Cynthia Rothrock was still in her prime when she made this after having
a fine run in Hong Kong from 1985 to 1989 and this is produced at least partly
by Golden Harvest, so I was expecting a much better film. For an American
B action film at the time I guess it met most expectations, but after HK
Cynthia must have found much of the action laughable. I sure did. It is directed
by the man who somehow through karma or fate directed some of the great action
stars of that period - Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon), Jim Kelly (Black Belt
Jones), Robert Mitchum (The Amsterdam Kill), Jackie Chan (Battle Creek Brawl)
and Cynthia in this and the sequel. Throw in Gymkata just because it is
so bad. Robert Clouse. Who in my opinion he is a terrible director who I
think gained his reputation from Bruce. And he just kept getting work. The
man would not know a good action scene if it ran over him.
There is a ton of fighting here of the stand still and get whacked style.
There is no real action choreography to speak of - just go up to Cynthia
- throw a wild swing and get banged. Time after time after time. The sad
thing is that there are two other terrific martial arts fighters in the film
- Richard Norton - also a graduate of HK action films - and Keith Cooke who
has all these martial arts credentials and went on to two of the Mortal
Kombat films. But in Clouse's infinite wisdom they are both on Cynthia's
side. So you have three fine martial artists against a boatload of slugs
who can't fight a lick but are pretty good at falling down. I kept waiting
for a twist and Norton would actually be a bad guy and they would finally
have one great fight. Nope. A final kiss. The amazing thing about both Rothrock
and Norton is that they are still going. Both appearing in recent films.
Amazing considering the punishment their bodies must have taken.
China is a cop in the big city and after beating up some hoods in a dark
alley, she sees a gun and shoots. It was a child and so she hands in her
badge and goes back to home sweet home. A small rural town where her father
is the sheriff. Peace and quiet. Read a few books. Meet up with your childhood
friend who somehow manages to have an Australian accent. But within the
first day she beats up a bar full of creeps and much worse is to come. Plot
wise and action wise. It has the oddest crooks in America - they must be
about the only people not to have guns. Which if they had would have made
the fights a bit more fair. Tiger Claws (1992) - 6.0
My main criticism of China O'Brien which I saw the other day was that Cynthia
Rothrock had no legit martial artists to fight - they were all basic bums
with a sign on their chest saying "Hit me". In this much better American
martial arts film, she gets some competition with one of the legendary bad
guys in these sorts of films - Bolo Yeung. Perhaps better known for his massively
muscular build - ten years as Mr. Hong Kong Body Builder - than his martial
arts skills - but he has those as well. Mainly he just scares the hell out
of you by taking off his shirt. I would be running for the exits. Born in
China, swam to Hong Kong and by the 1970's he was getting small roles in
Shaw Brothers film. Then larger roles but he was never really one of their
stars. After the Shaws, he continued in Hong Kong action films (including
Enter the Dragon) until he got his break in the American film Bloodsport
with Jean-Claude Van Damme. It did very well at the box office and Bolo was
to make more films for Hollywood.
In this one Cynthia is teamed with Jalal Merhi. Now I admit that for the
most part I have avoided American martial arts films unless Rothrock or
Van Damme were in them - so I know next to nothing about them - but it seems
that Jalal is a known entity in that world. Not so much for his acting and
martial arts (which are pretty good) but as a producer and occasional director
of action films. I rather liked him in this - not a great actor - quite lowkey
- but still better than Rothrock who I like but honestly she never seems
natural in her acting and speaking. You just wait patiently for her to get
back to what she is good at. There is a lot of action in this one from both
Rothrock and Jalal but he gets to do the heavier lifting. The choreography
is solid and the skills of the opponents are good enough.
