The Super-Kumite: Round 1, Bout 4 results

Here we have a hell of a matchup: two movies with serious b-movie credentials. Jalal Merhi vs. Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Canada’s Film One Productions vs. Roger Corman’s Concorde, late ’80s-barely-theatrical vs. mid-’90s-DTV, fist vs. talon. And both of them have Billy Blanks in the cast.

In the battle of the Blankses, BLOODFIST is victorious. The story is better constructed, finding plenty of non-athletic pursuits while still respecting its tournament. The ratio of legitimately-badass to unintentionally-funny is a little higher. The hero is more likable. I like that it uses the tournament movie formula effectively but also throws in an innovative twist or two (the traitorous mentor comes to mind). TALONS OF THE EAGLE only uses the tournament as a setup for a buddy cop/undercover story, and those cliches are not as re-usable, in my opinion. Not as mythic.

So the Red Fist Club will continue into round 2. But this was competitive. Don’t let the loss deter you from watching TALONS OF THE EAGLE, an unusual combination of usual ingredients.

Now that I’ve completed Round 1 of the Super-Kumite I’m going to take a break to catch up on review of other non-fighting tournament movies I’ve been watching lately. During this time you guys can help me out if you’ve seen any of these movies slotted for rounds 2 or 3. I think I fucked up and scheduled more non-tournament movies, for example after more reading it seems that BLOODFIST II ditches the Ta-Chang tournament for non-tournament matches. Am I right about that? Does BLOODFIST 2050 (or any of the others) have an actual tournament? Or do I need to substitute screenwriter Robert King’s other takes on the same idea, FULL CONTACT (1993) and DRAGON FIRE? But does DRAGON FIRE even have a tournament? And what about those Bolo movies, did somebody say those were gonna get disqualified?

I’m gonna hold off on the official brackets until I have this settled, but here are the remaining teams:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at 12:06 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Previous Post
« The Super-Kumite: Bloodfist

Next Post
TC 2000 »

9 Responses to “The Super-Kumite: Round 1, Bout 4 results”

CJ Holden
June 18th, 2013 at 1:28 am

I think it’s interesting that despite Billy Blanks’ participation in the Super-Kumite, nobody ever even mentioned Tae-Bo.
neal2zod
June 18th, 2013 at 6:10 am

That’s a good point, CJ – it’s actually kind of inspiring that a guy stuck in low budget B-movies ends up becoming a household name/building an empire from using his martial arts expertise, making it accessible, and teaching it to the masses via exercise videos. I actually have a bunch of those Tae Bo videos and I love them, they’re just the right mix of challenging and do-able, it’s no surprise they’re as popular as they are. He’s a pretty charismatic host and his daughter Shellie is not hard on the eyes either. She acts basically as his right hand man/sidekick during the videos, I kinda wish she would dip into some acting herself, maybe a China O’Brien reboot.
Mouth
June 18th, 2013 at 7:16 am

I feel like Team Blanks might’ve been victorious if you had watched TALONS OF THE EAGLE last. That freeze-frame ending is too perfect; it’s medically impossible to not be elatedly jazzed after seeing this

But congratulations, Team Red Fist.

I’m now pulling for Team The Women, by the way. They seem like both the underdogs and the favorites somehow.
Ancient Romans
June 18th, 2013 at 9:42 am

Bloodfist advances to my NetFlix queue!
Ancient Romans
June 18th, 2013 at 9:43 am

Or, to my Saved Queue, anyway.
Brandon Curtis
June 18th, 2013 at 10:27 am

Bloodfist 2050 does have a tournament, at least at the end. It’s the first one since part one to do so. Part three does have some prison fighting, and is excellent despite not being an “Undisputed” sequel.
Mr. Majestyk
June 18th, 2013 at 11:28 am

After researching an impeccable source (http://mistermajestyk.blogspot.com/2010/02/as-you-may-recall-bloodfist-was-cookie.html) I can verify that there is indeed tournament-style combat in BLOODFIST II. An evil villain kidnaps a bunch of fighters and forces them to do battle in a ring. I believe that qualifies. It would be a shame to eliminate the Red Fist Club’s strongest competitor right when they have a chance to go all the way.
Franchise Fred
June 19th, 2013 at 2:38 am

I forget, why aren’t we including Van Damme’s THE QUEST? I legit liked that movie in the ’90s.
Toxic
June 19th, 2013 at 4:45 am

Because it doesn’t really fit in any category, and Vern thinks he’s seen it already, if I’m not mistaken.

