Superfights

''Superfights'' is a 1995 martial arts film directed and choreographed by Tony Leung Siu-Hung. The film stars newcomer Brandon Gaines, Chinese actress Yu Feihong, and martial artists Keith Vitali, Chuck Jeffreys, Cliff Lenderman, and Brian Ruth amongst others. The film was the first American production by Hong Kong-based Seasonal Film Corporation since their 1991 film American Shaolin.

Plot

Jack Cody is an avid fan of the Superfights, a pay-per-view event that meshes martial arts and professional wrestling. During an event, Jack earns the favor of No Mercy Budokai, who is nearly blindsided with a steel chair by the heel known as The Enforcer. Jack blocks the chair shot and Budokai thanks him before winning his match against the Enforcer.

Jack works in a local warehouse, where he often spends time practicing his martial arts, drawing ridicule from his supervisor. He also laments the mysterious disappearance of his favorite Superfighter, Mike Rocco, who once gave Jack a souvenir pendant when he was a child. Jack aspires to become a Superfighter himself, although his mother strongly disapproves.

Late one night, he prevents a young woman named Sally Wong from being robbed at an ATM. Sally invites him to her house to meet her grandfather, an old martial arts master who is skeptical of Jack's heroism. Wishing to test Jack's fighting skill, the grandfather challenges Jack to touch him with his hands covered in flour. Jack fails the test and leaves the house in humilation.

Upon returning home, Jack finds several news crews waiting to interview him for his heroic act, which was captured on surveillance video. Jack becomes a national celebrity and gains the attention of Robert Sawyer, the owner of the Superfights, who wants to make Jack an offer. Despite his mother's reservations, Jack meets with Sawyer and accepts the offer to join the Superfights. He is nicknamed "The All-American Hero" and given his own fully furnished apartment. Sawyer also assigns him to train with Angel, one of the top female Superfighters, who begins to flirt with Jack and provides him with pills which she says are vitamins. After many weeks of intense training, Sawyer declares that he is ready for his first Superfight.

Prior to the fight, Jack befriends fellow Superfighters Budokai and Dark Cloud in the locker room. With his mother and Sally in attendance, Jack is pitted against the Enforcer in his first bout, but struggles to defeat him. In response, Sally begins a "Jack Cody" chant, which motivates Jack to win his debut match. He soon goes on a winning streak but, after a match with The Mercenary, he begins to suspect that the veterans are going easy on him, although Angel assures him otherwise. When she attempts to seduce him, Jack turns her down, unwilling to start a romance with his friend and trainer.

On a morning jog, Jack is confronted by a mysterious ninja who taunts and subdues him after a brief fight. The ninja informs him that he is not truly winning the matches and that the Superfighters are involved in various illegal activities across the city, ranging from drug dealing to murder. He advises Jack to get out while he still can, and also warns him not to take the pills.

Later, Jack runs into Sally's grandfather at the park, who asks why he has not come to visit Sally in some time. He senses that Jack is troubled by his previous encounter and invites him to come and train with Sally in the art of Tai Chi. Jack incorporates this new training into his matches to improve his fighting style. When Grandfather finds the "vitamins", he asks to hold on to them to have them analyzed. It is revealed that the pills are actually a combination of steroids and mind control drugs.

As the Superfighters carry out a series of criminal acts, Robert Sawyer is revealed to be an organized crime boss. When one of his drug deals goes sour, he sends in his greatest fighter "The Beast" to kill the crooked dealer. When Sawyer and Angel are ambushed by the dealer's brother the next morning, Sawyer proves to be a highly skilled martial artist who easily defeats all three assailants, using a pair of rings with sharp protruding hooks on each fist to kill the dealer's brother.

Jack is told to throw a match against Dark Cloud as part of his contract with Superfights, but he refuses and wins the fight instead. A furious Sawyer berates Jack for his disobedience, but decides to give him a second chance. He is forced to join Budokai, Night Stalker, and Dark Cloud to extort money from a local Chinese restaurant; Jack is disturbed when the owner recognizes him. Afterwards, Jack secretly witnesses the Beast going berserk on Sawyer's men in a parking garage before being subdued by a tranquilizer dart.

When Jack returns home, the ninja reappears and attacks him. However, Jack gets the upper hand and unmasks the ninja; it is Budokai, who has been cooperating with the police undercover to take down Sawyer. Budokai also explains that the Beast is Mike Rocco, Jack's childhood hero who has been forced to become Sawyer's top enforcer. Jack agrees to join Budokai in his endeavor.

Jack gets a call from Sawyer to go to a local nightclub, where he is met by Angel who leads him inside. It is revealed that Sawyer has set up a fight to the death between the Beast and Budokai, whose cover has been blown. The Beast nearly kills Budokai until Jack intervenes and shows the Beast the pendant that was given to him as a child. When Sawyer orders the Beast to kill Jack, the Beast turns on Sawyer, who retaliates and kills the Beast with a stomp to the neck. Back at home, Grandfather suggests that he and Jack focus their "chi" on Budokai to heal his injuries. Afterwards, they are contacted by Sawyer who has kidnapped Sally and Jack's mother and challenges Jack to a final fight.

Jack goes to the Superfights training grounds, where he takes on Sawyer in a cage match with a swinging pendulum wrapped in barbed wire. Jack escapes the cage and manages to incapacitate Sawyer, but finds himself facing off against Dark Cloud and Night Stalker, eventually defeating them. Conflicted by her loyalty to Sawyer, Angel poises to fight Jack, but relents and allows him to free Sally and his mother. As the trio are about to leave, Sawyer launches a sneak attack and moves to finish off Jack, but Angel intercepts and fights Sawyer, who fatally injures her with a kick to the throat.

As Jack and Sawyer resume their fight, Sally turns off the lights and yells for Jack to concentrate. Jack utilizes his Tai Chi training to deflect Sawyer's attacks before dropkicking him back into the cage, where he is impaled on the barbed wire pendulum. Angel gives her last words to Jack as she dies. The police arrive as does Grandfather and a somewhat recuperated Budokai. Grandfather hails Jack as a true American hero.

Cast

* Brandon Gaines as Jack Cody "The All-American Hero"
* Yu Feihong as Sally
* Keith Vitali as Robert Sawyer
* Chuck Jeffreys as Dark Cloud
* Cliff Lenderman as No Mercy Budokai
* Brian Ruth as Night Stalker
* Patrick Lung as Grandfather
* Kelly Gallant as Angel
* Karen Bill as Mrs. Cody
* Keith Hackney as The Enforcer
* Jim Steele as Mike Rocco "The Beast"
* Rob Van Dam as The Mercenary
* Keith W. Strandberg as Passerby

Production

The film was shot on location in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in early 1995. The film was inspired by the 1990s steroid scandal that rocked World Wrestling Entertainment. The character of Robert Sawyer was based on WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who was accused in the 1990s of giving his wrestlers steroids. However, McMahon was eventually acquitted of the charges.

Release

''Superfights'' was theatrically released in the Philippines by MovieArts Inc. on March 13, 1996. American Home Entertainment released the film on home video in the United States on July 24, 1997. Pathfinder Home Entertainment released the film on Region 1 DVD on July 1, 2003. In Germany, the film is titled ''Karate Tiger 9''.

References

External links

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*{{Hkmdb title, id=14053

1995 films
1990s American films
1990s English-language films
1995 martial arts films
American martial arts films
Hong Kong martial arts films
Martial arts tournament films