Movie: Bloodfist VII: Manhunt
Director: Jonathan Winfrey
Producer: Concorde - New Horizon
Release Date: October 3rd, 1995
Introduction
Here we are again. We are at the before last movie in the franchise. It is amazing that I have made it this far. Either they are bad or good, these are the movies that I would rent at the video store back in the day. It was glorious. But watching these all these years later... Oooooff...
As you might have guessed, as with the previous few entries, this was a straight to video / DVD release. Although, this is an interesting fact, from IMDB:
This film was not part of the Bloodfist franchise when originally released in the United States. It debuted on video with the title "Manhunt". It was later released on video and DVD in the U.S. with the new title "Bloodfist VII: Manhunt."
As with a few of these sequels, some of the movies were not even part of the Bloodfist series, but I guess they made enough on rentals to merit the branding.
Story
This time around Don "The Dragon" Wilson plays Jim Trudell. This is a story of being at the wrong place and the wrong time.
There are some murdered cops and some dirty cops try to pin it on Trudell. Throughout the movie, Trudell is trying to clear his name and defeat who is trying to frame him for the cop murders. Initially the evidence points to Trudell. However, as with most of these movies, do not judge a book by its cover.
There is nothing else here. It is a very simple premise. Although this premise is one that we have seen numerous times in other martial arts movies.
Bloodfist VII: Manhunt Trailer
Bottomline
This one is in the middle of the pack in terms of entertainment. I know that a lot of my points will be repeated. They used a certain formula and it worked. Why try to fix something that is making them money on rentals.
As usual the acting is borderline horrible. The lines are cheesy and the actors look like cardboard cutouts. However, Steven Williams (plays the character of Captain Doyle) does make this movie somewhat bearable, even if his screen time is limited. However, I am sure that he will not brag about playing in this movie. He worked with what was given to him.
As with previous instalments, the fight scenes here are predictable and very generic. They seem very choreographed and it does get boring at some point. I will admit that I have watched all these movies in a row. I understand that this is Don Wilson's style, but it still gets repetitive. He reminds me. little of Chuck Norris in that regard. He does not have much in terms of fighting moves.
Most of the actors in this one are forgettable. You never feel like Wilson was in real trouble even when they tried to make it appear as if the cards were stacked against him. Yes he is the star but again his expression feel very cardboard like. Just look at the trailer with the scene in the bar. I think they wanted him to deliver his lines in a cool way like other action heroes but in most cases in the series I feel that it falls flat.
It does feel that the movie franchise was waning. It does not feel like any of the actors cared for this. It just felt like they did it for the paycheque. I would assume that the pay was pretty low. The budget did to not seem that high but that is not surprising. It is funny that nowadays, you can get better production values from the streaming services than some of these older movies.
In the end, it looks like they phoned it in on this one. Yeah it was fun to rent once or twice but this is in no way a classic. I do not think that it is the worst in the series but it is nowhere close to the top. I would rank this in the middle of the pack like 5 or 6, compared to the other entries. If you are a fan of the series, go for it, but I do not think anyone will care much if the tapes are lost for this one.
What do you think? Am I lost or am I on the mark? Let us know below.
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