The King of the Kickboxers (1990)

• Year: 1990
• Released: 09 Aug 1991
• Country: Hong Kong, United States
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102217/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_king_of_the_kickboxers
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Action, Crime, Sport
• Runtime: 99 min
• Writer: Keith W. Strandberg, See-Yuen Ng, John Kay
• Director: Lucas Lowe
• Cast: Loren Avedon, Richard Jaeckel, Don Stroud
• Keywords: martial arts,

	5.8/10
	57% – Audience

The King of the Kickboxers Storyline

Jake Donahue is a New York cop and an energetic warrior with a destiny ahead of him. However, Jake’s cowboy ways are unorthodox, but very effective when it comes to putting the criminal element out of business and after successfully putting a gang of drug dealers out of business, Jake’s captain informs him that Interpol needs his help in Thailand to bust up a snuff ring that involves making and selling movies that involve people really getting killed. At first, Jake wants no part in it but after watching a confiscated tape, he is enraged to learn that the person who’s starring in these snuff movies is Khan, a mountain of pure muscle, superhuman strength, deadly kicking abilities and most of all, possessing a ruthless fighting spirit. Many years ago, Jake’s older brother Sean, who was a heavyweight kickboxing champion had just won his eighth victory in the rings of Thailand, even though someone had told him to throw the fight. Little did Sean know was that victory would be his last, as Khan and his thugs ambush him and his brother Jake. Sean succeeds in defeating the first wave of attackers, but Khan’s style of fighting is so fast and brutal, that a three-kick combo puts Sean on his back (and into an early grave). Jake witnesses this and is consumed with rage for the death of his brother. Jake tries to fight Khan, but Khan just kicks the slime out of the youngster and he is orphaned and left for dead. Now an adult, Jake sees that the time for vengeance is perfect and he goes to Thailand, where one of the locals tells him that his skills won’t be enough if he’s trying to take down Khan. The local tells him that Prang, a drunken hermit with supreme kicking ability is the only one who ever came close to putting Khan on his back and that Jake should see him for training. At first, Prang is reluctant to teach Jake since his motive for going after Khan is vengeance, but decides to train him anyway since Khan is using his skills to kill people on tape. After telling Jake the story of how he lost to Khan, Prang begins Jake’s days of training which has many painful trials; including ignoring blows to his body and avoiding Khan’s three-kick combo technique. When Molly, a young wannabe model and supposed slave girl of Khan’s gets caught up in the mix, Jake and Prang may be the only defenders left to stop Khan and bust up the snuff ring for good.

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The King of the Kickboxers Movie Reviews

A real hoot

THE KING OF THE KICKBOXERS is a delight for anyone who loves cheesy fight flicks inspired by Van Damme’s KICKBOXER. This one’s the ultimate rip-off, a completely laughable enterprise that manages to entertain thanks to incredibly wooden acting, laughable line delivery, hilarious scripting and fight scenes that manage to impress despite being completely over the top and unrealistic. The plot is once again focused on revenge for the death of a murdered brother, with the exceptional Billy Blanks filling the screen as the big bad guy. Loren Avedon goes through his training sequences with relish and even big blond mullet guy Jerry Trimble shows up as a drug dealer. It’s a real hoot and the wicker cage fight ending has to be seen to be believed.

Entertainingly insane!

In this Seasonal Films production, the insufferable Loren Avedon plays Jake Donahue, a New York City undercover cop with, you guessed it, a bad attitude, who, you guessed it, plays by his own rules. He is sent by his Captain, O’Day (Jaeckel) who is working with Interpol, to Thailand to bust up a snuff film ring. While there he meets up with his contact in the area, Anderson (Stroud) and mannish love interest Molly (Rose, who must have stretched every acting muscle in her body to pretend she actually was into Avedon). However, it seems Donahue has a history in Thailand, as his brother was murdered there by the mysterious Khan (Blanks). Coincidentally, the nefarious Khan is the star of these films where the martial arts is so real, you die on impact. The producers of the films recruit young fighters from tournaments, promising them stardom, and when they get to the set, Khan kills them. So, seeing as Donahue is also a kickboxing man, he goes undercover as a naive punchfighter with stars in his eyes so he can get a shot at Khan and get revenge. The only problem is, he’s not as good as Khan, so Prang (Cooke) takes him under his wing and trains him. Will Donahue get the closure he seeks? Loren Avedon in this movie is so annoyingly cocky, and so devoid of one ounce of humility, you actually, weirdly enough, like Billy Blanks more as the evil Khan. Sure, Khan is pure malevolence, but he’s secure in his total diabolical-ness and you love him for it. It’s a lot harder to get behind the weaselly Avedon as the main hero.

The plot aside, there is excellent fight choreography and some punishing blows. Fans of fast-paced, well-executed moves will find a lot to appreciate here. Richard Jaeckel plays the classic ‘yelling police captain’ with aplomb, and the husky-voiced Sherrie Rose of Maximum Force (1992) fame is a serviceable love interest who calls Avedon’s character “Jack”. Perhaps she wished he was someone else that badly. The Pauly Shore-like Cooke does a good job as the trainer of Donahue and has the patience of a saint. His sidekick, a lovable chimp, practically steals the movie. Cooke does have some awesome moves – also check him out in China O’Brien (1990). Billy Blanks is great as the big heavy. His bulging eyes and funny faces are present and accounted for. Jerry Trimble appears in the opening, prerequisite “abandoned warehouse” scene simply as “Drug Dealer”. Han Soo Ong, of Last to Surrender (1999) fame, who plays a local kickboxer, gets one of the best lines of the movie when he tells Donahue “You’ve never faced a real kickboxing”. Loren Avedon, with his jean jacket with fringed sleeves and fanny pack, is simply an unlikable jerk, but he does get some winners in the dialogue department, as well as some memorable yells. This movie overall could have been improved if the audience actually liked the hero.

The pure silliness of the whole outing comes to the fore at the final confrontation, when Avedon tops his previous ridiculous casual outfits with a formal getup that can only be described as an “elf jester” suit. When you see it, you’ll know what we mean.

Entertainingly insane, for a punchfighting mini-classic, check out King of the Kickboxers.

Cheesy kung-fu fun from Hong Kong producer N.G.

The King of the Kickboxers (1991) was another U.S./Hong Kong co-production from N.G. and the other folks at Seasonal Films. Like most of N.G.’s productions, the kung-fu films that usual come from Seasonal are cheesy with a heavy dose of high energy fighting. That’s what I like about his films. He doesn’t even try to be serious or make an attempt to elevate the source material. This film is no exception.

An arrogant fighter is given an assignment to find out who’s making “real” kung-fu movies in Thailand (like Mexico where life is cheap). He’s also intrigued by the mission because of what happened to him the last time he visited Bangkok. Whilst in Bangkok he learns about the presence of a vicious Kickboxer (Billy Blanks). Not only does he get a free trip to Thailand but he can settle an old score.

Filled with many references to Kickboxer and parodies of other Seasonal Films productions. King of the Kickboxers is a very entertaining film. The film-makers and the actors seem to be having a whole lot of fun making this one. So sit back and relax. When watching this video gem remember “It’s only a movie!”

Highly recommended!

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