Knights (1993) Movie Review

Knights is a 1993 post-apocalyptic action sci-fi martial arts movie written and directed by Albert Pyun, starring kickboxer Kathy Long, Kris Kristofferson, Scott Paulin, Gary Daniels and Lance Henriksen. Shot in Utah and distributed by Paramount straight to the home video market, the film is now considered to be one of the most likable Pyun movies and one of the movies that best exemplify his work, especially when it comes to his muscular female leads in action roles.

In a futuristic and technologically advanced dystopian world, Job and his army of cyborgs enslave and capture humans to feed off of them. Nea (Long) is rescued by a cyborg named Gabriel (Kristofferson), a good cyborg who was created to get rid of the evil cyborgs, and trains her to become a killer of half-human machines. 

This is an insane and wild post-apocalyptic wasteland movie about the human capabilities for survival in the face of devastation and destruction of order and civilization, an idea incarnated in the human of flesh and blood who fights for the survival and well being of captive humans against humanoid but technically perfect and enhanced cyborgs, a cyborg killer. All with a wonderful female lead who grows and becomes a badass with a fantastic final battle that's extended to unbelievable lengths. 

Long is quite great in the title role but she kind of gets her action role activated somewhat late into the movie after her training. However, when the violence starts, it stretches itself all throughout a long climactic battle with an unstable array of punches, kicks, martial arts throws and stabbings to the max. It's a show that delights and amazes by its perfect handling of the timing and millimetrical editing to achieve the maximum effect. Pyun was a master at action and the choreography in this movie lives up to his reputation. He shoots the film like sci-fi wasteland fever dream with his wide angle lens close to the actor's faces and extravagant but precise shot compositions.

The plot itself is simple and straightforward, which is very helpful when it's concentrated on driving the action to the next place and when Pyun gets a good excuse to throw in some nice physical artistry he is known for but when it's introducing the setting and the characters it might get a little messy, that's mostly because the physicality, the movements and bodies Pyun focuses on, exists in the filmmakers work before the story concerns or plot. 

It achieves a rough look quite well in this dirty and ravaged setting, but everything is technically polished and has some more than functional practical special effects that aesthetically add a lot to the grungy and unclean post-apocalyptic world the film takes place in. So it all has a very proper appearance, something that's quite impressive given its low budget.

A totally recommended movie for anyone looking for a relentless action flick if they can stomach some low budget oddities and a wild tone.

The women of Nemesis (1992)

Nemesis is an action/sci-fi film directed by Albert Pyun (Vicious Lips, Knights, Raven Hawk, Left for Dead) about a cyborg named Alex Rain who questions his humanity and alliance with the LAPD after an encounter with information terrorists. 

The film is a good pistol opera and features some great action scenes and shootouts, all within a somewhat derivative but well told story. The series then became female lead over time but this one is populated with action women as well, some cyborgs, some fully organic. In fact, the movie was originally going to star a tough 13 year old girl (with the same Alex Rain name), Megan Ward, the teenage star of Pyun's own Arcade (1993), would have played the leading role but the concept was changed when investors wanted to add kickboxer Olivier Gruner to the film. Bad luck. 

Despite that, Pyun managed to add strong female characters to the film, like Rosaria (Jennifer Gatti), the leader of a militant group called The Red Army Hammerheads, who faces off against the protagonist at the start of the film. She is the one who makes the protagonist question his humanity, calling him more machine than human.

After the opening sequence Rosaria is killed by Alex and he goes on with his life and decides to leave the police force.

There´s also the female android named Jared (Marjorie Monaghan), who uses the body of another cyborg named Julian (Deborah Shelton from Silk Degrees and Sins of the Night) as an avatar to aid Alex. This serves as an opportunity to have a badass Julian engaging in devastating shootouts, even destroying her body almost completely.

Later on, Alex finds Rosaria´s little sister, Max Impact (Merle Kennedy from 2002´s May), a tomboyish and athletic teen (kind of Tank Girl-looking) who seeks revenge but eventually manages to overcome her hatred of Alex when he switches sides. She then helps him destroy the evil machine that replaced the commissioner of police. I have the theory that Alex´s original teenage personality and design were then incorporated into Max, I can't confirm that but it seems apparent considering her personality and looks.

A highly recommended entry if you like elaborate gunslinging action and some fun scifi roller coaster action. 

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) Movie Review

This third film in the Resident Evil franchise came out after the successful but not very well reviewed Apocalypse. Director Russell Mulcahy (Ozploitation filmmaker of Highlander fame) held the reins of this production with a script by Paul W. S. Anderson himself. Milla Jovovich reprised her role as Alice and starred alongside Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Iain Glen, Ashanti, Mike Epps and Christopher Egan.

Taking place some time after the zombie outbreak of the first two films, which has now become a global problem, survivors from Raccoon City are crossing the Mojave desert in order to reach Alaska (which is supposed to be a safe place) and escape the undead flesh eaters. The T-Virus reaches animals as well and causes an ecological disaster, making the wasteland environment even more dangerous. Alice intercepts the travelling group and joins them in their journey as her superhuman abilities keep increasing.

By changing the setting from apocalyptic to post-apocalyptic I think the film gets rid of the main appeal of the original, the line between borderline chaos and complete degradation of human society and civilization has been crossed and it sort of develops into a mostly generic movie of its type with desolated deserts, fringe cannibal families and groups of survivors moving in vehicles while trying to stay alive and organizing. Nothing special and quite derivative, but in line with the director's previous work.

I will say that the direction is less frantic and the film is slightly more worried about handling the scenery and the intensity of the moment rather than rapidly moving onto the next scene, which makes it less fluid but gives you more time to breathe and digest the world and situations. The rest keeps up with the fast pace of the other films, with quick editing and constant, to the point of saturation, action and fight scenes that become more and more spectacular as the series goes on.

The dirty and grainy look serves the film right as the forsaken junkyard texture works well with the coarseness of the concept and the wardrobe and change of style Alice goes through in this movie is also quite cool and pleasant. The enemies are just as intimidating and this time we have some human threats as well but the only real good additions are the crows, which do become creepy. The comedy is pretty much sidelined here and it never feels intrusive.

There are certain well planned and well timed sequences that give us some really unsettling imagery, like the scene with the crows, that very much add to the desperation and urgency of the scene. The swift camera movements and the somewhat old but still convincing cgi along with practical effects give a very commendable visual aptitude to the overall aesthetic work.

Recommended for anyone who likes some disheveled post-apocalyptic desert action flick with gore and blood.