Street Fighter is a bad movie. Not the worst, but pretty bad for sure. Outside of Raul Julia, in his final theatrical role, who was having fun as the over-the-top villain, everything else was a dud.
Hard Target was John Woo’s first foray into Hollywood and while not a rousing success as this one doesn’t quite have his visual flair, there are some incredibly hilarious scenes that would make this good for roasting amongst friends.
Universal Soldier is a flawed film, even a little amateurish in some respects especially with the direction by Emmerich, but still a fun enough flick pairing up Van Damme and Lundgren.
Double Impact isn’t top-shelf Jean-Claude Van Damme, though compared with his action-hero counterparts like Schwarzenegger and Stallone, had the briefest of careers, but his films are a lot of fun and this was no exception.
Double Team is a poorly made, half-baked action-thriller though the biggest sin was how some producer or studio head thought it was a good idea to pair up an action falling star with a rainbow colored ex-NBA player.
Lionheart is a film with the right mixture of cheese and genuine entertainment and was one of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s breakout role. Although his acting still wasn’t great (seemed to get better the more major roles he received), I still enjoyed the film in spite of the flaws.
Cyborg had all the hallmarks of being a fun good bad 1980s sci-fi action movie and while there are certainly some great moments, still get a chuckle out of Tremolo growls, there’s too much of it that is derivative that it became a bit boring at times.
Black Eagle is a cheesy 1980s action/spy schlock that is weak on the fights, surprising given Sho Kosugi’s history, and a story that felt like second-rate Mission: Impossible or James Bond.
The 9 Lives Movie Collection is the usual cheap release put out by Mill Creek mostly recycling Sony movies they have the rights for and probably were part of a collection in the past. Considering the movies here, you’re really not getting high quality work but some entertaining flicks mixed in with some bad ones
Kill ‘Em All could’ve been a fun little film but instead it has choppy editing, lousy writing and lazy performances (Autumn Reeser at least wasn’t bad) and a story that became overcomplicated, or came across as such, jumping back and forth in time.
Kickboxer: Vengeance is not exactly the great follow-up to the 1989 classic but at least Jean-Claude Van Damme is back and his appearance alone might make it a worthwhile watch, but otherwise the film is filled with bad acting, terrible dialogue and even the fight sequences are uninspiring.
Kung Fu Panda is perhaps one of the better franchises outside of the Pixar/Disney brand and certainly well above the likes of Madagascar and Ice Age. Still, as family friendly as this third entry is, to go along with a positive message, I wasn’t nearly as entertained though admittedly I found the first two to be merely above average fare anyway.
I will give Mill Creek some credit for churning out these catalogue titles, especially ones, such as Double Team, Sony wouldn’t even think of releasing on Blu-ray, and with a bargain basement price of $15, and cheaper buying on Amazon, it’s not a bad deal at $2-3/movie.
Pound of Flesh could’ve been a fun B-movie but instead it’s yet another in the long line of crappy direct-to-video movies that will in all likelihood end up in the cheap bin at Wal-Mart, Big Lots or your local bargain store. Jean-Claude Van Damme still has some energy to him but when the screenplay is thin on story and production values that are borderline laughable, it’s hard to overcome those obstacles.
Enemies Closer often times can be one of those so bad it’s good flicks but only when Van Damme and his striking hairdo is on camera and appearing to have been in a new restaurant. Other than that, the film is mostly forgettable that no doubt will find a home on USA Network.