Wednesday, June 4, 2014

June 4 - Rapid Fire

Today’s movie is a martial arts crime drama with a scene that happens on June 4. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

RAPID FIRE            

Antonio Serrano, a mafia drug distributor travels to Thailand to visit his long-time heroin supplier Kinman Tau. Serrano is having troubles and wants to make himself Tau’s silent partner, but his request is not granted. Meanwhile, on June 4, 1991 [7:56 to 20:50] Jake Lo, an art student in LA passes a protest condemning the Tiananmen Square massacre, where his father was killed.  Jake is tricked into attending a party with Chinese pro-democracy activists. At the party, Jake sees Serrano killing party sponsor Carl Chang, an associate of Tau. He has to use his martial arts skills to survive. Jake is blackmailed into cooperating with the FBI and placed in protective custody. They take him to Chicago to testify against Serrano. Some of the agents watching him are corrupt and try to kill Jake, who manages to escape again by using his martial arms talent. Another effort to kill Jake is prevented by Lieutenant Mace Ryan, a Chicago cop who has been after Tau for 10 years. Ryan blackmails Stewart, the remaining corrupt FBI agent to help Ryan get Tau and he blackmails Jake, who is wanted for killing two FBI agents into helping him. A meet where Stewart delivers Jake to Serrano goes wrong and Stewart is killed. Jake has to use his martial arts abilities to escape and captures Serrano. Jake gets pissed when he learns Ryan already cleared him and decks him.  One of Ryan’s subordinates, Detective Karla Withers, gets the Army intelligence file on Jake’s father who was an agent. She and Jake have a romantic interlude. Ryan’s effort to intercept Tau’s drug shipment at his laundry is unsuccessful, but one of Tau’s henchmen penetrates the jail and kills Serrano. Karla persuades Jake to help Ryan get Tau in an unofficial operation.  Jake wears a wire into the laundry, posing as a worker.  Tau grabs Withers and Ryan. Jake saves the day and Tau is killed trying to get way from Jake. Jake goes back into the burning laundry to bring out an injured Ryan.

A passable martial arts film. The fights are believable and realistic. A pretty good crime drama. The romance between Jake and Kate seems out of place in this film. Still it’s entertaining, as long as you don’t expect an Oscar winning film.

Great Events From History, The 20th Century, 1971-2000, Vol. 4 1985-1990 ed by  Robert F. Gorman (Salem Press, Pasadena, Ca, 2008) p. 2318

Producer - Robert Lawrence

Director - Dwight H. Little

Screenplay - Cindy Cirile and Alan McElroy

Runtime – 1 hour 35 minutes

Released – August 21, 1992

Starring –

Brandon Lee as Jake Lo
Powers Boothe as Lieutenant Mace Ryan
Nick Mancuso as Antonio Serrano
Raymond J. Barry as Agent Frank Stewart
Kate Hodge as Karla Withers

Copyright by Ivan Walters 2014. 



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