Full Contact

This is my new favorite eighties/nineties kickboxing movie. It's clearly a Corman knock-off of earlier brother avenges brother efforts, but it's head and shoulders above most of the crumby video fodder that was being fed to the hungry market at the time.

Jerry Trimble is good as the kickboxing hayseed who comes to LA to find his brother, but Marcus Aurelius steals the show as Pep, the Art of War spouting trainer who befriends Luke. Watching these two train, fight, and of course bond, was surprisingly effective, considering how badly written and acted most of these cheapy fight vehicles were at the time.

This flick is pure comic book fun as Luke and Pep fight their way up the ladder of villainous opponents to the championship-and the truth of Luke's brother's death. Beverly Grey (writer) and Rick Jacobson (director) set up each opponent, so each fight has special meaning. This movie really delivers on the awesome fights. It's non-stop, yet stylistic. Kudos to the editor (Lawrence Maddox) because this thing moves. Jacobson has real flair here, and the final fight, even if you saw it coming, is a blast.

If you know this genre, you'll recognize many of the much used locations from other Corman flicks. But somehow, they're grittier here. Probably made for WAY under a million, this is much better than any of the Don Wilson efforts made for more money. Show this to the kids at USC, because this film is a primer on how to get it done cheap. A gem.