Highly Overrated But Still Good

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

In my search to catch up on all the PM Entertainment movies that have somehow eluded me over the years, I finally checked out 'Final Impact' today. And I have to say that I enjoyed it.I was a little disappointed by the lack of action, but genuinely surprised by the amount of drama.Llamas plays Nick, a former champion kickboxer who can't handle the realities of life after losing to over-the-top bad guy Jake Gerrard, succumbing to alcoholism and depression. Nick finds a way to turn it all around by training a young Michael Worth (who delivers a good performance) to take on Jake and exact his revenge in the ring, fist-to-fist.It's no 'Rocky,' though it tries to be. The fight scenes are decent and shot pretty well (the foley work is laughably cheese at times). But the performances are all around solid and the music is enjoyable. Vegas made for a beautiful backdrop to the film as well.'Final Impact' reminded me greatly of another PM classic, 'Deadly Bet.' Though, 'Deadly Bet' has slightly better action so I give that one the advantage.If you like PM Entertainment films, or a little drama with your kickboxing, you really can't do any better than 'Final Impact.'

Very entertaining martial arts film, starring Lorenzo Lamas as a washed up fighter. The cast includes Kathleen Kinmont (Lamas' wife at the time) as his girlfriend and a very young Michael Worth as Lama's protégé, a skilled fighter heading to Las Vegas for the World Kickboxing championship. The filmmakers waste no time in setting the tone, B film nonsense, by opening the film with bikini clad models covered in oil entertaining bar patrons. This film is notable for the entertaining storyline (seen a hundred times before, but always fun), the nice fight scenes, and the very good performances (as far as B films go). Jeff Langton as the evil kickboxing character Jake is the type of villain that makes these films so much fun.Both Lamas and Worth headed up their own MA films, but there are a few faces in Final Impact that did as well, starring as ring fighters are Gary Daniels and Art Camacho (who would go on to direct many MA films himself). And Mimi Lesseos, who was the lead in several MA films, has a small role as Jake's girlfriend. Joseph Merhi (himself an MA star) co-directs here, with Richard Pepin serving as cinematographer. Both men went on to form the now famous (and defunct) PM Entertainment.

A very good film about a kick boxing champion who takes on a newcomer in a way much like Rocky 5. Lorenzo Lamas is in excellent form as Nick Taylor and Kathleen Kinmont is also great as his wife. Although Nick dies at the end, his young protégé wins in the end. The fight scenes are good but a little bit corny. Also watch out on the back of the DVD case it says Jeff Langton (who played Lamas's rival) was in Rocky 5. He was but for about 3 seconds! The actors although not the best quality put on a good performance. The film can be watched about 2-3 times before becoming totally boring as the plot is just too predictable. Never the less, Lamas fans will love this as it is one of his better movies.

Nick(Lorenzo Lamas) is an ex-kickboxing champion. He was cruelly beaten and to add insult to injury lost his wife to the new champion. Danny(Mike Worth) is a contender and Nick is his idol. Together they pair up to kick ass. But don't think you've got it all figured out. This is a throw back to when movies had a plot and characters were more then one dimensional. The whole cast is top quality. And Lamas is adorable in a cowboy hat and heavy jewelry.