Member DragonClaws Posted April 12, 2017 Member Share Posted April 12, 2017 (edited) Having watched a few South African action/Martial Arts movies, I thought I'd start a discussion thread, to see what others are out there. The first movie that springs to my mind is James Ryan's classic Karate hit Kill Or Be Killed(1980) and its sequel Kill & Kill Again(1981). Then there’s the lesser known ones such as Terminator Woman(1993) starring Karen Shepherd and Jerry Trimble, directed by Jean Claude Van Dammes friend and Kickboxer co-star Michael Qissi. Then theres American Kickboxer(1991) co-wrote and starring John Barret with Keith Vitali. I've put together a short list of the titles I can think of, but I'm sure there will plenty more productions I’ve missed. Please feel free to mention any films not on the list, and I'll add them. Also if you spot any errors, please highlight them also. You can list co-productions and foreign Martial Arts movies that were filmed in South Africa too. Beware Tiger(1980) Moyo Mubi(1980) Kill Or Be Killed(1980) Kill & Kill Again(1981) One More Shot(1984) Cameroon Connection(1984) American Ninja 2(1987) American Ninja 3(1989) American Ninja 4(1990) Laser Mission(1990) American Kickboxer(1991) To The Death(1992) Letha Ninja(1992) Terminator Woman(1993) Cyborg Cop(1993) Cyborg Cop 2(1994) Kickboxer 5(1995) Cold Harvest(1999) Wake Of Death(2004) Witness To Kill(2001) Besouro(2018) Edited March 17, 2021 by DragonClaws 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted April 12, 2017 Member Share Posted April 12, 2017 The Mark Dacascos entry Kickboxer 5 was filmed in South Africa. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 12, 2017 Author Member Share Posted April 12, 2017 1 hour ago, ShaOW!linDude said: The Mark Dacascos entry Kickboxer 5 was filmed in South Africa. Thanks ShaOW!linDude. I thought I'd listed that one, but I put Kikcboxer 3 instead, which was filmed in South America. James Ryan also pops up in Kickboxer 5, as the villian with a fetish for kickboxing titles. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sym8 Posted April 12, 2017 Member Share Posted April 12, 2017 I think I read somewhere (maybe on this forum)that James Ryan the star of kill or be killed wasn't even a trained martial artist but saying that I loved that movie back in the day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Mike Leeder Posted April 13, 2017 Member Share Posted April 13, 2017 AMERICAN NINJA 2 and 3 were also shot in South Africa and of course COLD HARVEST Isaac Florentine's post apocalyptic spaghetti western with Gary Daniels and Bryan Genesse took me forever to realise American kickboxer 1 was shot in South Africa, knew To the Death was bit didn't realise for ages for part one 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted April 13, 2017 Member Share Posted April 13, 2017 Here's a great 1992 New York Times article on why South African was home to quite a few martial arts movies http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/23/movies/film-martial-arts-movies-find-a-home-in-south-africa.html When you read the article, you will come across the title Backlash. That's the original title for Terminator Woman. Little bit of trivia: Gavin Hood, who directed the Academy Award Tsotsi and then X-Men Origins: Wolverine, played the man John Barrett accidentally kills in American Kickboxer and the German kickboxing champion James Ryan kills in Kickboxer 5. Hood is from South Africa. To the Death is the real sequel to American Kickboxer and I'm still baffled with why Philippines-based Davian International got the rights to use the name for American Kickboxer 2 the buddy action film starring Dale "Apollo" Cook and Evan Lurie. There is a 1980 film that picks my curiosity. It's called Gemini and it has James Ryan and Thys Matthysen, the latter who also served as action director. Matthysen played one of the karatekas in Kill or Be Killed so I am guessing it has to have some sort of karate in it. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0219027/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 13, 2017 Author Member Share Posted April 13, 2017 23 hours ago, sym8 said: I think I read somewhere (maybe on this forum)that James Ryan the star of kill or be killed wasn't even a trained martial artist but saying that I loved that movie back in the day. He didn't have a background in Martial Arts, but I think he had some experience in dance?. This same subject came up on the forums before, and someone here knew more about it than I do. Just cant recall the forum members name??. Some how James Ryan made it work and not many actors with a non Martial Arts background can do that, unless there names Leung Kar Yan. 10 hours ago, Mike Leeder said: AMERICAN NINJA 2 and 3 were also shot in South Africa and of course COLD HARVEST Isaac Florentine's post apocalyptic spaghetti western with Gary Daniels and Bryan Genesse Thanks for the addtional titles, Ive added those to the list in my first post. I'd forgotten that Issac Florentine directed Cold Harvest, time to dig out the DVD. 10 hours ago, Mike Leeder said: took me forever to realise American kickboxer 1 was shot in South Africa, knew To the Death was bit didn't realise for ages for part one American Kickboxer is one of the titles I need to get round to watching. I think the opening of A.W.O.L was shot in South Africa?, the sequence where Van Damme escapes from the foriegn legion?.With a young Billy Blanks as one of the stuntmen. