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If you blinked, you might not have noticed that this trendsettingphenomenon ofthe early '90s--the Power Rangers--has switched gears with a new set ofwarrior actors and a new setting: space. In this 90-minute feature that combines several TV episodes, a portal to another galaxy opens up as the Rangers findtheir magical outfits and warrior status on another planet that isbeing terrorized by the awful Scorpius. These badly dressed meanies--with SidandMarty Krofft-like foolishness in tow--come to destroy the moon, which isluckily a oxygen-laden, earth-gravity place now. Kids that originallydug the series have assuredly gone on to other fare, but the TV show findsnew fans with their cornball sets, bright colors, and nonstop action. Thelatter point has increased in the Lost Galaxy series. With the fightingarmor and big guns, the human space warriors look like extras fromthe ultra-slick and ultra-violent Spaceship Troopers. Now there'sno gruesome violence in this series, but the modern combat, big-gun-totingteenagers may be too much for some parents. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Quasar Quest
Of all the Power Rangers seasons, Lost Galaxy is my favorite. I was really disapointed that they couldn't release the last 4 episodes on VHS or DVD. Power Rangers has been on for nearly 12 years. The first 2 years it was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the 3rd season half of it was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the last half was Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. Then it became Power Rangers Zeo, then Power Rangers Tubro, Power Rangers in Space was after that, this video is from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, then it was Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, then Power Rangers Time Force, then Power Rangers Wild Force, now Power Rangers Ninja Storm. Next year will likely be called either Power Rangers Dino Rage or Dino Thunder, something that has to do with dinosours.

Go Galactic
This video is pretty good, but the action is nowhere near the action-packed first and second movie. This does have its bad moments, but all in all, it's pretty good. It explains everything (pretty much) and has no huge plotholes. Speaking of plot...
Leo Corbett stows away in a space settlement called Terra Venture and is on the run. Acidentally, he bumps into Kendrix Morgan and Kai Chen, two GSA officials. When asked by police, Kendrix makes excuses but doesn't answer Kai's own questions. Long story short, Leo stows away again on a training exercise and saves Kendrix's life, Kendrix and Kai's commanding officer Mike (guess) Corbett tells Leo off for following him, a portal opens up and a girl called Maya falls through. Mike and Kendrix investigate her world but Leo jumps in at the last second. What will happen? That's for me to know, and you to find out. So get the movie!

Its 1998 predecessor was SO much better......
Seems that Haim Saban can never stop those "Power Rangers" from being on the air. Even with all those new monsters and characters and improved special effects, he hasn't really regained the popularity he had in the beginning, except with his more recent Digimon. The PR came to America in 1993 and immediately they were a major hit. Austin St. John, Thuy Trang, and Walter Emmanuel Jones, however, left the show in 1995 because they were dissatisfied with payment (them greedy cowards!); thus, Karan Ashley, Steven Cardenas, and Johnny Yong Bosch took over. The release of the first Power Rangers movie in summer 1995 thus didn't do well at the box office at all, our once favorite superheroes were going downhill. Making subsequent spin-offs didn't help.

Now what? First they were the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (everyone knows who they were), then they transformed into Zeo, shifted into turbo, conquered space, forged through lost galaxies, and traveled at the spped of light to the rescue. Now, there'll be "Time Force" like, next month, but I don't think it'll be any more fun than Lost Galaxy may have been. Power Rangers in Space (1998) was SO much better than that. What the heck....it's 2001 and with the Digimon garnering high ratings on Nielsen like mad (yet their movie wasn't very successful either), what WILL be these guys' future? I guess there won't be no future for them now that they're no longer #1. Even the mystic knights of tir na nog were never the popular warriors the PR were. I don't care anymore. It's only a TV show.

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy: The Origin
This tape is a bit short, running just under an hour, but if you're interested in seeing how the Lost Galaxy Rangers came to be, it's worth the purchase. The only downside is since the tape doesn't run very long, you don't get to see the full range of the Rangers' powers and their Zords' abilities. To see that, you should check out the Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Video, The Return of The Magna Defender, which is 90 minutes long, and more bang for your buck. But for a Power Rangers fan, this tape is worth the buy.

