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Death Fighter (2017) - Movie Review

3 stars

Joe Lewis, a friend of Bruce Lee and himself a Karate Champion, gets immortalized in Death Fighter (aka White Tiger) an awesome throwback with a comparable vibe to Cannon’s successful American Ninja series.  While Lewis passed away in 2012, this film was the last thing he appeared in and, as a result, fans of his will enjoy seeing him in action once again.  And, while the film was the victim of lawsuits and long without a distributor, it is only now getting a release.

Trust me, though; the film is worth the wait.  Fight choreographer Kazu Patrick Tang has worked out some incredible sequences for each character in this low budget affair, no matter how young or old they are.  It is the fleetness and stature of Prasit Suanphaka who will cause your jaw to drop.  The speed.  The swiftness.  He explodes with grace throughout this sure-footed flick.     

With a hurried frenzy to its mechanics, Death Fighter begins on the run.  A man and a woman haul ass through a leafy green jungle somewhere in Thailand.  A stranger is in pursuit.  We are already out of breath as the breakneck speed of the chase rips open the jungle.  That energy doesn’t let up either through this highly entertaining action flick.

The camera lens stylistically zooms us in and quickly backs out on its subjects.  The scene is charged as the stranger jumps up upon the man thanks to the base of the tree he just catapulted from and lands in front of him, blocking his path.  Soon enough, we are leaping across huge rocks as these two men begin an epic smackdown in the mud and muck of a wild river that cuts through the jungle.

But what about the woman?  She’s left alone to fend for herself as the man she was with winds up face down in a shallow stream.  Don’t worry.  There’s a chick, with her multicolored hair in a high ponytail, which takes care of her.  With a whip.  You might even recognize her.  Oh, snap.  And that’s only the first 4 minutes of this modern day martial arts movie. 

Directed by Toby Russell (Cinema of Vengeance) and written by Lawrence Riggins, Death Fighter is mega-action on a micro-budget and, honestly, martial arts fans are going to gobble it up.  The film cleverly pays homage to the films that have gone before by respecting traditions in the martial arts that involve revenge.  One dude taking on multiple targets?  Oh yeah.  We are soooo there. 

As a result, this narrative about a cop (Matt Mullins) who witnesses his mentor’s murder and the sense of rage and, ultimately, justice that it stirs within his core, never loses a solid sense of itself as an action movie.  The punches are felt precisely in the parts of the body where they land and the kicks are always high-flying.  It’s a tight movie, seemingly effortless in its execution and all that comes together to make for a fun night out at the movies.     

Death Fighter, starring martial arts world title champ (and The Defenders’ stunt coordinator) Matt Mullins, will be known throughout action genre circles as the movie that brought both Cynthia Rothrock (the self-proclaimed Queen of Martial Arts Films and Kung-fu Video Queen) and Don “The Dragon” Wilson back into the fray.  The martial arts scene just got a little warmer.

The action enters the arena armed with performances from Chiranan Manochaem, Joe Lewis, Jawed El Berni, Gigi Velicitat, Yuhkoh Matsuguchi, Prasit Suanphaka, Wirat Kemklad, and Mark Gerry.  It’ll earn its place in your collection once made available on blu-ray. 

For any fan of revenge-driven martial arts flicks, Death Fighter just entered the ring and should be added to your collection.  It is available on DVD and is able to view through VOD platforms in the USA.

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Death Fighter (2017) - Movie Review

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime:
88 mins
Director
: Toby Russell
Writer:
Lawrence Riggins
Cast:
Matt Mullins, Don Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock
Genre
: Action
Tagline:
Eye for an eye. Soul for a Soul.
Memorable Movie Quote: "You're out of your jurisdiction. You're all alone."
Theatrical Distributor:
Vision Films
Official Site:
Release Date:
July 25, 2017
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
No details available.
Synopsis: DEATH FIGHTER follows a young American cop with a bounty on his head. He teams up with a rage-filled ex-military outcast to avenge his slain mentor’s death. His mission proves a hard and dangerous one when he finds himself in a head-to-head showdown with one of the most notorious and ruthless criminals in the country.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Death Fighter (2017) - Movie Review

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[tab title="Art"]Death Fighter (2017) - Movie Review

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