- HEATSEEKER
Haven't seen it but people don't seem very enthusiastic about it. Gary plays a cyborg.
- HAWK'S VENGEANCE * * *
Daniels plays a Special Forces Royal Marine, Hawk, whose stepbrother has been murdered, and who comes to the US exact vengeance. His opponent is played by martial arts choreographer and JKD practitioner Cass Magda. The plot is completely unbelievable - he goes on the rampage with impunity and no-one, not even the law intervenes. His character simply murders in cold blood and gets away with it. Didn't enjoy it.
- BLOODMOON
Impact mag calls it a "slick cop/chop socky/horror flick". Well, I beg to differ. I thought the film featured a collection of hopeless actors and even worse music. Gary comes off best as Ken O'Hara, a divorced, retired "mindhunter". He teams with a cop played by Chuck Jeffreys to hunt down the killer, who is ruthlessly killing martial arts champions during the full moon. Not even the occasional martial arts flourish can save this from being boring. The story is hackneyed, the characters clichéd. It's one of those where there's a girl who insists on tagging along with the hero(es). In this film at least, she gets killed! Only for Gary Daniels completists.
- WHITE TIGER * * *
 Gary got to choreograph his own fight scenes this time and the results are spectacular. Also because he has dependable genre stalwart Cary Hiroyaki-Tagawa, who just seems to get better as he gets older, as his enemy. The latter gives a chilling performance as a perverted drug king who, against the orders of the Triad elders, introduces a deadly designer drug to the market. The fight sequences between the two in the drug lord's house and on his ship are riveting. This is the best Gary Daniels movie I have seen, with a solid plot, a great villain and, best of all, the opportunity for Gary to really strut his stuff. Hugely entertaining - a must-see.
- FIST OF THE NORTH STAR * * *
 Gary plays the dark-haired Kenshiro, the Fist of the North Star, opposite Costas Mandylor as Kenshiro's evil bro Lord Shin of the Southern Star school. The film is based on an extremely violent Japanese manga/anime. And extremely violent describes the film well. It is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, so beware. If you're not into exploding heads avoid the film - though you'll be missing out on feasting your eyes on Gary's stunning physique! There is plenty of action, and I enjoyed it, but this is a film people either love or hate. It isn't a great film by a long shot, though the Mad Max milieu of the post-apocalyptic world the story is set in is well realised. The inevitable climactic showdown between Gary and Mandylor is a bit of a let-down since the latter is simply no match for Gary physically. Watching Gary despatch the main villain's soldiers is a lot more fun. The fight choreography was handled by Gary's trainer Winston Omega. The character of Kenshiro embodies values which Gary upholds as well, and which endeared Kenshiro to him so much that he named his son after him.
- SPOILER * * *
This is a non-martial arts film featuring Gary as a man sent to jail for a year. He breaks out to see his small daughter but is caught. This time the sentence is increased - he is sent into suspended animation. Once defrosted he escapes again, for the same reason - to see his now somewhat older daughter. This happens again with the sentence increased in the order of decades until, eventually, he finds himself father to an old woman. I loved this film. Gary convincingly portrays a desperate man inexorably losing the person he holds most dear, and we feel with him as he battles to be reunited with her. I found the ending very moving. Definitely recommended.
 - RECOIL * * *
Great action movie with cool car/bike/truck chases. Gary plays a cop whose family is wiped out by a drug boss. After he recuperates he sets out for revenge and some great martial arts sequences ensue. Gary seems to be going from strength to strength. Definitely check this out. As Joe Bob Briggs would say, gun fu, car fu, kung fu galore.
- COLD HARVEST *
Not Gary's best by far. A Wild Wild Western transplanted to the US after an apocalypse (meteors this time) and during a plague. Gary and his wife are carriers of a gene which can save humankind. He dies, his wife is kidnapped and his twin brother (guess who?) has to extricate her from her troubles. Fairly uninspired, with some good action sequences but a REALLY tired plotline. Filmed in South Africa.
- FATAL BLADE * * *
Also known as Gedo. One of Gary's best. An honourable Yakuza hitman arrives in the States to deal with the local Yakuza's opposition. Gary plays an LAPD cop whose partner is murdered in the fray and who then finds himself in the midst of a gang war while hunting down the men who did it. There is some great swordplay, and especially the fight between Gary and the street punks and the big showdown at the end are very well choreographed. I liked the developing relationship between Gary's character and the hitman. (Half the film's dialogue is in Japanese, but the video I watched had no subtitles!)
- BLACK FRIDAY *
Man, what a bad movie. An hour into the movie during a conversation between Gary's character and an old associate you realise that there is a cool enough plot hidden in this hokum. Terrorists are holding up in Gary's house with a biochemical bomb - and there is a twist in the tale that should have added some excitement to the proceedings. But instead of playing it straight the director obviously decided to aim for "art". This means boring static camera set-ups and lingering close-ups or long shots which accomplish nothing, and makes every scene falls flat. The fight choreography seems OK here and there but is either so badly filmed or so amateurishly executed it all looks very fake. And everything is accompanied by mostly awful jarring rock music. The climactic fight could have been nice if not ruined by the director's refusal to just let the film and the action get on with it. Hugely disappointing.
- THE IDES OF MARCH
Gary plays a hitman out for revenge. He also executive produced.
|
Film persona: like Olivier Gruner he has a gentle quality which helps make his characters sympathetic. Top of the range martial arts moves. Great body. Good-looking. Soft-spoken. (See Kenshiro pic below.)