Rapid Fire (1992)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Dwight H. Little

Writers (WGA):

Cindy Cirile (story) and
Alan B. McElroy (story) ...

Release Date:

21 August 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Unarmed and extremely dangerous.

Plot:

When student Jake Lo witnesses a killing, he finds himself caught between two feuding drug lords. Betrayed...

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Heroin Smuggling | Heroin | Nude Modeling | Surveillance

Cast

Brandon Lee	...	Jake Lo
Powers Boothe	...	Mace Ryan
Nick Mancuso	...	Antonio Serrano
Raymond J. Barry	...	Agent Frank Stewart
Kate Hodge	...	Karla Withers
Tzi Ma	...	Kinman Tau
Tony Longo	...	Brunner
Michael Paul Chan	...	Carl Chang
Dustin Nguyen	...	Paul Yang
Brigitta Stenberg	...	Rosalyn
Basil Wallace	...	Agent Wesley
Al Leong	...	Minh
François Chau	...	Farris
Quentin O'Brien	...	Agent Daniels
D.J. Howard	...	Sharpie

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:16+ (Quebec) | South Korea:18 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | USA:R (certificate #31442) | Finland:(Banned) (1992) | Finland:K-18 (2001) (cut) | Iceland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:M | Germany:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Norway:18 (video rating) (1992) | Norway:(Banned) (1992-2003) (cinema release) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Brandon Lee was a self-confessed Jackie Chan fan, who in turn was a fan of Lee's father Bruce Lee. Brandon pays homage to Chan by incorporating key moves from Ging chat goo si (1985) and Fei lung mang jeung (1988) in the final fight scenes.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jake is fighting the corrupt FBI guys in the apartment he kicks the gun out of the hands of one of the agents and it falls between the bed and the wall. The next shot shows the gun lying on the bed.

Quotes:

Mace Ryan: Jake, why don't you take your fists of fury outside. You're making the poor man nervous.
Jake Lo: Good.
Mace Ryan: [pointing to himself] This poor man!

Movie Connections:

References Fei lung mang jeung (1988)

Soundtrack:

Can't Find My Way

Showcase

We'll never know what Brandon Lee, who was the son of the late martial arts legend Bruce Lee, would be capable of in Hollywood since he, like his father, died before the peek of his fame, and subsequently a mass following has been built in his memory.

Bruce Lee died just weeks before the American premiere of his last completed film "Enter the Dragon" in 1973. Consequently, Lee had also been working on the "Game of Death" before his passing, which we would later see, meticulously reconstructed (as Lee had intended), in John Little's touching and poignant documentary "Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey."

Brandon was slain by a stunt gun while filming a scene in his last movie, 1994's "The Crow." Using careful CGI techniques, the filmmakers were able to successfully gather enough footage of Lee's performance to complete the film. Lee haunted every frame of Alex Proyas' dark and deeply affecting film, which was the adaptation of James O'Barr's popular comic book character.

Brandon, like his father, was also a talented performer - actor and martial artist. However, if one were looking for Brandon's acting talents, look at "The Crow," as you will not see much of him using martial arts. If one were looking to see him using those martial arts talents, and the best showcase for those talents, look no further than 1992's "Rapid Fire."

"Rapid Fire," from the beginning, has a very flimsy plot, as Lee plays a Chicago art student who witnesses the gangland murder of a South Asian drug lord by Italian mobsters. Lee can't trust anyone, as he's forced to go on the run from gangsters (Asian and Italian), cops, and other corrupt law enforcement officials. It seems that he can only find comfort and protection through his martial arts skills and an independent Chicago police unit headed by a grizzled cop (Powers Boothe).

As stated before, you should only watch "Rapid Fire" for Brandon Lee's martial arts skills, as this is really the best place to see them; you're not going to find them in "The Crow." Brandon did the best that he could with this role and just went with it.

Brandon, like his father, passed on before true success would reign in on him. Like Bruce and "Enter the Dragon," Brandon and his last film "The Crow," will be forever remembered by fans and cinema-goers alike in years to come.

I'm not really sure where "Rapid Fire" would stand in Brandon's short-lived career, other than it was a showcase for his fighting talents. "Rapid Fire" is decent, certainly not perfect, but very fun to watch nonetheless.

7/10