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.
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yatahaeshadai20 November 1999
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In the late 80's and early 90's, video store shelves were clogged with Punchfighting,shootfighting,kickfighting,legfighting,armfighting, and ???-fighting movies. These macho meathead fests featured oiled-up men in singlets mindlessly pounding each other. We don't mean to "bash" these flicks, but the fact is they came in the wake of successes like "Bloodsport" and "Kickboxer" (I proudly own all the punch-fighting films up for review on this site.) Despite their knockoff status, they are clearly trying and mostly succeeding in pure entertainment value. Also most of the fighters in the movies are skilled martial artists and it is a pleasure to watch them fight.
Sure, everyone knows the big names in the beat-em ups such as Van Damme and Seagal. But without the direct-to-video B market for these films we wouldn't have a new class of action star. Where would we be without: William Zabka, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Jeff Speakman, Matthias Hues, and Gary Daniels? The answer: NOWHERE! This time around, Lamas plays jaded, tequila-swilling ex-fighter Nick Taylor who now promotes underground kick-fighting matches. When young Turk Danny Davis (Worth) a fresh-faced rookie fighter comes into Taylor's world, Taylor sees his potential as a top-kicker and trains him to be the best and be a kick-fighting champion in Las Vegas. But he has to first he has to defeat the spoiled Johnny Cage-like Hollywood fighter Jake.
On his way up to the top he has to fight a young Gary Daniels. Nick has continuous flashbacks to his defeat in the ring years ago at the hands of the dastardly Jake. Now he and Danny have to get even. Also there is the prerequisite street fight in a place called the "Neon Graveyard".
One of the funniest parts of the movie is during one of Nick's flashbacks. In the grand tradition of Ian Borger and Fan favorite Ron Marchini, Lamas bellows in slow mention "Nooooooooooo!!!" But Worth as Danny Davis gets the best line of the movie when in an argument with Nick he retorts: "If I'm so predictable, how come I'm the light-heavyweight champ of Ohio?!" Nick feels the burn of this nonsensical zinger.
If there was no Lamas, There would be no movie. But the real star of the show are Lorenzo's outfits: He wears a leather vest with no shirt for most of the movie, it's about 40 minutes in until we see our first shirt.
Make an "Impact"ful statement by buying this classic tonight! -
actionfilm-26 May 2011Very 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. -
paulclaassen5 July 2018Better than expected. I actually thoroughly enjoyed this low-budget, straight-to-video film. A few surprises, as well. Lorenzo Lamas made a credible hero.
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fmarkland3223 June 2006This time Lorenzo Lamas plays a retired kickboxing champion who trains a new martial artist (Michael Worth) the ropes, while planning on getting revenge on the ruthless fighter who humiliated him. The final fight is there but...hey where are you going? Final Impact sounds more like a porno flick, or indeed my last case of constipation then it does an action film. I mean what final impact is there to be had? Is it possible the the generic title has something to do with the impact of Lorenzo's feet colliding with people's heads? Whatever the case maybe, you'll have more fun debating this rather than watching the final product. Which amounts to nothing but a sub par kickboxing action flick that is short on action and low on inspiration.
*1/2 out of 4-(Poor) -
planktonrules17 February 2019This film is about an up and coming kickboxer, Danny (Michael Worth), who is trained by an ex-champ, Nick (Lorenzo Lamas), who also, it turns out, is a total idiot! And, an idiot with little in the range of acting.
Danny thinks he's ready for the big kickboxing tourney in Las Vegas. While he's good, he's also cocky and has a lot to learn. Nick takes him under his wing and very briefly trains him. Soon, Danny is kicking butt and doing great in the tournament....and Nick, inexplicably, starts acting like a total idiot. Can Danny win the big tournament even though his mentor has less common sense than a tomato?
This film is really good....and really bad. The martial arts are done well and Michael Worth is really good...though way too small to be a light heavyweight and fight with some of these opponents. But it looks good and he's impressive when in action. Lamas, in his limited fight scenes is pretty good. It's when it comes to story and acting it all falls apart. Too many cliches, too many times Lamas' character is an idiot and too little in the way of realism. Still, you don't watch a kickboxing movie because you expect an Oscar-contender! Brainless and enjoyable at the same time. My score of 3 might be a big generous.
