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Underrated New School Stars


AlbertV

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A while back, I posted a thread about who you felt was underrated in terms of the Old School Kung Fu. I wonder after seeing of the best MA films of the Modern Day era, who do you feel is truly underrated here? Here are some names IMO that come to mind.

Two of the "one-hit wonders" as I like to call them:

Reese Madigan - he played the American Shaolin in the film of the same name from Seasonal Films back in 1991. He would end up doing his acting where he does it best, on the stage.

Brandon Gaines - he was the star of Superfights, the 1995 Tony Leung Siu-Hung film about the realities of a WWE-esque promotion. The only other thing I heard he did was a karate instruction tape for kids.

Definitely underrated these days in Hollywood, the returning Kane Kosugi. He hit it big in Japan with his role on "Ninja Sentai Kakuranger" and 2002's "Muscle Heat". Since then, he played Hayabusa in "D.O.A.: Dead or Alive" and recently, fought Jet Li in "War".

But considering that DOA was blasted by pretty much everyone and their mothers and well, the fight between Kosugi and Li lasted what 15 seconds??? He has the amazing skills, yet it seems outside of Japan, he is relegated to minor roles. Personally, I would love to see him be the lead in a Hollywood action film or better yet, return to the "Sasuke/Ninja Warrior" contest for a small comeback...that would be awesome.

Michael Lambert I feel is also underrated. He was the kicking member of the 701 Squad who faced Jet Li in Black Mask and played a series of minor roles and stunt roles. His most recent work was as a stunt coordinator on the new Mummy movie that's coming out and I have a feeling he is going to be Brendan Fraser's double as well. He definitely has the martial arts skills and look of a lead actor, so why doesn't he get lead roles???

Sorry for my ranting and raving...just saw "War" two nights ago and seeing the Li-Kosugi fight inspired me to wonder and what better place than here on the KFC Forums :D

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Chiu Man Cheuk

Xing Yu

Fan Siu Wong

That reminds me..Fan Siu-Wong is starring in a new movie called Moss, where he plays a vagabond fighter. He got sick on the set of the movie because of the greasy clothing and shooting near trash filled areas. Plus, he doesn't used stylized fighting but a more MMA-like thing according to sources.

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Fan Siu Wong is way underrated. I don't know why this guy wasn't used more often in films. His skills are top notch kinda reminds me of an Alexander Lo.:cool:

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Morgoth Bauglir

Xin Xin Xiong- he stole the show from Jet in OUATIC 6

Scott Adkins- in Bourne Ultimatum he gets more screen time in the special features than he does in the movie.

Chuck Jeffreys- after seeing this guy's amazing skills in Bloodmoon, I don't understand how he doesn't get more action roles.

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I agree with Chuck Jeffreys. He is great in Bloodmoon, Superfights, Deathmatch (where he fights Richard Norton - the best fight in the film), and Honor and Glory (first movie I saw with him).

Chuck and I used to email each other back and forth. He told me about what happened on the set of Blade: Trinity when they finished shooting.

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Chuck Jeffreys is cool. How about TJ Storm? I was never into US martial arts films, but he lit up the screen when he was there.

Scott Adkins is a great bloke. That fight with Jackie Chan in Medallion was a full length piece, but cut for the final film. Such a shame. But never mind, Scott really has made a name for himself now. He's a good actor too, so hopefully he'll get his chance at a bigger role in an A-list movie soon.

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TJ Storm is great too. I liked him in The Ultimate Game and well, his little breakdancing bit in Breathing Fire Hahaha

Scott Adkins is awesome. His fight against the villain's henchman in Special Forces was awesome IMO and I'm glad he has proved himself not only as a martial arts action star, but as an actor as well. I can't wait to see The Shepherd with him and Van Damme.

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jerry trimble- should've been in more movies

loren avedon- fun to watch fight but almost unbareable to watch him do anything else

and why can't gary daniels and mark dacascos get any good movies? both had like 1 good movie a piece

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I remember that. That's from the Baywatch episode "Kicks". Loren played an old Navy Seal rival of Hasselhoff's Buchanan. The episode also featured Kamel Krifa, who would play Tong Po in Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor as the proprietor of the club where Loren fought David.

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Mark Dacascos - why isn't he making more MA movies I can't understand it.

It's good to see quite a few of these guys you mentioned earlier in the thread now getting work.

I wouldn't say Wu Jing is underrated but it would be great to see him make some good films!

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kingofkungfu2002
Mark Dacascos - why isn't he making more MA movies I can't understand it

He recently said on his Facebook that after his stint on Dancing With The Stars, he was going to be returning to his roots and will be making more martial arts movies. Apparently he's had a number of offers since DWTS, so we'll see :bigsmile:

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He recently said on his Facebook that after his stint on Dancing With The Stars, he was going to be returning to his roots and will be making more martial arts movies. Apparently he's had a number of offers since DWTS, so we'll see :bigsmile:

Fingers crossed appearing on such a popular mainstream programme will kick-start his career. Looking on i m d b it seems like he did quite well. Anyway let's hope Mark gets the opportunity to work with the right people. He really deserves to make a few more quality martial-arts films. It's sad seeing so many poor films he's been in and so few good ones.

Would be good to see him work with someone like Donnie, maybe playing a couple of bad guy roles in Asian films. Then taking the lead in his own right after re-establishing himself?

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On 1/8/2008 at 9:36 PM, SimonMW said:

If you want to see something unusual, here's Loren fighting David Hasselhoff!

 

So I wanted to share this article I found. So, the focus on the episode was a young kickboxer named Steve Thorn, who was disqualified after illegally hitting Matt in a kickboxing tournament but before, struck up a friendship with Summer before Loren Avedon's Michael brings him to an illegal fight ring. The article is on the actor who played Steve. His name is Scott Thorsen and he was an actual kickboxing champion who fell hard on drugs before bouncing back up and finding God. 

https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/life/faith/2014/11/14/former-drug-addict-kickboxer-shares-message-hope/19049229/

 

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