Bloodfist (1989) - A Review

 

Don 'The Dragon' Wilson's first starring role, and it set him up for American action movie stardom.

Bloodfist is a martial arts movie released in 1989 starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Billy Blanks, Michael Shaner, Joe Mari Avellana, Riley Bowman, Kris Aguilar, Vic Diaz, and Marilyn Bautista. Bloodfist was directed by Terence H. Winkless, with stunts coordinated by Fred Esplana.

Don 'The Dragon' Wilson as Jake Raye.

In Bloodfist, Don "The Dragon" Wilson plays Jake Raye, a retired kickboxer who co-owns a gym in California. One day he finds out his brother (also a kickboxer) has been murdered in Manila. Jake goes to the Philippines to retrieve his brother's remains, but decides to stay and find the killer. He meets Baby Davies (yes, that's his name, played by Michael Shaner), an American martial artist and his sister Nancy (played by Riley Bowman), an exotic dancer, and stays with them at their apartment. He also meets Kwong (played by Joe Mari Avellana), who tells Jake about the martial arts tournament his brother was involved in before being murdered, and offers to train him for it. Jake agrees, and he goes through some grueling training.

While Jake is training, he is searching for clues and witnesses to his brother's murder. He finds out that the murderer is entered in the tournament, and this drives Jake's will to fight him and get revenge. Jake also finds out Kwong has a personal reason for helping him train for the tournament. Along the way, tragedy and betrayals occur, along with brutal fights to the death. Will Jake be able to get revenge for his brother?

Kwong trains and guides Jake Raye.

In the late 80s and throughout the 90s in the United States, the king of straight-to-video martial arts action movies was Don "The Dragon" Wilson. He was a legit champion kickboxer who became a martial arts movie star. I found out about him from my mom, who is also a martial arts movie fan. She thought Don was a "hunk". I saw a few of his movies on cable TV channels like HBO and Showtime back in the day. I liked Don, but I always felt his movies were lacking something. It has been decades since I've seen Bloodfist, so I thought it would be interesting to watch it again with more experienced eyes.

Bloodfist was Don "The Dragon" Wilson's first starring role, and what a debut it was. Don got to go to Manila, have some cool fight scenes (for 1989 Hollywood, at least), and make out with Riley Bowman. There was no turning back for him after that! This movie was obviously influenced by Bloodsport (1988), as many American martial arts movies were at that time. It is cool that there are quite a few legit champion martial artists in this movie, including Billy Blanks and Rob Kaman. This movie also stars Marilyn Bautista, who you may remember as the beautiful prostitute in The Big Boss (1971), in a comedic role.

The story is kind of basic; Jake is looking for his brother's killer so he can avenge his death. It's fine. The acting is... okay. Nobody is horrible or anything, but Riley Bowman gives the best acting performance in this movie. Don, as Jake, gives a more stoic performance. He is very charismatic, and you root for him throughout the movie. Michael Shaner, as Baby, gives a more comedic performance and is very likeable in the role. This movie has some twists and turns, with a shocking revelation at the end. For what it is, Bloodfist is very well written. My only problem with the movie is the sound design. It is very hard to hear Kwong's dialogue for some reason. When you can hear him, he's perfectly understandable, though. The sound in this movie was mixed weird.

The action is... not the best. It's just okay.

The fighting in Bloodfist is... okay. The fights in this movie are not the best, but they are not the worst, either. Frankly, the fights in this movie are ruined by the camera angles and the editing. The fighters could be doing some cool moves, but the camera is too close up to see the full movement, and the contact or connection of the hit was not filmed or edited out. Just terrible. The best action shots are when the fighters are kneeing each other in a clinch. You see everything there, and it looks painful. The fights get bloody as well, so if you're into that, you won't be disappointed. Don"The Dragon" Wilson is a great martial artist, and you can see some of his greatness despite the editing and camera angles. Don and Billy Blanks face off, and is one of the best fights in the movie. The final fight partly takes place in the rain, and that makes it stand out. Basically, Bloodfist has American style fight scenes, so don't watch this expecting Hong Kong style brilliance, unfortunately.

It pains me to say, but I can't recommend watching Bloodfist. I can only recommend watching it if you are a fan of Don 'The Dragon" Wilson or if you want to see what American martial arts movie fans had to watch before Hong Kong movies became more widely available in video stores. Don is a likeable leading man, and he does have the martial arts skill to carry an action movie. Unfortunately, the choreography, camera angles, and editing fail him. The story is pretty interesting, too. I have always wondered what it would be like if Don "The Dragon" Wilson starred in a Hong Kong movie. How would he have been showcased with Hong Kong style choreography. Nonetheless, Don is a legend and deserves respect for all that he has done in the movie business.

Reviewed by David Williams