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Reviews
Ring of Steel (1994)
A good sword flick!
OK, the plot was a bit predictable, but I loved the sword fights in this movie. It's every "what if" a bunch of martial artists could come up with (OK, who would win in a fight: a barbarian or a ninja?). I especially liked the fight between Alex and Brian as an homage to The Court Jester, and the bit with the auditioning roll-player.
Interestingly enough, although Robert Chapin (the star) is credited with writing the movie, it's not widely known that his version was a dark psychological drama in which Alex gets sucked so deeply into the world of drugs, money, women and blood sport, that when he is finally reunited with Elena, he doesn't even recognize her. When MCA bought it, they deemed that version WAY too dark. So they hired a "writer" to clean it up, and they turned it into the sanitized hero plot that we see here.
So, go easy on the guy. He had to watch someone else re-write his story, and then he had to actually SAY those predictable lines. Overall, it's a fun sword flick!
Deadlock (1997)
Low-budget horror fun!
I'd like to disagree with the previous negative post. I thought this movie was campy intelligent fun! (I especially liked Ellen, the disembodied nagging head in the sink)
In this day of predictable and formulaic big studio releases, here is an independent film in the purest sense of the word. The director did NOT shoot the film in Mexico, but kept production right here in Los Angeles (as we wish more filmmakers would do). He did NOT do all the computer FX himself - but rather his team included his brother Robert, who has an extensive CG resume including X-Men 2, The Chronicles of Riddick and Crouching Tiger. And as for the nudity, anyone who is familiar with independent film distribution would realize that the toplessness was NOT a desperate act by the director to keep our attention, but followed the "rules" for foreign distribution (must have breasts in the first X minutes).
So lighten up, make some popcorn and enjoy an original film for a change!