "Black Ice" Prouder, and the final battle with Aurelius. Star-to-be Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite) appears as the fight announcer but doesn't throw a single punch.

I suppose the most interesting aspect of the film is the mentor/pupil relationship between Luke and Pep, which feels both strained and natural at the same time. For those of you who don't know, Marcus Aurelius is a stout, jive-talking black man and, in the movie, an alcoholic; seeing him being pushed around in a wheelbarrow by Trimble and throwing tomatoes at him as training methods is nearly as weird as hearing him spout quotes like "If you know your enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles"...yet, he sells it so sincerely that I can't help but pronounce him the best performer of the film. Of course, this is not high praise, considering that the other contestants are the inexperienced Trimble, DTV sojourner Raymond Storti (Amazon Warrior) as Trimble's buddy, and Denise Buick (Angel Fist) as the latter's sister who can't dance and who engages in one of the most forced romances with Trimble I have ever seen.

Yes, I was hopeful that I would be picking up a hidden gem in "Full Contact", but thanks to it, we can be sure that Jerry Trimble's accomplishments in the ring will never be mirrored by cinematic success. The same year saw the release of the John Woo film of the same name; seeing as the two of them are often confused (to the point that Trimble's film features pictures of Woo's in its IMDb entry), be sure you know what you're getting before you add this to your cart: one is high-caliber Hong Kong action, whereas the other is one big broken dream.

Full Contact is actually better than I though it'd be as a movie by itself, but it is an exact clone of Bloodfist in every way possible. Not only is the story that same, but so are the charcaters and even each scene of the movie. Instead of Don Wilson, the star is Jerry Trimble. He is no Wilson, so Bloodfist ends up being better than this film. But as far as action goes, this was rather enjoyable.

So if you have seen Bloodfist, Dragon Fire, or Bloodfist 2050 then you know the story and the outcome of Full Contact. If you haven't seen those, than this will be a decent average martial arts movie. I didn't expect much out of Jerry Trimble, but he actually has some skills with his jumping and spinning kicks. Some of the other fighters in the tournament managed to impress me too, especially the villain - Ahmed - who is one big bad dude. Its amusing, cause the villain in Dragon Fire's tournament was also a black fighter named "Ahmed", just played by another actor.

This is an average film, but is a rip-off of the previously made Bloodfist. If anything, this is only worth watching for some decent fights. Other than that, its a clone.