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK...
I haven't seen this video, but I have seen the original airing of the first three episodes this tape contains. But know this, this isn't the Power Rangers you might expect. When the series debuted in 1993, it drew the attention of the public because of its fast pace, uniqueness and likable characters. But, despite all that, it was really a kid's show. This fact was vagued with this incarnation of the series.

When Power Rangers:Lost Galaxy debuted in 1999, it had a diferent look. It seemed more mature. Yes, the flash and extreme pacing of action was still there, but a sense of a more adult storyline followed suit. Decent storytelling along with a semi-solid science-fiction background, caused this series to be quite enjoyable. In short, this version of the series finaly forced a seven year franchise to grow up a little. With a little open-mindness, adults might discover this tape/series to be a very enjoyable guilty pleasure for themselves and kids alike ... Read more

Description

The Guyver discovers alien weapons capable of destroying the Earth. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

An Underrated and Relatively Unknown Little Actioner
Fans of the Guyver Manga, Anime and original live-action flick will get a kick out of this sometimes cheesy, but thoroughly entertaining flick. Sporting talent that includes Director Steven Wang (who also directed Drive, the Power Rangers Movie, and did special FX for a wide range of Horror and Sci-Fi movies) and David Hayter (voice actor for Solid Snake and writer of the X-Men movie screenplay) in the lead role of Sean Barker, Guyver 2 improves upon the original with a stronger emphasis on martial arts, drama, and character development.

Special effects, such as the transformation of Sean into the Guyver are either cleverly hidden, or done courtesy of CGI that still manages to impress nowadays. A well-done score by Les Claypool III helps add a dark mood and sense of urgency to many scenes, particularly fight scenes.

The majority of people seem to either love or hate this film, and I fall into the latter category; it's definitely gots its weak points with some cheesy villain character designs, gangster cliches (as depicted in the opening intro sequence), and the usual romance involving a cynical woman who eventually warms to a misunderstood hero. But all in all, it's definitely worth a rental for Sci-Fi fans who want some high quality cinematic junk food.

Fantastic comic-book movie!
The first movie (released as "Mutronics" in UK/Europe for some reason) was good but a bit too silly here & there.

This sequel is everything you should expect from a live-action Guyver movie - great fight scenes, blood & guts, fantastic special effects (especially for it's time), cool costumes and scary, disgusting looking (rubber!) monsters.

If they made a Guyver movie today, it would be CGI and zappy-zap effects and explosions all over the place.
Guyver 2 (or Guyver: Dark Hero) has discreet, early CGI which doesn't overpower the rough & readiness of this great movie. And it has to be said: The transformation scenes are really cool - the best being when he jumps off a cliff and shouts Guyver and transforms in mid-air!

Overall, this is a fantastic piece of sci-fi/comic book junk-food cinema which is still as great now as it was nearly a decade ago.

One of the best
I think that this movie is better than the first one. Plus, this movie is good enough to be in anybody's movie collection. To help better explain how sweet this movie is I am going to compare it to Spawn. The reason why I think these two movies are similar (and sweet) is because of the theme that both movies hold, how the main characters changed (mentally and physically) after recieving their new powers, how awsome their costumes were, and the carnage each of them released upon their enemies.

Everything the first *should* have been...
The first movie was junk, and a complete and utter disappointment on just about every possible level.

This film was about as good as an anime to live action adaptation can be without a big hollywood budget behind it. It kept the mood of the original manga and anime, and even though the film was probably on an even tighter budget than the first, Steve Wang did a great job of masking the special effect deficiencies with good lighting and camera work. The acting was surprisingly good for this kind of film, with the lead David Hayter being the standout as the Guyver's tormented host, and the fight scenes were very well done.

I'm eagerly anticipating the remastered widescreen DVD version, and will be picking it up the day it's released. Thanks, New Line!

