Undisputed III

[mickey]

Greetings,

I had the opportunity to view this flick that continued the character Boyka, played by Scott Adkins, after he received his career ending injury. The fight choreography, though mainly MMA, showed, Capoeria, Tae Kwon Do, Extreme MA and a touch of 52 Blocks. The choreography was good, especially when Scott Adkins was in action. The guy totally throws himself into his kinetics and it is a beauty to behold. If there is anything wrong with the movie is that the pacing DRAGS MAJOR!!!

One thing that I did observe during the fight choreography is that if it was done for was a period piece, like the Five Venoms, it would have been a SMASH HIT. Usually, in period pieces, when a guy does an aerial with a twist, we get to see a shot of the person in the air, just after he bounced off the trampoline. In Undisputed III, we get to see both characters doing extreme turns in a single shot with no trampoline, no strings, and no reverse filming. That was fantastic and it may well change the way tumbling actions are depicted in films, forever. Additionally, the camera angles were fresh.

As with my Taken review, I am not dropping the plot. It is not original. I do recommend the film for the fight choreography. I hope Scott Adkins has a wonderful career. The guy is burning electric thunder.

mickey

[jethro]

Hey mickey I agree this movie was very good and has amazing fight scenes. And lots of nods to Undisputed 2 which was nice to see.

[RAYNYSC]

For what it's worth I enjoyed it....

[Jimbo]

I liked this movie a lot, even better than Undisputed II. It's very interesting to see a movie where the super-villain of a previous installment now becomes the hero. But they made it work. Plus, this time Boyka isn't quite "the angriest movie character of all time" anymore, as in part II.

Scott Adkins is awesome as before. But for me, the big revelation of the film was the big(ger) Chilean martial artist (who plays the Columbian fighter). I will have to check out any other films he's been in. Though in several instances, he makes some very (unintentionally) funny facial expressions.

I thought the plot moved along okay. It is, after all, a prison movie. And a tournament movie, which is nothing original. But this movie's fights might be the best of the category. The fights have complex, extended, single-shot takes that have rarely been seen in MA movies since the '80s. It's amazing that these movies (Undisputed II and III, and Blood and Bone) are made straight-to-DVD, while films like Red Belt, Never Back Down, Fighting, etc., make it into theaters. But then again, not a single one of the actors in Undisputed III looks like a refugee from the Twilight movies.

[jethro]

That big guy is Marko Zaror from Mirageman and Kiltro. He looks to have trimmed down in U3 compared to those movies. For some reason his name isn’t on the DVD at all.



If you get a chance check out these clips on youtube. Kurata must have seen all the MMA fights in movies over the last 5 years and wanted to top them with a gi fighting movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE--umqjeEI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvrxw4iH7_w

[mickey]

Greetings,

I am glad y'all enjoyed the movie.

I was a little fooled by the first Yasuaki Kurata link. I first thought the guy in white was Kurata and it had me thinking it was an old movie. Is the guy in white his son in real life?


mickey

[jethro]

I have no idea, but it would be cool if it is his son.

[mickey]

Hi jethro,

I just want to let you know that Yasuaki Kurata appears to have a special fondness for a particular set of Okinawan kata. They are known as Tekki or Naihanchi kata. Though they are done from a horse stance, they contain a plethora of, on the ground, grappling components-- components that would cause one to think of jiu jitsu or mma. This includes fighting from the top mount, arm traps/breaks, knee dislocations, headlocks/reverse headlocks, the list goes on. Yasuaki Kurata appears to have taken it to a very refined level. I truly respect and appreciate his dedication.

Interestingly, in one of my earliest threads, I mentioned seeing Tekki techniques used in a MMA match.

mickey

[Jimbo]

Kurata is a high-ranking black belt in Sh!to-Ryu Karate, and also has black belts in judo and aikido (and maybe kendo as well). A lot of the actual ground grappling he is doing is also found in judo. Keeping in mind that judo is a modified/modernized form of jujitsu. In judo's early days, it was also referred to as "Kano Jiu-Jitsu." Older judo included more of the ground grappling than is seen in much of the judo nowadays.

