Review of 8 films with Billy Blanks from Uran

21.01.2016uranium

B-movie legend, multiple karate champion, founder of Tai-Bo, prototype of the character DJ from "Street Fighter"and Zach from"Dead or alive", and also just a good fitness instructor Billy Blanks recently celebrated his 60th birthday. As part of a series of retro reviews, I decided to revisit and refresh my memory of his main action filmography.

Billy mostly played in B-action films; I didn’t notice him in films of a higher or lower class. Typically, he had a lot of small cameos, but I take those action films in which he either played the main character, or the villain, or the hero's sidekick and had a lot of screen time. However, before I move on to his films, I will explain my criteria for dividing films into A, B and C categories, due to the large number of questions asked on this topic.

A-category:

• Big budget (for the 90s and earlier)
• Huge advertising everywhere
• Cinema rental
• Good screenwriting, good plot, good shooting
• More than one famous and popular actor at the time of filming
• Excellent special effects at the time of filming
• Huge recognition among viewers

Examples: MK (1 and 2), Bloodsport, Drive, The Crying Killer, Ip-Man (with Donnie Yen). You can also call the series “Undeniable”, but it is such not at the request of the publisher (there was no rental), but according to the recognition of the audience.

B-category:

• Medium/low budget (90s and earlier, now the budget for the average B-action film can be large)
• Advertising only by mailbox or absent
• Optional theatrical release, but more often direct to cassette/TV
• The production may have a good plot, script, shooting, etc. - but only 1-2 points are good, the rest sag.
• There are at most 1-2 famous actors, only the leading actors play normally +/- a couple of others
• Average picture quality
• Recognition is only among fans of action films, and sometimes among other viewers, if, with all the points described above, the film managed to jump over its head.

Examples: action films with Wincott, Daniels, Blanks, Speakman, etc.

C-category:

• Low budget (90s and earlier, now the budget for a C-action movie can be high)
• No advertising
• Rental either in small-town cinemas, but usually straight to cassette
• The production and script are simple and done on the knee.
• Weak acting. An attempt to drag an aging/failed star into the cinema, who will appear in one episode, or in the leading role, but will play it completely.
• Recognition only from small-town viewers (if the film by a regional director turned out to be at least watchable), from a few and from trash reviewers like BadComedian.

Examples: Fred Olen Rey, Uwe Boll, Asylum and regional self-taught directors.
A C-category action movie doesn't always mean it's a bad movie. Sometimes C-action films shoot (like Uwe Boll's Rampage) or look good, it's just the lack of budget or experience of the creators that makes the film lag in quality compared to other categories. The viewer has now become picky.

Now that I've shelved my concept of action movie categories, we return to Billy Blanks.

"The King of the Kickboxers" (1990)

At one time, I missed this film, because sometimes unknowing people presented it as another spin-off or continuation of the original "Kickboxer"with Van Damme, and I didn’t like spin-offs in this series back then and considered the first part to be the only one. Now I watched it, having learned that it has nothing to do with the series - but is one of its clones.

This film is another copy-paste of Van Damme's film, but with an attempt to change a lot of things. The plot begins similarly - the main character and his brother come to a competition in Thailand. The brother wins them, but on the way to the airport they are attacked by a gang of a certain Khan (Blanks) and with his signature combo (parts of which will be repeated in most of Billy's films) he beats his brother to death. The younger brother survives and grows into a tough cop with a face Lorena Avedona, who alone is not afraid to go against dozens of enemies. Then he goes on assignment to Thailand and there he picks up the trail of his brother’s killer. Then the film moves from partially copying Kickboxer to almost complete copying: the same “tear your groin with ropes and smash your leg against a tree” training (don’t repeat them at home), the same fight with the villain “according to the old customs,” the same strange hermit teacher.

Is it worth watching? Yes, sure - Lauren Avedon looks great on the screen and the action scenes themselves are staged with Hong Kong aggressiveness, which was later lost by the Americans. Billy Blanks he looks good in the role of a lawless man, but it’s harder to perceive him like that if it’s not the first time you’ve seen him - in other films he’s kind and cheerful. He also fights well and is on screen a lot. Starred in a good episode Jerry Trimble (although the hero dealt with him quickly) and looks good Keith Cook as the hero's trainer, although he has few fights here. Also in the Thai school episode I noticed Don Wilson, but for some reason he “pissed” to fight with the hero. The final fight is also very good and varied - weapons and scenery elements are used - if only the final battles in all action films were approached in the same way... Another plus is the pretty good music, which suits the scenes perfectly.