A Good Sequal
When I saw "The Guyver 1", I thought that it was one of the very best superhero/sci-fi films ever made, ranking on a list of greats like "BatMan", "SuperMan", "Spider-Man", and "DareDevil." When I saw "Guyver 2", I thought that they had captured the essence of a superhero that didn't know if he was a good guy or not, like the same dilemma that was bestowed upon DareDevil in his film.

This has all the makings of a good "Comicbook-to-movie" film that it's over and above any understanding that superhero fans don't check out this film. It has good fight scenes (although some of the dialogue is a bit campy) and the special effects are good considering that it's an indie film. This is a must-see for all sci-fi and superhero fans alike. ... Read more

Description

An alien device transforms a college student into a superhero. ... Read more

Reviews (32)

Great actions, but the story...
For Guyver fans like me (I've read the original Japanese comics that the movie was based on), you will probably be satisfied with this film. I mean, the costumes were good (good enough considering it was filmed in 1991, anyway), and the special effects, stunts and actions were great. But if you were looking for a strong storyline, then I suggest you turn to the animated series, which is a replica of the comic books. In my opinion I think the producers paid too much attention in special effects.

As for the acting... well, I almost thought the movie was trying to teach you speak proper English (maybe that was the producers' original intention to ensure its marketability in Japan?). Even the slangs and bad languages used were pronounced ever so clearly, word for word...

And why is Mark Hamil shown on the cover of the video with the Guyver costume, anyway? He's not the Guyver in the movie if I remember correctly...

Having said all this, DON'T miss out "Guyver 2: The Dark Hero". That's how a movie should, in my opinion, really be.

Good enough to see for yourself
I liked this movie because it is one of a kind (knowing that there is a Guyver 2) and it has set a standard for other movies that might be similar to it. If you liked this movie then you should see the second Guyver movie, it is better.

So much potential
Attempting to cash in on the recent success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the studio imported Japanese manga hero Guyver with high hopes of big draws. The film succeeds on certain points and fails on others.

The first problem is the script. The script went after the parent's wallets and attempted to appeal to kids, yet had probably a bit much graphic violence for parent's tastes.

The music was also an issue. Honestly it sounds like a really bored guy on a Casio. The lightness of the music took away from many scenes.

Jimmy Walker as a Zoanoid? Why the hell did he have to rap? Seemed like he had fun, though.

Some of the Zoanoids looked a bit cheesy too. The lizard bird chick for example resembled a furby.

Mark Hamill must not have known how cheesy the film was going to turn out cause he actually put a lot into it. As much as he could, anyway.

Of course it was mostly based around effects and it didn't disappoint there. The Guyver suit looked great. Though the costumes looked like costumes they were better than many I've seen. Plus there was a robot of some sort of dragon reindeer.

The Gore helped though it made the film seem bipolar. Had they altered the script to be more adult and match the darkness displayed in the directing and tweaked the music so it wasn't so slap-sticky this movie would be perfect. However due to it being simply fun to watch it deserves a 4/5.

Mostly garbage but a few good scenes here and there
But who on Earth is trying to sell this for $35?
I have not seen the Anime version, but I guess it can't be any worse than this.

This movie was mostly terrible.
But they were a few good scenes.
But who on earth is selling this mess for $35!? You have got to be kidding me. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

An alternative to Jackie Chan! Yaaaahoooo!
As a fan of Martial Arts I must give this movie an " A+". Even the plot was quite okay, or do you expect super-emotional, drama acting in a movie like this? I guess not. The way I see it, the movie is made for " martial" fun and entertainment. I knew that Mark Dacascos had a lot of talent as he has shown in " Only the Strong" and " Crying Freeman". But Drive has totally convinced me that he is even better than van Damme and Seagal. The choreographing of the fights are similar to another " Super action hero" from Hong Kong ( You know who I'm talking about? ). He has super-flashy dancing moves like you have never seen before. In my opinion he should have a role in a Jackie Chan movie. But besides Dacascos, Kadeem Hardisson has also done a good by entertaining us with his motormouth.( Because I'm a german citizen I've just seen the German dubbed version. I'm looking forward to see the original version.) Unbelievable movie. What else can you say.....

