Firepower (1993)

I love this movie so much

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

After hearing about James Hellwig's (a.k.a THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR) untimely death, I kept thinking about it not believing he was actually gone. But while going through my DVD collection I spotted this film and suddenly it hits me. James Hellwig played the villain in this movie and he was awesome. I remember when I first saw this film in the early nineties, the scene where Hellwig steps into the death ring to face Gary Daniels, I was so afraid for Daniels's character that I just kept saying, "please let him get out of there alive." That's how scary Hellwig's portrayal of The Swordsman was to me.The film itself is actually very entertaining and a bit fun. I kind of thought of it as a MAD MAX meets BLOODSPORT type of film. The two lead characters played by Chad McQueen (the son of Steve McQueen) and Gary Daniels are quite likable and do grow on you after a short while. The film's only less impressive sequences are the two car chase scenes, but the majority of the film mainly consist of a reasonable number of fight sequences all well choreographed and directed.As far as recommending it goes, I'm not entirely sure what audiences today might think about it, although if someone is curious enough to see it then I would strongly recommend it. As well if the person happens to be an early nineties "B" movie enthusiast.

This movie delivers the goods if you're a true, hardcore action fan. It has lots of flexing, brutal violence, really cool fighting scenes and a typical straight-to-video story. The plot was somewhat interesting, even though it's a typical "dark future"-plot that was so normal for the 80's and early 90's. Gary Daniels is great in this movie. Of the people involved in this movie, he performs the best fighting of them all. I wonder why he isn't more well known among people. He should be right up there with van Damme (and far above Chuck Norris). The story in this movie also has a huge surprise to it, but I won't reveal it here. Watch the movie for yourself instead. Oh, how I just love fighting tournament movies!!

This is one of those actions that is hardly heard of at all, it's very low budget and is below the likes that B-grade actioners like Olivier Gruner, Lorenzo Lamas and Billy Blanks, it is more like a Z movie but is suprisingly entertaining. The plot is average for an action film but there are some good sub plots like the search for an AIDS vaccine. The acting is poor, Gary Daniels sporting a Status Quo like hair do and putting on a ridiculous Aussie accent, as for Chad Mcqueen( yes son of steve) he puts on a good performance and almost looks worthy of an upgrade to the Seagal,Lundgren and Van Damme B movie categary. The real star of the show was Jim Hellweg (WWF Great the ultimate warrior) who although has about 2 or 3 lines, one of which is a grunt,he really does have a powerful onscreen presence and looks very menacing. At least the writers didn't make the same mistake other's have done when casting wrestlers in films by giving them, too much dialogue. Another good thing about the Ultimate one is he does all his own stunts and fighting in this which Hulk Hogan does'nt in his films, and for a laugh i urge you to watch some of the Hulksters films to see the amount of work is done by a stunt double some of which was pathetic and which a one legged 80 year old arthritic would probably have done( Hulks film Secret agent club is the best example, for example blokes with rubber bald patches put on their head just to collide with a wall or do a kick with just a bit of agility needed). Any way firepower is average by B-action standards and the fights are pretty good.ps: i apologize to all hulk-a-maniacs( he did throw himself about in the wrestling)

This is one of those films that falls under the category of "so bad it's good". This is a piece of pungent cheese of the sort that shows up regularly on MST3K, rife with laughable acting and wafer-thin plot. It takes place in not-so-distant future Los Angeles, where a desperate metropolis has tried to deal with rampant crime by creating a "Zone of Personal Freedom" in the middle of the city, where basically anything goes. Of course, this doesn't work, and a shipment of AIDS vaccine is hijacked and taken into the Zone. Two tough LA cops go undercover to find it, and the plotline is quickly lost as they become fighters in this weird Thunderdome-like gladiator tournament run by the guy who (surprise) stole the vaccine. Terribly bad, but a whole lot of fun to watch and laugh at. Two bright spots are martial arts action hero Gary Daniels as the only cop in LA with an Australian accent, and Jeff Hellwig (pro wrestling's Ultimate Warrior) as a tournament combatant. He's only got two lines in the whole movie ("Get me out of here now!" and "Arrrrrgh!") but he delivers them better than anyone else in the film.