Bloodfight

Director; Shuji Goto
Starring; Yasuaki Kurata, Bolo Yeung, Simon Yam
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1989
Release; UK Prism Leisure (boxset)

Bit of a mixed bag this one. Made in HK, by a Japanese crew, this is, basically, a ripoff of Bloodsport. It even has Bolo Yeung playing, what appears to be, the same character. Same name, same tattoos, same attitude. However, it does have a few plus points, in its favour. Simon Yam is a great actor, and this role is a bit different for him. The tournament fighters are an eclectic mix of oddballs, notably an Indian guy who is about 7 feet tall and a large sumo dude. Add to that Kurata plays a guy called Ryu, I wonder if the writer was a Streetfighter fan? Also appearing is a certain Stuart Smith, formerly of the Godfrey Ho school of really crap Ninjas. He's a worse overactor than Tom Cruise. Some decent fight scenes, and a cute plot twist make this worthwhile if you like cheap chop socky. Oh, and it was made in English too, and is a little hard to understand at times, as most of the actors don't speak it very well.