With so many real-life kickboxing champions in various categories listed on the cover of this film, I expected more - the fight scenes are only average (at least they saved the best one for last). Too many of them are what in pro wrestling is often called "squash matches" - one of the opponents dominates the other completely. The leading man can't act at all, but he does have some funny facial expressions; a few of the other fighters are fun in a comic-book way ("the Hulk"). The movie is pointlessly set in the future, which for the director apparently means that he has to shoot everything through a blue filter (or maybe my VHS copy was just bad). It also wants to be a whodunit, as we don't see the face of the man who kills the hero's brother in the beginning. However, you'll easily guess who it was halfway through. (**)
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gridoon17 December 2005
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Some time ago, Robert King wrote a fairly standard screenplay about a martial artist who travels to a distant land seeking his brother's killer. This became BLOODFIST, the first starring vehicle of Don Wilson. A while later, Jerry Trimble made his solo debut in FULL CONTACT, a film that shared the same storyline. The same year saw the release of DRAGON FIRE, the sole vehicle of Dominic LaBanca, and wouldn't you know it, it features the exact story as the other two and is credited to the same writer. The template is conducive to a lot of action and very little acting, and I can only guess that filming it three times was easier than writing two new screenplays. Whatever the case, this most recent incarnation's a decent adventure best suited to viewers well-versed in the low-budget martial arts genre.
The story: In 2050, Laker Powers (LaBanca) arrives on a dystopian Earth from an off-world colony in search of his brother, only to find him murdered following a high-stakes street fight. Aided by the shady trainer Slick (Kisu), Laker enters the underground circuit to uncover the killer's identity.
Not unlike its predecessors, DRAGON FIRE sets much store by the athletic abilities of its performers. The cast boasts many real martial artists, several of them former world champions. I can't say this was made the most of, but overall, the fights are decent. The editing is a little bothersome - way too much slow motion and cutting - but the choreography's good enough to be noticed. LaBanca makes for a decent Van Damme stand-in, but the varied fighting styles of the other onscreen competitors are where the real excitement's at. Michael Blanks shows off some cool jump kicks, and Dennis Keiffer has a pretty decent opening brawl. Karate master Val Mijailovic and kung fu exponent Harold Hazeldine do a particularly good job of representing their real-life styles. None of this is going to blow you away, but thanks to their sheer quantity, at least a few of the 16 fights (!) ought to please every viewer.
Those who've seen the film's predecessors can have some fun comparing the three. Though some of the roles are played differently, others are almost direct copies. Kisu as the trainer was previously played by Joe Mari Avellana and Marcus Aurelius; Pamela Pond replaces Marilyn Bautista and Denise Buick as Laker's love interest; Harold Hazeldine rips off Michael Shaner and Gerry Blanck as Laker's goofball buddy; and even Charles Philip-Moore replaces Michael Jai White as the charismatic fight official. Their characters even have the same name! It's a trip, hearing Kisu quoting Avellana quoting Aurelius quoting Sun Tzu. If nothing else, you could get some enjoyment out of buying all three movies and contrasting them beat-by-beat like you could with few others.
While the production values are a little lazy, it's the acting that's really hard to redeem. Viewers will inevitably hit the fast-forward button more than once, jumping ahead to the fight scenes. Despite this, the movie still makes for a relatively fun time and is a nice flashback to a different era of martial arts filmmaking. By no means essential, it's still worth the low price for people who know what they're getting into. -
alvsa8 April 1999This movie is, well, not bad. The only bad thing here is acting but if you're looking for good fighting scenes they have it here. The story is very common and is the same in other movies like bloodfist 1. If you're looking for cheap movies with brutal martial arts fighting it's all here.
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Los Angeles in 2032 is, wouldn't you just know it, a hellhole. A man travels from another planet (which is apparently a common occurrence in the future) to earth in order to find out who killed his brother. Laker Powers (LaBanca), whose name was obviously concocted by a huge basketball fan, has to compete in underground Punchfighting matches which somehow get him closer to finding his beloved brother's murderer. Slick (Kisu) becomes his trainer and he works his way through all his opponents in tournament-style bouts. Will he get to the truth about his brother? Or will DRAGON FIRE set his dreams of glory ablaze?
Dragon Fire is a typical Corman-style Punchfighter that, instead of starring Jerry Trimble or Blake Bahner, features one Dominick LaBanca in the lead role. By now, even Don the Dragon was on to better things. In the good old video store days, someone could be plucked from obscurity to be the main star in a movie - see Jay Roberts, Jr., Matt Hannon or Kely McClung for just three examples. LaBanca looks like a cross between Scott Baio and Ken Wahl. He should have been on a 90's sitcom like Blossom, but instead he's punching, punching, and punching some more, as are his many opponents.
