Mark Turner MVD's Rewind Collection is offering another release, this time the action adventure film BLACK EAGLE starring martial arts star Sho Kosugi in the lead role and a then unknown martial arts actor named Jean-Claude Van Damme as the bad guy's henchman. Let me begin by saying that this series from MVD is great for those of us who not only ran video stores back in the day but frequented them as well. The slipcover for this release will bring back those memories complete with the "Be Kind Please Rewind" stick to the category sticker slight bent tearing off the cover itself.When a US plane carrying a new laser tracking system is shot down over the Mediterranean the country can't afford having it fall into the wrong hands. With some dastardly Russians led by Col. Vladimir Klimenko (Vladimir Skomarovsky) nearby the CIA needs to get an operative to Malta fast. Their second best man is already on his way but they need the best. They need code name Black Eagle.Ken Tani (Kosugi) aka Black Eagle, is already in the middle of a mission but is pulled for this operation. He's unwilling to go since his agreement calls for him to have these two weeks free to be with his sons Brian and Denny (Kosugi's real life sons Kane and Shane). His handler Dean Rickert (William Bassett) has already prepared for this having had agent Patricia Parker (Doran Clark) pick the boys up and take them to Malta already. Tani agrees and heads there as well. In addition to Tani and Parker Father Joseph Bedelia (Bruce French), an ex-demolitions expert who once worked for Rickert but is now a priest in Malta, is recruited as well.Tani arrives and with the help of Bedelia is able to find the sunken aircraft just as the Russian trawler pulls alongside their boat. Helping Col. Klimenko is his personal aide and bodyguard Andrei (Van Damme). Taking photos of Bedelia and Tani they feed them into their computer to find out who they really are. Now the race is on to recover the tracking system first.Of course this will involve a face to face confrontation ala James Bond between combatants where they act civil to one another. That ends and with the gloves off they can now fight using any means necessary. And since the kids are there why not use them as bargaining chips?When Tani and Bedelia go after them to rescue them from a seaside castle the bad guys are no match for Tani's flying fists and swirling kicks. As Bedelia helps rescue the kids and Parker who was captured as well, Tani eventually faces off against Andrei. This is the fight we've been waiting for as martial arts fans. But the fight, while well done, is short lived with Tani leaping into the ocean to join his sons aboard Bedelia's boat.With no choice now but to see the mission through Tani sends his sons to safety. He meditates, puts on camouflage makeup and sets out to board the Russian ship to reclaim the stolen tracking system. And there is no doubt that confrontation between Tani and Andrei will finally take place.I remember seeing the movie when it was first released on video actually having bought it for the store I owned. It was a decent movie then and actually holds up fairly well today. It may not be the greatest of action films but it delivers on all counts. There is story, combat skills, explosions and gunshots enough for any film. It's well shot too and the locations are used to their full effect. Perhaps the weakest component here is the acting abilities of Kosugi's sons, much of which is due to their age.A second weakness is also a problem with the MVD release and that is no subtitles. Both Kosugi and Van Damme, having two distinctive and thick accents, are a bit hard to understand at various points in the film. This isn't a poor reflection on either but it does make you miss some of the dialogue. Perhaps it was decided that the dialogue didn't matter as much as the action. Still, they would have been nice.As I said earlier the MVD Rewind Collection is showing to be one worth picking up. The transfer of film to disc is impressive and well done. And the extra included are some that will please fans of the old video stores. To start with included in the disc is a mini poster for the movie, about the size of those used to decorate the counters at many stores years ago. The extras on the disc are enjoyable as well starting with the option of watching the theatrical cut or an extended version with over 11 minutes' worth of extra footage. In addition to that option there is SHO KOSUGI: MARTIAL ARTS LEGEND a featurette with interviews of both Sho and Shane Kosugi, THE MAKING OF BLACK EAGLE with 2017 interviews with Kosugi, Clark, Shane, Dororta Puzio, director/producer Eric Karson and screenwriter Michael Gonzalez, TALES OF JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME featuring the cast and crew discussing the then unknown who went on to bigger films, THE SCRIPT AND THE SCREENWRITERS featuring both Karson and Gonzales, deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer.It's not only a solid movie that can be enjoyed but the extras are entertaining as well. And for fans of video stores you'll enjoy being able to find yet another of those movies that at one time could only be discovered by making a trip to your local mom and pop store. The memories generated by this release are enough alone to make it one worth picking up.

qormi Okay, they weren't working with the biggest budget here. The plot was a little confusing - if an American plane sunk in the waters off Malta, why doesn't the U.S.Navy send all its resources to retrieve it? Malta is their ally, after all. What's with all the covert stuff? This would be an overt operation. The Russians, meanwhile, are trying to get the jet with the high tech systems on board before the Americans do. It would have been difficult for them if the Americans had about ten ships and ten helicopters searching the waters. But no... they need to send for their #1 agent to do it alone. Pleease!!! Before sending for the Black Eagle, another U.S. agent was assigned. He was caught by the Russians and subsequently dispatched by Van Damme. What was he doing? Trying to attach a homing device to the Russian vessel. Homing device? Why? Malta is seventeen miles long at its widest point. Were they afraid of losing the ship?? Van Damme was cool as the evil Russian guy. In the two fight sequences with the Black Eagle, he actually beat him - the Black Eagle retreated both times before he got killed; both times diving into the water after receiving a beating from Van Damme's character, Andre. Then, Andre first gets shot by the Black Eagle's sidekick, then he gets sucked into a boat's propeller after diving into the water to save his girlfriend. The Black Eagle is the first action hero to get his butt kicked by the bad guy and run away both times! Good location shooting on Malta, a very historical island and fun vacation spot. One funny note: At the end of the film, Black Eagle and his kids are supposed to be in Rome. They are standing at a street corner, looking at the Coliseum. The street corner is obviously still in Malta and it looks as if the camera panned a closeup of a postcard of the Coliseum. Like I said, not much of a budget here.

sveknu This movie looked really cool on the DVD-cover. In addition, this is in 1988, the same year that van Damme starred in Bloodsport. Because of this, the movie had a great potential. Unfortunately, potential doesn't mean anything at all. This movie was in fact a VERY bad one. The plot is surprisingly equal to a Bond movie. An American airplane with a new laser guidance system crashes in the Mediterranena sea. The movie takes place on Malta, where both Soviets and Americans want to get their hands on this airplane. The lead in this movie is not van Damme, but instead Sho Kosugi who plays some kind of American agent. It was surprising to see van Damme as some kind of bad guy, and as a Soviet. The action scenes in this movie are very bad. So is the story, and totally this means that the movie sucks.

davideo-2 STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsThis is an early Van Damme movie,and it shows.Cheaply filmed,cheaply shot,an incomprehensible,incoherent plot,a leading man in the form of the bland,charisma free Sho Kusugi,like a totally ineffective South East Asian James Bond,added to which drab dialogue and drab action,which,for a film of such a genre,there is an abundant lack of,which,on account of the lack of any oscar winning acting or screenplay,makes it quite a boring spectacle to boot.There are a couple of entertaining end showdowns between Kosugi and Van Damme,but they're hardly enough to make this one to be avoided like the plague any less.*