Manhattan Samouraï

FIST OF THE WARRIOR is a cheapo martial arts vehicle for Pak Ho-Sung, a Korean-American fighter whose best known role is still as the top henchman in Jackie Chan's excellent DRUNKEN MASTER II (he's the guy who goes lording it around in a black suit). Sadly, to mention FIST OF THE WARRIOR in the same paragraph as the Jackie movie is to do the latter a disservice, as this independent production is completely forgettable and nowhere near in the same league.

It's a film with a simple revenge storyline that feels dragged out no end with long dialogue scenes between extraneous characters who aren't even important to the story. The whole thing is dark and cheap-looking and the various fight scenes suffer from lacklustre choreography that doesn't allow the viewer to enjoy any of the strikes or special moves, not that there are many.

Ho-Sung makes for a wooden hero although I did enjoy the presence of the familiar faces in the supporting cast. Sherilyn Fenn was once the star of BOXING HELENA while Peter Greene has long been propping up B-movies as a slimy villain; I still remember him as the guy who gets his neck snapped by Seagal in UNDER SIEGE 2: DARK TERRITORY. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION actors Marina Sirtis and Michael Dorn enjoy a mini reunion of sorts, Antonio Fargas cameos as a priest, and hulking body builder Brian Thompson is completely wasted in a nondescript henchman role. Yeah, FIST OF THE WARRIOR isn't much cop, even for action lovers.