But there are also disadvantages. First, there is some hackwork in the action, but the aggressiveness and a large, varied amount of it overcome this shortcoming. The second minus is plot-related: the hero is very experienced in martial arts, but as soon as he arrives in Thailand, he drains the crocodile dry and suddenly turns out to be an ignorant sucker, starting to learn again how to stretch (which he was good at at first) and other skills. In “Kickboxer,” Van Damme knew how to fight at least a little, but his novice status was much better justified. This stamp catches the eye and spoils the whole picture.

Сonclusion: Not bad and dynamic, but a bit secondary film, based on the action of Lauren Avedon and the performance of Billy Blanks. I recommend.

"Talons of the Eagle" (1992)

Billy is here, having already gained quite a bit of experience."King of kickboxers"and on a rather bad level"Bloody Fist", merges with Jalalom Merhi in this film. In the story, they are two cops who must destroy the empire of the evil Chinese Li (James "the elderly Chinese villain" Hong) from the inside. To do this, they need to get into a tournament controlled by Lee, through the school of his archenemy, Master Pan. Pan teaches the kids the art of wushu "Eagle's Claw" and the guys, after passing the tournament, end up working with Lee. Now let's look at the film in more detail:

• There is a lot of action in the film (at least 45% of the film). The fights were done well. There is some shitty editing, but the further you go into the film, the better it gets. The action is varied, Billy shows a variety of techniques, the Chinese show wushu beautifully, a huge variety of weapons are used, and most often Chinese. A mixture of Chinese style and American kickboxing high kicking gives good results and variety. At the end of the film, the action doubles in quantity and goes non-stop until the very end - this is the main plus of the film.
• Despite the fact that Billy Blanks fought quite well and showed a lot of his tai bo arsenal, I recognize the best fight as the fight between Master Pan Qingfu and one of the villain’s bodyguards. In general, Master Qingfu looked good as an actor, portraying a wise teacher. Jalal Merkhi, to be honest, was inexpressive and not memorable for anything (except for his eye-catching swimming trunks), Hughes portrayed a stereotypical kickboxer-jock with final boss syndrome - good as always, but got boring from time to time, IMHO. Even old James Hong was given a little fight.
• There is fan service in the form of erotica. Each main character has a mistress and a scene with them.
• The downsides of the film are some careless editing (tolerable, since it’s a B-action film), a lot of night fight scenes, the uninterestingness of Jalal Merhi and the plot cliche I mentioned of “retraining an already strong character.”

Is the film worth watching? Certainly. Of Billy's films, this is one of the best, especially, I repeat, at the end.

"Showdown" (Showdown, 1993)

The main character enters a new school. There, on the very first day, he is trampled by the local alpha guy for staring at his female. The hero, instead of sending the alpha guy to jail or not slamming him on the pumpkin with a rebar, continues to stare and receive, until the local janitor gets tired of watching this and he teaches the boy self-defense skills and the boy defeats the enemy. The janitor turns out to have a DRAMATIC PAST, and the villainous alpha guy has an evil teacher, connected to the janitor by some kind of ties in this very past.

I've already seen all this somewhere. I think it was called "Karate Kid". I didn’t really like this film, because in reality, for three high-kicks in the face in front of the whole school, the goof will be sent to prison both in America and here; and the boys in all incarnations annoyed me with their stupidity. In this incarnation, the main difference is Billy Blanks. He, of course, is inferior to Pat Morita in charisma and Jackie Chan in the beauty of staging a fight, but he does not force the boy to pick up a fallen shirt a hundred times and teach him dubious tricks, but quite confidently gives him a blow and is against the boy participating in fights without ruled underground. Also, Blanks has some good and long fights here, two notable: with James Liu in the apartment and with Patrick Kilpatrick at the end. The film also has some good music in the opening credits.

There is little action - basically the boy is getting used to his new school and communicating with a friend in a cap and a new girlfriend. It's up to you to watch it or not; I'm not a big fan of this kind of movie. If you like The Karate Kid, among the clones, it’s better to look at “Never Give Up” and the version with Jackie Chan, preferably the director’s version, where the final fight with the teacher of the villains is not cut.

"Back in Action" (1993)

Billy Blanks joins forces with Roddy Piper, the late wrestler and actor. It would seem that there are two action stars on one screen, two different styles. Did they succeed?
According to the plot, by chance two men unite - a former special forces soldier (Blanks) and a cop (Piper) - the first one had his sister kidnapped, the second one had his partner killed. Later they find the villains and, not without difficulty, punish them. What can we say?

