22 reviews
First starring role for Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Don "The Dragon" Wilson, 'Bloodfist' is worth every penny of the $4.95 I spent on the bargain DVD.
Forget the critics. This is one of Roger Corman's earliest ventures into the martial arts genre, and, like much of the Corman library, there's lots of respectable bang for the few bucks spent on the production.
First, let's get past the name thing. Wilson has taken some smirks in the media for adding "The Dragon" to his name. But the man was just being pragmatic. I mean, do you remember the other Don Wilson? The paunchy, bulldog-jowled, middle-aged announcer on the old Jack Benny Show? Prior to 'Bloodfist', he was the only Don Wilson anyone had ever heard of in showbiz.
Would you have lined up at the box office for a martial arts movie starring that guy?
The Set-up: Wilson's half-brother is a prizefighter in a shady Manila fight club who ends up dead after winning a fixed fight.
Cut to Wilson back in sunny Southern Cal, who promptly explains to a bunch of grade school field trippers that he runs a gym, but does not box professionally because HE ONLY HAS ONE KIDNEY. He donated the other to his (late) half-brother. This begs the question: Why was the brother fighting? One assumes that he also had one kidney (the donated one), unless Wilson generously gave one of his away because he felt his brother should have two ...?
As in the best Corman films, the action takes over fast, and the field trip isn't even out of the building before Don gets the call that his brother's dead.
The Dragon hops the next thing smokin' to the Philippines, officially to claim the body, but I can't help thinking that in the back of his mind, Don didn't wonder just a little about getting that kidney back. Imagine his disappointment when the Manila officials open a green file cabinet and hand him an urn. Full of his brother's ashes. Including at least one powdered kidney. Nothing left but revenge, since we're already here.
Wilson promptly picks up a painter-slash-kickboxing trainer, a party animal-slash-kickboxer roommate, and a translator-slash-exotic dancer love interest. Which brings us to actress Riley Bowman, who plays the love interest. Where did this woman go? 'Bloodfist' was not only her first, but also her last movie. And Riley exhibited ... ample ... uh ... skills. Exactly the type of open-minded, halfway-talented actress that Corman employed again and again and again in his New Horizon and Concorde flicks. What a loss.
Oh, well. Back to the action. You get a great selection of tournament adversaries for Wilson, who also double as suspects in his brother's murder.
There's a little twist to the ending, tantamount to Burgess Meredith whupping the daylights out of Rocky Balboa.
Better than 'Swamp Women'. Close to the pleasures of 'Attack of the Giant Leeches' or the first remake of 'Not of This Earth' (the Traci Lords one). No self-respecting Corman fanatic should be without a copy of this. 'Bloodfist' is worth a B-movie 5 out of 10.
Forget the critics. This is one of Roger Corman's earliest ventures into the martial arts genre, and, like much of the Corman library, there's lots of respectable bang for the few bucks spent on the production.
First, let's get past the name thing. Wilson has taken some smirks in the media for adding "The Dragon" to his name. But the man was just being pragmatic. I mean, do you remember the other Don Wilson? The paunchy, bulldog-jowled, middle-aged announcer on the old Jack Benny Show? Prior to 'Bloodfist', he was the only Don Wilson anyone had ever heard of in showbiz.
Would you have lined up at the box office for a martial arts movie starring that guy?
The Set-up: Wilson's half-brother is a prizefighter in a shady Manila fight club who ends up dead after winning a fixed fight.
Cut to Wilson back in sunny Southern Cal, who promptly explains to a bunch of grade school field trippers that he runs a gym, but does not box professionally because HE ONLY HAS ONE KIDNEY. He donated the other to his (late) half-brother. This begs the question: Why was the brother fighting? One assumes that he also had one kidney (the donated one), unless Wilson generously gave one of his away because he felt his brother should have two ...?
As in the best Corman films, the action takes over fast, and the field trip isn't even out of the building before Don gets the call that his brother's dead.
The Dragon hops the next thing smokin' to the Philippines, officially to claim the body, but I can't help thinking that in the back of his mind, Don didn't wonder just a little about getting that kidney back. Imagine his disappointment when the Manila officials open a green file cabinet and hand him an urn. Full of his brother's ashes. Including at least one powdered kidney. Nothing left but revenge, since we're already here.
Wilson promptly picks up a painter-slash-kickboxing trainer, a party animal-slash-kickboxer roommate, and a translator-slash-exotic dancer love interest. Which brings us to actress Riley Bowman, who plays the love interest. Where did this woman go? 'Bloodfist' was not only her first, but also her last movie. And Riley exhibited ... ample ... uh ... skills. Exactly the type of open-minded, halfway-talented actress that Corman employed again and again and again in his New Horizon and Concorde flicks. What a loss.
Oh, well. Back to the action. You get a great selection of tournament adversaries for Wilson, who also double as suspects in his brother's murder.
