It’s a struggle to tamper expectations here, because although we saw and enjoyed this film, all together the hype is where the rubber doesn’t meet the road. If the “ Beat It” video was made on a shoe-string budget and filled with beer-bellied bikers or emaciated rednecks swinging widly, it still wouldn’t come close to approximating the brawls seen here. The music of Dragon Sound also deserves mention – you will be humming these tracks on your way out, and you will not soon forget the actors flailing around pretending to be musicians while Janotti, the composer, rocks his permed mullet into the night. When a disgruntled band enlists Jeff’s gang to run Dragon Sound out of town, the toughs don’t count on the Taekwondo skills of Mark and his crew. Kim rooms with pals – John ( Vincent Hirsch), Jack ( Joseph Diamand), Jim ( Maurice Smith) and Tom ( Angelo Janotti) - and bandmates in Dragon Sound, who all get their time in the spotlight, in particular Jack, who develops into a legitimate supporting character due to his relationship with Jane ( Kathy Collier), whose brother Jeff ( William Eagle) is in cahoots with the drug ninjas and won’t have his sister dating a no-name musician. Kim set out to make a film that featured bloody ninja action but condemned violence (wait for the third reel coda) – and he somewhat succeeded. It’s funny stuff, no doubt, but also a bit touching in how little cynicism is involved. From the line readings to the fight scenes to basic showcases of emotion, Kim’s intensity is what makes “Miami Connection” memorable, especially as the threadbare plot pauses for martial arts exhibitions on the campus of the University of Florida. The restored result is not the trainwreck you might be expecting – hell, occasionally it’s a little dull – but it is difficult to look away, especially when Kim (as his onscreen counterpart Mark, an orphaned college student who is also a black belt in Taekwondo) delivers any line, big or small. Eleven years later “Miami Connection” would light up screens in Orlando, before falling into obscurity only to be discovered by a programmer of the Alamo Drafthouse and subsequently released by Drafthouse Films, the distribution arm of the hallowed theatrical chain. in 1976, homeless and without a firm grasp on the language. According to his website, Kim arrived in the U.S. Kim, a Taekwondo master, motivational speaker, author and here actor, and co-writer/director. Yet, for all the hints of notorious greatness that the film racks up over the course of ninety occasionally glorious minutes, it’s not about to dethrone the established “classics”.Īt the heart of “Miami Connection” is a jaw-droppingly earnest and occasionally inept attempt to spread the message of Y.K. Let’s pause for a moment – yes, that does sound like a childhood dream come true, provided you grew up digesting schlock fare and dreaming of crossovers that were not to be. Kim and his baby, ostensibly the story of a martial arts-themed rock band that takes on drug-running, motorcycle gang ninjas. The current reigning champ of the lot remains Tommy Wiseau’s incomparable “ The Room” (sorry “ Birdemic” fans, the film is possibly too inept to remain consistently entertaining during its two-hour runtime) but here comes Grandmaster Y.K. To understand the hyperbole being tossed around when so-bad-it’s-good obsessives talk about “ Miami Connection,” it’s vital to acknowledge that the best “bad” movies have a great making-of story.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |