Deadly Target

"Deadly Target" is one of several examples why Gary Daniels is a good guy of DTV action cinema. It's a fairly cheap movie with a lazy script directed by someone without much experience (Charla Driver), but through the efforts of the talented members of the cast ad crew, it ends up being an above-average fight flick in the B-movie crowd that thoroughly earns its rating. It's not Daniels' best (nor that of most others involved), but it is nevertheless among his personal top ten.The story: Hong Kong detective Jack Prince (Daniels,  The Expendables ) follows the Triad crime lord Chang (Byron Mann,  Street Fighter )to Los Angeles. Paired with a renegade American cop looking to do good (Ken McCleod,  Showdown ), he must stop the mobster en-route to taking control of the entire Chinese mafia circuit.The biggest qualm that I have with the film is that while its martial arts scenes are stellar, they're polarized to the opening half-hour and final fifteen minutes of the movie. The forty minutes in-between are mainly given over to Jack's romantic relationship with a cocktail waitress (Susan Byun,  Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD ), which I guess is played well enough but isn't really what action fans are looking for. Luckily, the quality of the fight scenes bolster you through these long periods of shmooziness and exposition. Disappointingly, Byron Mann hardly fights, but the kicking ensemble includes B-movie dragon Ron Yuan ( White Tiger ), martial arts mainstay Bill Ryusaki, and - for a single encounter - the always-welcome James Lew ( Balance of Power ). You're entering Kick City here, with everybody in immaculate fighting shape and having been given good choreography to work with, not to mention having been shot by a competent camera crew who actually seem interested in getting the best angles of the brawls.Some of the stuntwork is over-exaggerated (guys will sell an ordinary kick like they've been hit by a cannonball), and the car chase late in the movie probably sets a record for how long it goes on without anything exciting happening, but I don't hold these things against the film in the long run. On the dramatic side of things, the acting isn't something you should get excited about: everybody either slightly underperforms (Daniels), overperforms (McCleod), or occasionally gets it right for a little bit only to screw it up in the next scene (Byun). Emmy nominee Max Gail ( Barney Miller ) gets to expound a bit on his role as the crotchety police captain but eventually isn't more than a one-note character. The biggest disappointment here is Byron Mann, who'd evolve into a fine actor but can't really hide that this is his first major film role. Production values are much the same: at times, it looks like the team had the run of the city, but other scenes are uncomfortably cramped.In short, the movie has it where it counts (action scenes) and manages to fudge or limp its way through the less important stuff (acting and production), which cumulatively makes it a treat for Gary Daniels fans, a surprisingly strong showing for the later career of the ever-underappreciated Ken McCleod, and a decent little trip back in time to before Byron Mann achieved coolness. Give it a buy!

From the very beginning, it starts with a BANG. Non stop action for the first 20 mins or so is the hallmark of all great action films, and this one doesn't disappoint with a major shootout peppered with expert Kung Fu sequences. Less than 10 minutes later, an awesome car chase replete with big time explosions done the right way.For the rest of the movie, the action doesn't slow down for much more than 10 minutes. There are so many great fight scenes involving both Daniels and his partner, played by Ken McLeod who is a major badass in his own right.This movie has so much top-shelf ass-kicking, it is beyond description. In the end, the bad guys lose of course, but not before doing some major damage of their own. There are a few good female martial arts sequences as well.

Gary Daniels can not do a bad film, and quite honestly, his movies offer something for everyone for different movie tastes. In Deadly Target, Gary Daniels plays a specialist cop named Charles Prince who is hired to track down a ruthless Chinese gangster for his crimes. Soon Charles befriends another cop and a beautiful lady who knows some secrets regarding the notorious gang. The film is a great action film but also has some great comedy, including a hilarious car chase, the romantic relationship Gary Daniels shares with Susan Byun, some beautiful filming locations, and funny and powerful dialogue making it a very enjoyable film. If you haven't seen this film, rent it, buy it on DVD or VHS, whether you've just discovered the talented Gary Daniels or are in the mood to kick back and enjoy an entertaining film, this film is for you. This is definitely a new favourite of mine and I'm glad I discovered this rare gem of talented moviemaking. :)

I really like a good action movie, but this one missed the mark. The fight scenes were badly done. You can clearly see the misses when they are suppose to be hits. The fight scenes well way to long, and unrealistic. Reminded me of the old Asian martial arts movies, that were just so bad, that only kids could enjoy them, and they were struggling. This movie was closer to being a 2 star. There was just too many things wrong with it. Weak acting, script, etc.. etc...

