Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002

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"I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass...and I'm all outta bubble gum."      -Rowdy Roddy Piper as Nada, in They Live I can diggit. THE STORY Ultimate Fights From The Movies is a compilation of intense fight scenes from movies as diverse as Rumble In The Bronx, Legend Of Drunken Master, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (classic martial arts);  Blade and Gladiator (weaponry);  Snatch, The Player's Club, and They Live (fist fighting);  and Scarface and The Killer (shootouts). The scenes are shown as straight-on clips from each movie, presented as if the featured characters were boxing title match opponents. It's a no-frills presentation - until you dive into the "special features" portion of the DVD. THE UPSHOT Whether it's a top ten list, an awards show, or just a coupla friends kickin' it around, any "best of" compilation is sure to have its detractors; and as much as I enjoyed Ultimate Fights From The Movies, this compilation is no exception. Simply looking at its list of movie fight scenes had me boggled from jump. Come on now, First Blood, considered Ultimate anything? Ultimate bullocks, maybe...but I played along anyway, and pretty much enjoyed what I saw, even though I grumbled over what wasn't there. Sorry, but from where I sit, any list of Ultimate movie fights that doesn't include a single Bruce Lee scene, just doesn't cut the mustard. And no, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story doesn't count. But the real story behind Ultimate Fights From The Movies comes from its feature-packed DVD Thingies. DVD THINGIES The static list of DVD special features I included above, doesn't do justice to the fun I had in playing with what FlixMix proclaims as "Over 5 Hours Of Action-Packed Special Features!". My chuckling at the hyperbole aside, the extras do provide some interesting background as to the reasons why some of the scenes were chosen, as well as two cool commentary tracks, by "Hollywood Fight Master" James Lew, and Producer/Director Tsui Hark. Other nice extras included: "Behind The Punches" featurette: Lew explains how fight scenes are meticulously staged (with a now creepy-looking Jean-Claude Van Damme providing additional commentary); "Fight Cards": my favorite special feature; it extends the boxing match metaphor by giving "key stats for each fight", as well as a running Fight Master commentary on the scene; "FlixFacts Animated Trivia": inline trivia and production notes with each scene; "Ultimate Rumble Party Mix": I didn't care for this feature, but my techno music-loving son, ate it up; "Name That Frame": you're shown a still from the listed movies, and have to pick the movie it's from. Since I don't have a PC DVD-ROM [when will they start programming DVD-ROM features that will run on my Mac? grumble], this and one other special feature was the closest I came to DVD interactivity. "MY TOP 5" With the "My Top 5" option offering a chance for a free ego stroke, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. So - given the limited choices of scenes to pick from in this collection, and given that I haven't seen some of them in toto - what's my top five Ultimate Movie Fights list? I thought you'd never ask... Legend Of Drunken Master: if only for John Lo's kicks; Rumble In The Bronx: Jackie Chan's use of his "environment" throughout, was awesome; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: no surprise, considering my love for this film; Snatch: Brad Pitt may have gotten his pretty face smashed up to more fanfare in Fight Club, but not nearly as with Snatch director Guy Ritchie's stylish flair; They Live: mad props to Roddy Piper and Keith David for doing all their own fighting. And while I'm here, let me just say that if your best bud is willing to take an ass-whuppin just to get you to wear some shades, put them on, eh? BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE The inclusion of some WTF?WTFF?-able movies and their scenes - and the omission of what I'd consider to be no-brainer Best Fight Ever movies - affect Ultimate Fights From The Movies only inasmuch as any such list of "bests" holds weight. In the end, such subjective lists and awards, whether offered by experts or even lowly critics, just goes to show that it's all in the eye of the beholder. That said, the real value of Ultimate Fights From The Movies is in its many special features, especially the commentary tracks that explain the expert's choices. I'm hoping FlixMix will do a series of "Ultimate Fights", including true old school classics in the mix next time. ULTIMATE FIGHTS FROM THE MOVIES:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/