Best scene in movie was the final big fight for the championship was very well done. The worst scenes were many. -
supertom-323 July 2004Once again in the land of low budget marital arts flicks we have another tournament film when a fighter wants to beat the number one ass kicker. The film is starring DTV legend Lorenzo Lamas and you would expect him to be the kickboxer seeking to be world champ. However in a surprising twist he is in fact an ex kickboxing champ who trains a young rookie (Michael Worth) so he can face off with the champ played by Jeff Langton. Lamas was defeated in embarrassing style by Langton and so sees this kid as a great vehicle to seek his vengeance. Of course by the end Lamas will have a mano-a-mano with Langton, we know this, but while we would expect that Lama's would win and rule the film, he loses and dies, leaving the diminutive Worth to win against the baddie. This attempt at doing something slightly different makes the film better than a lot of others of this genre. Lamas always seems to give hints that he can be a good actor but despite having the movie star looks he has never had a movie star charisma and as such his TV popularity has never transferred to the big screen. He's not a great thesp by the evidence of these martial arts flicks but you glimpse signs of talent every now and again and he certainly acts many other kick boxers off the park, lest we not forget he is a Golden Globe and Golden Satellite nominee. The fights are adequate and in all this is marginally entertaining. **
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bronsonskull7213 July 2003Lorenzo Lamas stars as Nick Taylor a washed up kickboxer who trains a kid named Danny (Michael Worth) to fight the fighter (Jeff Langston) who humiliated him in this poor fight flick. Final Impact is a movie with a low degree of style and imagination making this one for only die hard martial arts junkies, however even the fightscenes are surprisingly sub-standard, making this a movie with no real worth.
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talllwoood1323 February 2024Does anything original happen in this movie? No, you've probably seen it a million times. I think a huge reason I didn't turn this movie off was because Lorenzo played the part so well and it didn't seem forced or out of character if that makes sense. He brings this coolness to the character even though you should dislike him. Besides him there's not a single memorable character in this.
The kick boxer that Nick (Lorenzo) trains is pretty meat and potatoes. He can fight but his acting is like some high school kid doing the bare minimum to pass a Spanish class, shooting for that 60% or so. However the worst actor by far has to be the old man perpetually smoking cigars who is the other fighters coach for Jake the bad guy at the end of the movie.
The sets were diverse, there was a few scenes I was tempted to laugh at how poor the acting was and the cheap keyboad musical scores I'd take points off but all in all, this movie turned out to be better than I thought it would as really I just put this on to fall asleep to. -
BrettErikJohnson14 May 2002You've seen this movie before. Really...you have. Rocky. The Karate Kid. Same thing.
Lorenzo Lamas plays Nick Taylor, a former kickboxing champion. After losing a title fight, he figures he is all washed up. A few years pass and an up and coming talent named Danny (Michael Worth) looks for Nick's help. Danny wants a trainer to show him how to be the best fighter around.
Anyway, you can fill in the rest of the plot from there. Nick trains Danny. Danny becomes the next kickboxing champion. THE END. If it doesn't sound very exciting, that's because it isn't. This type of film has been done much, much better before. Just look at the two flicks I already mentioned. 1/10 -
nablaquadro1 January 2007Final Impact is one of my favorite kick-boxing movies. We're talking about B-movies, I know it, but the 9 I gave wasn't out of place at all. I couldn't say how many times I re-seen this flick principally for the action scenes, stunning and entertaining, truly at Van Damme's level. Mike Worth is a tough guy and a good actor too. Don't you think he's quite underrated ?
