Silent Assassins [DVD]

I got this DVD and I am not amused about it. The picture quality is soft without good sharpness because the label BANKMUSIC did a simple VHS to DVD transfer with a bitrate of maximum 4900. It's a constant bitrate and so I think it's a DVD-recorder record. You can see some typical VHS dropouts.
The sound of this DVD is poor, too because I think the real sound was mono and they upgrade it to stereo.
The movie self is a good and cheesy eighties film with Sam Jones and in a little role Linda Blair but the DVD release is a fragment of jurassic time.
Keep your money for better DVDs like this.

I must admit, the only reason why I saw this film and am so intereted in this film is because I am in it. If you look on the back of the jacket, I am photographed on the right side and am the one that is being strangled. If you watch this movie, I am the one that is the waiter and goes downstairs for a bottle of wine. I enjoyed the movie and I hope that you do too.

Ol' Sam Jones' career as an action hero never really picked up following Flash Gordon. Even though he'd show up in a handful of low budget martial arts flicks around this time, you still have to wonder what the heck he's doing in "Silent Assassins". In the end, this Korean-American urban adventure is much more of a vehicle for martial arts master Jun Chong than it is for the big blonde guy from Chicago, making me think that he was simply cast to help sell the movie. Then again, I don't want to be too critical of him, since I actually like the guy. The movie itself could have been much better, but even as is, it's a worthy time-killer.

The story: a retired cop (Jones) and a martial artist (Chong, Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave) search for a brilliant scientist and a little girl who have been kidnapped by a terrorist with deadly plans for the former's skills (Gustav Vintas, Vampire at Midnight).

For a trashy karate flick, this one boasts some surprisingly acceptable acting. Gustav Vintas is sort of dreadful, but Academy Award nominee Mako (The Sand Pebbles) makes a strong showing as an ex-Yakuza lord and the great TV character actor Bill Erwin (Gunsmoke) does well as the kidnapped scientist. Jun Chong is too meek to make much of an impression when he's not throwing kicks, but Sam Jones is likeable and even displays some chemistry with his onscreen girlfriend Linda Blair. Dramatic performances aside, however, the screenplay calls for some B-grade silliness: Sam's character does some curious things like gluing a stalker to a wall, and delivers lines like "Why are we wasting time with this wet-nosed yuppy!"

It takes a surprisingly long time to get to the martial arts action we all want out of a flick like this. Master Chong throws a few kicks here and there, but for almost the entire first hour, it's just gunfighting. Sam Jones supplies this, but once the last third of the film starts, you might as well forget him. Around this time, the duo is joined by Philip Rhee (Best of the Best series), and both he and Chong deliver three very satisfying fights. Even Mako has a decent bout by dueling an ax-wielding attacker with a sword. Chong is clearly the star of the action, though, and while I haven't seen every movie he's been in, I think this one's certainly a highlight for him, as he delivers smooth, lengthy bouts and handles weapons well.

To date, this is the only American feature that director Lee Doo-Yong has produced, and seeing that his usual fare tends to be drama, I have a feeling he couldn't wait to be done with this project. Nevertheless, while the direction is plain, it's never sloppy, and the shadowy cinematography never detracts from the onscreen action. A few more real fight scenes in the movie's first half could have pushed this one's rating up another star, but even as it is I'd recommend it (for a cheap price!) to someone wanting to see a few kicks.

First of all...in this movie you have two martial artists who are experts in Tae Kwon Do and when they make films, they make sure that they always have good fight cheographers involved. The two main actors are Phillip Rhee (Best Of The Best) and Jun Chong (Street Soldiers, Ninja Turf). This film also has Mako, Sam Jones and Linda Blair and all three actors play a good part in this movie.

This is the plot: An american biochemist, who posesses the secrets to a potentially lethal chemical formula is kidnapped with a young korean girl who was caught in the middle of a shootout and taken hostage after her parents are savagely murdered by the mercenaries. Against the objections of his girlfriend Sarah (Linda Blair) Detective Sam Kettle (Sam Jones) takes on the investigation. His job becomes a mission of vengeance when the ruthless gang tries to attack Sarah and with the help of a Korean cop who is searching for the kidnapped little girl things are intended to get more interesting.

I liked this movie and would recommend it if you are a martial arts fan of martial arts movies. There isn't a heap of martial arts action and the movie can get a bit long...but the real fun begins towards the end when the good guys ambush a military base and use their martial arts skills to save the day. Phillip Rhee has some awesome fighting techniques in this movie that is similair to Best Of The Best and his other films but takes on a lot of enemies one after the other and makes it look simple, gotta love it!

Third rate martial arts knockoff whose only saving grace is an underused Linda Blair in several scenes as the damsel-in-distress. Suppose if you are a Blair completist who HAS to have every movie she's ever been in, this will be of use. Otherwise, avoid.