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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Kung-fu Tron!, December 7, 2011
This review is from: Xtreme Fighter (DVD)
"X-treme Fighter" is the alternate title of "Sci-Fighter". Whatever the title, the movie is a strange mixture of martial arts, science fiction, and a family film. Every review so far, good and bad, is correct --- the highlight is Dan Mayid as the young fighter. Mayid's fights are fast if a bit straightforward. Mayid also seems to act adequately. The other fighters in the movie are more famous, but they seem to struggle with the choreography and boring camerawork. Don Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, and Lorenzo Lamas have all had better roles in other movies, and they have also given better performances. Fight Scenes: This movie has many fight scenes, and some are bad (poor wire-work, or low-energy, or boring, or unusual in a bad way). And some are good (smooth weapon-work, or well-choreographed, or unusual in a good way). Ya pays your money, ya takes your chances. Characters: The lack of a main character translates into a lack of focus. Is the main character the son or the father? The son is obviously where the most character development occurs in the movie, and the father also changes. One nice touch was the last sequence of fights when father and son fight as a team. As for Lorenzo Lamas and Cynthia Rothrock, they are minor characters whose roles are unfortunately superfluous. Plausibility: If "Tron" or "The Matrix" has an acceptable premise, then this movie does as well. Yes, this is the low-rent version of those movies, but this movie has more heart than those other films. Corny? Yes, but it tries to be family-friendly and positive amidst all of the fighting.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
When they can't even get the choreography in a martial arts movie right you know you're in trouble., July 10, 2007
This review is from: Xtreme Fighter (DVD)
This movie *should* have been so much better. Forget the plot, it isn't needed. Don't worry about the acting, it's unnecessary. This movie was supposed to be all about the fight sequences. As the DVD case advertises "25 Fight Scenes" and "10 World Champions". Sadly, all those world champions must have forgotten to eat their wheaties when they showed up to work. The choreography was terrible. It was slow, choppy, technically poor, and rarely lasted long enough. I've seen many of these people in other films, and I know they are capable of better.
Don Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Christine Bannon-Rodriguez, the Kim twins, Lorenzo Lamas, Eric Lee, Michael Matsuda, Brad Verret, Maurice Smith, Ray Wizard, and especially Chris Cassamassa. Half the cast was on "WMAC Masters", and we know they can give us fantastic scenes with the right producer and fight choreographer. Cynthia Rothrock, Don Wilson, and Lorenzo Lamas have made careers of action films, and they were some of the worst offenders. The worst scenes? Rothrock versus Bannon-Rodriguez. Don Wilson versus Bannon-Rodriguez. Cassamassa versus Wilson. Wilson versus Smith (who has thankfully moved on to greener pastures as the head coach of the IFL's Tiger Sharks, a more fitting use of his talents!). I can't think of one good fight from the entire film, and when the film's raison d'etre was fight choreography, it better live up to the hype. The only decent fight was between Wilson and Gokor Chivichyan, and that's not saying much.
This one didn't. I'm glad this was only $10. Will I watch it again, sure. It kills time on a lazy Saturday. But if you want good fight choreography, go check out MK, MKII or something from China. There's a reason very few people have heard of this film...except for the actors' students, who are hurling around 4 and 5 star reviews based on that fact alone.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
"Professor, how did this happen?!", December 26, 2009
This review is from: Xtreme Fighter (DVD)
As a fan of DTV cinema, it's hard for me to find a film that has next to no redeeming value...but goshdarnit, I do believe I've found one. I watched "Xtreme Fighter" with low expectations, but for a movie whose selling point is twenty-five hand-to-hand fight scenes, the fourteenth collaboration between kickboxer-turned-actor Don Wilson and action handyman Art Camacho fell short of even my squat hopes. It's definitely one of the worst martial arts flicks I have ever seen. Following its release, Wilson would endure only two more low-budget roles before retirement; co-star Cynthia Rothrock went on indefinite hiatus at once, since you really can't go much lower than this. Both have reason to be disappointed, sure, but at least their film careers had a better run than those of the poor souls who will be known for making up the supporting cast of this blunder of a movie.
The story: Jack Tanaka (Wilson, Bloodfist series) is the single parent of his rebellious and troubled son Brad(Daneya Mayid). When grandfather/FBI scientist James (Aki Aleong, Farewell to the King) tries to bridge the gap between them by introducing them to a revolutionary virtual reality fighting game, a virus traps Brad's mind in the game; the only option Jack has to save his son is to enter the game and beat all of the opponents and the virus (Christine Rodriguez, "WMAC Masters").
When it comes to the abundant fights, I could write this entire review by detailing how bad each encounter was, but I'll save space by only mentioning the few times the action didn't suck entirely. Undoubtedly, the film's highlight is Daneya Mayid, whose acrobatic prowess shows so much promise, especially in his first fight with Chris Casamassa ( Mortal Kombat). Wilson, on the other hand, seems to cue bad camerawork and ignores any and all sense of rhythm or pacing for his lifeless bouts. The wrestling match he has with grappling champion Gokor Chivichyan ( Bloodsport 2) was pleasantly out-of-the-ordinary, Eric Lee ( Weapons of Death) shows him up impressively in a weapons-based match, and there's a nod given to his UFC aspirations by fighting 'king of the cage' champ Brad Verret, but in the end, few things are less worth watching than his fights. Momentary coolness occurs when Don and Lorenzo Lamas ("Renegade") fight alongside eachother, but like the rest of the fights, their team-up too short, too poorly choreographed, and too incompetently shot to merit more than a seconds' interest. Some wire-fu takes place when Cynthia Rothrock ( Above the Law) takes to the screen, but this may very well be the worst work she's ever done, too.
The only aspect of the acting that surprised me is that even the usually-adamant Aki Aleong seems to go out of his way to look like an amateur. The production values are inferior to anything you've ever seen on "Power Rangers". The CGI is both abysmal and unnecessary, the camerawork is that of a low-end TV drama, and the virtual reality console itself is a dolled-up Nintendo Gamecube. Concerning the script, I couldn't care less about the fate of any of the bland and boring characters. The very nature of the virus is weird, since it goes from being a simple bug to wanting to destroy the world in the blink of an eye; it doesn't even mention how it's going to do this. Cynthia Rothrock's character is the only kinda-sorta interesting aspect of the film, since she's Don's aspiring sweetie in the real world but in the game she's...well, don't worry about it; it doesn't save the movie, either.
On the bright side, the DVD does have fairly decent special features, including a very insightful commentary track by Wilson and Cynthia. If you're into the band Powder and bad rap metal, then you'll be happy of how much you hear of both. Nevertheless, this is simply the most disappointing film of Don's I've ever lacked the pleasure of watching. This is a film that literally does everything it aspires to do wrong - even in B-movies this is a rarity. Steer clear, one and all.
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