There's a little twist to the ending, tantamount to Burgess Meredith whupping the daylights out of Rocky Balboa.
Better than 'Swamp Women'. Close to the pleasures of 'Attack of the Giant Leeches' or the first remake of 'Not of This Earth' (the Traci Lords one). No self-respecting Corman fanatic should be without a copy of this. 'Bloodfist' is worth a B-movie 5 out of 10.
- RetroRoger
- Sep 6, 2004
- Permalink
Don "The Dragon" Wilson plays a kickboxer named Jake Raye. He receives news from Manila that his brother, Michael, was found murdered. So he goes to the Philippines, to try and find his brother's killer. He meets a man named Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana), who trains him to compete in a martial-arts tournament called "Ta Chang" -- because he suspects that one of the fighters there was Michael's killer.
Some of the actors (excepting Wilson and Joe Mari Avellana) are quite bad, and the fight scenes aren't choreographed very well (you can make out that the fighters aren't really hitting each other). Still, this is an entertaining movie.
"Bloodfist" was remade twice (at least as far as I know), as "Full Contact (1992)" and "Dragon Fire (1993)". I've seen both, and they're better than this one. "Full Contact" is the best of the lot (and it would have been even better had Don "The Dragon" Wilson been in it instead of Jerry Trimble).
Seven sequels (to date) have followed "Bloodfist" -- most of them have nothing to do with the first one. They're all better than this movie (especially parts 6 and 7).
If you like low budget action movies, and if you are a fan of Don "The Dragon" Wilson, you might want to see this early movie of his. Others will probably not like this movie.
Some of the actors (excepting Wilson and Joe Mari Avellana) are quite bad, and the fight scenes aren't choreographed very well (you can make out that the fighters aren't really hitting each other). Still, this is an entertaining movie.
"Bloodfist" was remade twice (at least as far as I know), as "Full Contact (1992)" and "Dragon Fire (1993)". I've seen both, and they're better than this one. "Full Contact" is the best of the lot (and it would have been even better had Don "The Dragon" Wilson been in it instead of Jerry Trimble).
Seven sequels (to date) have followed "Bloodfist" -- most of them have nothing to do with the first one. They're all better than this movie (especially parts 6 and 7).
If you like low budget action movies, and if you are a fan of Don "The Dragon" Wilson, you might want to see this early movie of his. Others will probably not like this movie.
- tarbosh22000
- Apr 29, 2011
- Permalink
Bloodfist (1989)
** (out of 4)
THE KARATE KID meets KICKBOXER Roger Corman style in this 80's cult favorite. Don 'The Dragon' Wilson plays Jake Raye, a retired fighter who travels to the Philipeans to get his brothers ashes and seek vengeance against his killer. He ends up getting involved in a kickboxer tournament and ends up falling for a big-breasted blonde. If you're looking for an uplifting story or a heart felt drama then it's best you go somewhere else. BLOODFIST, the first of (so far) nine films, is 100% exploitation and you get pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this. It's fast, cheap, questionably made but the most important thing is that it's at least fun. I thought Wilson was pretty good in the lead role and while he really wasn't required to give a "performance," I thought his skill as an athlete was on full display. He really makes for a good hero and he managed to be very entertaining during the fight scenes. The supporting players really aren't all that memorable but you Billy Blanks fans should be happy. The fighting scenes are entertaining but at the same time there's no denying that they were all cheaply done and quite often you have to wonder what the editor was doing. Some of the editing is quite sloppy but I'm going to guess this was due to how much footage was shot and him having to try and piece it together the best he could. For the exploitation factor there's some nudity as well but really not as much as you'd expect to find in a Corman-produced film. There's no question that the film was cheaply produced and it's not going to be mistaken for a classic but fans of cheap action films should at least get some mild entertainment from it.
** (out of 4)
THE KARATE KID meets KICKBOXER Roger Corman style in this 80's cult favorite. Don 'The Dragon' Wilson plays Jake Raye, a retired fighter who travels to the Philipeans to get his brothers ashes and seek vengeance against his killer. He ends up getting involved in a kickboxer tournament and ends up falling for a big-breasted blonde. If you're looking for an uplifting story or a heart felt drama then it's best you go somewhere else. BLOODFIST, the first of (so far) nine films, is 100% exploitation and you get pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this. It's fast, cheap, questionably made but the most important thing is that it's at least fun. I thought Wilson was pretty good in the lead role and while he really wasn't required to give a "performance," I thought his skill as an athlete was on full display. He really makes for a good hero and he managed to be very entertaining during the fight scenes. The supporting players really aren't all that memorable but you Billy Blanks fans should be happy. The fighting scenes are entertaining but at the same time there's no denying that they were all cheaply done and quite often you have to wonder what the editor was doing. Some of the editing is quite sloppy but I'm going to guess this was due to how much footage was shot and him having to try and piece it together the best he could. For the exploitation factor there's some nudity as well but really not as much as you'd expect to find in a Corman-produced film. There's no question that the film was cheaply produced and it's not going to be mistaken for a classic but fans of cheap action films should at least get some mild entertainment from it.
