High Voltage (1998)

Enjoyable for Antonio Sabato Fans

I enjoyed the movie, but I am a big Antonio Sabato fan. Although Antonio plays the part of a "bad guy," he is one of the "good" bad guys. August 8, 2006

To thine own taste, be true!

To say that High Voltage is either a good or a bad movie would be too much of a generalization. In fact, one must understand the lengths that American production companies have gone through to imitate Asian action cinema. Many have failed, to say the least, but only so few have managed to succeed since the heydays of the No Retreat No Surrender trilogy-namely Steve Wang (Drive), and the director of High Voltage, Isaac Florentine.

Florentine's filmmaking style sets itself apart from the rest with the use of fantasy-based conceptual storytelling, with the help of some of the best action choreography and coordination ever seen on screen. But as usual, his films do not stand without some level of mediocrity of its own, since a lot of what brings a good action film to life depends not only on the know-how, but also a good budget that helps bring more to the table for a filmmaker to make a movie look good on screen. Such is the case of High Voltage.

Despite its low budget, the movie has a lot of really nice production qualities, as well as some good acting done by Antonio Sabato Jr., Antonio Sabato Sr., George Kee Cheung, James Lew, Amy Smart, Shannon Lee, and William Zabka. The gun battles are spectacular as well as the fight sequences, thanks to Koichi Sakamoto and the Alpha Stunt team, who have brought a much needed upgrade to the American standard of martial arts entertainment.

Personally, I give this film a lot of credit because I like it, and we need more films like this in the American circuit. Isaac Florentine brings as much style and substance to his films as he can with a limited budget, and succeeds for the most part.

Being an action film junkie all my life, I have come to the conclusion that the only reason why I "liked" the shtick featuring Billy Blanks, Gary Daniels, Olivier Gruner, Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton (Post HK film career), Jalal Merhi, and Don "The Dragon" Wilson, was because it was all I ever had thrown in my face for almost 10 years. American cinema has a chance to redeem itself, and nonetheless continues to waste its efforts on films like Pit Fighter (don't cast Scott Adkins if you're not going to use him) and Lessons For An Assassin (Koichi and Shannon should be ashamed for that one).

All I have to say is this: Undisputed 2 will be out in '06. In the meantime, take a look at High Voltage and pacify yourself for awhile. It'll be worth it! November 23, 2005

High Voltage for DVD

Now this movie had bad acting, and bad music, but did it deliver on action ! The shootouts in this movie seem straight out of Hong Kong. If you want to see a "B" movie with "A" Quality shootouts then this is for you. ( When did Bruce Lee's daughter look so good)? February 21, 2000

OKAY

I am a fan of Antonio's but I will speak frankly - this movie was cheesy. It was okay. It is always a thrill to see that hunk -- and an extra thrill to see his father (Good Lord! He is more built than his son! WOW!)-- but the movie was not very good. Sorry-- it's really only for hard core Antonio fans. What's with the marriage scene! That was lame! But overall it is okay. January 14, 2000

Good action picture with a believable plot.

Antonio Sabato Jr. and Shannon Lee do a good and believable job of portraying bad guys being chased by the Vietamese mafia. The surprise appearance by the other Mr. Sabato was a nice touch. Both the leads do well enough with the brawling sequences that no standins were used for many scenes. This lets the camera show the characters faces and bodies while fighting and the crew of this film did a good job with this. This is the first time I saw Bruce Lee's daughter play a significant role in a movie, and I must say I was impressed. Her acting showed good emotional content and her action sequences were well done. She plays a character who works for the mafia but ends up helping Antonio's character out. The body language between her and Sabato was good. I was disappointed that there was not more martial arts type action since I had seen Ms. Lee on Martial Law doing some impressive kicking and tai chi. Maybe her next movie will show off her martial arts talents more. Martial arts action pictures could certainly use a new female lead who can act as well as kick the bad guys. If you like a good action picture with gangsters, a handsome hero, and a beautiful heroine as well as an interesting plot then this movie is for you. Bruce Lee fans may also find it interesting because it is one of Shannon Lee's first appearances, but I expect we will see more of her in the future. October 26, 1999

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