Comments on: Angel Town (1990) Review

By: Martin Sandison

Martin Sandison — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 11:50:54 +0000

Great review dude! I watched the trailer for this a million times on my old VHS of Above The Law, it was alongside such delights as Bloodfight, a guilty pleasure of mine. I never got around to watching it, now I will!

By: Mike Retter

Mike Retter — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 03:33:38 +0000

In reply to Paul Bramhall.

Blackmail?

By: Mike Retter

Mike Retter — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 03:12:51 +0000

In reply to Andrew Hernandez.

The ultimate Savate movie is UFC1 with Gerard Gordeau!

By: Paul Bramhall

Paul Bramhall — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 03:05:37 +0000

In reply to Z Ravas.

What do we have to do to get a Z Ravas review of ‘Nemesis 5’?

By: Z Ravas

Z Ravas — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 20:58:25 +0000

In reply to Mike Retter.

I think I’m a bit of a “Nemesis” fanboy, as well as just a fan of cyber-punk in general, because I would rate the film pretty highly. Even as a B-Movie that’s a little rough around the edges, it really hits the mark for me as a film that combines high-octane action with some sci-fi intrigue. If only the rest of Pyun’s filmography managed to reach those same heights.

But you’re right, Van Damme has his own benchmark films as well, such as Hard Target and the Universal Soldier series (exempting Universal Soldier: The Return).

By: Andrew Hernandez

Andrew Hernandez — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 16:13:54 +0000

Nice review. It’ll be interesting to see what a fresher faced Grunier was like.

The guy definitely has skill, but his acting left a lot to be desired. I put more blame on the directors for making him deliver lines that he couldn’t pull off convincingly. He’s much better as a silent, soft spoken type.

I watched Nemisis years ago, and at first was hyped seeing Grunier dressed up as Chow Yun Fat brandishing oversized pistols, but I found it slow, the action lackluster, and the acting from everybody was awful. It’s like it was trying to be sci-fi heroic bloodshed without knowing what the later was.

Savate I wish was good. Isaac Florentine hadn’t found his groove yet, so the action was slow, and everybody looked like they were taking turns hitting each other while throwing punches and kicks that could be seen coming a mile away. I really want the ultimate savate movie.

By: Mike Retter

Mike Retter — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 03:56:56 +0000

In reply to Z Ravas.

Nemesis is a fantastic cult-film, certainly way better than Albert Pyun’s Cyborg with Van Damme .. Its got a strange feel about it and many well-made flashes .. But after years of DTV work that misses the mark, its easy to forget that JCVD made a great string of premier actioners like Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, Hard Target .. At the higher-end, they are probably unfair comparisons to the B-movie Nemesis .. But they exist and tend to leap over Nemesis while doing the splits.

By: Z Ravas

Z Ravas — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:05:27 +0000

In reply to Mike Retter.

Thanks for the correction, Mike – I think I got Eric Karson’s IMDB credits mixed up, as he produced ‘Lionheart.’ I went ahead and edited the review to match.

You’re absolutely right about the enemies in this film being mere ‘cannon fodder’ for Gruner’s endless array of kicks. And ‘Nemesis’ is a personal favorite of mine as well. I would hold up ‘Nemesis’ as the equal to just about any JCVD film.

By: Mike Retter

Mike Retter — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 09:53:47 +0000

Hes the ultimate Sub-Van-Damme in the sense that they attempted to clone Van Damme with another Euro martial artist, but I agree that his onscreen persona was quite different, that he had other qualities and complexity about him a la Jeff Wincott. These come through quite strongly in Nemesis, a complex role blurring the line between human and machine. Hes a great onscreen fighter, but unfortunately Angel Town offers no counter to his precision skills, only cannon fodder who stand with their arms at their side while getting kicked in the head … Its a missed opportunity. Nerd alert: Sheldon Lettich actually directed Lionheart (he also co-wrote BLOODSPORT) and I think its a far better film in terms of action. Lionheart is total meat and potatoes, but its excessive use of slowmo and different camera-angle replays of various actions really did bring those fights to the next level. Where Angel Town dispatches with samey gang members over and over, Lionheart mixes a similar street realism (a term Im using incredibly loosely) with far more dynamic, reality-forgetting unique set-pieces on realistic locations (almost empty swimming pool, circle of cars facing inwards and shining their headlights) and pro-wrestling-style operatic villains where it cinematically becomes alive. BTW, in Australia we call Lionheart “Wrong Bet”.

But I’ll always like Olivier Gruner and Isaac Florentine’s Savate is at the top of my DTV watch-list ..