- Michael_Elliott
- Jun 2, 2012
- Permalink
- Leofwine_draca
- Dec 4, 2015
- Permalink
After his brother, Mike, is murdered in Manila, Jake (Don Wilson) travels down there to claim the body and must use his kick-boxing expertise to deal with the local highly-trained hooligans that had to do with his brother's untimely demise. He meets and stays with Baby and his sister Nancy (Riley Bowman)
If there's one fatal flaw with the film, I mean aside from the mediocre fight scenes, is the character of Baby, he's awful and brings the otherwise enjoyable , if not particularly good in the conventional sense of the word, don whenever he's on-screen. The writer of this is currently having fairly good fortune with hit TV show "The Good Wife", so the dues he paid were worth it, I kind of doubt he keeps this one on his resume though. Furthermore, 'The Dragon' would thankfully grow as an actor later in his career. I still hold a (unexplainable) soft spot for this film though.
Eye Candy: Riley Bowman and an extra get topless
If there's one fatal flaw with the film, I mean aside from the mediocre fight scenes, is the character of Baby, he's awful and brings the otherwise enjoyable , if not particularly good in the conventional sense of the word, don whenever he's on-screen. The writer of this is currently having fairly good fortune with hit TV show "The Good Wife", so the dues he paid were worth it, I kind of doubt he keeps this one on his resume though. Furthermore, 'The Dragon' would thankfully grow as an actor later in his career. I still hold a (unexplainable) soft spot for this film though.
Eye Candy: Riley Bowman and an extra get topless
- movieman_kev
- Jul 27, 2012
- Permalink
Don "The Dragon" Wilson stars as Jake Raye a kickboxer who trains for a revenge match, after the murder of his brother. Bloodfist would be a half way decent movie if it contained crisp actionscenes, however most of these fightscenes are not done well, even the Don "The Dragon" Wilson VS Billy Blanks fight isn't exciting. Bloodfist is a total no brainer without any redeeming value.
- bronsonskull72
- Jul 6, 2003
- Permalink
Don the dragon Wilson is one of my favorite martial arts champions so i was thrilled when i got all 8 bloodfists in one huge box set as a present.
Watching this first chapter i was so disappointed that i was thinking not to watch the rest of the sequels. Gladly i changed my mind and watched all the rest.
It's a shame cause all of the sequels were great for their standard and only part 1 is so poorly made that disappoints in every level.
Only don Wilson can't save this movie. The fights are bad and the story is so poorly made that is way below average even for these kind of b-movies.
Fortunately all the sequels faired a lot better and i suggest u skip this part and begin with part 2.
After part 2 there is no plot continuity as don Wilson play different characters so u don't have problems with plot continuity.
All in all the bloodfist box set is great but not this movie.
If u like don Wilson also check out for the following gems in which he stars...
BLACKBELT
RING OF FIRE TRILOGY
OUT FOR BLOOD
MOVING TARGET
BLOODFIST 2-8
Watching this first chapter i was so disappointed that i was thinking not to watch the rest of the sequels. Gladly i changed my mind and watched all the rest.
It's a shame cause all of the sequels were great for their standard and only part 1 is so poorly made that disappoints in every level.
Only don Wilson can't save this movie. The fights are bad and the story is so poorly made that is way below average even for these kind of b-movies.
Fortunately all the sequels faired a lot better and i suggest u skip this part and begin with part 2.
After part 2 there is no plot continuity as don Wilson play different characters so u don't have problems with plot continuity.
All in all the bloodfist box set is great but not this movie.
If u like don Wilson also check out for the following gems in which he stars...
BLACKBELT
RING OF FIRE TRILOGY
OUT FOR BLOOD
MOVING TARGET
BLOODFIST 2-8
- theromanempire-1
- Feb 17, 2012
- Permalink
I just saw my first movie out of the "Bloodfist" franchise. I decided that perhaps the best place to start would be the beginning. I wish I hadn't.
The production values are embarrassing. I realize that this film didn't have a massive Hollywood budget, but c'mon! Some things don't need a big budget to produce quality. Experienced kickboxers, boxers or karate champions should be able to make fight scenes look realistic. In this film, they often don't even come close. This is some of the absolute worst mock fighting I have ever seen in a movie.
The sound effects were laughable. It's as if the filmmakers used a couple of guys who used to work on old Warner Brothers cartoons or something. I expected huge letters to pop up on the screen - POW! WHAM! - like in the "Batman" TV series. It was that bad!
