Rapid Fire
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Movie Reviews of Rapid Fire
Movie Review: Problems with "Rapid Fire" disc
Summary: 3 Stars
I agree with Mr. Tindall of Colorado, I would have given "Rapid Fire" 4 and a 1/2 stars but with the problems with the discs I lower my rating to 3 stars. (I realize this is not a 2-disc set, I will clarify my statement in a sec!) I enjoyed this film in which Brandon Lee starred as student Jake Lo.It was a great film, and it was great to see veteran stunt actor Gene LeBell as one of Cerano's ( Nick Mancuso ) thugs. Gene LeBell ( former pro-wrestler Hank Hangman ) has been in tons of movies over the years most recently ( to my mind ) as the cabbie that pulls his gun on both Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the first "Rush Hour" movie. It's ironic and rather fitting that Gene also appeared with Brandon's dad Bruce / "Kato" on the TV show "The Green Hornet" as seen on the Brentwood Home Video DVD collection. Gene the burly redhead can be seen in "Rapid Fire" in the big shootout in the bar between Powers Boothe's cops and Cerano's thugs in the middle of the movie. Gene is the one wheeling out the big portable mounted machine gun.
It is here notably, that I experienced my problem with the disc. The next scene where Brandon / Jake fights with Cerano's big Lummox behind the bar, like Mr. Tindall I experience a pause flutter that I have to skip to get around. I've returned the DVD and bought other copies to have them all stop / "flutter" in the same spot. I have a second generation DVD player (i.e. pre- DTS, progressive scan) yet I have played 100's of DVD's in my collection without such problems. I've only experienced one other American DVD problem (I won't touch on problematic import discs) and that is Disney's "Emperor's New Groove" (Similar pause-stop/ flutter at the beginning of that film). I'm curious if this was a bad print run of discs, if anyone else has experienced this problem, or if the defect is in the "Master". I would appreciate if anyone who has bought this DVD without this problem would state so, just so I know good copies exist!
I have been a big fan of Brandon Lee and have eagerly awaited this film to be made available on DVD. Brandon's death greatly affected me, more so than his famous father's for I was very young when Bruce died (I'm close to Brandon's age). It's hard to imagine what a vacuum Bruce's untimely death left in young Brandon's life. I can only begin to imagine what a large shadow Brandon had to grow into manhood under! I followed Brandon's career closely and rooted for his successes. I know "Laser Mission" sucks, but as a completist I have it in my collection. Brandon's fans are doing themselves a disservice if they ignore the little known Hong Kong film "Legacy of Rage". I enjoyed "Showdown in Little Tokyo" when Brandon played second fiddle to "Duh-Dolph", I felt he should have been first chair! (I understand! He was paying his dues) I enjoyed the fight choreography, Brandon's quips, the ever present Cary- Hariyuki Tagawa ("Pearl Harbor", "Planet of the Apes"2001). It was great up until Brandon uttered that embarrassing BS ego-trip line for Dolph's bruised self-esteem (talk about "cutting the cables" to the suspension of disbelief). "Rapid Fire" is a great fight fan film! With inventive choreography (for Hollywood!), remember this was pre- "Matrix", "Crouching Tiger"... Brandon displayed blossoming acting chops as well as kicks, which fans know bloomed in his poignant performance in "The Crow". His performances foretold of greatness tragically cut short by his accidental death. I viewed both "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story", and "The Crow" with a heavy heart haunted by the prophetic nature of both films.
On a lighter note, I agree with the lady down under, who's review stated she enjoyed the fight at the end of "Rapid Fire" between Brandon and the little guy coming down the stairs. That "little guy" was Al Leong (not to be confused with "Aki"Al Leong). Al Leong the veteran Martial Artist / choreographer has been in many memorable movies (most notably as "Endo" the torturer in the first "Lethal Weapon", or as the candy eating terrorist in Alan Rickman's "crew"in "Die Hard". Al's presence these days seem relegated to quick death cameos (if you blinked you missed him in the Japanese fish cannery boat in "Godzilla"*American flop*, and in the end gun battle of Chow Yun Fat's American Debut "The Replacement Killers". Al seems to be more behind the scenes now choreographing films like "The Scorpion King" (Al's visible in the fight choreography documentary on that DVD) Al Leong can be seen in the films "Big Trouble in Little China"(a personal fave!), "The Perfect Weapon", as well as "Showdown in Little Tokyo".
