...and it was all filmed directly onto VHS tape to boot and it looks like it. One can't cringe hard enough.
CRACK-A-BOOM! Now THIS, right here, is how everyone should start off a film career! Because the instant you press that play button your screen is absolutely set ablaze and crackling with the raw, untamed energy of James Bennett (Irish kick-boxing legend, iconic action star and all around badass) and it's then that you'll realize that an unparalleled level of action movie ecstasy has been achieved.
But of course, with all sarcasm aside, none of that's really true when watching this remarkably lame, sub-amateurish movie...
Right from the start star/director extraodinaire James Bennett reveals his great talent and singular vision of cinema in his film debut: FATAL DEVIATION! At the time of filming he was only 22 years old, appeared to have no experience what-so-ever in film-making and is obviously a Jean Claude Van Damme wannabe in the worst possible way. This movie resoundingly proves that not always is mimicry the highest form of flattery, as Bennett clearly idolizes Van Damme, to the point of having his picture on the wall wasn't a big enough clue. But even more revealing is the fact that on several occasions Bennett try's his best to stage and replicate specific scenes from Van Damme's movies (mostly from Kick Boxer and Hard Target) with absolutely terrible looking results.
I won't speak of the plot, other than to say it's indeed a very impressive one. I can say that the acting in this movie is some worst and most wooden ever seen and people say Van Damme's a bad actor, but just what till you see this! The films dialog is kept to a minimum at all times (which often makes for some very abrupt scene transitions) and that's a plus, because you might have guessed it, the writing for this is woeful. The sound of the film is VERY lo-fi and often seems muffled (the gun-shots near the end for instance), at times some of the dialog is hard to make out and also it must be said that whoever picked the musical selections did as bad a job as humanly possible. Just listen to musical abominations that comprise Fatal Deviations soundtrack.
Back to the plagiarizing angle for a moment it's almost as blatant here as it is with Reb Brown's Strike Commando (1987), which proceeds to rip-off every other scene from Rambo II, as they copy, stage and limply recreate scene after scene from much better action films made years earlier. Again I saw more than a fleeting glimpse of both Kick Boxer and Hard Target (and likely some other titles) while watching Fatal Deviation. Coincidence? Most definitely not. This film stands as a great example for why it's so important that a qualified and experienced film director (or in James Bennett's case an "actual" film director) be hired to deftly and cohesively direct a picture, because if not movies such as Fatal Deviation show up and litter the cinematic horizon.
Just for a joke: Compare the levels of technical excellence of Fury Road, Aliens, T2, Rambo III or even Snake Eater III to this movie. Yeah, that's quite a difference.
Lastly, come on guys, stop with the flagrantly wrong 10 star "Perfect" ratings. The sarcasms great, but rating it that high is stupid and nonsensical.
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