I especially loved the scene where the two guys were fighting outside in a terrible thunderstorm. There was lots and lots of booming thunder. Funny thing is...there wasn't even one (not one!) flash of lightning. Was the budget so tight that they couldn't afford to simulate lightning? Maybe they didn't understand that lightning creates thunder. If that was the case, I wouldn't be surprised.
"Bloodfist" has awful acting, uninspired directing, terrible editing, atrocious voice dubbing and on and on and on. I sure hope that the sequels were head and shoulders above the movie that started it all. Otherwise, I shudder to think what this world is coming to. 1/10
The production values are embarrassing. I realize that this film didn't have a massive Hollywood budget, but c'mon! Some things don't need a big budget to produce quality. Experienced kickboxers, boxers or karate champions should be able to make fight scenes look realistic. In this film, they often don't even come close. This is some of the absolute worst mock fighting I have ever seen in a movie.
The sound effects were laughable. It's as if the filmmakers used a couple of guys who used to work on old Warner Brothers cartoons or something. I expected huge letters to pop up on the screen - POW! WHAM! - like in the "Batman" TV series. It was that bad!
I especially loved the scene where the two guys were fighting outside in a terrible thunderstorm. There was lots and lots of booming thunder. Funny thing is...there wasn't even one (not one!) flash of lightning. Was the budget so tight that they couldn't afford to simulate lightning? Maybe they didn't understand that lightning creates thunder. If that was the case, I wouldn't be surprised.
"Bloodfist" has awful acting, uninspired directing, terrible editing, atrocious voice dubbing and on and on and on. I sure hope that the sequels were head and shoulders above the movie that started it all. Otherwise, I shudder to think what this world is coming to. 1/10
- BrettErikJohnson
- Aug 29, 2002
- Permalink
- DigitalRevenantX7
- Aug 9, 2015
- Permalink
Many martial art films come and go, and yet some are very interesting to watch. Don "The Dragon" Wilson packs a punch and strong kicks in "Bloodfist". I liked all the fight and power-breaking scene. kicking the bottles, smashing the bricks, and the matches, are accounted for will be memorable for all times. The quest is getting the fighter who killed his brother. And boy was he ever brutal! Billy Blanks did a short role as Black Rose. I liked the part where he smashed all the bricks with one chop, and I liked the part where he cartwheels every move. The problem was who won the match between Jake Raye(Wilson) and Rose. That was a bit of a downer. And the real surprise of the movie is where the guy he trained with is a dirty double-crosser, especially when he laced that mango with a narcotic. At least he was able to get the fighter and ripped off his earring was enough to really ridicule him. I would have done the same myself. A entertaining movie, and very articulating in the fighting, which I like the most, could have been better though. 3 out of 5 stars.
I'd be lying if I say I do not love this movie, Bloodfist was one of those movies you see on TV all the time to fill some space in the programming, is a typical martial arts film of the nineties,enters the fighting tournaments genre,nineties were plagued by this type of movies and it was awesome,the titles in those movies were very generic like Bloodsport,blood fist,blood match,ring of fire,forcé to fight,showdown,American kick boxer,you put two words together than meant something intense and you had your title,it is more likely that if you saw two or three of these films saw virtually all,with a minimum differentiate in each one all these tournament fighting movies had the same plot, but Bloodfist was the most cliché of all these films, not only that this film was cloned at least twice: Full Contact (1993)and Dragon Fire (1993)which does not involve a dragon or a technique called fire dragon,these three films have in common the same exact plot, I mean scene by scene they are exactly the same movie just in different locations and with different actors but dialog and the characters are the same in each of the films.
This is because these three films have the same writer credited to each one Robert King if you think this was his nadir, he is one of those responsible for the screenplay of Cutthroat island his most decent work was red corner (1995),back to Bloodfist as any illegal martial arts tournament film it begins when the protagonist learns that his brother was killed by participating in an illegal tournament, in search of the murderer and the ends participating in the tournament and wins it, that basically sums up this movie, one has little interest in the plot what catches our attention are the fight scenes in the movie, they usually use real martial artists in this movies for their credit they accomplish more believable fighting scenes what makes this film so entertaining,in other hand the acting is not that great but who cares let's see some kicking and punching.