Hey bud, thanks for reading.
Don't feel obligated, but here are some
WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHIT OUT OF VERN & OUTLAWVERN.COM
if that's your thing:
1. Patreon

Toss me a couple bucks a month, support the good shit, also get access to a bunch of exclusive writing. This is my primary source of writing money that has allowed me to cut down to part time at the day job. Thank you!
2. Buy my books from your local bookseller or somebody

click here for my Amazon author page
(NOTE: My ten year contract has passed on the Titan books, so I don't get residuals on them like I do WORM ON A HOOK and NIKETOWN, but I would love for you to read them because I'm proud of them)
EXTRA CREDIT: Review them on Amazon! That would really help me out. Unless you didn't like them, in which case forget I said anything.
3. If you ever buy from Amazon, go through my links or search engines

(you pay the same amount you were gonna pay anyway they cut me a little slice)
I also have an Amazon UK one:

(I can't get the search box widget to work anymore, so click on MOONWALKER and then search for what you want.)
4. My exciting line of fashion and leisure products

(I get a couple bucks per item, you get a cool t-shirt, mug or lifestyle item)
5. Spread the word

Tell your friends about my reviews and my books and everything. Only cool people though please, we don't need a bunch of suckers and/or chumps around here.
THANKS EVERYBODY. YOUR FRIEND, VERN

* * * *
Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
- Castelar Garcia on Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986): “Enjoy this Friday the 13th Wattpad story: https://www.wattpad.com/1244118909-friday-the-13th-jason-returns” Nov 23, 13:39
- Glaive Robber on Alien: Romulus: “Skani, take my money and scam me already.” Nov 23, 07:52
- World_Eater on Brawl in Cell Block 99: “I watched this probably too late last night; woke me up too early, swirling around in me noggin. When it…” Nov 23, 06:47
- VERN on Anora: “I was trying to be a little vague about it in the review but I like that I assumed they…” Nov 22, 22:45
- JTS on Trigger Warning: “I also thought this was okay. I wasn’t going to bother because of the title and because I thought it…” Nov 22, 16:43
- burningambulance on Trigger Warning: “I watched this when it first popped up out of idle curiosity and didn’t hate it. (I found the use…” Nov 22, 12:22
- clubside on Alien: Romulus: “Definitely had a different experience watching it last night on Hulu. Fell asleep about a half hour in and picked…” Nov 22, 10:59
- Skani on Alien: Romulus: “Also, I’m getting my droids mixed up. I meant Andy when I said David, but, in my defense, he’s played…” Nov 22, 09:52
- Skani on Alien: Romulus: “If I can touch just one life, then it was worth it, CJ. Hope you have a nice weekend!” Nov 22, 09:50
- CJ Holden on Alien: Romulus: “I giggled.” Nov 22, 08:25
- Borg9 on Rez Ball: “I don’t have D+, so I haven’t seen Reservation Dogs, but I was near a Netflix account when this dropped,…” Nov 22, 03:21
- Franchise Fred on Anora: “Finally caught up with this and totally agree. I’d heard it loses steam after the first 45 min but that…” Nov 22, 00:39
- Skani on Alien: Romulus: “I finally watched Romulus with the Help of Hulu and a Spell Caster +2349161779461 Hello everyone, my name is Skani…” Nov 21, 20:25
- walkerp on Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In: “I was fortunate enough to see this in the theatre at Fantasia (always an awesome crowd). It played in Montreal…” Nov 21, 18:58
- Miguel Hombre on Dragged Across Concrete: “Vern – unfortunately has a very disturbing but accurate point/prediction – given what has just happened in America – it’s…” Nov 21, 16:48
Recent Commented on Posts
Most Comments
- Man, I don’t know. - 174 comments
- Alien: Romulus - 64 comments
- In a Violent Nature - 46 comments
- Rebel Ridge - 45 comments
- The Crow (2024) - 43 comments
- Deadpool & Wolverine - 43 comments
- Programming note - 40 comments
- Airheads - 40 comments
- Strange Darling - 36 comments
- Demons - 32 comments