Showdown (1993)
Ken has just moved from Kansas with his mother. He talks to a girl named Julie, not knowing that her boyfriend Tom is very possessive of her. Tom is learning karate from Lee, a sensei whose brother was killed by a rookie cop named Billy. Billy has since then become the janitor of the school that Ken, Julie and Tom go to. When Ken gets beaten up by Tom for talking to Julie again, Billy helps Ken by teaching him how to defend himself, which eventually leads to a battle between student vs. student, and sensei vs. sensei.
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This was not too bad of a movie! It was about a kid named Ken Marks (probably not Marx)who moved to Phoenix with his mother from Kansas. Right away, he becomes a target by a group of bullies who are karate experts. Unlike the previous movie, 'The Karate Kid,' it happens shortly before he sets eyes on the ringleader's girlfriend. A newly to be acquired friend warns him that the consequences will be bad, if Ken doesn't avoid her. She herself, warns him about her boyfriend, but he didn't listen. On the second of three occasions, the school janitor named Billy came to his aid, as the leader Tom, and his sidekick are about to beat him up. All three of them are unaware that he's a karate expert himself, and easily defeated those two bullies. Then the violence starts to escalate, before Billy decides to teach Ken how to protect himself. Another conflict is that the girlfriend is starting to grow of Tom's behavior. It conclusively, started a rivalry between the two guys! Will Ken be able to defeat Tom? Watch it to find out!
The previous post hit the nail right on the head with its summary of this movie. I just wanted to elaborate a bit more on the sheer cheese factor of this film because there really is SO much of it to be discussed. Namely though, the music. This movie's score seems to consist of exactly two songs: one for the good guys and one for the crazy/psycho cult dojo members (think Cobra Kai + Marilyn Manson). It is HILARIOUS just how repetitive the soundtrack gets and yet, just like an awful car wreck, you just can't look away. This movie really is JUST like Karate Kid in terms of of its storyline but the final battle scene takes it all a whole other step further. Not only do the rival teens get to face off in a tournament, but the sensei's end up dueling as well providing for yet ANOTHER opportunity to play the awesomely/disgustingly cheesy "good guy theme" theme. Imagine Mr. Myagi taking on the Cobra Kai sensei but 40x cheesier than what that might be like. In closing, a memorable quote from Billy Blanks at the end of the film that should be heeded by all:"I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU HURT ANY MORE KIDS, LEE!" *CUE Cheesy GOOD GUY THEME**SPINKICK*-- THE END --
I'm only here cuz my step-dad told me about a movie that was shot at PV high school where I graduated in 94 and I never heard of a movie being shot there. So I did some research and here it is!!! Too funny! I actually went there for my freshmen year, then they shut the school down for construction for two years and moved us to the new school, then we got to come back to the original "PV" for our senior year. So apparently they shot this movie while we were at the other school. Why the hell didn't I ever hear about this??? You would've thought everyone who lives near there would've been talking about this. Oh wait I know why....cuz it's a low budget straight-to-video B movie! LOL!!! Now I HAVE to see it!!! Bring back some memories! Peace out!
Dear God, thank you for this little piece of brilliance! This is a terrible film, but it works for some reason. A few observances:1.) Apparently 40 year olds have to attend high school now. 2.) Have you ever seen that many people get their asses handed to them at school? 3.) I guess this actually is plausible, because the creepy principal is always too busy smoking confiscated cigarettes and hitting on the oh so sexy sex education teacher. "I hope we can work together sometime." coy smile. Brilliance. 4.) Ben Stiller's wife is the "love interest". If I ever meet him or her, I'm going to have to ask about some memories from the making of this little gem. 5.) The writers knew that everyone was going to call it a Karate Kid rip off, so they slip in the reference to wax on/wax off when the kid is cleaning the bathroom. This still feels like a second rate karate kid. 6.) Villain - "You know where the door is. Leave through it." Isn't this a little redundant? Couldn't he have just gotten away with the first part? 7.) The bad kid (cough) looks a hell of a lot like Dr. Cox from scrubs. That's actually what prompted this little rant, I wanted to see if it was his kid. 8.)Billy Blank's Haircut should've won best supporting actor. 9.) This club where the people fight for money... Do they serve beer there? Is there a place like this in my town? I'm there in a minute.Truly entertaining film. Waiting on the director's cut DVD. Watch it, live it, enjoy it.