overlooked
Today,with the success of a film like "the matrix",this low budget gem would be lining them up in the video stores-but...and this is the sad truth...it arrived too soon-this fun,exciting action flick has been overlooked due to bad distribution,producer indifference and all the other problems that plague small ventures like these-it's a shame-star mark dacascos could give jet li a run-or leap- for his money(much less psuedo martial artist keanu reeves)and can speak english!Director steve wang has deserved a shot at the big time for some years now-he obviously has the hong kong style down and even adds his own style of action/humor(to rival jackie chan)-there are too many films and too many millions being wasted on hollywood's idea of martial arts action(norris/segal/van damme/etc.)and talented people like this get ignored-films like "drive" and "crying freeman"(also starring dacascos-and this one can't even get an american release!-even after outdoing blockbuster american action movies in france and japan!)deserve a second chance-hell-they deserve a 1st chance at the kind of exposure that dozens of tired big budget hollywood action flicks get every day!-

are you kidding me?
i can't believe i bought this movie, you guys are nuts!! since there are 33 positive reviews i'll be the lone sole to say this movie is a piece of crap. everyone says this is a great martial arts flick, i'll give it the one star for some good fight scenes, although they all look like rip offs of jackie chan flicks. you remember the tv series the A-Team with Mr.T, thats the quality of this flick. the acting is horrible, the story is so stupid, the directing is very bad, ummm... did i mention this movie sucks, even for a B movie it sucks. please, if you can rent before you buy it, do so, cause its not worth seeing more than once. i just can't believe that because there are some good fight scenes that everyone is giving this film such high scores, if you review a film it should be based on the whole film, not just one thing.

Mark Dacascos at his best
This movie is a Tour De Force for Mark Dacascos. You get to see him show everything that he has only shown glimpses of before. If you think Bruce Lee is fast, you haven't seen anything yet. Jet Li wishes he could be this acrobatic. Considering this is Mark's first attempt at a full fledged Hong Kong style action film, he is truly amazing not only in the fact that he pulls it off so well, but that he pulls it off better than the people who have been doing it for much longer. Even the most seasoned martial arts fan will find themselves saying wow more than once.

The story centers around Mark's character, Toby Wong, escaping China and coming to America to have a biological uprgrade surgically planted in his chest remeoved. It increases the power of the person it's in. One shouldn't expect anything enlightening from the script, it's meant to be a vehicle (pun, semi intended) for showing off martial arts action. But there is a scene in the director's cut where Mark shows his acting range. It involved Toby discussing his relationship with his girlfriend, which I won't reveal so as to not ruin things. It also succeeds in being incredibly funny, with Mark playing the straight man to Kadeem Hardison's character. The rest of the cast get's in some good lines too and if you're not a snob who expects all your movies to have subtitles and deal with subject matter that would be deemed garbage if it was the same product made in Hollywood minus the captions, then this is a movie for you.

I highly recommend seeking out the versions that are uncut or have the deleted scenes and interviews. There's some extra action, but most of it involves showing the backstory on the characters as well as additionl humorous scenes. The only thing that bothers me is that the music that was in the cut version is more intersting to me. There's not much info available on the recent re-release of this movie and it appears to not have any extras. Look for the cover that show's Mark and Kadeem in a full body shot if you want the special edition.

MARVELOUS MARK
In watching a movie like DRIVE, one has to be in awe of the amount of work the fight choreographer has to do in such a film. DRIVE is action packed from the beginning, in reality one big long kickfest. But Mark Dacascos is awesome to watch and his silent, grim countenance melts at times into a boyish grin; his work with Kadeem Hardison is fun to watch, and Brittany Murphy's Deliverance is one of the funniest femme fatales to grace the screen. Alternately goofy and attempting to be sexually alluring, Murphy is a doll and buoys the movie significantly. John Pyper Ferguson as the nasty assassin is both chilling and hilarious; the movie moves at lightning pace and is one big thrill to watch! ... Read more