Of all the old-school MA movie stars, Yasuaki Kurata has aged the best, and is the only one showing no signs of slowing down. The man is absolutely incredible, and shows he can still do hard, extended-take fight sequences, not to mention he's a legitimate MA master.

As for Undisputed 3, after this I would like to see Scott Adkins take his plot lines and fight scenes outside of a ring setting. I love U3, but the tournament movie thing has pretty much been played out, IMO. I'd like to see his future movies have fights in places like ships, warehouses, factories, mansions, malls, etc. Like lots of the great HK movies of the '80s, which used the environment for greater effect. Jackie and Sammo even used a Spanish castle (Wheels on Meals). This will open a whole new set of onscreen possibilities and challenges for Adkins than just a flat ring and ropes. Sure, U3 had some brief fighting in a dirt quarry, but that's not the same as a complex environment.

[jethro]

Cool. Thanks for the info on Kurata guys.


Jimbo I agree that if they continue this story, it'd be nice to see a movie that does not take place in prison, and has fights outside of the ring. I really really enjoyed U3, but I think the reason I wasn't super impressed with it is because it was another prison movie. U2 felt new and fresh to me, but U3 not so much.

U3 has Adkins facing Marko Zaror, so hopefully Isaac Florentine will bring in more top notch talent for Adkins in the future. Donnie Yen seems too busy right now starring in every HK movie role that comes his way, Tony Jaa only has a big role in a movie every 3 years or so, so maybe Kurata could be his next opponent. Ninja part 2. There's plenty of quality movie fighters out there. Wu Jing, Colin Chou, Andy On, that mute girl in Bad Blood... He's already faced Michael Jai White, but I was thinking maybe Adkins can be the villain in Black Dynamite part 2.:D

[mickey]

hi jimbo and jethro,

jimbo,

I do not dispute Yasuaki Kurata's expertise. ****o ryu is known for its large cache of forms. It would be the style I would study if I wanted to explore the Okinawan arts. I did not make reference to those particular kata out of whim. He is using them.


jethro,

Adkins in Black Dynamite II? I think there is going to be a follow up to that movie. I get the feeling that Adkins may want to create his own opportunities. If he is cast in this flick and steals the show, again, from Michael Jai White, I think MJW would have a justifyable reason to shoot Scott in the foot and knees (laughter).

If there was any foul in the Academy Awards it is that the person who did ther score to Black dynamite, Adrian Younge did not receive a nomination. The track to the love scene, Gloria(zodiac love) was fantastic. This guy went and used recorders and recording methods from the 70's to give his music the feel of that period. He suceeded with that.

mickey

[Jimbo]

mickey,
Sh!to-Ryu was one of the styles I studied as a kid, and at the school I trained at, it was taught more in the characteristic of 'Japanese' style than Okinawan, although it is, as I'm sure you know, a synthesis of two Okinawan styles. By more 'Japanese' style, I mean the drills, one-step sparring, jiyu kumite, wide stances, leg sweeps, long lunge and reverse punches, high kicks, etc., were less like old-style Okinawan karate. Stylistically, it actually had quite a resemblance to Shotokan and a bit of Goju-Ryu. This was under Sensei Miki, who had trained under Teruo Hayashi. There was also lots of kata training, but at least to the level I was at while there (only about 18 months and just shy of testing for my brown belt) there was very little kata application practice. So I am sure you are right, too.

My reference was to some of the moves Kurata was showing, like, if I remember correctly, a key lock, a 'kimura', triangle, etc. Perhaps the katas you mention have those too, which I didn't know.

Jethro,
I can picture Isaac Florentine using Western MAists as future opponents rather than recruiting stars from Asia. If so, a good opponent might be that last guy Michael Jai White fought in Blood and Bone. Or they might use some Parkour guys. Even then, I'd rather see a 'practical' use of environmental factors in fights, such as furniture, improvised weapons, etc. The Donnie Yen/Collin Chou fight in Flash Point was another great use of environment, and it ups the creativity and risk factors for the performers. It makes it extremely risky for guys like Adkins and others who do those XMA (extreme martial arts) jumping, super-duper quadruple triple spinning kicks...:D...which require a large, flat, perfect space for a perfect landing.

