Geochilmaru, Muscle Heat/Bloodheat and Drive

[Snake Plissken]

Geochilmaru (aka: The Showdown) is kind of a low-budget flick and it is doubtful to see blu-ray, but it really is a well-made and thoughtful pic with a decent storyline and awesome, top-notch fight choreography. The kinda shaky digicam filming gives it a low-budget look, but hey.....Blair Witch is on blu-ray so why can't this?

Essentially the storyline is to get a bunch of martial arts masters to fight in a secluded location, but you have a Judoka and a Hapkidist. How often do you see those styles represented front and foremost?

As for Drive.....it is seriously one of the most underrated martial arts films out there. Listen, I like Dacascos and will admit that most of what he touches turns to cheese....save for a couple of films like Brotherhood of the Wolf and maybe Crying Freeman. Features great action, great fight choreography. It predated Rush Hour by a year and features a similar interaction of an urban cop and an Asian fighter and the lulz are to commence. The final fight between Dacascos and Masaya Kato (who was good in Bloodheat/Muscle Heat...another want list film) is pretty darn tight.

Muscle Heat aka Bloodheat features Sho Kusigi's (old 1980s ninja movies and most recently Ninja Assassin) son Kane Kosugi as a court martialed Navy SEAL sent to Japan to look into the sale and distribution of a drug called Muscle Heat. He winds up in cage fights, hilarity ensues. Kosugi was also in DOA: Dead or Alive where he held his own along side Robin Shou.

All three deserve release.