Description

A time in the future. The space colony Terra Venture journeys beyond Earth in search of new worlds. Peace reigns throughout the cosmos ... or does it? Far away, in a strange galaxy, the evil Scorpius attacks an innocent planet. Five courageous teens from Terra Venture rush to defend it and discover they've been "chosen" to be protectors of the universe. An all-new team of Power Rangers is born! Do they have what it takes? Can they defeat Scorpius even with the help of their mighty Galactazords? Take a quantum leap into the future as POWER RANGERS: LOST GALAXY blasts you beyond time and space! ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Quasar Quest
Of all the Power Rangers seasons, Lost Galaxy is my favorite. I was really disapointed that they couldn't release the last 4 episodes on VHS or DVD. Power Rangers has been on for nearly 12 years. The first 2 years it was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the 3rd season half of it was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the last half was Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. Then it became Power Rangers Zeo, then Power Rangers Tubro, Power Rangers in Space was after that, this video is from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, then it was Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, then Power Rangers Time Force, then Power Rangers Wild Force, now Power Rangers Ninja Storm. Next year will likely be called either Power Rangers Dino Rage or Dino Thunder, something that has to do with dinosours.

Go Galactic
This video is pretty good, but the action is nowhere near the action-packed first and second movie. This does have its bad moments, but all in all, it's pretty good. It explains everything (pretty much) and has no huge plotholes. Speaking of plot...
Leo Corbett stows away in a space settlement called Terra Venture and is on the run. Acidentally, he bumps into Kendrix Morgan and Kai Chen, two GSA officials. When asked by police, Kendrix makes excuses but doesn't answer Kai's own questions. Long story short, Leo stows away again on a training exercise and saves Kendrix's life, Kendrix and Kai's commanding officer Mike (guess) Corbett tells Leo off for following him, a portal opens up and a girl called Maya falls through. Mike and Kendrix investigate her world but Leo jumps in at the last second. What will happen? That's for me to know, and you to find out. So get the movie!

Its 1998 predecessor was SO much better......
Seems that Haim Saban can never stop those "Power Rangers" from being on the air. Even with all those new monsters and characters and improved special effects, he hasn't really regained the popularity he had in the beginning, except with his more recent Digimon. The PR came to America in 1993 and immediately they were a major hit. Austin St. John, Thuy Trang, and Walter Emmanuel Jones, however, left the show in 1995 because they were dissatisfied with payment (them greedy cowards!); thus, Karan Ashley, Steven Cardenas, and Johnny Yong Bosch took over. The release of the first Power Rangers movie in summer 1995 thus didn't do well at the box office at all, our once favorite superheroes were going downhill. Making subsequent spin-offs didn't help.

Now what? First they were the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (everyone knows who they were), then they transformed into Zeo, shifted into turbo, conquered space, forged through lost galaxies, and traveled at the spped of light to the rescue. Now, there'll be "Time Force" like, next month, but I don't think it'll be any more fun than Lost Galaxy may have been. Power Rangers in Space (1998) was SO much better than that. What the heck....it's 2001 and with the Digimon garnering high ratings on Nielsen like mad (yet their movie wasn't very successful either), what WILL be these guys' future? I guess there won't be no future for them now that they're no longer #1. Even the mystic knights of tir na nog were never the popular warriors the PR were. I don't care anymore. It's only a TV show.

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy: The Origin
This tape is a bit short, running just under an hour, but if you're interested in seeing how the Lost Galaxy Rangers came to be, it's worth the purchase. The only downside is since the tape doesn't run very long, you don't get to see the full range of the Rangers' powers and their Zords' abilities. To see that, you should check out the Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Video, The Return of The Magna Defender, which is 90 minutes long, and more bang for your buck. But for a Power Rangers fan, this tape is worth the buy.

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK...
I haven't seen this video, but I have seen the original airing of the first three episodes this tape contains. But know this, this isn't the Power Rangers you might expect. When the series debuted in 1993, it drew the attention of the public because of its fast pace, uniqueness and likable characters. But, despite all that, it was really a kid's show. This fact was vagued with this incarnation of the series.