In this one, martial artists are getting murdered by what seems to be a
serial killer. One of them is Bill Pickels who plays Bill Pickells - a real
teacher of martial arts in Canada and friend of Jalal. Rothrock who usually
is on the perv and rape unit of the NYC police gets herself assigned to the
case because of her skills at kicking ass - and they bring in Jalal who is
on suspension to be her partner. He has trained in the Tiger Claw technique
which has been used to kill these victim. Their investigation leads them
to an underground dojo that specializes in Tiger Claw. The killer must be
one of them - but certainly not the smiling painter - Bolo. This was good
enough I guess to be followed up with Tiger Claw II and III - both starring
Rothrock and Jalal but not until five years later. Tiger Claws II
(1996) - 4.0
I guess the first Tiger Claws did well enough on the video market that
four years later the sequel was released by Film One Productions, which
was owned by Jalal Merhi who was the star along with Cynthia Rothrock and
Bolo Yeung of the first one. They are all back like a bad family reunion.
This is surprisingly bad. Surprising because the first one had its moments
and some solid martial arts scenes. You would think they would follow that
formula and do the same but better. But everything is worse. The story is
truly idiotic but more importantly the action is terribly choreographed,
poorly edited and badly filmed. It is obvious that the kicks and punches
are not coming close to their target and the editing cuts from fight to fight
without any sense or flow. And for the first hour there is very little of
it and then you get one of those dreadful series of underground matches one
after the other with each progressively more boring. You always wonder when
you come across a mess like this is what did they all think when they watched
the final cut? Didn't they realize that considering the talent here it should
have been much better.
The film seems to take up about a year after the last one ended. The final
shot of that film was Rothrock and Jalal smooching on a boat. Well something
happened - when this one picks up Rothrock has moved to San Francisco and
seemingly gotten a boob job somewhere along the way. We gather this when
she is on her bed on the phone in a negligee. There is a lot there. Too much
for my taste. I have seen this in later films of hers and it is always jarring
to me. Why would a martial artist want enormous breasts? It has to throw
you off I would think. Slow you down. Give a larger target to your opponent.
She doesn't involve herself in much of the action till some mediocre fights
in the end. Maybe she was still sore from surgery.
Jalal is still in NYC trying to break up a gang but the leader escapes
after killing his female partner. This gang leader hooks up with two Chinese
gangsters and they break Bolo out of jail and go coincidentally to San Francisco.
Jalal goes there and takes up with Rothrock again and they end up tracking
every one to an underground tournament because - get this - the four finalists
will be able to open a corridor into the past to help ancient China. Or something
like that. Like I said everything in this film is just stupid. Many bad
fights follow. And Bolo becomes the good guy. We don't want Bolo as the
good guy. So there is not another match-up against our two heroes. What
the hell were they thinking? There is a third Tiger Claws and sadly I will
probably watch it because otherwise I will feel incomplete. I will always
wonder what I am missing. Who knows, maybe the next one will be really good! Tiger Claws III
(2001) - 5.0
I just had to do it. Watch the third in the Tiger Claw trilogy. There is
a part of all of us that has a need to finish what we started. After recently
watching these and China O'Brien I remembered again why I generally stay
away from American martial arts films. They just are not very good. I am
sure there are some that are but you have to wade through the dross to get
there. I let my guard down when it comes to Cynthia Rothrock because of her
Hong Kong films which are so much better than these. And Van Damme was a
higher class than most of these with good production values and a bit of
charisma.
Anyway, this was a tad bit better than the second film but a lot worse
than the first. This was released four years after the second one, but I
would not be surprised if it was sitting on the shelf for a while. Jalal
Merhi and Rothrock are partners in NYC again (Bolo I guess is still stuck
in Ancient China) - I guess she just went to San Francisco for the breast
enhancement surgery. They are invited to this opening of an exhibition of
ancient Chinese outfits worn by three great Masters. Another martial artist
(Loren Avedon - No Retreat, No Surrender 2 & 3) does some hocus pocus
and brings the Masters back to life. Sure why not. They kill nearly everyone
there because I guess that is what ancient Masters do. That and eat a lot.
