First movie Mount Vardanyan I saw it by chance, more than 10 years ago, on cassette tapes. It was "Eclipse day“And then the film “liked” me. Then the age of high-speed Internet came and I was able to find more information about Gore and his work in cinema.
I was surprised to learn that Gore is not just a local karate master who decided to make his own popular action movie (like Kim-In-Ho and others like him), but he is quite a high-ranking person and is actively promoting karate in Armenia and seems to have worked in Hollywood. I had the opportunity to watch some of his films again and watch some that I had not seen.
"Eclipse Day" (1999)
As I already said, this is the first film Gore made and the first one I saw. The plot is simple - a little boy returns home from music school and is beaten by local gopniks led by Sham, breaking his guitar into a heap and throwing it into the sewer right in his home yard. The boy’s own father does nothing to protect him (although any other father would have slammed Sham’s head against the curb for beating him by a crowd and damaging expensive property) and little Gor (that’s the boy’s name), having learned that his offenders go to karate, enrolls there. But due to persecution of karate in the USSR, the school is closed - Gore does not give up and trains with the teacher secretly, growing into a strong karateka.
The villains who offended him also grow up, becoming, as usual, criminals led by the same Sham. Then it’s clear - the murder of the teacher and the hero’s revenge on the villains.
Despite the fact that in fact Vardanyan was inspired by "A fan" And "Karate Kid", the film has many independent moments (comatose memories with a corridor, several references to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, etc.) and is more unpredictable in plot than the above-mentioned works. Now more on the pros and cons:
- The action is not bad for an action movie of this level (an action movie that popularizes the local level “for its own people”) - Gore shows good combinations, the techniques are varied, the
The fights are realistic - faces are broken from blows, a couple of strong blows send the enemy “to sleep.” However, the editing of the action and the camera in places spoil the impression. I also expected a little more from the fight with the big guy Koto and Sham himself at the end - the fight in the middle of the film with him was less one-sided. - The film itself is well-constructed and interesting, sagging only in places where they show the life of bandits - their showdowns, pretentious conversations, etc. The hero's many references to the past and a number of script features only improve the situation. Also in the film there is some kind of philosophy and a number of teachings for young people that are not very noticeable.
- The music in the film is also not bad - a fighting melody plays during fights, and a corresponding song plays during lyrical moments. I count this as a plus.
- The film has three minuses - Mary Sue in the form of a hero (but perhaps the child part of the hero’s story is autobiographical), “God ex Machina” in the form of a strange bearded man helping Gore, and the aforementioned editing. The rest in the form of the acting (only Gore himself, Sham, the Master and Abel Abelian were remembered) and the quality of the film are not significant - it is obvious that the film is low-budget.
To summarize, I’ll add that the film had one more advantage, which was lost over time: giving the viewer hope for the development of hand-to-hand action films produced in the CIS. At the time when I watched it, I saw in it the beginning of a new formation of action films of the 2000s, but this formation never really appeared.
Nevertheless, the film is good and I recommend it for viewing by people born before 2000. The rest will not be able to watch this film, having been “fed up” with high-quality TV series of our time. The film, in theory, is a C-class action movie (regionality, quality), but I will put it in the B-category for its good plot and sane fights.
"Choice", aka "Gor-2" (2000)
Once again, Vardanyan plays a mafia fighter under the name, oddly enough, Gore - which is why Vardanyan’s films almost officially received the “Segal-Niko Syndrome”, having the additional names Gore-1, Gore-2 and so on. The film begins with a battle scene in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, where the main character and his detachment rescue fellow soldiers from captivity. Time passes and now Gore is an honest, incorruptible policeman from the anti-narcotics department, and the rescued one is an arrogant mafioso politician who earns money for his election campaign by selling drugs and killing people. Horus crosses his path and then cruel misadventures begin. in which the hero loses almost everything.
Like the films of Kim-In-Ho, the film is not a hand-to-hand action film - there is not much action here, rather it is a crime drama with action elements, where through the plot they try to show the problems of Armenia during perestroika and hint about the victims of the Karabakh conflicts. However, while watching, I managed to switch from “action movie watching mode” to “drama mode” and I understood the problems of the film. However, at the end of the film, Gore remembers that he still films action films and the film uninhibits itself, producing several good scenes of fights with the main villains.
For acting: only a few actors play normally here: Gore, the main guy and the now forgotten Rafael Kotanjyan (Torres from “The Heart of Three”), who played a funny mafia drug addict.
By combat: There's not much of it here, but again, Gore shows a lot of different karate moves.
Is it worth watching? It's up to you to decide - this film is first and foremost a drama, and then only an action movie. Due to the pretentious dialogues between the boss and his henchmen and the ostentation in his lifestyle, the plot noticeably sags in several places, but a couple of plot twists add intrigue to the film. I liked the movie, but I won’t watch it again.
"The Unwritten Law" or "Gore 3" (2006)
Already from the title it is clear that the film will be about the mafia and the hero’s struggles with it. In the story, Gore is an employee of the local State Security Service whose uncle is killed. The uncle was involved in bad things and Gore, with the help of his drug addict son, decides to sort out the situation on his own, losing loved ones and friends in the process. Since everything else is clear, I’ll quickly describe the pros and cons:
- Based on the acting, the main villain Leko is mainly remembered, he is so vile that you regret his easy death at the end. The hero's uncle also played well.
- There’s not much action anymore, but as always, Gore is not bad in it, even though the editing is the same.