When Power Rangers:Lost Galaxy debuted in 1999, it had a diferent look. It seemed more mature. Yes, the flash and extreme pacing of action was still there, but a sense of a more adult storyline followed suit. Decent storytelling along with a semi-solid science-fiction background, caused this series to be quite enjoyable. In short, this version of the series finaly forced a seven year franchise to grow up a little. With a little open-mindness, adults might discover this tape/series to be a very enjoyable guilty pleasure for themselves and kids alike ... Read more

Reviews (32)

Great actions, but the story...
For Guyver fans like me (I've read the original Japanese comics that the movie was based on), you will probably be satisfied with this film. I mean, the costumes were good (good enough considering it was filmed in 1991, anyway), and the special effects, stunts and actions were great. But if you were looking for a strong storyline, then I suggest you turn to the animated series, which is a replica of the comic books. In my opinion I think the producers paid too much attention in special effects.

As for the acting... well, I almost thought the movie was trying to teach you speak proper English (maybe that was the producers' original intention to ensure its marketability in Japan?). Even the slangs and bad languages used were pronounced ever so clearly, word for word...

And why is Mark Hamil shown on the cover of the video with the Guyver costume, anyway? He's not the Guyver in the movie if I remember correctly...

Having said all this, DON'T miss out "Guyver 2: The Dark Hero". That's how a movie should, in my opinion, really be.

Good enough to see for yourself
I liked this movie because it is one of a kind (knowing that there is a Guyver 2) and it has set a standard for other movies that might be similar to it. If you liked this movie then you should see the second Guyver movie, it is better.

So much potential
Attempting to cash in on the recent success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the studio imported Japanese manga hero Guyver with high hopes of big draws. The film succeeds on certain points and fails on others.

The first problem is the script. The script went after the parent's wallets and attempted to appeal to kids, yet had probably a bit much graphic violence for parent's tastes.

The music was also an issue. Honestly it sounds like a really bored guy on a Casio. The lightness of the music took away from many scenes.

Jimmy Walker as a Zoanoid? Why the hell did he have to rap? Seemed like he had fun, though.

Some of the Zoanoids looked a bit cheesy too. The lizard bird chick for example resembled a furby.

Mark Hamill must not have known how cheesy the film was going to turn out cause he actually put a lot into it. As much as he could, anyway.

Of course it was mostly based around effects and it didn't disappoint there. The Guyver suit looked great. Though the costumes looked like costumes they were better than many I've seen. Plus there was a robot of some sort of dragon reindeer.

The Gore helped though it made the film seem bipolar. Had they altered the script to be more adult and match the darkness displayed in the directing and tweaked the music so it wasn't so slap-sticky this movie would be perfect. However due to it being simply fun to watch it deserves a 4/5.

Mostly garbage but a few good scenes here and there
But who on Earth is trying to sell this for $35?
I have not seen the Anime version, but I guess it can't be any worse than this.

This movie was mostly terrible.
But they were a few good scenes.
But who on earth is selling this mess for $35!? You have got to be kidding me. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

An alternative to Jackie Chan! Yaaaahoooo!
As a fan of Martial Arts I must give this movie an " A+". Even the plot was quite okay, or do you expect super-emotional, drama acting in a movie like this? I guess not. The way I see it, the movie is made for " martial" fun and entertainment. I knew that Mark Dacascos had a lot of talent as he has shown in " Only the Strong" and " Crying Freeman". But Drive has totally convinced me that he is even better than van Damme and Seagal. The choreographing of the fights are similar to another " Super action hero" from Hong Kong ( You know who I'm talking about? ). He has super-flashy dancing moves like you have never seen before. In my opinion he should have a role in a Jackie Chan movie. But besides Dacascos, Kadeem Hardisson has also done a good by entertaining us with his motormouth.( Because I'm a german citizen I've just seen the German dubbed version. I'm looking forward to see the original version.) Unbelievable movie. What else can you say.....