They missed Chinese food over 5,000 years. And Rothrock who is the only reason
I am watching this drops out of the film at about the 20 minute mark until
she pops up again at the end.
But look who does shows up . . . Carter Wong! Ok - keep the excitement
down but Carter Wong is one of the great Old School kung fu actors who appeared
in loads of Taiwanese martial arts films in the 1970's. It seems like every
other one I watch has him in it. He has the personality of a turnip - never
showing any emotion or much acting talent - but his skills are good and
they often co-starred him with the Who Who's of Taiwanese female martial
arts stars - Angela Mao, Polly Shang-kwan, Hsu Feng and Chia Ling. I have
to admit his acting in English isn't any better - but not really worse either
- but it was great seeing him in this. Kudos to Jalal for using him.
These three Masters go around killing people or blowing up police cars
for no discernable reason. I thought perhaps Loren Avedon's character, who
camps up his character ridiculously, brought them to conquer the world!
But no, just to conquer Chinatown in NYC (really Toronto). He seems to be
lowering his ambitions - these two male masters and a busty female master
can shoot lightening bolts, darts and deflect bullets. Aim higher. Jalal
locates Carter Wong, an old wise master and Wong trains him in the Black
Tiger! Which allows him to take on the Bad Masters. Wong gets to take on
Loren Avedon. This is total corn pone - lazy script - poor acting and not
nearly enough real martial arts. Thankfully the Tiger Claws films ended
here. My mission is over. The world is safe once again.
Sworn to Justice
1996
5.0
The problem with watching an American Cynthia Rothrock
movie is that when she is not fighting the film just sits there like a potted
plant. There is only one reason to see her films and that is for Rothrock
in fluid motion kicking the crap out of much bigger guys. This one even has
her in two love/sex scenes which is like watching a race car idle in a McDonalds
parking lot. For years audiences in the West most likely only saw Rothrock
in her American films rented on videotape from Blockbusters and thought they
were ok. Back then not a lot of folks were able to see her in her Hong Kong
films till they were available years later and then you sort of go - holy
shit - this is what she is really capable of.
Oddly though, this well-trained martial artist with multiple Championships
and Black Belts in pretty much everything from Taekwondo to home cooking started
in Hong Kong and then migrated to Hollywood. She was spotted at a tournament
by Golden Harvest (home to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo) and invited to
come to Hong Kong and appear in a film called Yes Madam. And what a film
as she teamed up with Michelle Yeoh making her action debut. Much of the
film is filled with awful comedy but the action is astonishing. Rothrock was
to stick around Hong Kong for a few more years appearing in Shanghai Express,
Magic Crystal, Above the Law, Blonde Fury and Inspectors Wear Skirts. Very
entertaining films. But eventually she came home - probably to make much
more money - and made some very solid films and some pretty mediocre ones.
It must have felt like amateur hour to her working with American action choreographers.
The action in this one is plentiful and fairly decent though nothing spectacular.
The plot is mundane and well used. Rothrock's sister and nephew are killed
by a home invasion and with the help of ESP powers when she touches something,
she tracks them down and kills them. And has sex along the way. Only one of
the many minions she faced down could fight - clearly he was also trained
in martial arts - and their fight was excellent before it ended way too quickly.
I don't know who this fighter was.
Appearing also in the film are a few names one might recognize - Walter
Koenig (Chekov), Mako, Brad Dourif, Kurt McKinney (No Retreat, No Surrender)
and Tony Lo Bianco.
Angel of Fury
1990
5.5
Aka - Triple Cross, Indonesian title. Released as Angel of Fury in America
two years later. My version of Angel of Fury comes in at a slim 76-minutes.
So perhaps cut a bit. If so, I only wish they had cut Cynthia rolling in
the hay.
Cynthia Rothrock appeared in her final Hong
Kong film in the 1990 Prince of the Sun. After eight Hong Kong films,
she was ready to make films in the West and she made two of her China O'Brien
films in the same year. But for some reason she made this Indonesian film.