another remarkable thing in this film are the so cliché characters let's start with the protagonist starring Don 'The Dragon' Wilson as Jake Raye, Wilson was the star of all the nine Bloodfist movies, This is the best known of all, Jake Rayne is the archetype of the good guy in this films, clean cut nice guy who believes in the fundamentals of martial arts, always looking for justice/revenge, never starts a fight but always trouble is looking for him, basically random people will pick a fight with him and they will always go one at the time even if they are 50 they will let their friend get beat up so the next one can go and get kicked as well, we have his new found best friend Baby (Michael Shaner) a compulsive gambler and kick boxer if you ask why his called Baby its explained in the movie and trust me it is as bad as joke can get, he serves as comic relief and as the guy that always gets killed fighting the main villain because it's his friend, baby has a girlfriend called Angela that I won't talk about (nothing interesting to say about this character) but he has a sister Nancy (Riley Bowman...her first and last film ) that is the F.R.I. : forced romantic interest, in all B-grade American martial arts film is full of this lazy strategy to put T&A in the movie, then we have Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana),our ¨Mr. Miyagi¨ who knows the tournament inside out and offers to train Jake in the martial arts so he can compete in the tournament in hopes of finding his brother's killer. Then we have the competition usually there's not much story about them but they have some character trades such as Raton (Dutch kick boxing champion Rob Kaman), who listens to music to get his adrenaline pumping, like many of athlete's do but somehow listening to music makes him a super fighter just don't mix his music or he will get distracted and loose then there's Black Rose (Billy Blanks),Tae Bo creator plays a high-kicking powerhouse, he has his menacing stare that makes him look like a rapist more than a fighting stare and of cores his nickname has to include the word black and Chin Woo (Kris Aguilar), a monster fighter who uses his brute strength to take out/kill his opponents, if you see him fighting it actually looks like his killing them more than taking them out , but hey his the main villain he has to do villainies stuff like killing it common sense right, he looks like the Asian Mr. T , if you're asking if his the one that killed Jakes brother you have to find out and see in the end you probably won't care who did it you will be glad it's over . and that's all I have to say about Bloodfist its cheesy, action packed, with bad writing and horrible editing but it's entertaining from start to finish if you are hangover with a rainy day you should give it a go
This is because these three films have the same writer credited to each one Robert King if you think this was his nadir, he is one of those responsible for the screenplay of Cutthroat island his most decent work was red corner (1995),back to Bloodfist as any illegal martial arts tournament film it begins when the protagonist learns that his brother was killed by participating in an illegal tournament, in search of the murderer and the ends participating in the tournament and wins it, that basically sums up this movie, one has little interest in the plot what catches our attention are the fight scenes in the movie, they usually use real martial artists in this movies for their credit they accomplish more believable fighting scenes what makes this film so entertaining,in other hand the acting is not that great but who cares let's see some kicking and punching.
another remarkable thing in this film are the so cliché characters let's start with the protagonist starring Don 'The Dragon' Wilson as Jake Raye, Wilson was the star of all the nine Bloodfist movies, This is the best known of all, Jake Rayne is the archetype of the good guy in this films, clean cut nice guy who believes in the fundamentals of martial arts, always looking for justice/revenge, never starts a fight but always trouble is looking for him, basically random people will pick a fight with him and they will always go one at the time even if they are 50 they will let their friend get beat up so the next one can go and get kicked as well, we have his new found best friend Baby (Michael Shaner) a compulsive gambler and kick boxer if you ask why his called Baby its explained in the movie and trust me it is as bad as joke can get, he serves as comic relief and as the guy that always gets killed fighting the main villain because it's his friend, baby has a girlfriend called Angela that I won't talk about (nothing interesting to say about this character) but he has a sister Nancy (Riley Bowman...her first and last film ) that is the F.R.I. : forced romantic interest, in all B-grade American martial arts film is full of this lazy strategy to put T&A in the movie, then we have Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana),our ¨Mr. Miyagi¨ who knows the tournament inside out and offers to train Jake in the martial arts so he can compete in the tournament in hopes of finding his brother's killer. Then we have the competition usually there's not much story about them but they have some character trades such as Raton (Dutch kick boxing champion Rob Kaman), who listens to music to get his adrenaline pumping, like many of athlete's do but somehow listening to music makes him a super fighter just don't mix his music or he will get distracted and loose then there's Black Rose (Billy Blanks),Tae Bo creator plays a high-kicking powerhouse, he has his menacing stare that makes him look like a rapist more than a fighting stare and of cores his nickname has to include the word black and Chin Woo (Kris Aguilar), a monster fighter who uses his brute strength to take out/kill his opponents, if you see him fighting it actually looks like his killing them more than taking them out , but hey his the main villain he has to do villainies stuff like killing it common sense right, he looks like the Asian Mr. T , if you're asking if his the one that killed Jakes brother you have to find out and see in the end you probably won't care who did it you will be glad it's over . and that's all I have to say about Bloodfist its cheesy, action packed, with bad writing and horrible editing but it's entertaining from start to finish if you are hangover with a rainy day you should give it a go
- DogFilmCritic
- Feb 21, 2015
- Permalink
Two brothers are kickboxers. Don "The Dragon" Wilson plays one of these brothers Jake, but has retired due to giving up one of his kidneys to his brother. But, that very brother has been killed and Don is looking for vengeance. So, Don flies off to Manila (seems the #1 pass time is robbing) to look for his killer.