The story was a pure cliché of the genre, the formula is the same of Karate Kid or the latest "kickboxer" episodes, but here was before it became rotten (mid 90s) and out-of-date. I hope many of you agree with me about the fantastic scene of the cumulative fights of the championship. Well shot, breathtaking edited, blow by blow in a whirling minute of action. It's a classic for these kind of movies, but even Bloodsport's or Kickboxer's aren't at this level. Probably just Mehri's next year "To be the best" (a must see movie) or Bloodsport 2 (another pearl). Gary Daniels was a great fighter and his two bouts against Worth are thrilling and cheesy. Too bad Ian Jacklin didn't have a role; we barely see him in the starting scene. He made a great job in other movies either as the bad or the good guy.
The DVD doesn't offer a thing. No extra scenes, rare material or interviews. I hope in the future (when perhaps, I hope, this genre will return mainstream) will be release a decent product, worthy to be called "DVD".
This film will please solely the genre lovers, but being so underrated seems just an average, meaningless clone. -
Droid_Gunner17 August 2016In 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.' -
Leofwine_draca4 October 2017FINAL IMPACT is one of many duds from the PM Entertainment group, a cheap riff on KICKBOXER that fails to ignite either in the ring or outside of it. The plot sees B-movie staple Lorenzo Lamas playing a seasoned fighter who takes on a young apprentice and trains him up to battle some brawling muscle dudes. Michael Worth is the nominal lead and has no redeeming values in this film whatsoever, while Lamas is on autopilot. The story is a mix of melodrama and repetitive fight scenes in the arena, but there's never any sense of menace or suspense, just tedium. Watch out for the statuesque Mimi Lesseos and Gary Daniels in a bit part as a fighter.
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BandSAboutMovies11 July 2022Directed by Joseph Merhi - oh man, that dude is my new obsession - and writer Stephen Smoke (who also wrote Street Crimes, Living to Die and Magic Kid), Final Impact is the very definition of tickling you with a feather.
See that shirtless Lorenzo Lamas playing kickboxing champion Nick Taylor? Well, Nick is a drunken mess who never recovered from losing his title and his wife to Jake Gerard (Jeff Langton, who often did stunts in movies like Cobra and Road House).
Speaking of his wife Roxy, that's Mimi Lesseos who I just want to watch do dropkicks and pro wrestling moves in real fight situations instead of just being insulted by a drunken Nick.
So the real story of the movie is Danny Davis (Michael Worth), a young kickboxer from Ohio that has always idolized Nick, whose life - remember? - is horrible despite having Maggie (Kathleen Kinmont, Kelly Meeker herself!) loving him no matter how horribly he treats her.
A Vegas kickboxing championship is the goal for the whole movie, but then Nick gets the idea that he can still beat Jake, who beats him to the point that he dies in a hospital bed and yeah, you realize that you rented this for Lorenzo Lamas and now he's dead and having Danny beat Jake is kind of anticlimatic especially when you realize that he's probably going to end up horizontally dancing with his hero's common law widow, but direct to video films are wild and you just roll with the punches. Or kicks.
Also: the best karate fighters in the world are all white. Sure, whatever you say. -
wackyfuncrazy3 May 2005A 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.
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lor_1 July 2023My review was written in January 1992 after watching the movie on a PM video cassette.
Actor Lorenzo Lamas continues to make inroads in the popular kick fighting genre with "Final Impact", a "Rocky V"-styled aging warrior picture.
After impressing in "Night of the Warrior", Lamas is cast as a cynical ex-champ who now manages fighters. Pushy young Michael Worth wants Lamas to pilot his career and Lamas agrees to do so, plotting to use Worth for his revenge against the current champ, Jeff Langton.
At times, the pic has a more serious, even somber, tone than usual for the format, though directors Joseph Merhi and Stephen Smoke include exploitation angles such as sexy female oil wrestlers in the opening segment.
Though he's not a bona fide champ in real life, Lamas brings an animation to his role that's often lacking in belt holders. Worth is a promising newcomer, and Lamas' wife Kathleen Kinmont provides convincing support. There's also a nice bit by Kathrin Lautner as a Las Vegas hooker who reduces Lamas' self-esteem to zero.
The fights, choreographed by Eric Lee, are frequent and unexceptional.