As in other Corman actioners, the stars have their fighting credits underneath their names during the opening credits. Strangely, LaBanca doesn't have any specifics under his name, so how are we to know his pedigree and qualifications to appear in Dragon Fire? Nevertheless, the settings are "futurism on a budget" and comparable to the likes of Shredder Orpheus (1990) and Neon City (1991). It's comforting to know that in the future, with all the many entertainment options available, grown men punching each other still remains extremely popular. As do mullets. They always say fashions come back around.
Kisu, not to be confused with Kimo or Beano, is the Van Peebles-esque trainer who quotes Sun Tzu without crediting him. Laker Powers is such a meathead that he doesn't question why Slick is able to continually come up with all these nuggets of philosophy. But all of that pales in comparison to the constant fights. If it's punching - and occasional kicking - you're after, look no further.
One thing about Dragon Fire, it doesn't skimp on the beatings-up. And the steady stream of opponents feature characters that are very Street Fighter II-esque, which makes sense for the time. At least they have unique, individual personalities, unlike some tournament movies. Even though dumbness is readily apparent, and it does get a bit boring despite the modest running time because of the repetition, it's still better than big-budget versions of this type of material like The Quest (1996).
Sure, the acting is stodgy, but who cares? Most of the guys aren't actors, they're fighters. But what's Pamela Pond's excuse? Well, presumably it's all part of the fun. Just like all the screaming, sweating, punching, kicking, and unabashed stupidity. Yet, we wouldn't have it any other way.
So, for yet another Corman outing (which combines numerous strip club scenes which Corman also seemed to like around this time) and the unassailable charisma of a certain Dominick LaBanca, look no further than Dragon Fire. -
destroyerwod4 October 2012I just love those kickboxing movies of the 90s, and weirdly this one kinda slept under my radar until now. Its your typical revenge movie where a kickboxer goes underground to find the guy that murdered a relative. If the plot is very classic, yet this is the type i enjoy the most. Simple yet effective.
The acting is what you would expect from these kind of movie, ordinary at best to worst for some characters, but some fighters here have a strong presence or a comical relief i appreciated.
The action is very present, and this being a Tournament movie, you get a lot of fights. Most are long enough and brutal enough, but the movie loose some points from me for a couple of obvious shot where you see the move don't connect yet its as it did. There is not too much and its low budget so its OK.. let it pass.
Had a good time watching it, hope i will find more like these that i haven't watch yet, they are becoming hard to find. -
Karthik1 June 1999It's the future. Laker Powers (Dominic Labanca) arrives in L.A. only to find his brother has been killed after winning big money in a kickboxing match. He then decides to avenge his brother's death by finding the killer. To do that, he becomes a fighter himself. He is trained by Slick (Kisu), an expert in kickboxing.
Just like "Bloodfist" or "Full Contact". If you've seen those two, you already know everything. "Dragon Fire" is a film that contains continuous fight scenes, with small bits of story inserted in the middle. It's entertaining, however, because there is some humour, and many of the fights are well filmed (especially the last one). It's also not very long. However, "Full Contact" is slightly better than this, because the fight scenes there are more powerful. -
nogodnomasters25 April 2019Laker Power (Dominick LaBanca) comes to earth to visit his brother Johnny (Dennis Keiffer) who was killed. Johnny was not well liked and he was a "junker" a member of a fight club, but one that everybody talks about.
Laker is taken in by some Junkers as he trains and fights in hopes of figuring out who killed his brother. One of the guys (Harold Hazeldine) has a girlfriend (Pamela Pond) who works at a strip joint, so some of the non-action takes place there, as Laker asks Slick (Kisu) "Is this part of my training?"
The science fiction aspect of space travel really didn't play into the film, other than Laker was an outsider. It felt like aliens in an Indian Jones film.The film used Kick boxing and Tae Kwan Do champions and fighters to be in the film, making the fighting more realistic, but still using slow motion and fake hitting noises to enhance the entertainment value.
While the fighting looked real, Kisu couldn't deliver a line to save his life and Dominick LaBanca wasn't far behind him. The support cast was a bit better with Harold Hazeldine exhibiting personality beyond that of a meat head fighter.
Worth viewing for what it was...
F-bomb, sex, nudity (Pamela Pond, Christina Veronica, Monique Parent and Playboy's Mary Varela- FF) -
You will not 'find yourself' in this movie, but if you're looking for some good ass-whoopin's, this is a movie for you.
I wouldn't consider the acting in "Dragon Fire" wholly bad (except for Pamela Pond), either; the rest of the cast in this flick were fairly good-as far as martial arts movies go. The director could have had a little more vision, though: the fights were shot and choreographed very well, but the other parts of the movie lacked drama. I think that makes the acting look worse than it really is.
The plot is done-to-death, but it does have a twist at the end.
Again, if you are looking for an action drama the likes of "Saving Private Ryan," you will not enjoy this movie. But if you just want a kick-ass fighting movie for entertainment that you don't have to put a lot of thought into, check it out.