Rage and Honor (1992)

Just what I expected

As Good As It Gets

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

RAGE AND HONOR belongs to an era of generally good low-budget fare starring Cynthia Rothrock, but it's far from being among her best work. Completists will be able to watch it secure in the knowledge that the Lady Dragon had yet to begin her cinematic descent, but aside from boasting some good production values and a strong cast, it's not anything special.The story: When an Australian police officer (Richard Norton) becomes witness to a crime of corruption, he teams up with a martial arts-practicing schoolteacher (Rothrock) to secure a tape of the crime from the underworld entity who orchestrated it (Brian Thompson).The above-average B-movie cast also includes Terri Treas as Thompson's cohort, Catherine Bach as the American police captain, Toshihiro Obata as the former's enforcer, and Alex Datcher as the eccentric leader of an all-women gang. They're directed by Terence Winkless, who has the honor of having directed more episodes of POWER RANGERS than any other filmmaker and does a pretty good job of maximizing his resources and making everything in this film look good, with the exception of a few unnecessary slow-motion shots. He also wrote the movie, and therefore deserves kudos for the surprising twist between Cynthia and Brian for and incorporating Norton's real-life experience as a "rock & roll bodyguard" into his character. He's also dealt negative points for not following up after establishing Thompson as an artsy John Woo-type villain: save for his silly mullet, he's a pretty boring bad guy.The film's main falling point is its fights scenes, which it has eight of but only a couple which are actually worth watching. There's nothing very wrong with the choreography (highlights include Cynthia performing a somersault ax kick and turning a scorpion kick into a head-scissors), but the camera-work is restrictive and unflattering towards the action. The kicking cast also includes kickboxing legend Peter Cunningham but he has only one fight (of which he is not the star) before being knocked down a flight of stairs by a wino. The rematch between Cynthia and Richard Norton pales in comparison to their stellar bout in MAGIC CRYSTAL. The single standout fight belongs to Norton and Toshihiro Obata, who have a so-so initial bout but whose rematch steals the show, with the latter performing some nifty aikido moves before throwing Norton out a window.As a whole, the action content ought to tide over casual viewers but won't impress fans of Rothrock and Norton who know what technical mastery they're capable of. The same can be said for the movie as a whole. It's a good Cynthia Rothrock flick, despite her being regularly overshadowed by Norton's character, but as is the case with most stuff from these guys, the film's strengths are balanced out by its deficiencies to provide an ultimately average outing. It's good, but it could have been so much more.

Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock have teamed up several times in martial arts movies, either as partners or as opponents, both in Hong Kong and in America. This is one of their American pairings, and it cannot qualify as one of their best. The story is sloppy in parts, and the fight scenes are only so-so (and sometimes poorly shot). However, the two leads make an enjoyable team, and the movie gets some extra life from a colorful supporting cast that includes Brian Thompson as the main villain, a quite funny Alex Datcher as "Hannah the Hun", Stephen Davies as a druggie ex-stockbroker that everyone calls "Baby", not one but TWO (Terri Treas and Catherine Bach) stunning redheads (I love redheads), and in a bit part, female kickboxer Kathy Long. A good B-movie cast in a mediocre B-movie. (**)

Some how I missed this series of films and enjoyed this flick from the beginning to the very end. Cynthia Rothrock,(Kris Fairfield),"Manhattan Chase",'2000, was a high school teacher and decided after work to use an ATM and had some very nasty encounters by some real bad bad dudes, who hit on her in more ways than one! Richard Norton(Preston Michaels),"Mind Games",'03, played a cop who got himself messed up with all kinds of characters and mainly a very hot, hot sexy everywhere Red Head and things started to POP! Terri Treas," House IV '92, was a very sexy mean mama, who did not mess around and had her eyes set on giving Preston Michaels a real hard time in more ways than what she wanted. There was lots of combat and it is up to you to figure out if the Male or Female won the battle of the bulges.

I had wanted to see this film for ages, and when I finally got to see it, I was not disappointed. Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton again make a great team as they deal with a squad of Martial Arts bad guys on the streets of LA.Brian Thompson, Terri Treas and Alex Datcher are all good in their roles as the bad guys, but at times they can become a bit ridiculous, especially Datcher's character Hannah The Hun, who always refers to herself in the third person.There is a major twist in the story, but it's probably been revealed in other reviews of this picture. The character of Wall Street vagrant Baby gets a bit annoying after a while, but he has some funny moments.The action sequences are as good, if not better, than the ones in China O'Brien. I hope some of Ms. Rothrock's films get DVD releases in the UK.