paulclaassen Better than expected. I actually thoroughly enjoyed this low-budget, straight-to-video film. A few surprises, as well. Lorenzo Lamas made a credible hero.

Leofwine_draca FINAL IMPACT is one of many duds from the PM Entertainment group, a cheap riff on KICKBOXER that fails to ignite either in the ring or outside of it. The plot sees B-movie staple Lorenzo Lamas playing a seasoned fighter who takes on a young apprentice and trains him up to battle some brawling muscle dudes. Michael Worth is the nominal lead and has no redeeming values in this film whatsoever, while Lamas is on autopilot. The story is a mix of melodrama and repetitive fight scenes in the arena, but there's never any sense of menace or suspense, just tedium. Watch out for the statuesque Mimi Lesseos and Gary Daniels in a bit part as a fighter.

utility_infielder In my search to catch up on all the PM Entertainment movies that have somehow eluded me over the years, I finally checked out 'Final Impact' today. And I have to say that I enjoyed it.I was a little disappointed by the lack of action, but genuinely surprised by the amount of drama.Llamas plays Nick, a former champion kickboxer who can't handle the realities of life after losing to over-the-top bad guy Jake Gerrard, succumbing to alcoholism and depression. Nick finds a way to turn it all around by training a young Michael Worth (who delivers a good performance) to take on Jake and exact his revenge in the ring, fist-to-fist.It's no 'Rocky,' though it tries to be. The fight scenes are decent and shot pretty well (the foley work is laughably cheese at times). But the performances are all around solid and the music is enjoyable. Vegas made for a beautiful backdrop to the film as well.'Final Impact' reminded me greatly of another PM classic, 'Deadly Bet.' Though, 'Deadly Bet' has slightly better action so I give that one the advantage.If you like PM Entertainment films, or a little drama with your kickboxing, you really can't do any better than 'Final Impact.'

Comeuppance Reviews In the late 80's and early 90's, video store shelves were clogged with Punchfighting,shootfighting,kickfighting,legfighting,armfighting, and ???-fighting movies. These macho meathead fests featured oiled-up men in singlets mindlessly pounding each other. We don't mean to "bash" these flicks, but the fact is they came in the wake of successes like "Bloodsport" and "Kickboxer" (I proudly own all the punch-fighting films up for review on this site.) Despite their knockoff status, they are clearly trying and mostly succeeding in pure entertainment value. Also most of the fighters in the movies are skilled martial artists and it is a pleasure to watch them fight.Sure, everyone knows the big names in the beat-em ups such as Van Damme and Seagal. But without the direct-to-video B market for these films we wouldn't have a new class of action star. Where would we be without: William Zabka, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Jeff Speakman, Matthias Hues, and Gary Daniels? The answer: NOWHERE! This time around, Lamas plays jaded, tequila-swilling ex-fighter Nick Taylor who now promotes underground kick-fighting matches. When young Turk Danny Davis (Worth) a fresh-faced rookie fighter comes into Taylor's world, Taylor sees his potential as a top-kicker and trains him to be the best and be a kick-fighting champion in Las Vegas. But he has to first he has to defeat the spoiled Johnny Cage-like Hollywood fighter Jake.On his way up to the top he has to fight a young Gary Daniels. Nick has continuous flashbacks to his defeat in the ring years ago at the hands of the dastardly Jake. Now he and Danny have to get even. Also there is the prerequisite street fight in a place called the "Neon Graveyard".One of the funniest parts of the movie is during one of Nick's flashbacks. In the grand tradition of Ian Borger and Fan favorite Ron Marchini, Lamas bellows in slow mention "Nooooooooooo!!!" But Worth as Danny Davis gets the best line of the movie when in an argument with Nick he retorts: "If I'm so predictable, how come I'm the light-heavyweight champ of Ohio?!" Nick feels the burn of this nonsensical zinger.If there was no Lamas, There would be no movie. But the real star of the show are Lorenzo's outfits: He wears a leather vest with no shirt for most of the movie, it's about 40 minutes in until we see our first shirt.Make an "Impact"ful statement by buying this classic tonight!