Bloodfist is a 1989 martial arts movie starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson. Wilson plays a dojo sensei in California who travels to Manila to avenge his professional kickboxer brother, who was murdered after a fight. Bloodfist received a limited theatrical release from Concorde Films, opening on September 22, 1989, and ended up grossing $1,770,082.
Synopsis
The film opens with a man getting beaten by his opponent, then after the guy finds out the fight was rigged, decides to fight back. The opponent is dead on the floor, and the first guy is announced as the winner. On his way back to his home, he is killed by another man.
Back in the United States, retired boxer Jake Raye (Wilson) and co-owner of Hal and Jake’s self-defense class receives a call from the Philippines police department. He is told his half-brother Michael is dead, and must pick up the body in Manila. Jake travels to Manila and collects the body, but decides to stay there and find his killer. Jake gets training help from a man named Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana) and stays with local kickboxer Baby Davies (Michael Shaner), whom a local Filipino neighbor Angela (Marilyn Bautista) has a thing for, and his sister Nancy (Riley Bowman). Kwong tells Jake about a gladiator-like tournament known as the Red Fist Tournament where only one comes out alive, and his brother’s killer will likely be there.
Kwong trains Jake for the tournament and enters him. He manages to win all the fights and proceeds to the final match, where he faces off with Chin Woo (Aguilar). Kwong tells him that Chin Woo is his brother’s killer, and also the fighter who put Baby Davis in a coma. Hal, who has come from California to watch Raye’s final bout, informs Raye that Kwong is the killer after Kwong drugs Raye. Angela comes in with a gun, but dies at the hands of Chin Woo. Woo is defeated by Raye, who sets off after Michael’s true killer. It is revealed that Kwong has a brother, who died at the hands of Michael that fateful night, and Kwong is the one who murdered him. Kwong fights Raye in the same alley where Michael met his fate. Jake is badly wounded, but finishes Kwong and impales him on a fence. Nancy and Jake walk off into the night.
Trivia
According to director Terence H. Winkless, the original script had Don 'The Dragon' Wilson's character training by running up stairs of a temple. When he arrived in the Philippines to begin shooting no temple could be found. A live volcano was nearby so he changed the script to have the character training by running up a live volcano as it would make an interesting replacement for the temple.[1]
Releases
New Concorde released the film on DVD on May 30, 2000 along with Bloodfist II, III, and IV. The DVD is currently out-of-print.
Notes
- ^ [1]. Director interview, 2002. Last accessed: January 8, 2008.
See also
External links
