Wizard-8
With a somewhat goofy title, it doesn't come as no surprise that "College Kickboxers" will provoke some laughs from viewers, though most of the laughs are unintentional. That's not to say that the movie is lacking some genuine merit. It doesn't look too bad for what was a really low budget, for one thing. And the martial art sequences actually are pretty good, being swift and exciting. And as the movie's inevitable martial arts master, actor Tak-Wing Tang gives his character a sense of humor which is genuinely amusing, though his thick accent makes some of his dialogue hard to make out.But as I mentioned in the above paragraph, most of the humor found in the movie is of the unintentional kind. Some of the acting by the other players is so broad and amateurish that you can't help but laugh, especially since some of the written dialogue is also unintentionally comical. The script also suffers from a long midsection where little advance in the (thin) plot is made. Strangely, there are also some garbled plot points that suggest that key footage was edited out or not filmed in the first place. But I admit the movie is never dull despite those shortcomings. It isn't a must see viewing experience, but it has a somewhat goofy charm that carries viewers with low expectations from start to finish. There are worse movies with this basic formula out there.
Comeuppance Reviews
James Caulfield (McLeod) comes to the town of Millbrook to enroll as a freshman in the local college. He's a cool dude who loves Martial Arts. His roommate is Mark Brown (Williams), who also is into Martial Arts. At first they butt heads, but eventually they bond over their common interest and similar sense of style. Mark tells James he's entering the First Annual Millbrook Karate Tournament. The winner gets 25,000 dollars, and Mark wants to use it to found a Karate school for underprivileged children. But "local badass" Craig Tanner (Matthew Ray Cohen), who goes around town harassing people with his gang, the White Tigers, also wants to win the tournament. Meanwhile, James gets a job at a local Chinese food restaurant. He learns that a chef there, Wing (Tang Tak Wing) is a Kung Fu master. After the prerequisite resistance, Wing agrees to train James, but on one condition: that he never fight for money. But when the White Tigers injure Mark and he can't compete, James must either get revenge for his friend using his newfound skills, or keep his promise to Wing - all while trying to woo Kimberly (Kendra Tucker) - can he do it? Trained To Fight is a highly enjoyable, funny, silly good time. It follows in the tradition of "Master initially won't teach the student, but eventually relents so student can compete in some sort of tournament" movies such as American Shaolin: King of the Kickboxers II (1991), No Retreat, No Surrender (1986) and Balance of Power (1996), among many others. It's the type of movie where the centerpiece is training. McLeod is perfectly suited to play the cool, Zack Morris-like hero, and Cohen as Tanner seems to know every racial epithet in the book, and just his hair alone spells "evil". It seems all he does all day is follow around James and Mark with the sole purpose of haranguing them. What else does this guy do? And to prove that there's absolutely no racism going on here, the first Chinese dude James runs into just happens to be a Kung Fu master and Acupuncture expert. No stereotypes there.Actually, this movie revolves around the great performance of Tang Tak Wing as...Wing. While this role could have been filled by Leo Fong or Bolo Yeung, Wing steals the movie, and it's a crying shame he only appeared in two movies. He could have had a Fong-like career. As far as Kimberly, who, to continue the Saved By The Bell comparisons, is like the Jessie Spano here, it's puzzling why James - who could easily have any girl he wants - would be so smitten with her. She's an unlikable, shrill harpy who never shuts up about global warming. Apparently, James melts her ice and she really warms to him. Plus she looks a bit, let's say, mature, to be a college student. But it's never too late to further your education.This movie is very lovable, and even has training methods we'd not seen yet (ice training, among others) - but there's a mystery as well. You see, during the "brawl at the mall", there is a display stand for something called "Chipparoo" - which claims to be the "New Taste Phenomenon." When a baddie gets knocked into the display, all the Chipparoos (?) fall to the ground. Noticeably, Chipparoos never took off in the general marketplace after that. Coincidence? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHIPPAROOS? And what is a Chipparoo anyway? As of right now, it's just one of the flavors that make Trained To Fight worth seeing.The only thing this movie is really missing is a song. You know, the pumping, driving type of tune that would propel James through his training. How the filmmakers missed this obvious component of this kind of movie, we're not really sure. In technical news, the Imperial video states the running times as 95 minutes but we had it at 86. It only could have come from the video stores of the 80's/early 90's - so enjoy Trained To Fight.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com
cuttyface
College Kickboxers is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. If you are a fan of terrible B-grade movies, get this. It's not painful bad, it's extremely funny bad.The story follows main character James Caulfield and his transition from macho man to zen-like kung fu master. Along the way he picks up a girl with awesome lines, mainly about his marital arts, helps his friend try to keep a dojo for underprivileged children running, receive training from a Chinese cook and have some run-ins with one of the silliest villains ever seen in a movie.The acting is unbelievably ridiculous, especially from the bad guys. I laughed at almost every line. The direction is incredibly poor, not only do the actors give laughable jobs, but there are some major continuity errors and the fight scenes are in general terrible. There is a brief nipple shot which is perhaps the highest point of the film.I found this movie far more laugh inducing than 90% of modern American comedies. Do yourself a favour and have a wee giggle at this.
AlbertV79
I saw this film under the name TRAINED TO FIGHT and I found it to be very good, thanks to the appearance of Tang Tak-Wing as "Sifu Wing". Otherwise, this film would have most likely have been another piece of trash. Nevertheless, the tournament sequences at the end, when Ken McLeod gets revenge on the White Tigers, are great. I recommend this film. It even gives you a lesson about the true meaning of martial arts.
