When Karate champion Michael Rivers wins the last tournament of his career, shady businessman Ron Hall offers him the opportunity to fight in an illegal Kumite in Bulgaria against the world's best martial artists.
When Michael declines, Hall has his daughter kidnapped and, in order to rescue her, Rivers is left with no choice but to compete in the deadly tournament.
Arriving in Bulgaria, he finds out that he is not the only fighter whose loved one was taken.
Rivers enlists the help of trainers special guest star Master Tai Bo, and special guest star China O' Brien, but will it be enough for him to win the tournament and save his daughter's life?.....
For a lot of people, much like myself, Friday night at the video store was a huge part of my growing up, and my love of the movies. Yes, I love Terence Malick, and the films of Wim Wenders, but nothing gets my blood pumping when a star of the eightie's has a new film coming out. Stallone, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, and sometimes even Seagal. Any film that had the word 'Kickboxer', 'American', or 'Revenge' in the title was a must, especially if there was a picture of some random bloke doing a roundhouse kick.
And then we had the straight to video martial arts films, which always featured Bolo, Merhi, Blanks, Rothrock, and that weird looking bloke from Bloodsport 3 who was in The Matrix. All brilliant rubbish. But rubbish all the same.
And if you were very lucky, David Carradine would pop up as the special guest villain.
Here, we have what is essentially another Bloodsport, from the music, to the amazing songs, and then the lead up to the meat of the movie, the titular Kumite, hosted by Dark Angel, and a hulking bad guy, who likes to enter opponents bedrooms and look at them laying on their bed. Just to intimidate them.
Watching this, I was constantly asking myself the question, 'how many past stars turned down this movie?'. They must've asked Van Damme, Dudikoff, Norris, Eric Douglas, Wilson, Dascascos et al.
But it doesn't matter, if you're a fan of eighties action martial arts movies, this has it all. Wonderful fights, wonderful banter at the gym, training montages with Blanks laughing, even though his life is crushed, and Rothrock looking. Extremely. Plastic. But it's still Rothrock, and she kicks someone anyway.
Everyone is having a ball, and I was too, it took me back to a time when life was simpler, and the hardest thing to do was realise that Bloodsport hadn't been rewound when you rented it out.
It took me to a good place.
If you love these films, you'll adore this.