Cynthia Rothrock: The queen of trash karate movies!!

Back in the early nineties—when I was just a kid—I practically inhaled everything involving kung fu, shuriken, or ninjas. I actually believed there were real gangs out there running around practicing martial arts... and that the only way to stand a chance against them was to train twice as hard as they did.

This is getting out of hand. Ma'am. She truly gave the entire genre a unique touch.🙏 🙏 Kung fu movies—they actually changed my entire outlook on life back in the day.

I haven't actually sat down to watch any of her films yet. 😢

Seriously???

It’s a real shame... the woman is right up there with Chuck Norris and those old-school Jackie Chan henchmen—you know the type, the guys in the baggy carrot-colored pants, sweatbands everywhere, and those cheap, half-unbuttoned shirts with the sleeves rolled up... I wonder if you can even find something like that anywhere?

Man, I know that name... I actually sat through one of her movies once... but that's a whole other story altogether...

Which I'm obviously going to vent about right here...😬

So, back when I was a sophomore in high school, a VHS tape of glory and honor was making the rounds in my class. Basically, anyone who had "watched" it just passed the tape along and hyped it up as this incredible action flick and all that garbage.

Anyways, the tape eventually landed in my hands, and they were selling me on the exact same hype. I really want to emphasize how "cinematically vulnerable" my entire grade was, if that makes sense. I was a little suspicious of the tape, but I figured, hey, what's the harm? I'll check it out. I knew my classmates didn't know anything about movies anyway, so I wasn't expecting anything close to the masterpiece they claimed it was.

Anyway, I got home that night—we had school in the afternoon—and after dinner, I popped the tape in. And then the trailers started:

The first one was for the M.A.S.K. cartoon, and I was like, "WTF! Why is there an M.A.S.K. trailer on this tape?" Plus, the other two were for some B-list 80s action flicks.

But nothing could have actually prepared me for what came next...

The movie starts. It has that opening sequence typical of a Godfrey Ho film.

First scene: some reporter is doing an interview. As soon as the interview wraps up, some Asian guy approaches them and accuses the journalist of killing his father.

And then, the journalist and the guy just start brawling, kung-fu style.

Of course, that’s the whole movie. Just random, pointless kung-fu fights with zero plot, zero dialogue, just that terrible, poorly synchronized English dubbing.

I actually fell asleep a few times during the movie.

I fell asleep, sure, but I was the ONLY person in my entire class who actually watched the thing until the end. 🙂

Naturally, I passed the film along to the next naive victim, following the standard pattern of praise.

Oh yeah, we tried to trick our professor into watching it by saying it was a professional production... but she wasn't having any of it...😂

I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure I've got one of those two "China O'Brien" flicks in my collection—she had long hair and was wearing jeans, right?
Anyway, that’s basically all I can recall about the movie😁

Adam Wright56 said:Man, I know exactly what you mean about that... I actually sat through one of her movies once... but that’s a whole different story entirely...

Which, naturally, I'm going to vent about right here...😬

and you'll agree with me that the whole thing is just priceless😁 😁 ...just tell me—was there that scene where some guy grabs her from behind, and she kicks him square in the face, lifting him way up into the air?🙏 🙏

Look, no ninja can touch Sho Kosugi. He’s easily the most badass guy to ever do it, and he just happens to be a legendary ninja at that...😎 😎

Ethan Perez97 said:Please. No ninja can touch Sho Kosugi. He’s the ultimate badass, and he happens to be a ninja on top of that.😎 😎

Man... Sho is an icon...
looks like he has a new movie in the works...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453538/

Does anyone remember that movie where Franca Nero plays a white ninja and Sho Kosugi plays a Black ninja... and Sho loses in the end?
I think... Franca Nero 🙄

And since we're talking about ninjas, there's also The Octagon with Chuck Norris.

Those two films were the peak ninja movies of my childhood. There was also that series starring Charles Bronson and Sho Kosugi.
Dudikoff showed up later.

And btw, I'm pretty sure Cynthia Rothrock was a world champion in kickboxing.

Gerald Rivera60 said:So... Sho is the man...
looks like he’s cooking up another one...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453538/

Can't Wait.

Gerald Rivera60 said:Does anyone remember that flick where Franca Nero plays the white ninja and Sho Kosugi plays the black ninja... and at the end, Sho loses?
I think... Franca Nero 🙄

I remember it, though my absolute favorite growing up was definitely Return of the Ninja...

Quote: Mad Scientist

Ethan Perez97 said:Can't Wait.

I remember it clearly. As a kid, that was definitely my absolute favorite. Return of the Ninja

Is this where Sho fights that guy wearing some kind of metal mask?
The character spent years living in Japan, where he mastered his craft. Now, he’s smuggling drugs inside Japanese dolls... or something to that effect.

I’m fine with that one too.
There’s another one where he isn't wearing the standard mask, but more of a helmet... IMDb says it's titled Pray for Death, and I thought that one was pretty decent too.

I just remembered another one... Ninja III.
A dying ninja transfers his spirit into some girl.
... man, those ninjas.
🙂

Gerald Rivera60 said:Anyone remember that flick where Franca Nero plays a white ninja and Sho Kosugi is the Black ninja... and Sho loses in the end?
I think... Franca Nero 🙄

Is that the one where the white ninja is a cop, gets framed for drugs or murder—something like that—and then goes on a revenge spree?

brightviper24 said:Is that the one where the white ninja works as a cop, gets framed for drugs or murder, and then goes on a revenge spree?

No...
In this one, Franca Nero is getting vengeance for a friend who stood up to a massive corporation.

Gerald Rivera60 said:There was also that series featuring Charles Bronson and Sho Kosugi.
Dudikoff showed up later on.

Man, back in the day, episodes from this series were worth more than their weight in gold...

Gerald Rivera60 said:Is this the one where Sho fights a guy wearing some kind of metal mask?
The character lived in Japan for years, learned his martial arts there, and now he's smuggling drugs inside Japanese dolls... or something along those lines...

Yeah, that's the one 🙂

Gerald Rivera60 said:That one's decent too.
There's another one where he doesn't wear the standard mask, but more like a helmet... IMDb says it's called Pray for Death, and I thought that one was alright as well...

Pray for Death, huh, yeah, that was a solid movie too, though the antagonist wasn't really a ninja, just some gangsters, I think...

Gerald Rivera60 said:.. I just remembered another one... Ninja III...
A dying ninja transfers his spirit into some girl...

Never saw that one...

ishamael said:Back in the early nineties, when I was just a kid, I devoured everything involving kung fu, shurikens, or ninjas... I actually believed there were real gangs out there trained in martial arts, and the only way to fight back was to train twice as hard as they did.

This lady really added something unique to the whole genre🙏 🙏 of kung fu movies, and she even changed my outlook on life a bit back then...

I watched a few of her films a long time ago.

The one that sticks in my mind most is "Police Academy 2," which was dubbed over here back in the day.😁
She stars in it alongside another Chinese actress, and man, it was a great movie. I had it on VHS and watched it a hundred times as a kid just for the fight scenes. Especially the ending—seeing what those women could do and how they fought.🙏
They play two cops who run into some mafia trouble, obviously... the movie wraps up with them storming the main villain's villa, taking out a mountain of nameless goons by themselves before finally facing off against the big bad.
My memory is a little fuzzy............ I think I still have that tape tucked away in a closet somewhere.🤔

I'll try to dig it out tomorrow and give it a rewatch. I'm curious to see how it holds up after all these years... if I can find it.