Balance of Power (1996)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

In what must be one of the last punchfighters released direct-to-VHS before the DVD era, Billy Blanks shows up right before his Tae-Bo fame.Niko (Blanks) is a kindly Karate instructor in the ghettos of Canada. He runs this inner-city dojo with his partner Charlie (Walker Boone). He's a firm but fair taskmaster to his kids. All the funny stereotypes are there, including the fat kid. Niko even takes on a mentor role for the wayward Billy (Adam Bonneau). Billy even sometimes hangs out at the dreaded "playground". Apparently this playground is riddled with drug dealers and thugs.Meanwhile, Hastishita (Akayama) is the ringleader of...wait for it...UNDERGROUND PUNCHFIGHTING MATCHES TO THE DEATH! The crowd enthusiastically holds their cash in their hands and yells and places their bets. Hastishita is in cahoots with evil Brit Slater (Hough) in the drug dealing game. Hastishita has an ace in the hole: vicious punchfighter Takamura (Lew), a man who you know is evil because he chants his own name.Unfortunately, the problem with death matches is that, well, the opponents keep dying. So a search goes out for a new brawler. Because Hastishita's goons keep shaking down Niko's dojo for protection money, they know of him, so they recruit him. Niko then goes under the wing of kindly elderly master Matsumoto (Mako) and trains like he's never trained before. Matsumoto convinces him to fight so he can take down the evil Hastishita's empire. Niko then develops a close relationship with Matsumoto and his granddaughter Jasmine (Boynton). When Jasmine is kidnapped, he is forced to fight. Will he succeed? Does any of this sound familiar? Fans of the punchfighting genre should like this because of the weirder touches, such as the secret cave tended to by mysterious monks, which has TV's hooked up inside it. The acting overall is incredibly stilted and awkward. Usually actors get better as their careers progress. Blanks actually, somehow, has gotten WORSE. He literally has a "blank" stare. But no one really cares about that. If you are a Blanks fan, this is the movie for you, because he shows off his prowess in almost every scene. He has a boxing match with some steam (literally), he can't pronounce the name of his nemesis Hastishita, he has some funny screams, is usually dripping wet, and does a double ear clap to an opponent - with his feet.Watch out Sarah Dampf and Lauren Levy, here comes a new verbose, precocious pre-teen girl: Lisa Boynton as Jasmine! Who knew this was a trend in action movies? Mako is great as the wise old master. You end up loving him as much as Niko does. The extended training sequences are a bit different than the ones we usually see, but it could have used a song with lyrics, like "He's a Man" (American Kickboxer 1) or "Fight for Power" (American Kickboxer 2).There is some pre-Lone Tiger (1999) "poolfighting" and the whole movie is very similar to the classic Shootfigher (1992). Instead of Bolo as Shingo, it has Mako as Matsumoto.There is some nice Asian philosophy included, and the title refers to the eternal balance of Yin and Yang. There are some quotable lines such as "A sword is tested by fire, a warrior is tested by his actions".This advice clearly applies to Niko as he goes on his spiritual journey. Go on a journey of your own tonight with this silly classic!

OK, I'm truly not trying to be mean, but this is the worst movie I've ever seen in my entire life. This movie is straight garbage, matter of fact to call this movie garbage would be complementing it. It's nothing more than a broke Karate Kid remake with unbelievable horrible acting. Whats going on with this old Chinese guy who looks like a broke Mr.Miyagi. This guy played the same exact role with a different name in the movie "Sidekicks". I'm not mad at him though, hey bills gotta get paid. Not one person in this movie can act worth a crap. I've seen better acting in Rice Krispies commercials. What were they thinking when they made this movie? I really want to know what they were thinking. Besides the predictable plot and god awful acting is the corny fight sequences. They try so hard to recapture "Enter the Dragon" or "Bloodsport" but fail horribly. The one scene that had me ready to stab somebody and jump out my window was: Billy Blanks character was in a room where steam was put in in order to suffocate him. No not in this movie, this dude starts yelling "No,NO,NO,NO,NO,NO,NO,!!!!!!!!!!" then he begins to punch the steam so he can breathe. Believe me for people who haven't seen this movie, this scene looks far more ridiculous than I can explain to you. All I can say is this movie is trash. Billy Blanks is having success with Tae Bo, so he better stick to that, because he never needs to act in a movie again if this garbage is going to be the result.

This can only be considered a horrible movie. Somewhere someone decided that they would use the basic plot of Bloodsport, put a well-known martial arts guy in it (Billy Blanks), and excrete it out onto VHS for others to accidently waste their time watching.The idea is that Billy Banks (Neiko) enters an underground fighting tournament that wealthy drug lords wager on. The final match of the tournament is to the death, and it is perfectly legal to kill any competitor if you get the chance. Neiko enters the tournament to both avenge a fallen student from his dojo and to rid the city of the evil drug lord.There are several horrible things about the movie. The student Billy is trying to avenge is shot like it is some planned event. Yet the kid is shot on a random corner, with Billy watching. How would they ever know the kid was there? Why not just have the kid get shot coming out of the dojo? These are the types of questions you ask yourself early and often during the thankfully short 92 minutes of the film.In the requiste cookie-cutter training sequence. Billy learns and trains in a remarkably short amount of time. Going from fighting with his anger to total monk like concentration in ..... 1 DAY. The other training is given a unmeasured amount of time and involves running on the beach and breaking wood. Things that you think a guy running a dojo and as ripped as Billy Banks was to start with could have already done easily.The acting is all-around shameful. The characters are sterotypical to the point of being almost racist. The worst part though is that the action sucks. I would equate the action sequences to first season Original Star-Trek action. Everything is very slow, with the standard "I hit you, you hit me" flow to every fight. I thought the flying jump kick, while the other guy stands there had been removed from modern action flicks, but it returns yet again....The most redeeming feature of the movie is that it might be so bad that it entertains you. The lines so corny you laugh, and plot holes so big they make you grin. This is the ONLY reason to watch this movie.

I like this movie not only because I think Billy Blanks is a great martial artist, but because it has a really good training scene. Some of the fight scenes in this movie have moves in it that look impossible. If you want a good karate movie, watch Balance of Power.