How could I have forgotten that!? Although Dacascos was not the better martial artist-he did sprain his ankle the first day of shooting and almost ruined the production-he showed a ton of promise in Kickboxer 5 and that episode of Dragnet. Wolf shaped my childhood with Lady and the Tramp 2, Party of Five (which I know everyone loved) and shoutout to the LT Showcase for reminding me that he was in eight episodes of Saved by the Bell as a nameless waiter. The first is an amazing physical performer who pushes the script to its limits., with ferocity and comedic timing. There are Billy and Jimmy, of course, played by Scott Wolf and Mark Dacascos. That was different and kept the movie’s tone.Ībobo isn’t the only great character though. I love the turn in his story also, fighting alongside the Lee brothers, but my favorite part is where Marian fed him spinach to torture him with violent gas. I was so worried he would look normal for the whole film-almost a meatier Nefarious Wes-like at the beginning, but the makeup is pulsating and lifelike. There are wonderful practical effects also, like with the transformed Abobo. This showed some forward thinking, making those scenes still pop even today. They’re so colorful and hold up well with their lack of detail and slower camera movements. This is before I even go into the excellent VR scenes. “This movie really did punch me in the face.” –A. The faded colors are purposefully implemented to show the washing out of emotion, punching the viewer in the face with expression like a Technicolor dojo. Not since Manimal have I seen a graphical presentation like this pop off the screen. Now I’ve never been anywhere near California because they have sunlight there, but this looks so different than anything someone would find over in the City of Angels (called New Angeles here) and is completely unrecognizable with abandoned buildings, large trucks, and a station wagon with a rocket strapped to it they call the Dragon Wagon! This all screams 90s-the best decade! According to DariaPlays, this is some of the best model work you can find in cinema. This is where the movie gets its first real praise in an impressive looking post-apocalyptic city with tons of color, debris, and graffiti. I was actually considering a new show for my YouTube channel where I expose viewers to classics they haven’t seen or forgotten, Dude You Haven’t Seen This Movie? Unfortunately, I saw that the LJN Defender had stolen yet another of my ideas! This would have been the first episode of that, which could still come! I could talk about this forever.ĭouble Dragon, like in the video game, takes place in the year 2007 where a major earthquake and climate change has wrecked everything. It’s a day I remember quite well as I skipped school to pick this up in costume (I lost the picture, unfortunately). Sit back, put the film on while you read, and prepare for ninety-six minutes of post-apocalyptic bliss.įor this review I re-watched this spectacle on both my VHS and Laserdisc copies-to which I recommend the latter-and yes, these are my originals from their release in 1995. That may sound like a massive praise for a movie that many don’t remember, but I want to take a little time to point out how a film from an unproven director, a lowly comic book author, and a fantastic cast was thrown together to make one of the greatest underrated martial arts video game movies. Some of them stand out more than that though and approach the level of taking something almost non-existent from a two-button beat ‘em up and making art. Sure, these movies aren’t all great, but the majority are quite tantalizing to the senses. In many cases though, they take these flimsy stories, blank characters, and horrible visuals to create something alive and beautiful. Hollywood has made a career out of trying to milk what is popular in the video game industry for quick crowd-pleasing cash grabs.
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