Perhaps on her way home, she had to stop over in Jakarta for a few days and
was talked into making this film by director Ackyl Anwari. I know zippo about
Anwari or Indonesian film, but I get the impression that they were making
a lot of low budget crazy action films at the time and that Anwari was behind
a bunch of them. I saw a few people that mentioned The Intruder, The Stabilizer,
Double Crosser and American Hunter as good ones. No idea how to find them.
But getting back to Rothrock, Anwari managed to talk her into this film.
It will only take a week, you get to beat up a lot of guys with moustaches,
do some smooching and as she says at the end of the film, go to Bali. She
looks well-rested, her short-blonde hair fitting and her enhanced bosom a
bit of a distraction at times.
It is sort of a McGuffin plot just to allow
a lot of action. Rothrock plays a top security consultant who is bringing
a computer to Jakarta. It must be some super-duper computer because everyone
wants it. Maybe the latest Mcintosh. The bad guys led by Bolt (Peter O'Brien)
seem to know when she goes to the bathroom. The computer is in a briefcase
and she has one and there are two others coming in. Only one is real. It
is a constant series of her beating up punks trying to steal the computers.
They all magically appear in dozens to get smacked and kicked around. She
also runs into an old boyfriend that she thought was dead. The before said
smooching. I don't come to see Rothrock going lip to lip. Fist to fist. Better
is fist to face.
This action is not Hong Kong level, but
it isn't bad and there is a lot of it. Unfortunately, there is no big match
up against a good opponent. Where was Richard Norton when she needed him.
Even the fight against Bolt is disappointing. The finale though is good fun.
Chaotic and non-stop fights between a bunch of different parties. As one
expects from these low budget films, the script written by Chris Mitchum
of all people makes little sense, the continuity is laughable and all the
guys looked the same with bushy moustaches. Rothrock was still in her prime
here and is great to watch.
Lady Dragon 2
1993
4.5
There were two things I kept yelling at the TV screen during this. In my
head, anyways. Get some damn security for your house and hold on to your
damn gun. This is a follow-up to Lady Dragon in name only but with David
Worth still as the director and shot again in SE Asia. And Cynthia Rothrock
is again getting revenge for rape and the murder of her husband. It is though
annoying in many ways throughout. Mainly, that Rothrock is really shitty
at revenge.
The film opens with Rothrock as The Golden
Angel defending her karate championship against some pugnacious female in
red who eventually gets the crap beaten out of her. As through the film,
Rothrock can't seem to defend punches to her mid-section. At the same time,
sleazebag Billy Drago and his two junior dirtbags are stealing diamonds from
a hotel room after killing everyone. In their escape though, not so brilliantly
they stick the diamonds in some luggage headed to Indonesia. Because no one
looks in their bag when they get home. Sure enough, it is the luggage of
Rothrock and her superstar football (soccer) playing husband. Turns out their
large home is as easy to walk into as Grand Central on a Saturday afternoon.
When they don't find the diamonds, the three cretins rape Rothrock and cripple
the husband. Later the husband admits to Rothrock that he hid the diamonds.
I thought they were a gift from God.
I am thinking you let your wife get raped
for the diamonds. Asshole. But he has a great plan. He waits for them to
return in his wheelchair with a gun. Oops. He falls asleep and they walk
right in. Take the gun. Get better security idiots. This time they kill him.
About time. Now we get to the revenge. But she is terrible at it. She keeps
having her gun knocked out of her hand and having to resort to martial arts.
Ok, we came for Rothrock and martial arts but stop losing your gun and get
a smarter maid. A knock on the door. Let me open that. Oh, it is the killers.
Maybe I should have asked. Oh, they dug up the body of my husband and put
him in the living room. Maybe, I should have gotten some better locks. A
decent amount of action with choreography that amounts to - your turn to
hit Rothrock, her time to hit you.
