Oh boy I've just watched this and to say I was sorely disappointed would be an understatement.
Initially I was drawn to this film via Godfrey Ho, especially his films set in the USA. His double whammy of "Honor and Glory" (which featured the entire cast that would return in "Undefeatable" but playing different roles) and of course Undefeatable itself.
The latter film to me is "The Godfather" of unintentional laughing fits that induced me to put Undefeatable up there as a genuine classic film, 5 star (or 10 star IMDb) for inventing a new genre of movie.
Even you took all the unintentional funny bits from all the obscure, guilty pleasures, dusty Video Rental VHS you'd watched; put them into one film, it still wouldn't be a patch on Undefeatable.
Honor and Glory was no picnic either coming a close second.I was asked by my room-mates to take my headphones out of my laptop whilst watching it at night- as the volume of my laughter was LOUDER than the film itself!
So naturally I was looking forward to "Manhatten Chase".
The first sign of this being a traditional Godfrey Ho film is the picture quality. Despite the film being made in 1999 it appears to have been shot in the early 1980s with the usual grainy, dark transfer. If it weren't for a scene featuring a guy walking past a cinema advertising Deep Impact or Doctor Dolittle you'd choose the latter decade.
I'm not sure what cameras or film Godfrey Ho's Production Team use but they should have tried Home Video Camcorders! However the similarity ends there.
As soon as the film started this is when I dosed off. It was just plain boring and if I'm not mistaken I think after a career spanning 30 years of ridicule Godfrey hired a different scriptwriter to make a "proper" movie (or at least one that wouldn't make you laugh unintentionally). Something to do with a girl whose entire family are brutally massacred in front of her because of stolen, pushed drugs, I dunno; I was too busy checking e-mails, forum posts, Facebook to notice.
Loren "I'm still waiting for THAT phonecall" Avedon who hadn't made, his much touted, big break after 1991's King of the Kickboxers and the previous No Retreat No Surrender sequels (all produced by the other perennial grainy film makers Seasonal Films) stars in this.
His role is a (miscast) Mafia Hit-man and all round family man who after being busted by Cynthia Rothrock (who as usual is not the main star, nor a major character despite the DVD cover) decides to play a bigger part in his sons development after being released from prison.
If anything Loren Avedon's ability as a Martial Artist, his much noted charisma, likability and knowing how to look cool whilst firing a gun adds an additional question mark over why Avedon never got better roles. The fact this was made 8 years after King of the Kickboxers doesn't hamper Avedon's enthusiasm for Manhatten Chases' shoe string production and inevitable limited release.
So do you want to know if Manhatten Chase is a laugh-a-minute, bona fide "classic" like previous works Undefeatable and Honor and Glory? After all that is Godfrey Ho's specialty, whether he is aware of it or not. The answer sadly is no. I didn't "laugh out loud" once during this film.
There are some "daft" moments such as Loren Avedon wearing a Baraclava and holding a high powered sniper rifle during broad daylight in a park. However knowing that this film has no budget its obvious a night-time shoot permit with security would've been too expensive.
Yes I too thought Cynthia Rothrock on a Power Scooter that goes slower than jogging pace to chase bad guys on roller blades was a daft option considering her character trips over a peddle bike she could've used instead.
But thats it. The only other scene is where Loren Avedon's character hands his son a reconciliation present; a 1990 Black and White Nintendo Gameboy! Even in 1999 it was considered a defunct portable console, succeeded by Playstations, N64s etc.
Godfrey Ho retired from film after making this his last. It doesn't bare any trademarks to any of his previous films and I guess if Undefeatable was "The Godfather", Honor and Glory was "The Godfather part 2" then Manhattan Chase is "Robocop 3".
PS: I couldn't find this movie anywhere neither on VHS, DVD on Ebay, Amazon or anywhere they didn't even have a listing for it. My guess was it was withdrawn from mainstream video release. I wouldn't bother hunting it down.
