Unknown (2006) – I love me a good amnesia opening, you know? In this case, five guys wake up in a locked-down warehouse without remembering who they are. Some are tied up; some are injured; some are armed. Who’s captive to whom, who’s a good guy and who’s a bad guy, and when whoever locked them in comes back, who will get shot? And more importantly, who are you when you’re separated from the memories which brought you to this point? Without your past weighing on you, are you a good person?
Since a whole bunch of a movie like this ends up being bickering, it really relies on the strength of your cast. Fortunately, when you through Jim Caviazel, Greg Kinnear and Joe Pantoliano into the cast, you get solid performances which can carry it until answers start peeking through.
Cat O’ Nine Tails (1971) – With this, loudly reputed to be one of the best giallo movies ever made, I finally decided that I just don’t really like giallos. Maybe it’s just that I can’t get over the incredibly ugly ’70s fashions. Or that slashers never really do it for me. Or that they’re supposed to be “visual” and “evocative” (especially in the hands of Dario Argento, the “Italian Hitchcock”) and the plots end up being way too thin. Whatever it is, I think my due diligence is done: I’ve seen Cat O’ Nine Tails, and I really don’t have to watch any more.
Bloodsport 2 (1996) – For a kickboxing movie starring Daniel Bernhardt, the man that I’ve called “the poor man’s Olivier Gruner” (who is himself the poor man’s Jean-Claude Van Damme), it’s not too bad, I guess. Bernhardt is a martial artist and professional thief who attempts to steal an antique sword in Thailand and ends up in a Thai jail, with a sadistic prison guard (Ong Soo Han) and an old kung fu master (the ubiquituous James Hong) who takes Bernhardt under his wing and becomes his Mr. Miyagi. (Not: Pat Morita is in this movie. He doesn’t get to be Mr. Miyagi.) Bernhardt becomes repentant and honorable, so when he gets released at the same time that the sadistic guard leaves to fight in the Kumite (the ALL-TIME WORLD-WIDE WHO’S-THE-MOST-AWESOMEST MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTING COMPETITION, don’t’cha know), Bernhardt enters as well, to protect the honor of the Kumite as well as to redeem himself for stealing the sword that’s the Kumite’s prize.
As with all Bloodsport sequels and ripoffs, there are going to be lengthy tournament fights between inconsequential characters just to demonstrate martial prowess, and this is no exception. So as long as you know what you’re going in for, it’s enjoyable by its own standards.
Abandoned movies: Begotten, Alien: Reign of Man.
Was Begotten that experimental, artsy type film that’s supposed to be about God and creation…or something?
That’s the one. Five minutes of purposely bad footage was about all I could stand.
I’m not shocked to learn there is at least one Bloodsport sequel, but I am shocked that this is the first I’ve heard of it.
There are actually three sequels, all starring Bernhardt (though he’s not always the same character). Bloodsport 4 is famously bad, which I can affirm.