Blackbelt
Blackbelt
| 28 May 1992 (USA)
Blackbelt Trailers

Don "The Dragon" Wilson is back and forced to take on the greatest legends of the martial arts world. Wilson fights off all comers while defending rock superstar Shanna (Deirdre Imershein) against the insane attacks of a fanatical veteran John Sweet (Matthias Hues-I Come In Peace).

Reviews
Console

best movie i've ever seen.

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ThedevilChoose

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

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AshUnow

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Bumpy Chip

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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Comeuppance Reviews

Jack Dillon (The Dragon) is an ex-cop turned martial arts instructor. He also does favors on the side for people that need help but can't exactly go to the cops. When up-and-coming singing star Shanna (Imershein) receives a severed finger in a box, she turns to Dillon for help. Shanna has other problems as well, as her "backer" is mobster Eddie Deangelo (Beymer). He's pressuring her to sign a new contract with him, and she doesn't want to. Naturally Deangelo focuses all his rage (and goons) on Jack Dillon, her new protector. Amidst fighting his way through the underworld to protect Shanna, Jack discovers that insane, murderous, psychopathic ex-mercenary killer John Sweet (Hues) is behind all the mayhem. Only a confrontation between Dillon and Sweet will determine the fate of Shanna, among other people. Who will win? As this is a Corman production, it seems he wanted to go with the Bloodfist formula of having real-life martial artists in the cast, and with their screen credit along with their name is their fighting title. Also it's 80 minutes, so right there we see the formula. But Blackbelt is truly Don "The Dragon" Wilson at his best. His lovably wooden performances are here in full, but he gets a ton of great lines (pretty much all of them, and they're almost all snappy one-liners). Wilson worked on the fight choreography, and in true early-90's fashion, the violence is simultaneously brutal and, at times, very funny. Both his, as well as Matthias Hues' entrances are both great and it's a treat to see them together, and their final fight doesn't disappoint.Hues also puts in a career-best performance as the Psycho (1960)-inspired Oedipal bad guy. Sure, Hues is always the baddie, but here he shows some depth as the ironically-named Sweet. Also, according to the plot, his blows are powerful enough to kill people. And his yells and grunts are priceless.Naturally, in a classic cliché, Dillon and Deangelo "go way back" - and it should be noted that even though Dillon isn't officially on the force, he has a partner, Sturges (Blumenfeld). There really should have been a Dillon and Sturges TV show. It would have been a great cop drama - the classic, dedicated but pudgy cop and the Karate-fighting ex-cop solving crimes. What's really criminal is that this was never made. But at least we have Blackbelt. (However, that title is somewhat misleading, as Dillon's, nor anyone else's) belt level is ever talked about, much less fought over.Not to be insulting to Miss Imershein, but the role of Shanna should have gone to someone just a little bit hotter, perhaps Wilson's Ring of Fire (1991) co-star and frequent Corman starlet Maria Ford. Then their relationship would have been more believable. But watch out for the posters of Shanna gracing the cover of "Rock" magazine (not meant to look like Spin, surely), along with Pearl Jam. Hey, it was 1992 after all. But all her accolades are certainly deserved once you see her perform the song "Love Rocket" - along with the background dancers who are so comatose they make Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" girls look like a row of Rip Taylors on speed.As for the VHS box: The story for the movie was co-written by Neva Friedenn (who also wrote for other Wilson vehicles) - and on the cover there is a quote: "The most action packed, sexiest kickboxing movie ever made!!" Note the two exclamation points. And guess who the quote is attributed to? Yes, Neva Friedenn! You can tout your own productions on their VHS boxes like that? Who knew? Additionally, they misspell "Matthias" when talking about the mighty Hues. Just shameful, really.It should also be noted that Ian Jacklin is in this movie for about one second. Despite that, this movie is still worth seeing, as it is an entertaining romp from the golden age with two of the genre's most beloved stars. What's not to like?For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

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face_of_terror

A Former cop (Don Wilson) is hired to protect a singer (Deirdre Immershein) from a psycho serial killer who's also a martial arts expert (Matthias Hues).I am a big Matthias Hues fan , and i must say that he looks as good as always in this movie. Although, after watching his movies, i see that they still cant set up a fight properly, because Hues is always gets beaten by weaker opponents. Same happens in Black Belt.I actually expected more from this movie. I expected the villain to be something like Van Damme's "Torch" in THE REPLICANT. In Blackbelt we have a serial killer, who is after a singer who looks like his mother, who abused him when he was young.Wilson on the other hand is trying to stop him , delivering his usual lines as a "good guy". His acting still needs a lot of work.Figh scenes are somewhat solid, but like i mentioned earlier, the final fight scene between Wilson and Hues looks ridiculous, as well as Wilson's fights during the movie.So if ur a Don Wilson fan, or you like seeing Matthias Hues as a villain, Blackbelt is worth a watch. Don't expect great plot, and great fight scenes.

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feerceone

Matthias is the ultimate "bad guy" in this one...and you just love him! He's about the only actor I can think of that you just love to hate. Maybe it's the hypnotic blue eyes, maybe the dimples or maybe its the muscles. Maybe its a combination of all, but he lights up the screen in a way that keeps you coming back for more. Don "the Dragon" Wilson is the "star" of the movie, but Matthias is really the STAR of the movie.Watch it once, you'll watch it twice...watch it twice, you'll watch it trice...and so on and so on. It's a movie you won't get tired of watching. So when you don't know what you want to watch, watch Black Belt. You'll be glad you did!

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holden-1

black belt is a good movie it's about a insane martial artist matthias hues who is stalking a singer who hires don wilson to protect her. the movie has a decent plot and good action scenes,especially the climax where wilson takes on hues henchman then finally hues in a final showdown.so if your a fan of good martial arts flicks then this ones for you.

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