To sum this film up in one word it would be bad. The acting is bad, the direction seems to be lifeless and what's the worst is the fighting appears so utterly bad. Which is crazy because there are four kickboxing and karate champions from all over the world in this film including Billy Blanks who I don't think has any lines in this film.
Must say though that the setting of Manila does add some interest to the film. Hard for me to believe this steaming pile was able to generate eight (I think) sequels. The good news is all the ones I have seen so far are better than this one.
To sum this film up in one word it would be bad. The acting is bad, the direction seems to be lifeless and what's the worst is the fighting appears so utterly bad. Which is crazy because there are four kickboxing and karate champions from all over the world in this film including Billy Blanks who I don't think has any lines in this film.
Must say though that the setting of Manila does add some interest to the film. Hard for me to believe this steaming pile was able to generate eight (I think) sequels. The good news is all the ones I have seen so far are better than this one.
- actionstar-89625
- Jun 26, 2019
- Permalink
OK, so "B"-movie Kickboxing sensation Don "The Dragon" Wilson is no great actor, that's a given. That he even starred in the Roger Corman-backed "Bloodfist" (1989) and its eight sequels is proof that perhaps Wilson may have something to offer (which I'm sure he can; even I can find the smallest bit of talent in a "B"-movie martial arts star), but the man just hasn't gotten a whole lot of really fair play, not even in the "B"-movies, and "Bloodfist" and "Bloodfist II" (1991) are really all that he has to show for it?
In the first "Bloodfist," Wilson is Jake Raye, an American Kickboxing champion who travels to Manila, The Phillippines, to retrieve his brother's ashes after learning he had been murdered. A little deeper into his brother's actions in Manila lead Jake to an illegal underground Kickboxing tournament, and learns that his brother had been favored to win in the high-stakes combat.
In order to find his brother's killer, he enlists the aid of a Kickboxing master named Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana), who takes him under his wing and prepares him to enter the ring against some of the best fighters in the world, a la plot devices found in "Enter the Dragon" (1973), "Bloodsport" (1988), and any other martial arts tournament movie that you can think of.
Director Terence H. Winkless is behind the camera of this low-budget, "B"-grade martial arts vehicle that's a perfect showcase for Wilson's Kickboxing skills, if nothing else. We've seen a plot like this many times before in the martial arts movies, so not much of what you see here is original. As you could expect from a film by Corman, its production values are indeed low, the script is even lower, and the acting is submerged in a Manila river full of garbage. The only real pleasure here is the fighting, which features Wilson's skills and a few familiar Kickboxing faces (including Billy Blanks as one of Raye's toughest opponents).
It would seem that Don "The Dragon" Wilson would only gain a little more respectability with the not-much-better mixed martial arts romp "Bloodfist II" a year later.
3/10
In the first "Bloodfist," Wilson is Jake Raye, an American Kickboxing champion who travels to Manila, The Phillippines, to retrieve his brother's ashes after learning he had been murdered. A little deeper into his brother's actions in Manila lead Jake to an illegal underground Kickboxing tournament, and learns that his brother had been favored to win in the high-stakes combat.
In order to find his brother's killer, he enlists the aid of a Kickboxing master named Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana), who takes him under his wing and prepares him to enter the ring against some of the best fighters in the world, a la plot devices found in "Enter the Dragon" (1973), "Bloodsport" (1988), and any other martial arts tournament movie that you can think of.
Director Terence H. Winkless is behind the camera of this low-budget, "B"-grade martial arts vehicle that's a perfect showcase for Wilson's Kickboxing skills, if nothing else. We've seen a plot like this many times before in the martial arts movies, so not much of what you see here is original. As you could expect from a film by Corman, its production values are indeed low, the script is even lower, and the acting is submerged in a Manila river full of garbage. The only real pleasure here is the fighting, which features Wilson's skills and a few familiar Kickboxing faces (including Billy Blanks as one of Raye's toughest opponents).
It would seem that Don "The Dragon" Wilson would only gain a little more respectability with the not-much-better mixed martial arts romp "Bloodfist II" a year later.
3/10
Don Wilson (I refuse to write "The Dragon" after Don) stars as Jake Raye a boxing champion who trains in kickboxing to get revenge on the man who killed his brother. Seems Raye's brother was a crooked fighter who refused to take a dive and so he died for this deed, suffice to say there is a tournament and the leading competitor maybe the killer. Bloodfist was recommended to me by the video store clerk, after he noticed how much I liked Bloodsport and Kickboxer. "You might like this one Frankie!" Suffice to say it was the last time I ever listened to a video store clerk. Bloodfist was terrible. The fight sequences (Which are the only things that matter in a film like this) are shot with such poor technique that I could often times see the kicks miss by miles and the punches barely graze the body. How is it possible that a movie this bad could produce sequels? Who knows, although this remains the only one i've seen and will ever see (That was until I had a Bloodfist binge). As for Don Wilson's talent in acting, well if you can't say something nice...
