elshikh4
Despite what you think, despite what hundreds of reviews think, and despite what I myself sometimes think; this is one cool action movie.Yes, Gary Daniels can't act, Chuck Jeffreys' magic routine is weird (doing it over dead buddies !), Frank Gorshin is all-the-time angry, and Darren Shahlavi is horrible ! But hey, this time you can forgive. And for 2 reasons.Firstly, there is redemption. A very fine one. Which's the rest of the movie. I mean, look at the fight sequences; they can't get more perfect. Their choreography is magnificent, their performing is flawless, and their direction is fiery. In brief; it's rare when you see hard-working, creatively-done, and highly entertaining action like this. Kudos to the movie's choreographer and director Siu-Hung Leung. This man knew and loved what he was doing.Then, the writing. It made the antagonist as a martial arts heroes killer; which's interesting, as it's the serial killer movie where we'll have the opportunity of enjoying a fight sequence before every murder. The buddy cop formula was on. Not the best, but workable. The script was surprising and convincing; one of the definitions of "smart" in my book. The use of the internet element wasn't less smart. It even managed to add some emotional moments; concerning a father and daughter relationship, and an odd-couple turned good-buddies relationship. I just hated the personal, no legal, man-to-man encounter in the end, where killing is the only available justice !You have to love extra merits; such as the rapid-fire pace, the expressive electronic music, the lovely montage of New York, and the sexy body of Brandie Rocci. Secondly, there is a strange quality. It's in the way this movie's bad points develop into good. Watch carefully the infamous acting form nearly everybody, especially the iconic one of Shahlavi. It's TOO DAMN LAUGHABLE! It magically serves as brilliant comedy. Shahlavi is worth watching, more than once, for every single reaction he does. His smiles, eye looks, and way of talking; all were done in a style that great comedians can't reach !Daniels's low acting talent is compensated by his presence and martial arts wonders. Jeffreys' magic routine was a feature to make his character funny; and it's better than similar features, done with other sidekicks, in other buddy cop movies, for the same purpose; like Dan Aykroyd's schizophrenic spasms in Loose Cannons (1990), Kevin Kline's love for disguise in Wild Wild West (1999), and Josh Hartnett's acting mania in Hollywood Homicide (2003) ! Gorshin wasn't a disharmony; scrutinize most of the police chiefs, in the American action / thrillers since Dirty Harry, and you'll easily find out that they're nothing but screaming angry naggers !In this manner, some details are rather appealing. For example, the evil man's customs; as if he's KISS' biggest fan. His joyful bomb at the end. His explanation of it, as he refuses to kill children, yet left on a recorded tape, in case he died (how thoughtful !). And the way how that very tape starts running right after the explosion (Now how precise !).1997 was light on the buddy action movie (Men in Black, Double Team, The Edge), and heavy on the buddy comedy movie (Mousehunt, Gone Fishin', Fathers' Day, Nothing to Lose, Out to Sea, Money Talks, Trial and Error, Good Burger). Now here's Bloodmoon, which can proudly join the list of that year's best buddy action movies,.. and best buddy comedies as well ! It's where the vices can be considered virtues.. Aaah, the more you live, the more you see !
gridoon
Although the DVD cover and plot synopsis tries to promote "Bloodmoon" as a serial-killer thriller, that part of the film is the least successful one. It works much better as a "buddy movie" and a martial arts flick. Gary Daniels and Chuck Jeffreys have a surprising amount of chemistry: Jeffreys is obviously the better actor of the two, and perhaps working with him inspired Daniels to work a little on his acting as well. And Darren Shahlavi is truly spectacular as the villain - how can this guy move so fast? The action choreography in this movie is terrific; not one fight scene is bad, but the final showdown in particular is about as good as it gets. Do you remember Jackie Chan's fight against that deaf-mute guy at the end of "Police Story 2"? That's the level of combat I'm talking about. The Hong Kong influence can be clearly seen in the speed of the fighting, the occasional (don't worry, it's very occasional) use of wires, and the crazy, over-the-top stunts. In short, if you're a fan of the genre, "Bloodmoon" is at least worth seeing, if not owning. (***)
kjp03c
This is probably on of the worst movies i have ever seen. The plot, characters, production values, location, cinematography, etc. are some of the most poorly contrived attempts at film-making yet. But, this is exactly what makes this movie so god damn entertaining!!! Thats right folks, if you are looking for a movie that will make you laugh every single time, than look no further. Where else can you find an all-American dad who persistently talks with a British accent? For being the hero of this movie, Gary Daniels is one of the worst, unintimidating actors of all time. The scene where he is sitting down and suddenly tosses a pile of papers in the air while saying, "Not again"" has yet disappoint me since I always end up laughing on the floor. The best part is that Gary Daniels isn't the worst actor in the movie. By far, the worst actor (or should i say extra) I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing is a cameo by MR. Pay per view, Mr. Monday Night himself: ROB VAN DAM. I cant even begin to describe the pain in my stomach when he says, "Okay, lets dance!."The film itself looks like crap, which is probably cause the studio who was blackmailed into making this movie, did not have one single permit to shoot. I mean come on, there were at least a dozen of scenes in the film where people would just blatantly run stop signs and more noticeably, stop lights. Which brings me to another concern: What the hell was the editor doing during this movie. He was probably so scared of seeing his name on the credits for this piece of crap movie that he suddenly vanished in order to salvage his career. Now i can go on and on with how awesomely bad this movie is but I just have one simple question: Why was this movie made? How could the director not foresee the pile of crap this script was written on? My only reasonable conclusion is that this movie was produced for the sole purpose of seeing how a film should not be made and more importantly, for people to see a film that is a guaranteed laugh Every time!!! (whether intentional or not).From the opening scene that shows an obvious red cardboard cut out of a moon hung from a clearly visible wire to the ridiculous and improbable ending that shows how a tape recorder can set to perfectly coincide with the explosion of a confetti bomb (dont ask), this movie will leave your stomach and mouth in pain from the sheer amount of laughter that you will experience.
Phroggy
Most US martial-arts flicks are direct-to-video dreck, but this one has a real director and real visual flair. The storyline - a martial-arts psychopatic fighter terminates other champions in one-to-one fights - is classical, but this movie has good fights and production value closer to the best Hong Kong movies. If you're tired of boring stuff like the endless "Bloodfist" series, check this one out.
