The Essentials: James Lew Fight Scenes
If you made an action movie in the mid 80’s to late 90’s and didn’t use James Lew then you’re an idiot. He had the fight game on lock-down for the better part of two decades and continues to coordinate fight scenes for big productions the world over. As much as I enjoy watching one of his fight scenes play out across the screen, I’d much rather watch the man, himself fight. Lew has mixed it up with almost every actor in the genre at this point and I felt it the perfect time to put together a list of some of my favorites. Consider this The Essential Collection of James Lew fight scenes!
Best of the Best (1989) – I love this movie so much. It’s the perfect martial arts tournament movie played seriously featuring real feelings. Phillip Rhee and Eric Roberts are so good as Tommy Lee and Alex Grady and we don’t even need real villains to start chanting U-S-A by the end. Get ready for a two-part Eric Roberts/James Lew beatdown!
The Perfect Weapon (1991) – One of my favorite action movies of the 90’s and by far one of the best scenes on this list. Lew and Speakman had amazing chemistry and no scene ever made me want to take taekwondo lessons wearing denim jeans more than this one.
Mission of Justice (1992) – James Lew doesn’t really get to do anything in this scene but I had to include cause it’s just so damned cool! Jeff Wincott beats the ever-loving shit out of 20 guys just to get to go nose-to-nose with Lew and the always awesome Matthias Hues. It’s a direct-to-video lovers wet dream!
Timecop (1994) – It’s never a good idea to pick a fight with JCVD but if he’s in his underwear you have absolutely no chance. Credit to Lew for drawing blood on Van Damme and really giving this fight scene a spark!
Red Sun Rising (1994) – I don’t know anything about this movie other than it has Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson and James Lew in it. It’s probably not a very good movie, but a quick IMDB search just taught me that it also features Mako and Michael Ironside. If that isn’t a cast of fantastic actors then I don’t know what is.
Balance of Power (1996) – Say what you will about Billy Blanks as and actor but that man could really put out a great fight scene. Add in everyone’s favorite badass Asian James Lew and you’re guaranteed to tear the house down! Filled with some innovative kicks and a sweet double-stomp finish, this is what the Mortal Kombat movie should have looked like.
Blood for Blood / Midnight Man / Night of the Hunter (1995) – The easiest way to tell if a movie is going to be awesome is to count how many names it has. This one has AT LEAST 3. That means that it is 3 times as good as Avatar. This also features Lorenzo Lamas as the hero and take it from me when I say that this fight scene is freakin’ sweet!