overlooked
Today,with the success of a film like "the matrix",this low budget gem would be lining them up in the video stores-but...and this is the sad truth...it arrived too soon-this fun,exciting action flick has been overlooked due to bad distribution,producer indifference and all the other problems that plague small ventures like these-it's a shame-star mark dacascos could give jet li a run-or leap- for his money(much less psuedo martial artist keanu reeves)and can speak english!Director steve wang has deserved a shot at the big time for some years now-he obviously has the hong kong style down and even adds his own style of action/humor(to rival jackie chan)-there are too many films and too many millions being wasted on hollywood's idea of martial arts action(norris/segal/van damme/etc.)and talented people like this get ignored-films like "drive" and "crying freeman"(also starring dacascos-and this one can't even get an american release!-even after outdoing blockbuster american action movies in france and japan!)deserve a second chance-hell-they deserve a 1st chance at the kind of exposure that dozens of tired big budget hollywood action flicks get every day!-

are you kidding me?
i can't believe i bought this movie, you guys are nuts!! since there are 33 positive reviews i'll be the lone sole to say this movie is a piece of crap. everyone says this is a great martial arts flick, i'll give it the one star for some good fight scenes, although they all look like rip offs of jackie chan flicks. you remember the tv series the A-Team with Mr.T, thats the quality of this flick. the acting is horrible, the story is so stupid, the directing is very bad, ummm... did i mention this movie sucks, even for a B movie it sucks. please, if you can rent before you buy it, do so, cause its not worth seeing more than once. i just can't believe that because there are some good fight scenes that everyone is giving this film such high scores, if you review a film it should be based on the whole film, not just one thing.

Mark Dacascos at his best
This movie is a Tour De Force for Mark Dacascos. You get to see him show everything that he has only shown glimpses of before. If you think Bruce Lee is fast, you haven't seen anything yet. Jet Li wishes he could be this acrobatic. Considering this is Mark's first attempt at a full fledged Hong Kong style action film, he is truly amazing not only in the fact that he pulls it off so well, but that he pulls it off better than the people who have been doing it for much longer. Even the most seasoned martial arts fan will find themselves saying wow more than once.

The story centers around Mark's character, Toby Wong, escaping China and coming to America to have a biological uprgrade surgically planted in his chest remeoved. It increases the power of the person it's in. One shouldn't expect anything enlightening from the script, it's meant to be a vehicle (pun, semi intended) for showing off martial arts action. But there is a scene in the director's cut where Mark shows his acting range. It involved Toby discussing his relationship with his girlfriend, which I won't reveal so as to not ruin things. It also succeeds in being incredibly funny, with Mark playing the straight man to Kadeem Hardison's character. The rest of the cast get's in some good lines too and if you're not a snob who expects all your movies to have subtitles and deal with subject matter that would be deemed garbage if it was the same product made in Hollywood minus the captions, then this is a movie for you.

I highly recommend seeking out the versions that are uncut or have the deleted scenes and interviews. There's some extra action, but most of it involves showing the backstory on the characters as well as additionl humorous scenes. The only thing that bothers me is that the music that was in the cut version is more intersting to me. There's not much info available on the recent re-release of this movie and it appears to not have any extras. Look for the cover that show's Mark and Kadeem in a full body shot if you want the special edition.

MARVELOUS MARK
In watching a movie like DRIVE, one has to be in awe of the amount of work the fight choreographer has to do in such a film. DRIVE is action packed from the beginning, in reality one big long kickfest. But Mark Dacascos is awesome to watch and his silent, grim countenance melts at times into a boyish grin; his work with Kadeem Hardison is fun to watch, and Brittany Murphy's Deliverance is one of the funniest femme fatales to grace the screen. Alternately goofy and attempting to be sexually alluring, Murphy is a doll and buoys the movie significantly. John Pyper Ferguson as the nasty assassin is both chilling and hilarious; the movie moves at lightning pace and is one big thrill to watch! ... Read more