- Despite the fact that the film is again more of a drama than an action film, there are a lot of suddenly good dialogues on life topics. However, there is a lot of dialogue and not much, which is why the film, called an action film, sags a lot - more than "Choice".
Hack and predictor Aviator: the film is boring and neither the colorful characters (the corrupt mustachioed cop, Leko, Gore and his uncle) save it. no fight scenes. The film itself is a C grade and I recommend watching it only to fans of Gor Vardanyan.
In all three films described above, however, perestroika life in the CIS countries is shown very well and quite realistically, which differs little from Russia at the same time, so all three “Mountains” can be recommended as perestroika dramas to fans of this genre.
"Lotus Strike 4" (2005)
I won’t write much about him - here I need to review the entire “Strikes” series, but there is something to say even from the perspective of a review of Gore’s films. The film is a collaboration Alina Rödel, Jamal Azhigirey и Eugene Kushwaha from Russia and Mount Vardanyan and its producers from Armenia. It didn’t turn out very well - there weren’t enough action scenes and I expected much, much more from the directors - these are Vardanyan and Azhigirey, couldn’t they have come up with a more sane story and filmed it much better? There are no double teams, no battles with the final bosses, a lot of script stupidity (which Horus had almost none of) and unnecessary dragging. The only positive aspect is the fights themselves. Azhigirey and Vardanyan show a large number of different techniques.
I would not recommend watching the film.
I haven't watched the rest of Gore's films yet, but with the series "Avenger“I’ll definitely check it out later if it’s available in Russian. In general, Gore has the same situation as other regional directors - the fighting technique is good and the person knows what and how to shoot, but he lacks a script and a good cinematographer to help him. I wish Gore to continue working in films and filming in a good, high-quality action film.
Author: uranium
Especially for Fight-Films.Info
Gor Vardanyan is a multiple champion in Armenian karate, one of the best fighters in the history of the sport, watch his films guys, in them he teaches many good things.
Dave,
Look how I reviewed all of the above in one gulp)
Wow, congratulations my friend.
Returning to the topic, I think I had the avenger without translation. And it doesn’t seem to be translated anywhere...at least at the time when I found it. I downloaded it from some Armenian torrent. And I think there are very few fights. In the first episode there was definitely a big fight and of course in the last there was a big mess. And so... maybe somewhere in the middle of the series there was some sort of casual fight with a gopot in the gateway and that’s it. But it is recommended for viewing anyway. The essence will be clear there even without translation. Unless, of course, it has been translated elsewhere.
den50393,
I think there is a translation, since the name itself has been translated.
The series is for two seasons, there is not much action but enough, I don’t remember how many episodes, the series is interesting first of all as a crime drama and then as an action movie, unfortunately there are quite a few of them, but Gore compensates for this drawback with his fights, they were filmed perfectly by the way , as for the films, they look good, they have good action scenes and plot, watch Uran this series, I recommend it.
Dave,
So be it, but Bolo Yong is next in line (and honestly, his little-known filmography is not impressive yet), and then, probably, Gruner or Lamas.
uranium,
I would like to see reviews of films starring Robin Shue, Michael Worth, Brian Genessey, Dale Cook. The list is large, but the rest starred less.
Merey,
I will think. And yes. I'm not the only reviewer here. Why don't you write yourself? A good help to the site would be.
Yeah, I’ll read the review of Bolo Young with pleasure.
“Lotuses” too (although everyone watched them, just to compare impressions).
Wave,
Honestly. I have no desire to see lotuses yet. I don't mind someone else describing them.
I've watched them all, but after a bunch of passable films, I don't feel like watching them yet.
About Bolo: fans, get ready, there’s a lot you won’t like.
And let’s better discuss Vardanyan and his cinema.
uranium, honestly, I very I don’t like Russian and near-Russian crime films. All these gangster St. Petersburgs and so on... hmm... I haven’t watched and don’t plan to watch. Judging by the descriptions, the fights in these “Mountains” will not impress me, and everything else is absolutely not for me. So sorry, I read the review and that's it.
Ps I watched Lotuses solely because of Jamal. I searched purposefully. About eight years ago.
Wave,
Can you review all 4 Lotuses? You can still watch "Day of the Eclipse" from Horus.
uraniumOkay, I'll try. Later.
uranium,
Write the truth, dear))) Bolo is the only Asian muscleman among the movie fighters, but no one choreographed normal fights for him (((
In Bloodfight with Yasuaki Kurata, Bolo inspires. His role as the titular champion, nicknamed the Vietnamese Cobra, is very underrated, as is the film itself. I watched it several times.
For those who have not seen this creation and want to watch/rewatch it in Russian dubbing, I advise you to choose exclusively this rare and nostalgic voiceover from VHS: http://www.absolom.ru/43708-krovavaya-bitva-bloodfight-1989.html
rebborrn,
I agree rebborrn!
I watched this film a long time ago as a schoolboy on VHS, and when I grew up, I found out that the student Kurata was played by young Simon Yam.
I thought that Yam had no athletic training)))
But there is a clear Chinese film with MMA from 2013 - “Invincible”, the plot is almost the same as in Bloody Battle.
I recommend! Instead of Bolo there is Andy He!
It would be interesting to read about Bolo, I’m waiting,
The Avenger series is very good, I recommend watching it.
Dave,
Is there a lot of action? Are there a lot of serial sags and NTV armchair dialogues? How many Episodes are there for both seasons?
And what can be said about the above-mentioned films?
I might watch the series, but not soon.