There's a lot of people, esp. in the Western hemisphere, that are doing that kind of movement, and they seem to be the ones popularly chosen for these flashy roles in U.S. (or European) Indie MA films. If Florentine went to any American open karate tournament and arbitrarily lobbed a tennis ball in the room, that ball would bounce off the heads of five or six of those 'XMA' performers before hitting the floor. And they'd work far cheaper than a Wu Jing or other established Asian performers. Though IMO, flashiness for the sake of itself gets old real fast.

[jethro]

Haha, nice one mickey.

Jimbo I agree Florentine doesn’t seem like he’s going to use HK talents, but I hope he tries to. I'd like to see him do a collaboration with Donnie Yen, but Donnie seems way too busy at the moment so I don't see any chance of that happening. MJW’s last opponent in Blood and Bones is Matt Mullins. I looked him up on IMDB and he’s the star of a TV show called Karmen Rider which I’ve never seen before. There’s a clip on youtube of a new Mortal Kombat movie where he has a nice fight with Lateef Crowder from Tom Yum Goong and Undisputed 3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmvxjnwbMPI

[GeneChing]

We've discussed Zaror on the Kiltro/Mirageman (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48393) thread.

[Lucas]

Did a search couldnt find so if this is duplicate, too bad! :P

Just watched this last night.

the story is...meh. its ok... the characters are cool though. and the action, imo, is pretty good. its a mixture of film performance wushu style and a spattering of mma style action. There is this drugged out cuban fighter that is hillarious. I really liked the main character Uri though.

[Jimbo]

I really like this movie, although the basic story (bloodsport-type secret tournament) has been done to death. Another complaint I had about this one (and I think also Undisputed II) is that the dialog is often difficult to hear or understand. They mumble a lot, and the soundtrack compounds that problem.

I like the guy who plays the Cuban fighter. He's Marko Zaror, a Chilean MAist who's the lead in another good movie, Mirage Man. I actually like his stuff better than Scott Adkins' stuff, who plays Uri. MA-wise, Undisputed 3 has a lot of variety. A lot of XMA stuff, which can sometimes be overdone nowadays, along with TKD, Capoeira, 52 Blocks(?), Muay Thai, BJJ, etc.

[Lucas]

im going to have to check out undisputed 1 and 2 this the chain a story line with the character uri?

there were a couple times i had to backtrack to get a word or two that was mumbled english with a russian accent...lol

ya i liked all the fighting, and mixing in the styles of origin was a neat idea. im somewhat disappointed they didnt highlight any bjj at all as thats definately a very popular style, and they did have a brazillian fighter, they went with the capoeria though. i would have liked to see him break out a bit of bjj mix with the capoeria, but maybe that is just me.

it seems to me also that the cuban fighter was the kungfu rep as they have that scene that is very wing chun ish on the training dummy.

[Jimbo]

Yeah, Marko Zaror sometimes likes to do stuff on a Wing Chun dummy; he also does some of that in Mirage Man.

Undisputed 1, as far as I know, was not actually a MA film, and if I remember right, starred Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames. (??) The character of Uri was introduced as the villain in Undisputed II. The lead character in part II was Michael Jai White.

I still feel the best onscreen blending in of BJJ is in Flash Point with Donnie Yen.

[Lucas]

Yeah, Marko Zaror sometimes likes to do stuff on a Wing Chun dummy; he also does some of that in Mirage Man.

Undisputed 1, as far as I know, was not actually a MA film, and if I remember right, starred Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames. (??) The character of Uri was introduced as the villain in Undisputed II. The lead character in part II was Michael Jai White.

I still feel the best onscreen blending in of BJJ is in Flash Point with Donnie Yen.

i agree with you on flashpoint. also i cannot wait for donnie to do that again, if you watch flashpoint with donnies commentary he mentions areas he could have done better on certain shots due to his lack of technical skill. but he's been studying and improving his knowledge, so i think the next showing he does is going to be quite the treat.

im going to have to pick up undisputed2, i think MJW is pretty good on screen. that is an interesting twist using the villain from one film as your star 'good guy' in the next. pretty crafty