Too many unnecessarily long fight scenes- irritating background music- acting is bad- story is stupid- not worth your time

good

Not one of my favorite Gary Daniels movies. His movies seem to be hit or miss and this one was pretty much a miss.

I RECEIVED THE DVD IN VERY GOOD CONDITION AND IT PLAYS VERY GOOD.

Acting as a possible cure for insomnia, this 1994 mini-epic from one time direct to video junk auteurs PM Entertainment ''explodes'' onto DVD (how 1999 of it) with about the same energy I exude when putting my pudgy mitts into the bottom of a Doritos bag.Repeat PM offender - Sir Gary of the Daniels is detective Charles Prince; a no holds barred Cockney Cop™ whose currently apples n' pearing it up in Hong Kong, taking down bad guys and dressing like he's in an unofficial reboot of 'Grease'. Trouble is, arch nemesis and notorious Chinese gangster - Chang (a slumming it Byron Mann) has hot tailed it to LA, prompting our man The Gaz™ to follow him in order to extradite the tricksy fella. Partnered with US law enforcement Jenson (Ken McLeod) whilst also finding time for a bit of how's your father with the beautiful Diana (Susan Byun), Prince takes on all comers in his quest to track down the erstwhile Chang and bring him to justice... once and for all.Well, this one's a doozy all right. Being a fan of both The Gaz™ and awful, straight to tape films in general I settled down to view this long lost action classic with the snarky knowledge that this was gonna deliver the goods. How could it go wrong? I've got my favourite cockney bruiser leading the show, the producers of 'Rage', 'Recoil' and 'Riot' were calling the shots and 'To Be the Best' and 'Firepower's' Michael January on screenwriting duties... I mean, with a pedigree like that there was no way this could go wrong. Right? Well, in the words of the great John Matrix: ''Wrong!'' Sure, I was never expecting high art but hoped for something more than it delivered. The clunky story to the woeful acting, everything falls flat and the slim running time feels like its on for hours and hours...Director Charla Driver's only sole directing credit is a lacklustre affair that botches any form of excitement within the action sequences and doesn't manage to get a decent performance out of anyone in the cast. I wasn't expecting Shakespeare but either everyone looks bored or waiting for someone to shoot 'cut' so they can go get a coffee... The only decent character in the movie is Jensen's boss Captain Peters, played by Max Gail who deserves a bonus for his ability to appear animated and deliver beer snorting lines like: ''You're names' Prince? Prince of f&%king darkness, more like!'' They should have re-cut the entire movie around him - at least it would have been worth the running time. Sadly, the bread and butter of movies like this - the action - is also lacking and nothing really connects, wasting Gary Daniels who has proven himself to be a balletic and entertaining leading man in every other movie he's been in. Yet here, he simply looks like he's play fighting. Shame.Echo Bridge's Region 1 DVD release features a surprisingly strong transfer with punchy and a trailer, yet no other extra special features. All in all, this one is a minor disappointment and squanders the onscreen fighting prowess of our man, The Gaz™. Luckily, PM Entertainment were never ones to let a load of old rubbish deter 'em, and were back in the game with another glut of equally stupid, direct to video actioners. Thank goodness.

DEADLY TARGET (1994) region 1/US import DVDEcho Bridge Home EntertainmentHong Kong detective and master martial artist Charles Prince (British Kickboxing Champion) Gary Daniels arrives in L.A. to extradite notorious gangster back to Hong Kong for trial.I was surprised by this movie as the pace was fast and furious with Daniels showcasing his martial arts skills with help from renegade cop Jim Jenson (Ken McLeod) and Susan Byun as Diana Tang who plays her character very sincere and likeable if a bit unlucky.The movie is a lot better than you would expect there is plenty of martial arts fights with Daniels and McLeod which are quite well choreographed and you can see the actors are doing there own fighting, there might of been doubles but I never saw any. The back of the DVD states the movie is remastered and the picture is really clear. The movie is presented in full frame and the sound is in 5.1 Surround Sound which was a nice surprise, definately one of Daniels better efforts.RUNNING TIME: 100 MinsAUDIO: English Only. 5.1 Stereo SurroundSUBTITLES: NoneASPECT RATIO: 4:3 (1.33:1) Full ScreenEXTRAS: Trailer, Digitally Remastered Picture