* out of 4-(Bad)
* out of 4-(Bad)
- fmarkland32
- Jun 14, 2006
- Permalink
Retired kickboxer Don Wilson flies to Manilla. His brother was to compete in a tournament there, one he was expected to win. But he was killed first. Wilson figures it was murder, and the only way to discover who and why is to enter the tournament himself. Don't ask me the reasoning. The effort results in a long training sequence, half THE KARATE KID, half ROCKY. True, instead of running up and down steps in Philadelphia, Wilson runs up an active campaign. But he only does that because he couldn't find an oriental temple; apparently neither the writer nor the director realized the Philippines is a Catholic country.
The purpose of a martial arts film is to show people doing martial arts, so that's what we have here, along with one or two sex scenes and occasional streaks of blood, because these guys take their blood sports seriously. Eventually the bad guys will walk up to Wilson and explain exactly what happened because otherwise there would be no closure. Then Wilson kills the guy, and there's closure.
Yay. Apparently this was so popular that a total of eight sequels were made. I hope they found a temple somewhere. That would be closure.
The purpose of a martial arts film is to show people doing martial arts, so that's what we have here, along with one or two sex scenes and occasional streaks of blood, because these guys take their blood sports seriously. Eventually the bad guys will walk up to Wilson and explain exactly what happened because otherwise there would be no closure. Then Wilson kills the guy, and there's closure.
Yay. Apparently this was so popular that a total of eight sequels were made. I hope they found a temple somewhere. That would be closure.
I had actually never heard about this 1989 martial arts action movie titled "Bloodfist" before here in the beginning of 2023, as I had the opportunity to sit down and watch it. And with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, and seeing that Don "The Dragon" Wilson was on the cast list, of course I opted to watch it.
Writer Robert King apparently must have had been watching the 1988 movie "Bloodsport" prior to writing the script for the 1989 movie "Bloodfist", because there were some massive similarities between the two movies. Of course "Bloodsport" is a far better movie than what "Bloodfist" turned out to be. And with that being said, don't get me wrong, because "Bloodfist" is not a bad movie, not at all. It just was a somewhat watered down version of "Bloodsport" with some tweaks to the storyline.
The acting performances in the movie were okay. I mean, you know you're not in for an evening of Shakespearian performances, of course. But for a martial arts movie, then the acting performances were fair enough, and as to be expected.
The martial arts sequences were, for the majority, good enough to watch and came off as being watchable. There were some scenes that were sluggish and amateurish, and not all the fighters were really convincing in their styles and fighting, especially Michael Shaner (playing Baby Davies).
I actually found "Bloodfist" to be an enjoyable movie and entertaining movie, despite of the similarities to "Bloodsport". If you enjoy the martial arts movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s, then you will definitely also find enjoyment in director Terence H. Winkless's "Bloodfist" movie.
My rating of "Bloodfist" lands on a five out of ten stars.
Writer Robert King apparently must have had been watching the 1988 movie "Bloodsport" prior to writing the script for the 1989 movie "Bloodfist", because there were some massive similarities between the two movies. Of course "Bloodsport" is a far better movie than what "Bloodfist" turned out to be. And with that being said, don't get me wrong, because "Bloodfist" is not a bad movie, not at all. It just was a somewhat watered down version of "Bloodsport" with some tweaks to the storyline.
The acting performances in the movie were okay. I mean, you know you're not in for an evening of Shakespearian performances, of course. But for a martial arts movie, then the acting performances were fair enough, and as to be expected.
The martial arts sequences were, for the majority, good enough to watch and came off as being watchable. There were some scenes that were sluggish and amateurish, and not all the fighters were really convincing in their styles and fighting, especially Michael Shaner (playing Baby Davies).
I actually found "Bloodfist" to be an enjoyable movie and entertaining movie, despite of the similarities to "Bloodsport". If you enjoy the martial arts movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s, then you will definitely also find enjoyment in director Terence H. Winkless's "Bloodfist" movie.
My rating of "Bloodfist" lands on a five out of ten stars.
- paul_haakonsen
- Dec 31, 2022
- Permalink
Roger Corman had an eye of what kind of movies the audience wanted to see....in the 80's and 90's there was a huge boom in the martial arts genre, Corman produced many martial arts movies starring kickboxing champion Don "The Dragon" Wilson.
The movie itself is stuff that you already saw: martial arts tournament, revenge and some twists (if you have seen Bloodsport and some other movie like that you know of what i am talking about), but is not so bad to get a 3.8 rating and it's not even the worst martial arts movie ever (trust me, i have seen crappier MA movies) My favorite scene in Bloodfist is the fight scene between Don Wilson and Billy Blanks, the slow-motion sound effects are just worth the whole scene.
The sequels are FAR better than this one.