• Blanks has more action, but Piper has it too. I expected a lot more from Roddy. Yes, he plays up the ties, breaks faces, but... I expected more wrestling holds, throws and double-teams, what is there is not enough for me - I would like more joint fight scenes, as was the case in “Fire Breather”. Billy, in terms of action, looks the same as always - a bunch of different blows and all that, but the editing of fights here periodically fails and spoils the impression. In general, there are quite a lot of fights themselves, but the plot is distracted too much by the journalist, the cop’s girlfriend.
• As for the villains, there is an attempt to introduce colorful characters: two twin brothers, a bully wrestler and a maniacal deputy of the main villain. This also seemed to me not enough.
• Roddy Piper The film provides humor both in peaceful scenes and in fights, which is a plus.
• The plot and script are weak. Glavgad could have already been killed in the middle of the film, and he himself is not completely uninspiring. Roddy and Billy will act together only from the middle of the story, even towards the end. This is a claim.

There is nothing else interesting in the film. Look? It's up to you to decide, it seemed passable to me and I expected more from such a duet.

"Tough and Deadly" (1995)

Piper and Billy are back together! Will they succeed this time?
Blanks's hero is a tough special agent. But one day he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was knocked out. He loses his memory and tries to escape. He is rescued by a former cop turned private detective (Piper), who helps him recover and they become friends. What will happen next is easy to guess. Now the pros, cons and conclusions.

Pros:

1. The action cinematography is much improved compared to Blanks' other films. This is a big plus.
2. Lots of technical action from Billy. Here he gave it his all, showing all his techniques: hooking the body with two legs followed by a fall, clapping his feet on the ears, repeated kicks in the air, and stretching techniques. Action in general is at least 50% of the film.
3. Roddy Piper mainly responsible for humor. He has enough fights, but I expected more from him - he’s a wrestler, he could have done something like that. This time the friendly chemistry between the characters is more noticeable, but alas, the characters have almost no joint actions on the screen, except for a strangely edited fight between them.
4. Present Richard Norton и James Lew. The first one has two fights, both are good.

Cons:

1. Said Norton would make a great final boss. But he is killed halfway through the film and we never see him again, just like Liu.
2. Adding to the above, the film lacks a meaningful final boss. What replaces him here is not comparable to the leading actors.
3. I already mentioned that although there was a friendly atmosphere between the characters, there was not much collaboration on the screen - the characters acted separately.

Conclusion: this time they succeeded and the film came out quite well. But still, I really wanted Richard Norton (or someone cooler) to come out at the end and the two heroes would have to fight him. This is exactly what is missing.

"Balance of Power" (1996)

Billy here plays the coach of the youth karate school, trying to make sure that they do not become drug addicts. The area is ruled by the Japanese mafia, all with pathos and sayings. This film is quite simple, and is a collection of a bunch of cliches and cliches, so I’ll go over it quickly:

• The plot is again stolen from Rocky (a training montage and some useful training) and old Chinese action films (a lot of pathos and philosophy, as well as some useless training that should not be repeated at home). However, we must pay tribute - the film has many unexpected twists: just when you think that you have already seen it all, BANG! And things went a little differently. But as soon as you believe that a bit of normal realism and decent drama was shoved into the B-action movie, the fantasy immediately begins. This unevenness is a minus for the film.
• There are fights here, but not as many as we would like; the real action starts towards the end. Duel with James Lew It doesn't look like much after watching a lot of other B-movies, but it at least has a little more variety compared to some other A-grade action films where the action is decided by a bunch of roundhouse high kicks. The last fight with the mafia boss smacks of science fiction, but I liked killing him. Overall, the action is mediocre, neither bad nor very good. I put it Garrett Warren, which is now putting the final nail in the coffin of the Mortal Kombat film adaptations.
• I didn’t like the completely eye-rolling tests that didn’t correspond to reality so much that my hand moved the mouse to the cross on the browser.

Total: The film is trying to convey something to the viewer. Personally, I caught only one positive thought - be prepared for dishonesty and if you are, it will be easier for you. The rest of the film is passable, it’s up to you to watch it or not.

"There will be no mercy" (Expect No Mercy, 1995)

Billy is available again Jalala Merhi, he again draws himself an unimportant character on the screen, but allows Billy to invite his brother Michael.

According to the plot, a certain Vordek (Wolf "Tarzan" Larsen) organizes a high-tech sect in which, with the help of virtual training and remote control over operations, he trains an army of killers. Two agents infiltrate him and... the rest becomes clear. Should I watch this? I'll break it down into pros and cons.

