Mini Review: Full Contact (1993)
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Full Contact is the revisiting of a martial arts revenge story filmed some four years prior – Bloodfist. The remake sees the setting move from Manila to Los Angeles, and Don Wilson replaced by fellow kickboxer Jerry Trimble. Considering it’s a noticeably less ambitious picture, Full Contact holds up surprisingly well.
The story: A martial artist (Trimble) arrives in the city to find that his brother’s been murdered while participating in an underground fight circuit. Under the tutelage of an unconventional trainer (Marcus Aurelius), he prepares to enter the fights to uncover the killer’s identity.
Director Rick Jacobson was, at the time, busying himself with mostly run-of-the-mill action features, so it’s surprising how much he ends up getting out of this. With the help of engaging camerawork and a script that firmly establishes its characters before dropping them into the heat of action, the filmmakers get the most out of their limited resources. Despite the presence of some bad acting (that’s nevertheless counterbalanced by some decent chemistry between Trimble and Aurelius), it feels more like a genuine movie than many other video releases – not to be mistaken for a theatrical feature, but it could definitely be aired on some channel other than SyFy,
Surprisingly, the action content ends up being a minor disappointment. It’s not that the ample fighting is bad – Trimble’s fights are always highlights, thanks to the star’s excellent kicks – but despite having no less than three choreographers working on them, the fights tend to meld together, with not nearly enough variance in fighting styles or combatants’ personalities. The story’s strong enough that this doesn’t kill the film, despite its genre, but it’s ironic that the time I should choose to browse my phone during a karate movie is during the karate scenes.
This one’s not worth buying a VCR for, but if you already own one, give Full Contact a look – especially if you’ve been impressed by Trimble in other movies.
Full Contact (1993) Directed by Rick Jacobson (Ring of Fire III: Lion Strike) Written by Robert King (based on a story by), Beverly Gray (Fire on the Amazon) Starring Jerry Trimble (The Master), Marcus Aurelius (Kung Fu Brother), Denise Buick (Angelfist), Raymond Storti (Amazon Warrior) Cool costars: Pro fighters Howard Jackson, Alvin Prouder, Gerry Blanck, Joe Charles, Dino Homsey, Hyon Lee, Dennis Keiffer, and Jeff Podgurski all appear as onscreen combatants, as do Hiro Koda, Michele and Jamie Krasnoo, Mark Zacharatos, and Rae Manzon. Content warning: Sexual assault, violence against women, homophobic dialogue Title refers to: A set of rules in combat sports that allows you to strike your opponent as hard as you want but not wherever you want. Sort of a misleading name, since the fights in the film have no restrictions. Cover accuracy: The vertical stills do indeed occur. Oddly, while Jerry Trimble rocks the terrible combination of a hoodie and short-shorts, his hoodie in the movie is gray. Number of full-length fight scenes: 15 Copyright Califilm




