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Mike Leeder Posted April 14, 2017 Member Share Posted April 14, 2017 The opening of AWOL was i think shot just outside of LA< i can't see Imperial flying everyone out JC, Billy Blanks, Stefanos etc just to do the opening... Now another one to add would be Van Damme's WAKE OF DEATH as most of that was shot in South Africa, Had forgotten BACKLASH/TERMINATOR WOMAN gotta dig that out again American Kickboxer 2 was not titled that by Davian, they shot the movie and didn't have much faith in the project so sold it for a negative pick up (just covering production costs) to somebody else, and that producer retitled, remarketed it and did very well with it at the time James Ryan had a dance background, and trained for the movies, was supposed to meet him when i was in S Africa some years back when i was doing prep for a China movie in Johannesberg but schedules were an issue 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted April 14, 2017 Member Share Posted April 14, 2017 13 hours ago, Mike Leeder said: American Kickboxer 2 was not titled that by Davian, they shot the movie and didn't have much faith in the project so sold it for a negative pick up (just covering production costs) to somebody else, and that producer retitled, remarketed it and did very well with it at the time That's quite interesting to hear. I wonder what the original title of the film was before it became American Kickboxer 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sifu iron perm Posted April 16, 2017 Member Share Posted April 16, 2017 ebola syndrome? oh my bad..martial arts only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member CT KID Posted April 16, 2017 Member Share Posted April 16, 2017 (edited) On 4/12/2017 at 3:49 PM, sym8 said: I think I read somewhere (maybe on this forum)that James Ryan the star of kill or be killed wasn't even a trained martial artist but saying that I loved that movie back in the day. He wasn't, he came from a competitive swimming background if memory serves me correct. Still he had that great Bruce Lee type ripped physique and a campy charm all his own. Loved Kill and Kill Again when I saw it on late night tv as a child along with the cool characters such as "The Fly" played by Stan Scidmit. Ryan was doubled alot in the fight/acrobatic scenes but still there was good Shotokan Karate (JKA)style choreographed fights in the film. Edit- I hadn't saw where Mike had said Ryan came from a dance background, knew it was something like that but for some reason was thinking it was swimming. Edited April 16, 2017 by CT KID 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted April 17, 2017 Member Share Posted April 17, 2017 (edited) When Kurt McKinney auditioned for American Ninja but didn't get the role because he was too young, Cannon did offer him the role that would eventually go to David Bradley. Kurt had learned AN 3-what would have been 6 (yet they didn't shoot 5 there from my understanding) would be all shot in South Africa, but he didn't want to go there constantly for the series. I read this in a 1994 Masters of Kung Fu interview. Edited April 17, 2017 by AlbertV 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted April 17, 2017 Member Share Posted April 17, 2017 (edited) A recent one shot in South Africa is the live action adaptation of the anime Kite, which starred Samuel L. Jackson and India Eisley. The film had Eisley as a covert assassin out to avenge the death of her parents by taking on the human trafficking cartels. She uses gunfire and martial arts, she was trained by Best of the Best co-star Ken Nagayama for the film. There was also some parkour in the film from co-star Callan McAuliffe. It came out in 2014. Edited April 17, 2017 by AlbertV 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 17, 2017 Author Member Share Posted April 17, 2017 On 14/04/2017 at 1:05 AM, Mike Leeder said: James Ryan had a dance background, and trained for the movies, was supposed to meet him when i was in S Africa some years back when i was doing prep for a China movie in Johannesberg but schedules were an issue Thanks for the additonal information Mike, his background in dance wouldhave helped him a lot. On 14/04/2017 at 1:05 AM, Mike Leeder said: The opening of AWOL was i think shot just outside of LA< i can't see Imperial flying everyone out JC, Billy Blanks, Stefanos etc just to do the opening... Now another one to add would be Van Damme's WAKE OF DEATH as most of that was shot in South Africa, Added Wake Of Death(2004) to the list, good point about the opening of A.W.O.L, got my facts mixed up on that one. 3 hours ago, AlbertV said: When Kurt McKinney auditioned for American Ninja but didn't get the role because he was too young, Cannon did offer him the role that would eventually go to David Bradley. Kurt had learned AN 3-what would have been 6 (yet they didn't shoot 5 there from my understanding) would be all shot in South Africa, but he didn't want to go there constantly for the series. I read this in a 1994 Masters of Kung Fu interview. Didn't he turn down the No Retreat No Surrender 2 starring role, for similar reasons regarding travel?. