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magic8ball2112
Reviews
Chick Street Fighter (2003)
Sub-par, low-budget 'fight' film best ignored by both fight fans & the curious alike
I came across the movie at a local used DVD movie joint. As a fan of female fighting I've seen plenty of these 'women's underground fighting' themed flicks from "Pushed to the Limit" to "Bare Knuckles" to "Fight Night". Granted, when plenty of films in the genre seem inspired by Van Damme films like "Bloodsport" & "Lionheart" (storywise & acting-wise) you figure if the actual story is lame at least the fights will be the payoff. Unfortunately, while the story was, like the acting, mighty lame, the fight sequences were bad enough to make the action in "Carmen Electra's Nude Women's Wrestling League" look downright spectacularly realistic! NOTE: some spoilers follow but they're vague enough so as to not give too much plot (what little of it there is) away.
The earliest tipoff to the quality of fight choreography you're in for occurs just a few minutes into the film, when the lead character gets involved in a bar fight. You can almost imagine, watching the sequence, that she & her fellow actors got in about 15 minutes of choreography before the director yelled 'Action!'.
To their credit the 'Girls' in the title seem, from what 'fighting' they do, like experienced pro dancers, w/ the slim bodies & looks to match. But when they actually 'fight', the fights basically consist of the girls bouncing back & forth on alternating feet, circling each other in front of 10-15 half-enthused people (probably film crew!), before awkwardly launching with basic punches. Nothing outside of what you'd probably see on Day 1 of a basic martial arts class at, say, the YMCA, and NOWHERE as good as what you've likely seen in other, better, fight films! That the various matches go no longer than a minute & a half is telling of their quality.
The story tries to generate the obligatory friction between the lead character & the other fighters, but it never becomes any harsher than the average catty repartee in any old Ally McBeal episode! Worse yet, the fighters insinuate a major opponent in the main character's future. Yet when that fight does, naturally, come, the payoff is so underwhelming.
Overall, from the high school film class production values to the bad acting to (most criminally for a fight film) the bad fight choreography, it's no surprise that the film was released under one name but is buried in IMDb under another! If you're a fan of fight films, skip it. A fan or 2 of women's fetish fighting might find it of some use, but even as a fan of that genre I still felt ripped off!
One Man's Hero (1999)
Decent tho historically flawed film
I learned about the San Patricio Battalion in college and even did a senior paper on the unit. Consequentially, when I heard about their story coming to the big screen I looked forward to it. The story, though interesting, is not without its flaws.
Set at the eve of the US-Mexican War (sometime in late April 1846 given that war hasn't broken out yet), the movie spans the duration of the war and initially attempts to give a nod to our country's unhappy heritage of ethnic bigotry against, in this case, the Irish and other then-recent European immigrants. This bigotry drives a few of these immigrants from the US Army into the service of Mexico, in time for the war between both countries. In the movie Tom Berringer's character of John Riley is the leader of a small group of these deserters although, historically, John Riley was already in the command structure of Mexico's San Patricios some good time prior to the battle of Monterrey which is shown in the film.
The unfortunate fact of the war for Mexico, other than it lost half its territory at war's end, was that her generals were incapable of winning a battle against the Americans. The movie certainly illustrates that point but, surprisingly the major Battle of Buena Vista is given only the slightest nod. I say "surprisingly" because during the course of the battle one single Mexican artillery unit created so much havoc on the American lines: the San Patricios! So many experienced artillerymen had joined the unit that its skill was considerable; formidable enough to warrant Zachary Taylor to single out the San Patricio Battalion's position on the battlefield and explicitly order his cavalry to "Take those Damn Guns!!" (which they never did).
The movie's weakest point, I believe, is sacrificing the story of the unit and its men for the sake of telling a love story between Berringer's Riley character and the Marta character. More sympathy for the Patricio characters could've been generated by concentrating on the relationships between the small unit's men ala "Saving Private Ryan", than diverting the story into Riley's quest to find Marta prior to the final battle of Churubusco.
Modern Americans' response to the notion of the San Patricios is that they were unjustified traitors who deserved hanging. The movie also could've better spent more of its time justifying the Patricio's cause rather than alluding to it being merely the result of the prohibition of attending Catholic Mass. Lastly, the overdubbed voice at the end of the movie seemed so ham-handed that the epilogue it provides could've been better served by an on screen written epilogue.
Overall, the film is an OK though historically inaccurate retelling of the San Patricios' story. Granted historical film viewing should not be looked at as the equal of reading a history book, but the unfortunate fact is that many film goers tend to see both as equals. To be sure the battle of Monterrey is my pick for "highlight of the film". But if one wishes to be better acquainted with the San Patricios, one is better off reading a good book.