American Shaolin (1991)

You better watch out for Trevor Gottitall (Bushey). Just by his name you can tell he is an evil, arrogant jerk with a ponytail. He is a kickboxer whose finishing move in the ring is to pull down his opponent's pants. Really. Fighting in a match with Trevor in front of an enthusiastic audience, young, idealistic fighter Drew Carson (Madigan) loses to Trevor's underhanded tactics and is humiliated when he falls prey to his infamous coup de grace. After consulting with his elderly master, the All-American Drew goes all the way to the original Shaolin Temple in China to become a monk. While there, the monks teach him, and he teaches the monks, and his fellow disciples a thing or two as well. After an unspecified length of time at the temple, Drew emerges to take on Trevor Gottitall in a rematch."American Shaolin: King of the Kickboxers II", despite being one of the longest titles of its many titles, doesn't feel like a long movie while you are watching it. It is quite entertaining and enjoyable.Madigan is perfectly cast as Drew. He starts out as a "typical" American with his omnipresent backwards baseball cap, yellow walkman and sports jerseys. Through his disciplined training, he learns humility and grace. But not before teaching his fellow students how to dance and sing American rock and roll. A highlight of the film is an impromptu music video where Drew leads his fellow monk hopefuls in a rousing rendition of "Summertime blues". While they are cavorting around using sticks as guitars and microphones, Drew changes the lyrics to "Ain't no cure for the Shaolin Temple Blues". If you don't wince in embarrassment, it is charming. Later, at another dance sequence, the one and only song is "Summertime Blues". It must have been the only song the production could afford.Also Drew teaches his Chinese friends about the ancient art of Playboy magazine and pranks. This Martial Arts film almost becomes an 80's romp when they try to pull a prank on the head monk. The film is mainly a long training sequence, and the title would seem to indicate that this film is a reference to "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin". The culture shock is a major element. He must overcome some prejudice as a Chinese monk says about Drew, "this Monk smells". Apparently anyone can just show up at the Shaolin Temple, provided they sit outside on a tree stump for a day or so.Interestingly, this film bears no relation to "King of the Kickboxers" (1990), starring Billy Blanks. Speaking of things bearing no relation, the box art for the Academy VHS release is somewhat misleading. It makes it seem like a dark, disturbing and angry punchfighter. The truth is that it is fairly light-hearted and there are many life lessons in the film."AS:KOTKII" is an above-average film of this kind. The actors seem to care about the proceedings and the audience gets sucked into the plot, despite some clichéd touches here and there.Your collection hasn't "Gottitall" unless this is in it! for more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

this has got to be one of those films where the trailer is 50 times better than the movie itself.I first saw the trailer in 1991, it looked great.Since then i have always wanted to see it but could never find it.....until today, yes, 14 years later.lets just say I was so disappointed its unreal, OK i knew it wouldn't be an Oscar winner but still had hopes that it would be a fun no-brain film in the bloodsport mold. Unfortunately it was not, it's Poohwhats with all the American rock and roll music and the acting was so bad it was quite frightening.The fight scenes were rubbish and look fake.this DVD only cost me £5 and I believe I was overcharged by £7Now I'm sad as I know that I will never get that hour and a half back.

If you've ever seen a movie about the Shaolin Temple, then you've seen half of this, what sets 'King of the Kickboxers II' apart from the rest is the inability of the hero to keep his pants up, and air-guitar styling of the Shaolin disciples. Awesome.'King of the Kickboxers II' opens with our hero, Drew Carson, facing a bad-dude known as Trevor (what an evil name) in a martial arts tournament. Trevor beats Drew by pulling his pants down (just how does he untie Drew's belt whilst wearing gentlemen's sport gloves?). The obvious solution for Drew is to go the Shaolin Temple, so its off to China and good-bye to Trevor for most of the movie. Somehow, Drew doesn't have any communication troubles in China, because everyone at the Shaolin Temple speaks English, even when in the villagers talking to people speaking Chinese.Anyway, most of the movie is your standard Shaolin Temple stuff - training sequences and fights, but all from the perspective of a loud-mouthed American who constantly gets in trouble. The fights are good, but nothing special. If you're looking for Shaolin action ala 'Shaolin Temple', you will be disappointed, but if you just want some martial arts fun, then this is for you.5/10

American Shaolin is a virtuosic display of the drama of martial arts combat, intertwined with the wisdom and lore of the Eastern Buddhist Tradition (Shaolin). After a humilating incident in which his pants are pulled down by martial arts "bad guy" Trevor Gottiall, revealing his panties to a crowd of about 75 people in a high school gymnasium, Drew Carson escapes to the rural countryside of Communist China to learn the secrets of Oriental Martial Arts (Shaolin Fighting). While there Drew must master the arts of manual labor (viz. "latrine cleaning") and fighting wooden golems; but he also manages to impart a little "wisdom" on his Chinese captors: he breaks up the monotony of another day of hard labor in the prison camp with a rendition of "The Shaolin Temple Blues" -- with eerily reminiscent of Buddy Holly's 1956 hit "Summertime Blues" -- and in the process teaches his Oriental associates how to sing and dance "American"-style.Except for some unnecessary (albeit, brief) digressions into Avant-Garde Symbolism -- mainly in the form of a trip to the mountain to visit the Zarathustra-esque Purple Magician (portrayed with fantastic charisma by Noriyuku "Pat" Morita of Karate Kid fame) and a panty-raid at the local high school dance -- American Shaolin is a film to be enjoyed over and over. A veritable tour-de-force realized through the sheer acting-magnificence of its ensemble cast, that culminates with a breathtaking transition from the final test that requires Drew to destroy Wooden Golems in the basement of the Shaolin Temple to the final fight "all-out" bare-knuckle fight at the International Karate Expo where Drew must put his skillz to their ultimate test in mortal kombat with Trevor. And let's just say that Drew doesn't "drop his pants" this time!!!Keep on Shaolin-Fighting, Drew