Bloodmoon (1997)

Just what I expected

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The first must-see film of the year.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Despite what you think, despite what hundreds of reviews think, and despite what I myself sometimes think; this is one cool action movie.Yes, Gary Daniels can't act, Chuck Jeffreys' magic routine is weird (doing it over dead buddies !), Frank Gorshin is all-the-time angry, and Darren Shahlavi is horrible ! But hey, this time you can forgive. And for 2 reasons.Firstly, there is redemption. A very fine one. Which's the rest of the movie. I mean, look at the fight sequences; they can't get more perfect. Their choreography is magnificent, their performing is flawless, and their direction is fiery. In brief; it's rare when you see hard-working, creatively-done, and highly entertaining action like this. Kudos to the movie's choreographer and director Siu-Hung Leung. This man knew and loved what he was doing.Then, the writing. It made the antagonist as a martial arts heroes killer; which's interesting, as it's the serial killer movie where we'll have the opportunity of enjoying a fight sequence before every murder. The buddy cop formula was on. Not the best, but workable. The script was surprising and convincing; one of the definitions of "smart" in my book. The use of the internet element wasn't less smart. It even managed to add some emotional moments; concerning a father and daughter relationship, and an odd-couple turned good-buddies relationship. I just hated the personal, no legal, man-to-man encounter in the end, where killing is the only available justice !You have to love extra merits; such as the rapid-fire pace, the expressive electronic music, the lovely montage of New York, and the sexy body of Brandie Rocci. Secondly, there is a strange quality. It's in the way this movie's bad points develop into good. Watch carefully the infamous acting form nearly everybody, especially the iconic one of Shahlavi. It's TOO DAMN LAUGHABLE! It magically serves as brilliant comedy. Shahlavi is worth watching, more than once, for every single reaction he does. His smiles, eye looks, and way of talking; all were done in a style that great comedians can't reach !Daniels's low acting talent is compensated by his presence and martial arts wonders. Jeffreys' magic routine was a feature to make his character funny; and it's better than similar features, done with other sidekicks, in other buddy cop movies, for the same purpose; like Dan Aykroyd's schizophrenic spasms in Loose Cannons (1990), Kevin Kline's love for disguise in Wild Wild West (1999), and Josh Hartnett's acting mania in Hollywood Homicide (2003) ! Gorshin wasn't a disharmony; scrutinize most of the police chiefs, in the American action / thrillers since Dirty Harry, and you'll easily find out that they're nothing but screaming angry naggers !In this manner, some details are rather appealing. For example, the evil man's customs; as if he's KISS' biggest fan. His joyful bomb at the end. His explanation of it, as he refuses to kill children, yet left on a recorded tape, in case he died (how thoughtful !). And the way how that very tape starts running right after the explosion (Now how precise !).1997 was light on the buddy action movie (Men in Black, Double Team, The Edge), and heavy on the buddy comedy movie (Mousehunt, Gone Fishin', Fathers' Day, Nothing to Lose, Out to Sea, Money Talks, Trial and Error, Good Burger). Now here's Bloodmoon, which can proudly join the list of that year's best buddy action movies,.. and best buddy comedies as well ! It's where the vices can be considered virtues.. Aaah, the more you live, the more you see !

Many martial arts films always have the factors coming from Hong Kong. The choreography in this movie is well made. And the plot is very enlightening. Here you have a NYPD Detective Chuck Baker(Chuck Jeffreys) who also got a trick or two up his sleeves is trying to solve the crimes of fighting champions being murdered by a steel-fingered psycho(Darren Shahlavi). This guy reminds me of that steel finger joke in the movie "Half a Loaf of Kung Fu". This guy is very brutal, and he's relentless. I would fight to the death against this creep. He kills the master, and he kills this tough man named Dutch(Rob Van Dam, RVD OF ECW, WCW Fame). Man, I thought he would take the guy out simply. Oh Well! Then there's the niece of the master, Kelly(Brandie Rocci) who can kick serious butt against the bad guys. Ken O'Hara(Gary Daniels) is a swift and smooth fighter, whose demons at work hinders his recovery, when he fights to get his family back, he and Baker have a fighting chance against the killer. This movie is non-stop, and that stunts everyone pull, is a classic. Enjoy the fight, enjoy the movie, it was worth the watch. Rating 3 out of 5 stars.

This is one of those films you see and go tell your friends all about it. The action is well done and Chuck and Gary both have terrific martial arts abilities. Although I do think both men should have fought Darren at the end it was still a great film. It was rather fun to point out the obvious stunt doubles, but the action is in the same category as such films like Drive, Super Fighter, and No Retreat No Surrender 3. I hope I'm not offending anyone when I say this, but this proves that Asian choreography is much better than most American choreography. Darren kicks really good but I still am a big fan of Donnie Yen's (Iron Monkey Ballistic Kiss) kicks by far. This movie scores high in my words so check this one out. You will not regret it.

Wow! If there is one word to describe this film, it would probably be "cr@p".I sat throught this film from beginning to end in the hope that it would get better, but it didn't. I think that the worst part was the end. REALLY! People rigged to a bomb which turns out to be a tape recorder saying "I don't kill women and children - no slaughter of the innocent - hahaha" and it "exploded" letting loose a mirage of colourful ribbons.And the hero rescuing them after falling 4 storeys with no support other than a rope tied around his waist. Sorry. He should've been dead after that. In fact, that would have been the highlight of the film.I didn't rate this film. There isn't a score low enough for it.