Martial Outlaw (1993)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Kevin White (Wincott) is a DEA agent who travels from Washington DC to California, hot on the trail of evil Russians that are ex-KGB agents who are now drug runners. While there, he ends up teaming up with his brother Jack White (Hudson, not the ghoul-like guitar player/singer from the White Stripes). Thankfully for us, both brothers are "karate cops" who can put baddies in their place with their feet and fists. Jack is more of a bull in a china shop (almost literally, going by his introduction in the film). Unfortunately, Jack is also dirty, and he's double dealing - helping the baddies and his brother. All this causes their father, known only to us as Mr. White (Jaeckel) to crawl into a bottle of generic whisky. Will these blood brothers spill blood while proving that blood is thicker than water? Find out today! Martial Outlaw (you gotta love that title) makes a great companion piece with Mission of Justice (1992). Both are done by the same people, they have a similar look and feel, and both, of course, star Jeff Wincott. They even have a similar strategy for their placement of fight scenes - in Mission, the big blowout fight was in the garage, and here it's in the restaurant. They both have a scene in a gym where Wincott beats up a lot of people. We would certainly recommend the two for a double bill of VHS action brilliance.Outlaw reinforces our love for Wincott - he has a power-packed fighting style which is infectious for the audience, and he can do it while wearing a turtleneck and sportcoat. It's all complemented by his cool 90's hair, and his stylish sweaters he wears to the gun range are the icing on the cake. His line of casual gun-range wear would singe the retinas of Bill Cosby. But what else would you expect one to wear when in a state of deep concentration? But he's also likable, which is more important than a thousand sweaters (which are the exact words we're all taught in school).Funnily enough, Wincott, or should we say Kevin White, can always find a way to have two Arnis fighting sticks in any situation, no matter how dangerous. Two legs will break off a chair and fall into his hands, or bigger sticks will break in two. You can almost set your watch by the regularity with which Kevin White pummels opponents with two hand-held sticks.Physically, Gary Hudson and Wincott are perfectly cast as brothers, and their psychological tension as siblings is believable and even compelling. And Richard Jaeckel was a nice choice as dad. The baddie even has a goon which closely resembles Martin Kove. Adding further interest are the fax machines, pagers, and classic computers which are all hallmarks of a certain place and time we just can't seem to get enough of seeing on screen.Martial Outlaw delivers what fans of 90's DTV action want, and it is indeed a satisfying experience. We recommend it.

This is one of those rare movies kind of hard to come by. Not too much attention is being given to movies like this by DVD and bluray companies and I just hope they release more titles like this one. It is a great b production martial flick. Jeff Wincott and his brother are both cops being after the Russian mafia. They are both great martial artists, but one is also secretly cooperating with the mafia boss and taking bribe. I give this movie 10 stars because it has all I would look for in a mid 90ies b production, good never-ending fights, excellent plot and no nudity to take your attention away. This is probably Jeff Wincott's best movie.

This is a video classic. No matter which video store I go into, I can usually find it. The action is non-stop and the stunts are pretty good. Not much in the acting or dramatic department but who cares when the action is this hot. Jeff Wincott (from the Miami Vice knockoff "Night Heat")plays an FBI agent trying to track down a Russian drug kingpin while trying to deal with his ailing ex-cop father and crooked LA cop brother. Wincott's made a name for himself doing these straight-to-video martial arts flicks like Cynthia Rothrock and Don "the Dragon" Wilson. This is his best. Some of the others are "The Last Man Standing" (not the Bruce Willis film) and "Open Fire".

If you have never seen the movie 'Office Space', there is a scene where the main dude says "I'm gonna go home and watch kung-fu. Do you watch kung-fu?" after deciding that he could care less about work. Several hours ago, I was faced with the same situation: Do I study for my exams, or do I some watch kung-fu movies? Well, after some consultation and noticing the un-watched copy of 'Martial Outlaw' sitting on my desk, I came to the conclusion that I would be better off watching some kung-fu. That would come to be the best decision I've ever made.Jeff Wincott plays Kevin White, a DEA agent, master of the ways of arse kicking, and not-quite-yet a master of the snappy comeback. On the trail of a Russian drug-lord named Niko (Vladimir Skomarovsky), Kevin ends up back in his hometown of Los Angeles, where his brother Jack (Gary Hudson) is a cop, and also master of the ways of arse kicking. Jack is quite jealous of his little brother: Kevin went to college, Kevin is a better fighter, Kevin is a higher paid and higher ranking cop, and Kevin has a more impressive physique. OK, the last one was a guess: Kevin removes his shirt at any opportunity, while Jack stays clothed for the whole movie. When Kevin arrives in town, Jack sees an opportunity to make a deal with Niko and walk away a millionaire.The box makes a point of stating that 'Martial Outlaw' is "from the makers of 'Martial Law'" which might explain why the plots for both movies were... almost exactly the same. That's right, tweak a few details and 'Martial Law' becomes 'Martial Outlaw'. Awesome. Naturally, both the plot and acting in this are as weak as Jeff Wincott is ripped, but that is to be expected when watching a direct-to-video martial arts film. In fact, Gary Hudson sounds suspiciously like Bruce Campbell, the king of b-movies, through most of the film...The action scenes are somewhat impressive, given the nature of the film. Small action movies are generally entertaining, but 'Martial Outlaw' could fool you into thinking that it came from Hong Kong in the 80s / early 90s. The fights aren't THAT good, but for a small action movie, they are well choreographed. Unfortunately, they degenerate into the pure silliness mastered by Hong Kong movies from the 70s. Still is more entertaining and better choreographed than nearly anything with a big budget that has come out of Hollywood recently. Awesome.David Carradine is nowhere to be seen in this movie. On the other hand, Al Leong can be spotted doing his generic Asian bad guy thing. I guess an Al Leong appearance is always assumed for any American action movie.'Martial Outlaw' is an entertaining action movie, but the only people who should watch it are the small group of action fans who have even heard of it. Bad plot and acting, along with rampant silliness would turn most people off - 6/10 Awesome count: The word 'awesome' was used twice in this review.