Search - Blood Heat on DVD

2nd reviewer got it right, I felt absolutely nothing

morgoth | omaha, NE | 06/06/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Luckily though, this movie has some of the most kick ass fight scenes I have seen in a long time. Kane Kosugi is certainly someone to look out for. Ken Lo did look a bit slow, but just so you know, his and jackie's legs on the close ups are slightly sped up for DM 2. But anyway, Lo looks really really good in this. Add in a fat guy who can SERIOUSLY fight(not the blonde guy, though I am sure he is a real fighter), and a final fight that will blow you away, it adds up to a flick that is AT LEAST worth a rental(if you can). But there I go mentioning the final fight, AWESOME, until the end of it. One word to describe it------dissapointment. That is the only word to describe it. Then they have the nerve to put a make it seem justified by making you think that you should have cared about the characters. What? Am I supposed to just now believe we are in in this futuristic world even though they don't even freaking dwell on it for more than 2 total minutes? And then throw in a spectacualr final fight with a dissapointing ending. You have a 3 star movie. A cool 3 starrer, but nothing more.

Picture is widescreened and near perfection. Sound is 2-channel and good with good subtitles. The extras are plentiful with GREAT behind the scenes stuff, this actually almost caused me to give the movie a 4. IMHO-the director had no idea what he was doing. It also has a couple other cool featurettes you will like.

5/5 for the dvd release itself.

But again, this movie is dissapointing and i have to make at least one more point why. And I can't name all my problems with this movie, so I will put in the one that it is fitting to the title. Blood Heat, they didn't really exlpain this so I will have to make a guess at it. It makes you stronger?

Dissapointment.
Dissapointment big time!!!!!
Dissapointment on many levels!!!!!!!!!!
Dissapointment."

Like father, like son.

mr. snrub | Out there in La La Land | 12/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With the news of Jet Li's intention to retire from martial arts movies, it seems that candidates to be his successor are popping up all over the world. In Thailand, Tony Jaa has shown fantastic promise with ONG BAK and TOM YUM GOONG. In France, his KISS OF THE DRAGON co-star Cyril Raffaelli strutted his stuff in the french flick BANLIEUE 13. And in Japan, Kane Kosugi, son of Ninja film legend Sho Kosugi, takes his shot a martial arts stardom with BLOOD HEAT and comes out a winner.

U.S. Navy Seal Joe Jinno (Kane Kosugi) is released from an American military detention center to the decrepit Tokyo of 2009 as an agent recruited by the Japanese government to bust drug traffickers. The most popular drug is an extrmely addictive steroid known as Blood Heat. Drug lords, hiding out in the worst parts of Tokyo, push their products while running a no-rules combat circuit where fighters, high on Blood Heat battle to the death. Joe's partner Aguri Katsuragi (Sho Aikawa) is captured by drug lord Kenji Rai (Masaya Kato)and forced to fight in the circuit against Blood Heat addict Lee Son-min (Ken Lo). He's brutally killed and Joe vows revenge. While Kenji attempts to force a scientist to manufacture more Blood Heat, Joe allies himself with Aguri's daughter and a group of orphaned children known as "Sewer Rats" and they declare war on the drug lord and his operation.

Let me just say that I, for one, am glad that drug dealers have finally made a name for a drug that can be an apprpriate action movie tittle. Kane has some of the fastest moves put on film.
He seems to always be attacking his opponents from every direction, and is able to deliver more punches in a split second than you can possibly count.

Several matches are worthy some karate oscar award. The hallway fight, which begins with Kane turning a corner and hurling two knives down the hall, is mind-blowing, and may be the the only scene since the original POLICE STORY to shatter so much glass. Kane's lenghty cage match with Ken Lo, who is aging but nevertheless can kick with the best of them, provides some of the best action. Kane's aggression in this scene is unparalled by any other fight in BLOOD HEAT.
The final match between Kane and Masaya Kato, of DRIVE fame, is also well done, and, to quote kungfucinema.com, "may be the first time in film history that two screen fighters duel with sledgehammers."
BLOOD HEAT ranks up with other great Japanese martial arts movies as THE PRINCESS BLADE and is fully worthy of repeated viewing. Kane's stepping out from his father's shadow mirrors Brandon Lee stepping out of Bruce's shadow and making a few great movies of his own before his tragic death (RAPID FIRE being the best one.) Kane may be new to having the lead in a martial arts movie, but if BLOOD HEAT is an indication of anything, it's of Kane's ability to carry an action movie.


"

A pretty good action showcase for Kane Kosugi

Steven Fujita | Long Beach, CA | 01/10/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Blood Heat is described by its participants as a Hong Kong style action flick. I also think it was meant to be a stepping stone for Kane Kosugi, son of Sho, an action star of the 80's. This movie, from 2002, is a classic "B" film, great on the action, short on the plot.

The fight scenes were choreographed by Jackie Chan collaberator, Sam Won, and it's the reason to watch the film. The cage matches are good, as well as the one on one battle between the character played by Kosugi and Kato at the end. They are not imitations of the Jackie Chan -infused with light heartedness - nor of the Jet Li - infused with futuristic effects - styles, but more of a straight-forward style.

As far as the rationale behind the plot, there were just some things that did not make sense to me, among which, why they requested a Japanese-American court-martialed and jailed ex-Navy SEAL to be released and work in Japan, except to showcase Kosugi's English language abilities. Kosugi's character also has to work through his guilt caused by the event which caused his court-martial. The way he reacts to his partner's "death" is supposed to give him redemption and re-birth, but the film doesn't pull it off. I also understand why Kosugi's character is brooding throughout, and I'm not faulting Kosugi's portrayal, but it certainly didn't cause me to have any care for his character. Nor did I really care for any of the other characters, neither liking nor disliking them. It's a great showcase for Kane Kosugi's abilities for action scenes, but other than that, it's a standard B film."

Just falls short

KDA | Minnesota | 03/05/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"WARNING: SPOILERS (Skip first paragraph to avoid spoilers)
An agent and his partner hired to take out the head dealer of the drug, Blood Heat, is the basic plot. Partner is caught, forced to fight in the Muscle Dome, which is a place where people in desparate need of money bet their life on the winners. Parnter loses and the main character searches for revenge. Meets up with a young girl, a group of underground children who lost their parents to the vises of the Muscle Dome, and his partner's sister. In the end, the head dealer decides to fight with fists instead of using his trusty gun. Guess who wins.

In some action movies, you can identify with the characters, but in this one you could careless about them. I don't know if it was the script or lack of, or maybe too much downtime sitting and thinking by the characters. It gets to the point where you really don't care and just want to fast forward to the fight scenes. This is where the film sheds a little light. They are decent with some interesting moves. They contain a little wire-work, but not enough to really hamper the experience. The movie tries to too subtle and dark, but the characters were unable to back up those objectives. The head drug dealer is a decent actor, until he whips out his English. I've seen him in other movies that had original Japanese and he is a lot better than this. For the most part, people who love action flicks will enjoy the action scenes.

I would definately rent, before making a purchase."