I noted, as any fan of Hong Kong / Jackie Chan films would, that many Jackie Chan specific fight moves were borrowed and used in "Rapid Fire". Most notably Brandon's use of the rolling clothes rack to sweep the legs out from under the thugs at the laundry, and the motorcycle "crash / ride" of the thug on the front of the bike through glass cases was lifted from Jackie Chan's first "Police Story" movie. Oh well, as Colton said "Imitation is the sincerest of flattery".
Movie Review: Rapid Fire, Lengthy Reload
Summary: 3 Stars
After the consummate disaster that was Laser Mission, the late Brandon Lee needed a new vehicle to reintroduce himself as a potential solo star to the American action scene, and "Rapid Fire" came at just the right time. However, while there's no denying that Lee's fifth starring picture is a neat action flick, the fact that it remains a tad mediocre in terms of storyline, action, and characters persistently lets on throughout the film, leaving it less noteworthy than fans of Lee might want to admit.
Jake Lo (Lee) is a Chinese-American student and martial artist whose parents died during the events of Tiananmen Square. After witnessing a murder between the American mafia and the Chinese drug cartel, Jake is placed under police protection but flees the cops when internal corruption threatens his life as well. Dodging both gangsters and crooked policemen, he must place his trust in a squad of renegade officers seeking to bring down the faction of the underworld Jake has been witness to.
If anything, "Rapid Fire" hints that had his life not been cut short, Lee would've been on his way to become one of the definitive stars of the action era. While the film is less remarkable, Lee is versatile in effectively switching between the actor and the fighting machine: his kung fu is good, and he's miles ahead of the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme or Arnold Schwarzenegger when it comes to acting.
The supporting cast does fine as well: the movie allows for a bit more character depth than other action flicks, and co-stars Powers Booth (Sudden Death) and Raymond Berry (Born on the Fourth of July) in particular use this added freedom well.
However, the most important aspect of the movie - the fight scenes - is a hit-and-miss: to break it down, the scenes in the club and the in the laundromat are good, the one in the hotel is decent, and the first one at the gathering is rather poor. While Lee certainly has the moves, the choreography and camerawork in these parts tend to be a bit lacking, and give the impression that he's not as good as he really is. In addition, the film is terrifically bland in its story. It literally feels as though the director (Dwight Little, Marked for Death) was going down a checklist of action-movie clichés (the obligatory romance angle, Lee boneheadedly struggling with his dead father's legacy, etc.) and sticking them in the movie wherever they seemed to fit; this is the basic complaint with most action features, and I'm sorry to say that it afflicted this one rather badly.
While it's obvious that "Rapid Fire' isn't about to match The Crow, it also fails to measure up to many other action-adventures of the time - be it Under Siege or Timecop...but that doesn't mean that it isn't a good movie. Though slightly disappointing, "Rapid Fire" is enough to make you miss Brandon Lee and make you dream of what he might've contributed to film if he had lived longer. For now, this movie will remain in the back of my shelf, but I'm sure it won't be all too long before I dig it out for another watch.
Movie Review: Same problem with DVD(freeze defect)
Summary: 2 Stars
Got my copy yesterday and was watching it last night. Was I dissapointed with the defect I experienced with the disc. At 57:58 (fight in the bar scene with the big guy), the disc freezes. You have to press the FF key and it will move to the scene 2-3 seconds later. Kind of annoying cause while enjoying and anticipating a big fight ...it stops....duh!....To Tadashi and Mr. Tindall... we're now victims of this frustrating defect..Seems we are owners of defective dvds. I bought the dvd cause I loved the movie...still remember my reaction to the fresh new fight scenes.... now we have the DVD but...... 4 .5 stars for the movie(for the action) but 2 for the DVD(video defect and lousy 4.0 audio)...