That was an excellent one.

Excellent, a Must See

This is an astonishing documentary that will wring your heart while it bends your mind

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

It was around this time that Ireland started offering foreign filmmakers generous tax breaks for making movies in Ireland, which got a number of B movie filmmakers to film there, including Roger Corman. Since he was able to stretch his dollar further, this final entry in the "Bloodfist" series looks a little better than the previous few entries. The movie has some atmosphere, looking dark and moody, and the movie looks somewhat more expensive, with the climax of the movie taking place out in the ocean on a boat, which probably would have been too expensive for Corman if he made the movie stateside. Unfortunately, that's about all that's positive to say about the movie. The first part of the movie (set in the U.S.) tries to disguise the Ireland shooting locations, and it's pretty laughable. The movie is shot with the camera jammed up right at the actors most of the time, which makes it hard to see the surroundings. The action is pretty disappointing, with dull shootouts and unspectacular martial arts sequences (this entry in the series may have the least number of martial arts sequences than any other entry.) Mercifully, the series came to an end at this point.

Mild-mannered high school math teacher Rick Cowan (The Dragon) goes through his days teaching his pupils algebra and trying to relate to his 15 year old son, Chris, who is a student in the school where Rick teaches.After some Italian baddies gun down a guy in a convenience store and attack Rick at his home, the truth comes out that Rick is actually George MacCready, who worked in the CIA doing covert ops. Now that a hit team is out to kill him and his son, they first go to a safe house which isn't so safe. They then fly to Ireland to get more answers.Rick has to battle through the cops, the gangsters, find out who is double-crossing him, and save his son who has been kidnapped. Can he succeed? The Dragon is actually believable as a high school teacher. You gotta love his wooden, but fun delivery of his lines ("The socialists are tracking me down!"). He should have done more martial arts and less gun shooting. We want to see his rockin' moves on the bad guys, not just shoot guns. He does most of his fighting in a winter coat leading to the new term "coat-fighting".John Patrick White portrays the sassy white kid, Chris. He may ask a lot of questions, but he is pretty handy making an electrified boombox. A movie highlight is when the school bully touches Chris's radio and gets the shock of his life, as shown by the highly realistic blue lightning over his body.As this is a Roger Corman production and he likes to pinch pennies, he probably connected the shooting of this movie and his other Ireland production My Brother's War (1997). He wouldn't waste a trip to Ireland. Would he? Character names are movie references themselves. There's Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Gianini (the main baddie who was "born in Corleone"),and even Michaelangelo. Film fans will notice these references.This is an enjoyable Dragon entry. The locations are different from the usual fare, the action sequences are lively, and The Dragon rarely fails to deliver what you want.Just remember, "I will always be employable, and you'll always be dead!" -McGrath (Evil Baddie from movie) For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

"Bloodfist VIII" is about as watchable as any "Part VIII" of a film series could ever hope to be. Not that it has to do anything with the previous entries anyway - is the name "Bloodfist" such a money maker that they couldn't simply release this as "Trained To Kill"? At first, this appears to be an acting stretch for Don Wilson - he is a math teacher with typical problems in his relationship with his teenage son. But don't worry, we soon find out that he is an ex-CIA agent, targeted for death by Italian hit men and even some of his former employers! The one new element here is the Irish setting for much of the action - and apparently someone thought we were too thick to get the fact that we're in Ireland, because there is this "folk" (I don't know how else to describe it) music score that keeps on playing throughout. At least the close-contact fight scenes are mostly good, with Wilson in top form. (**)

This is a solid martial arts/action thriller that has Don "the Dragon" Wilson as an ex-CIA assassin teaming with his teenage son to track down the men trying to kill them. Easily the best of Wilson's numerous martial arts movies, this one effectively combines good writing, stunt work, action scenes, and editing to create an entertaining film that can be appreciated by action fans.