The movie itself is stuff that you already saw: martial arts tournament, revenge and some twists (if you have seen Bloodsport and some other movie like that you know of what i am talking about), but is not so bad to get a 3.8 rating and it's not even the worst martial arts movie ever (trust me, i have seen crappier MA movies) My favorite scene in Bloodfist is the fight scene between Don Wilson and Billy Blanks, the slow-motion sound effects are just worth the whole scene.
The sequels are FAR better than this one.
- Viva_Chiba
- Jun 5, 2011
- Permalink
Bloodfist is one of Don Wilson's best movie and only movie.Don Wilson stars as Jake Raye who travels to Manila to find his brother's killer.The trail leads him to boxing club the red fists who every year holds a competition calls the Ta Chang.To find his brother's killer he must enter in the tournament himself,to find the killer.This is Don Wilson's best and only movie he ever made.Seven sequels made after the first Bloodfist and this is only the best movie.Because all Bloodfist's hold different story and Don Wilson play'different't characters except part 2.But Bloodfist 2 is worst movie than part 1.Ok Don play's the same character but it's no th the sequel with 1 it s like Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon and it s to short.The part 2 ruined the first Bloodfist.I did not see all Bloodfist's.But second Bloodfist it s no't good movie,i'did not see part 3,part 4 and part 5.But i' see part 6,7 and 8.For Bloodfist 6 i'said that the movie is too short i's so post to be 20 min.longer not short.Part 7 is good but it s different story and part 8 it's nothing to compeer with first for the part 2 and 3 i said it s copy with different character's in second its dead arena in third it's prison and in the fourth and fifth i don't know what it is,like in seven or eight.For other Wilson's movie i Say'd there the worst movie he made.Like in the Red sun Rising bad story.Lion strike it s also bad movie.I read for the ring of fire that vars the worst movie of Don Wilson he made because he did not fight in the movie,except in the end for 10 min.I'said the when you are Don Wilson 's fan watch this movie it's worded to see for other movies it's up to you tho dissed.I' won't know just why they had the same titles when they are different't story then the first movie.I' recommended that you buy the first movie on DVD and enjoyed.
- ivo-cobra8
- Apr 27, 2007
- Permalink
My review was written in October 1989 after a Times Square screening.
Several notches below the level of Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme pics is "Bloodfist", a cheapo martial arts action for undiscriminating fans of the genre.
Pic gets underway with a novel opening credits sequence, in which each leading actor (i.e., kicker) is listed with his karate and/or kickboxing titles. Film quickly heads downhill with formula script, utilizing virtually th same premise as recent Van Dammr vehicle "Kickboxer".
Don (The Dragon) Wilson plays Jake (yes, the knowing screenplay by Robet King makes an in-joke about Robert Towne's "Chinatown"), who heads from L. A. to Manila when his brother is murdered following a kickboxing match. Under the tutelage of Kwong (Joe Marie Avellana), Wilson trains for a Ta Chang fighting competition, seeking vengeance on one of the combatants who he suspects killed his brother.
Pic has a couple of plot twists plus a statuesque blonde leading lady (Riley Bowman) to distinguish it from others in the genre. Unfortunately, the editing is ragged and photography hit-and-miss, while the fighters-turned thesps show little acting ability.
Lead Wilson, who's vaguely in the Mike Stone school of martial arts heroes, has a bland scr4een personality. Fans undoubtedly will be attracted by the high kicks and bloodletting. Roger Corman followers will be glad to see Vic Diaz again, stalwart of so many Filipino-lensed actioners of the early '70s.
Several notches below the level of Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme pics is "Bloodfist", a cheapo martial arts action for undiscriminating fans of the genre.
Pic gets underway with a novel opening credits sequence, in which each leading actor (i.e., kicker) is listed with his karate and/or kickboxing titles. Film quickly heads downhill with formula script, utilizing virtually th same premise as recent Van Dammr vehicle "Kickboxer".
Don (The Dragon) Wilson plays Jake (yes, the knowing screenplay by Robet King makes an in-joke about Robert Towne's "Chinatown"), who heads from L. A. to Manila when his brother is murdered following a kickboxing match. Under the tutelage of Kwong (Joe Marie Avellana), Wilson trains for a Ta Chang fighting competition, seeking vengeance on one of the combatants who he suspects killed his brother.
Pic has a couple of plot twists plus a statuesque blonde leading lady (Riley Bowman) to distinguish it from others in the genre. Unfortunately, the editing is ragged and photography hit-and-miss, while the fighters-turned thesps show little acting ability.
Lead Wilson, who's vaguely in the Mike Stone school of martial arts heroes, has a bland scr4een personality. Fans undoubtedly will be attracted by the high kicks and bloodletting. Roger Corman followers will be glad to see Vic Diaz again, stalwart of so many Filipino-lensed actioners of the early '70s.