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted April 17, 2017 Member Share Posted April 17, 2017 28 minutes ago, DragonClaws said: Didn't he turn down the No Retreat No Surrender 2 starring role, for similar reasons regarding travel?. Yes he did. He had just gotten married before NRNS2 was to begin production and the producers apparently warned him it would not be a good idea for him to take his wife. Kurt then called JCVD and JCVD told him he wasn't going to do the film so it was enough to convince Kurt not to return as well. It was in the interview Kurt gave that's a special feature on NRNS Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber...the video is posted on the Videos sub-thread 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 18, 2017 Author Member Share Posted April 18, 2017 On 17/04/2017 at 7:25 PM, AlbertV said: Yes he did. He had just gotten married before NRNS2 was to begin production and the producers apparently warned him it would not be a good idea for him to take his wife. Kurt then called JCVD and JCVD told him he wasn't going to do the film so it was enough to convince Kurt not to return as well. It was in the interview Kurt gave that's a special feature on NRNS Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber...the video is posted on the Videos sub-thread I think it was you who mentioned this before Albert?, in another thread. Can't find any more South African Martial Arts movies to add to the list, but I'll keep my eyes open for any more. On 13/04/2017 at 2:51 PM, AlbertV said: There is a 1980 film that picks my curiosity. It's called Gemini and it has James Ryan and Thys Matthysen, the latter who also served as action director. Matthysen played one of the karatekas in Kill or Be Killed so I am guessing it has to have some sort of karate in it. Interested in learning more about this production too, cant even find a trailer on YouTube for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted April 18, 2017 Member Share Posted April 18, 2017 (edited) I found one: Witness to a Kill (2001) starring Gary Daniels. The film was directed by To the Death director Darrel Roodt and the likes of South African actors Robert Whitehead and Greg Latter (who appeared in both TTD and Kickboxer 5) appear in the film as does Who Am I?'s Ron Smerczak. It is also known as Diamond Cut Diamond and Queen's Messenger II as Daniels plays Capt. Anthony Strong from the original Queen's Messenger. Edited April 18, 2017 by AlbertV 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 18, 2017 Author Member Share Posted April 18, 2017 11 minutes ago, AlbertV said: Witness to a Kill (2001) starring Gary Daniels. The film was directed by To the Death director Darrel Roodt and the likes of South African actors Robert Whitehead and Greg Latter (who appeared in both TTD and Kickboxer 5) appear in the film as does Who Am I?'s Ron Smerczak. It is also known as Diamond Cut Diamond and Queen's Messenger II as Daniels plays Capt. Anthony Strong from the original Queen's Messenger. Thanks Albert, added this Gary Daniels actioner to the list in the first post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted April 18, 2017 Moderator Share Posted April 18, 2017 On 4/17/2017 at 10:25 AM, AlbertV said: A recent one shot in South Africa is the live action adaptation of the anime Kite, which starred Samuel L. Jackson and India Eisley. I have this one on BD but have yet to watch it - I will give it a viewing in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 19, 2017 Author Member Share Posted April 19, 2017 On 13/04/2017 at 2:51 PM, AlbertV said: Here's a great 1992 New York Times article on why South African was home to quite a few martial arts movies http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/23/movies/film-martial-arts-movies-find-a-home-in-south-africa.html Great article, just finnished reading it and found a few more titles I didnt know about. Unless there just a.k.as for one already on the list?. Dance Of Death (Not the Jackie Chan Choreographed movie) Toxic Heart Not sure what year they were made, or who the stars of the movies are?. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted May 3, 2017 Author Member Share Posted May 3, 2017 We have sixteen movies listed so far, found a few movies filmed in South Africa that may feature Martial Arts?. Caught the two titles below on T.V, but its been that long since I watched them theres little I can recall. Sweepers(1998)- Starring Dolph Lundgren Danger Zone(1997) Starring Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Billy Zane, Robert Downey Jr. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted May 9, 2017 Author Member Share Posted May 9, 2017 Only a couple of very very brief hand to hand clips featured in this trialer for Danger Zone(1997). Star Billy Zane did go on to make the Martial Arts T.V movie Invincible(2001). Which was supposed to be the pilot for a possible T.V series. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted July 10, 2017 Author Member Share Posted July 10, 2017 Recently found out about this South African production, starring John Fujioka(American Ninja), Lance Henriksen(Johnny Hnadsome), John Saxon(Joe Kidd). With James Ryan(Karate Kill) among the supporting cast too. Anyone here watched this one?. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted October 8, 2017 Moderator Share Posted October 8, 2017 On 4/14/2017 at 5:25 AM, DragonClaws said: I'd forgotten that Issac Florentine directed Cold Harvest, time to dig out the DVD. I had no idea there was such a thing as an Isaac Florentine directed Gary Daniels flick until I was researching the former's filmography for my 'Acts of Vengeance' review. How is this one @DragonClaws? Worth seeking out the Hollywood DVD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted October 8, 2017 Author Member Share Posted October 8, 2017 4 minutes ago, One Armed Boxer said: How is this one @DragonClaws? Worth seeking out the Hollywood DVD? It's one of those movies I dont recall much about, I have the Hollywood DVD somewhere amongst the collection, its paired with another low budget non Martial Arts movie. Dont recall it being a dud, but I dont wanna tell you its great when my memory of it, is vague at best. Maybe the trialer will help you out? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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