The One Warrior (2011)

Why so much hype?

Just so...so bad

A Masterpiece!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The Power Ranger jokes start the moment Jason David Frank appears on screen. The character Brutus even makes his own Power ranger jokes at Jason's The One's expense. This is reminiscent of the Original Final Fantasy game. "The One" achieves level ups whenever he defeats certain opponents. He receives gems for the most part and when they touch a medallion around his neck, he glows and seems to enlarge ala Mario and the mushrooms. The One is supposed to be the greatest warrior of all times, yet can be easily disarmed by his opponents. Each opponent has to be hit a certain number of times, like 2 or 3 times, before they dissipate into the air or into the ground. There is a creature referred to as a Dragon which is actually a Wyvern. Dragons have four legs and wings on their backs while Wyverns have winged arms. Why is it Fantasy movies never get this right? The One is warned a couple times that the Wyvern will fight if The One dares enter its domain. Then, toward the end of the movie, the Wyvern permits The One to violate that rule and actually flies The One to obtain a sword needed to defeat Shoukata. The encounters with foes is where I have a huge problem with this story. Each time, The One is supposed to defeat ALL he encounters. Yet, he only fights the main Amazon (the others take off when she's defeated). He only battles 4 of the 5 Ghosts that appear. What happened to the 5th one? The Samurai Six aren't dressed like any Samurai I've ever seen. Shaolin monks, perhaps, but not Samurai. The fight scene is incredibly lame. Jason is MMA, yet fights like a first year student. Are we supposed to truly believe he and the "Samurai" are giving it their all? Why does everyone take a turn during the battle? This is supposed to be an actual battle. Ganging up on him would be the logical solution. No, they prefer to fight the way the original Final Fantasy characters fought - one at a time. The ending is completely "You Have Got to be Kidding Me". This is the type of movie you put on for background noise while cleaning the house or watch as a "Don't Judge Me" movie when there's nothing interesting on other channels. I gave it a four because Brutus and Merlin are worth watching.

**CAUTION** --SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!-- **CAUTION** Okay, first thing I wanna say is I actually liked this movie. Production value sucked balls, but the story was actually fun to follow. It borrowed heavily from RPG's. Right down to the random battles just appear to the defeated just fading away to getting rewards and leveling up for the characters. This is a nice departure from other action/fantasy movies. Jason David Frank is by no means an Oscar Award caliber actor, but he was one of the more believable characters as "The One Warrior." Dominic Keating as "Merlin" and the voice of the Dragon was top notch... probably the best actor in the whole movie. Everyone else's performances seemed very forced. Brent Henry's portrayal of "Brutus" was very underwhelming in terms of dialog. Edward Saint Pe' barely gave the impression of being the villain. I laughed through most of their scenes. The "Lady of the Forest," however wasn't too bad, but when you first see her she has an English accent and later on it's all gone. The visual effects was not the greatest... the amateur fan films "Mega Man" and "Sonic the Hedgehog" by Eddie Lebron does a better job than this film with a bigger budget, you really have to think about how much effort was put into it. (by the way, check those movies out... they are really good) That's not to say that all effects were bad, some were actually pretty cool. I imagine that if The Dragon Warrior (The One Warrior) was given the Hollywood treatment, it would have been amazing. Anyways, the fight choreography was horrid. Jason Frank was a highly skilled martial artist, he could have made the fighting look so much better. The one thing that threw me for a loop was the final minutes of the movie. I won't say what it was, but all I could do is laugh and shout "REALLY!?!?!?! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!?!?!?!???!?!?!?" I have great respect to filmmakers. I am more inclined to watch low budget films and amateur films because there is more heart in them than most Hollywood films. I give this film a 7 out of 10 because of the story and how divergent it was from the traditional action/fantasy genre.

As a huge JDF fan I was interested in seeing what was called The One Warrior. So I was really happy to see a blu ray at Walmart! While the movie is really low budget and very cheesy it's also a lot of fun. The story is really simple, Jason is a noble warrior who must kill the evil lord Shoukata. The little nods to gaming peppered all in the movie, are a wonderful touch. Sure as I said its campy as hell.But it's still really fun, the fights are not as hard hitting as in Johnny Yong Bosch's Broken Path, but there still fun fantasy battles. That featured some good variety. The landscapes and sets were well done, and the dragon was pretty well designed and animated. The fights reminded me of all the cool shows and cheesy movies I saw as a kid. The plot is thin but it's pretty smart too, the whole gaming aspect of the movie really works. And Jason rocked it as always, he had a few really funny moments. My favorite was when he requested his sidekick carry him. It was pretty funny and showcased Jason's classic charm that we all love. What really made the movie for me besides Jason, was that this movie really was made with gamers in mind. This is the closet to seeing a movie made into a video game world. By the end of the film you will understand. Granted its incredibly cheesy but that's also the appeal, it doesn't try to be anything but silly fun. If you love JDF, Saturday morning adventures, gaming, and old cheesy fantasy movies this is a fun addition to your collection. I plan on rewatching this plenty of times as it put a wide smile on my face and was totally fun to watch. I know some of you will disagree and say it's a z grade flick, but that's the charm and anything with Jason is epic in my book.

...You can smash down with your friends in the pub, go on a romantic date with your girlfriend... or shoot the movie.Obviously, shooting the movie is funniest and most original thing to do as it doesn't happen everyday and if you ask if 100 bucks is enough for it, here's the answer: It is. Just watch this movie.Unpretentious, cheap, Z-Grade Fantasy movie with cliché plot with twist in the end. Costumes, made by wives and girlfriends of the actors during their spare time and weapons bought on Amazon market (in section of toys for 6-12 y.o. kids). As bad as it sounds, this movie is in fact good. It never sells itself as something superb or high-class. It doesn't take itself seriously and you watch it with smile on your face whole time trough.Actors can't act, surroundings look cheap, screenplay is uber-simple and still it's pretty easy to enjoy it. (only if you have correct expectations).For the plus side... fighting scenes are well choreographed in fact.I wouldn't want to rate this movie. It won't be fair, because as a MOVIE - it deserves nothing, but as a home-video of friends who decided to roleplay and capture it on camera, this thing is really great.Next time I will have free 100$ in my pocket, I may go shoot the sequel of it.