Pros:

• There is a lot of action in the film, at least 40% of the film. Various weapons and a wide variety of techniques are used, especially the Blanks brothers' burning.
• They tried to add colorful villains: a guy with an iguana, an asshole with a whip, an Asian bully, a main character with a minus sign (yes, Michael Blanks is on the bad side here) and Vordek himself. This is a plus for the film.
• The main villain tries to act through technical means, and at first this is a plus.
• Wolf Larsen he tried a little here, but his appearance here is an obvious replacement for the boring Matthias Hughes: and the fighting style is the same (demonstration of the torso, high kicks in the tabloid, chokehold and exchange of blows). To hell with it, he’s also trying to play something.
• The best part of the movie is the Blanks brothers fighting each other. Long and with a lot of blows.
• The attempt to make a semi-fantastic plot is not bad in places. But Dragon Wilson will be a better Fantastic Fighter.
• Good old B-action sounds and atmosphere. Especially if you watch it in the old dubbing.

Cons:

• Not the best fight montage. Yes, I know, B-fighters should forgive this, but it spoils the fights too much, especially for the Blanks brothers.
• Jalal Merhi here again “do not sew a sleeve to something.” They could have done without him and given Billy and the others more time.
• Lots of dark blue. This makes it difficult to watch.
• EYE-OUT special effects. I’m sure that it’s not a matter of budget, but of “stylization” - after all, Mortal Kombat and other action films with a smaller budget have already been filmed with more digestible special effects. They ruined the whole idea of ​​virtual battles. But there were so many things that could be done there...
• Despite the colorfulness of many of the characters, none of the secondary characters are memorable.
• I expected a harsher reprisal against Vordek. But this is an IMHO claim.

Hack and predictor Aviator: It was thanks to this film that I learned about Billy and at one time I liked this film. Now it has gone differently than before, but I will occasionally review it - the plot in it is constructed well and classically. I'm labeling it an "average B-class action movie" and still recommend you watch it.

"Cop 2000" (TC 2000, 1993)

Jalal Merkhi again with us, not only Billy is invited to this party, but also an old friend of all the children of the 90s Matthias Hughes, as well as no less old and good friend Bolo Yen. For fan service, they called in the spectacular Bobbi Phillips and even let her fight several times.

This time we are waiting for copy-paste of several science fiction films: “Mad Max”, “Cyborg” (Van Damme), “Highlander 2”, “Total Recall” and some comics about Judge Dredd. The plot is hackneyed - the apocalypse came and normal people went downstairs, but crap and crap remained at the top. The people at the top did not create a new state system, but turned into stereotypical “gangs of barbarians from the trash heap”: long hair, wild faces like on the posters of TNT films, dirty and clothes - a cross between the “skin” of metalheads and fagots with sheep’s clothing. They are not allowed to go downstairs by powerful police guards. The cops have a hierarchy in which they have their own assholes, the main one of which is the chief of these same police officers who really wants to take over the world. The main character learns about his plans and teams up with one of the wandering masters of Wu-shu (Bolo Yen) and together they try to gather an army and stop the villain.

The movie is incredibly stupid. It's boring as an action movie and worthless as a sci-fi movie. It is not saved by several spectacular fights (every now and then interrupted by the script for other events), nor by the colorful actors (who play here to let loose... Although no, they don’t act at all). Plot failures (the heroes were hunting for Merhi’s character, and could have killed him in the first meeting - but for some reason they didn’t kill him) finish off the viewer, forcing him to kill himself with facepalms. Against the backdrop of all this, the boring secondary nature and undeveloped world (and this is a big complaint about a film that calls itself “action-fantasy”) finishes off the viewer. At the very end of the film, we are shown the heroes posing and showing off with weapons. It would be better if they put this in the film.

Hack and predictor Aviator: Bad B-Action and S-Sci-Fi. No need to look.

Billy starred in a few more episodes, and then for some reason he stopped acting in films; he probably also felt the decline of the era of B-action films and went to strengthen and improve Tai-Bo. Otherwise, his situation is the same as that of Gary Daniels - a colorful actor with his own style, who could teach children the Tai-Bo style from the screens along with Van Damme, but for some reason he ended up with all sorts of Jalal Merhi and ultimately in A- The militants never penetrated, and was later replaced in this vein by Wesley Snipes. However, he adorned all the films that I saw with him, he showed his special fighting style and brought his own tricks to the B-action movie, which I personally remember and tried not to be half-hearted. I wish him success and new roles.

Thanks everyone and bye!

Author: uranium
Especially for Fight-Films.Info

Home » Reviews » Author's reviews » Review of 8 films with Billy Blanks from Uran
Tags: Back in Action, Balance of power, Showdown, Talons of the Eagle, The King of the Kickboxers, Tough and Deadly, balance of power, Billy Blanks, Bolo Yen, Jalal Merkhi, James Lew, Jerry Trimble, Keith Cook, Eagle claws, Cool and deadly, Lauren Avedon, Matthias Hughes, Cop 2000, There will be no mercy, Richard Norton, Roddy Piper, Back into battle

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