Bloodsport 3
Jason: "So tell me more about the kumite."
Alex: "I turned myself into a fighting machine...I became a very dangerous man. I destroyed my opponents, one after the other."
release year: 1997
genre: martial arts
viewing setting: home DVD, 7/21/21
synopsis: A fighter must once again participate in the great kumite tournament, this time to avenge his master.
impressions: The basic plot, when looked at from an outside perspective, is stupid: Alex refuses to fight, they kill his master, and now he'll fight so that he can avenge the master? Alex, it's YOUR FAULT this happened at all. Sheez. Okay, now that I got that out of the way...this had some good fighting, although there were less matches than previous movies, and they tended to be shorter. Of note: another one with narrative format (the main events take place within a story that someone is telling someone else)...it all takes place in India, which means an all-Indian audience and Indian boys taking away defeated fighters...a tournament premise that makes no sense...the classic "triple blow" (wherein the footage of the same punch or kick is repeated three times for effect)...one fighter dressed up like a pirate, who uses crotch kicks and bites his opponent...a really uneven seeding (for example, Alex has to fight 5 times but the Beast only has to fight 2 times, before they face each other in the final)...one fighter who blatantly uses a weapon, and another who blatantly breaks an unconscious foe's neck...the return of that crazy song at the end, during which I swear I heard Ogre shout out "Bloodsport!"
number of Kumite matches in this movie: 14
acting: Daniel Bernhardt looks even more like Van Damme, especially in his fighting poses; he also tries to be James Bond in the beginning scenes. Dont' be fooled by the trailer etc - James Hong and Pat Morita each have less than a minute of screen time here. John-Rhys-Davies, just four years before becoming Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is the scowling cigar-chomping bad guy here. Amber van Lent is a pale redhead who everyone seems to think is hot stuff. Hee Il Cho is the old guy who trains Alex this time. There are some colorful characters amongst the other fighters this time, the most notable of which was Chad Stahelski, who worked as a stuntman and stunt coordinator before going on to direct John Wick movies in more modern times.
final word: Another sequel with its own style, and some good fighting scenes.
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