The King of the Kickboxers
The King of the Kickboxers
R | 09 August 1991 (USA)
The King of the Kickboxers Trailers

Jake, a New York policeman poses as an actor to expose the making of martial-arts death movies in Thailand.

Reviews
SnoReptilePlenty

Memorable, crazy movie

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Pacionsbo

Absolutely Fantastic

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Lidia Draper

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

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Lela

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

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your_friendly_reviewer

Good:-the acting is way over the top.-the fight scenes are pretty darn good.-the soundtrack is cheesy making it hilarious.Bad:-not many know of this movie-people with no sense of humour will rate this lower than it should.Overall:Watching this movie requires a sense of humour, I can't stress that enough. If you watch this with friends you'll end up with lots of jokes to share.Notes:The scene where Billy Blanks uses a pole to hit Jake and ends of lifting him up out of danger. Pay attention to Jake's face. HAHAHA!Prang (his fighting coach) is a sicko. He loves monkeys and encourages Jake to have lots of sex before big fights LOL. Terrible coaching.Why blow up the bamboo thunderdome??

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Comeuppance Reviews

In this Seasonal Films production, the insufferable Loren Avedon plays Jake Donahue, a New York City undercover cop with, you guessed it, a bad attitude, who, you guessed it, plays by his own rules. He is sent by his Captain, O'Day (Jaeckel) who is working with Interpol, to Thailand to bust up a snuff film ring. While there he meets up with his contact in the area, Anderson (Stroud) and mannish love interest Molly (Rose, who must have stretched every acting muscle in her body to pretend she actually was into Avedon). However, it seems Donahue has a history in Thailand, as his brother was murdered there by the mysterious Khan (Blanks). Coincidentally, the nefarious Khan is the star of these films where the martial arts is so real, you die on impact. The producers of the films recruit young fighters from tournaments, promising them stardom, and when they get to the set, Khan kills them. So, seeing as Donahue is also a kickboxing man, he goes undercover as a naive punchfighter with stars in his eyes so he can get a shot at Khan and get revenge. The only problem is, he's not as good as Khan, so Prang (Cooke) takes him under his wing and trains him. Will Donahue get the closure he seeks? Loren Avedon in this movie is so annoyingly cocky, and so devoid of one ounce of humility, you actually, weirdly enough, like Billy Blanks more as the evil Khan. Sure, Khan is pure malevolence, but he's secure in his total diabolical-ness and you love him for it. It's a lot harder to get behind the weaselly Avedon as the main hero.The plot aside, there is excellent fight choreography and some punishing blows. Fans of fast-paced, well-executed moves will find a lot to appreciate here. Richard Jaeckel plays the classic 'yelling police captain' with aplomb, and the husky-voiced Sherrie Rose of Maximum Force (1992) fame is a serviceable love interest who calls Avedon's character "Jack". Perhaps she wished he was someone else that badly. The Pauly Shore-like Cooke does a good job as the trainer of Donahue and has the patience of a saint. His sidekick, a lovable chimp, practically steals the movie. Cooke does have some awesome moves - also check him out in China O'Brien (1990). Billy Blanks is great as the big heavy. His bulging eyes and funny faces are present and accounted for. Jerry Trimble appears in the opening, prerequisite "abandoned warehouse" scene simply as "Drug Dealer". Han Soo Ong, of Last to Surrender (1999) fame, who plays a local kickboxer, gets one of the best lines of the movie when he tells Donahue "You've never faced a real kickboxing". Loren Avedon, with his jean jacket with fringed sleeves and fanny pack, is simply an unlikable jerk, but he does get some winners in the dialogue department, as well as some memorable yells. This movie overall could have been improved if the audience actually liked the hero.The pure silliness of the whole outing comes to the fore at the final confrontation, when Avedon tops his previous ridiculous casual outfits with a formal getup that can only be described as an "elf jester" suit. When you see it, you'll know what we mean.Entertainingly insane, for a punchfighting mini-classic, check out King of the Kickboxers.

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ultra_tippergore

This is how martial arts film should be (excluding Ricky-Oh that is the best movie ever).An undercover "kickboxer" cop travel to Thailand to investigate some kung fu movies were they really kill people, "snuff kung fu" movies. He also have a personal interest, one of the killers is the guy who killed his brother 10 years ago. The movie is similar in structure to Kickboxer(the one with Van Damme) but this one is ten times more entertaining...you know, the guy who seeks revenge, training and fighting. The dialogs are ridiculous like in every movie of this kind but some fights are very cool. but the plus of the "snuff" movies is the key. Also, the character played by Billy Blanks as the "executor" in the snuff films looks like an inspiration to Machine in 8mm.Very recommended!

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bad_habitt

One of the most amazing films you will ever get a chance to see. The story line is portrayed in such a way that it will captivate you and never let you take you take your eyes of it. That is until the very last closing credit rolls and you'll think to yourself "Wow… I think I like the art of film twice as much now after seeing this amazing movie".Loren Avedon should have his own Hollywood Walk Of Fame star after this film. He is simply matchless as the lead. It's almost like he was born to play the perfect action hero and he did in this film.King of the Kickboxers is also filled with countless marvelous dialogue that you will be quoting 10 years after you watch it. It is also delivered in a manner that is extraordinary and unprecedented in any film ever made. It's like the actors devised a new way of acting. It is truly astonishing in the very sense of the word.Finally the fighting is like none other; incredibly creative, imaginative, artistic and original. The emotion portrayed and depicted in them is equally inspiring and captivating. Also the cinematography, editing, film score and directing are first rate and fuse wonderfully from start to finish. I honestly feel really happy that I was able to see this film. I don't think I'll ever forget it.10\10 – Don't miss it for anything.

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