Irresistible Force [VHS]

This is a fairly obscure movie, I had never even heard of it until a short while ago, and I thought I had seen all of Cynthia Rothrock's movies. This was a failed pilot made by CBS, I don't know if it ever aired on the network, certainitly no series ever came to be.

The great Stacy Keach stars as an aging cop, who wants to take things easier on the job, he's always getting shot due to his gung ho anticks. He decides what he needs is a female partner, enter Cynthia Rothrock, who's not quite a cop because she failed the academy for being too agressive. But if Keach can work with her, they'll give her a pass. On their first day, they foil a robbery, get suspended and find themselves battling terroists in a shopping mall, Die Hard style.

A very busy 77 minute run, lots of great action, including some great stuff by Cynthia, when she dose her famous scorpion kick my heart melts. Keach is perfect in the Danny Gloverish role, he's wise and wisecracking. If this never aired on TV it was probably due to the level of violence, this thing is non-stop action like a theatrical movie of it's day. It happens to be one of Rothrock's finest moments, working with one of her biggest budgets and most seasoned actors, with the right oppurtunitie she could have been a star on par with Seagal or Van Damme, only prettier.

It seems that for every so-so action film that Cynthia Rothrock makes, a genuinely good one like this slips through the cracks and into oblivion. Of course, this comes with the territory of being an obscure action heroine, but it is rather disappointing that this long-forgotten TV movie made seventeen years ago is more enjoyable than anything she's performed in during the last fourteen years of her career. Indeed, this is undoubtedly one of Cynthia's best American movies. I cannot speak so surely about fellow star Stacy Keach, but of the relatively few straight action flicks that he's actually starred in, I can't imagine that this one is among the worst. Director Kevin Hooks (Passenger 57) is commendable for taking a small-time production filmed in Australia and making it into something particularly memorable for fans. Don't bother reading to the end, devotees - just click `buy'.

The story: Sergeant Harris Stone (Keach, Mike Hammer, Titus) is an aging daredevil cop with just a few months left before his retirement when he's teamed up with Charlie Heller (Rothrock, Above the Law) - a deceptively beautiful rookie and martial arts machine intended to keep him out of dangerous situations; these prove unavoidable when the fledgling pair find themselves in the middle of a hostage situation in a shopping mall. With Harris on the outside and Charlie stuck on the inside, the two must become the team they never expected to be in order to take down the criminal mastermind (Christopher Neame, Hellbound).

Readers must pardon me for focusing at length about Cynthia, but I get the impression that this is a much more significant movie for her than it is for the Golden Globe winner Mr. Keach. Outside of Hong Kong, Rothrock's relationship with 'A-movies' has been an estranged one: no matter how decent a film of hers may have been, you could always tell by a single glance that it merely was a low-budget martial arts film, but in the case of "Irresistible Force", an exception is made. No, it's not about to be mistaken for a multi-million dollar blockbuster, but this is the only one she's done - with the exception of Fast Getaway - where the commercial intent shines through and the movie could be deemed respectable by casual viewers; in other words, it's an actual `movie', not a special-interest `martial arts movie'. Worry not, though, action fans: Cynthia still gets four remarkably well-shot brawls with plenty of kicks and a few frying pans to the head amidst the smattering of gunfights.

"Irresistible Force" runs at a slim 80 minutes, and that's probably for the best: it is an action movie, after all, and the story didn't need any stretching out. This compactness allows you to enjoy the film for its strengths and pardon the faults that you aren't expected to endure for too long...the most obvious of which is Rothrock's acting. While Keach is consistent in his 'older tough guy' portrayal and Christopher Neame makes a grade hammy villain, Cynthia's lack of dramatic talent shows, even though it takes a while to do so and she's obviously trying hard to remain true to her role. She has a young Michael Bacall (Death Proof) to keep her company on the bad actors' bench, but luckily the complaints stop there: there cast also boasts the ever underrated Paul Winfield (Sounder) as the police commander and Nicholas Hammond (the first person to ever play Spider-Man in 1977's The Amazing Spider-Man) as the special forces chief, and most everybody does a more-than-passable job.

There are a few tidbits introduced in the film - namely that Charlie had applied to the Special Forces but was turned down for being too violent and that she's acrophobic - but aren't really pursued; I would have liked a scene where Charlie's overeagerness or fear of heights really gets her and Harris in trouble, but those are nitpicks when considering that we get a scene where the two of them deck bad guys while riding a motorcycle through the mall. You don't even have to be a fan of any member of the cast to enjoy it - simply being a fan of late-'80s/early-'90s action films is reason enough to buy this one.

I have always been a fan of cynthia rothrock and i do wish you would release this on dvd because i think this was one of her best films.