Bullet Points: Live by the Fist
As I was clicking through the Bulletproof Action archives recently, I realized that it has been far too long since I have covered a movie starring Jerry Trimble. I also realized that it has been even longer since I covered a movie directed by Cirio H. Santiago. To rectify this problem, I checked out 1993’s Live by the Fist and killed two birds with one movie…
- I’ve Got Good News and Bad News: The first bit of action in Live by the Fist features a damsel in distress as she is targeted by a nasty individual by the name of Chavez and three of his toadies. The foursome seem to have sexual assault on their mind, but there’s good news for the damsel in distress. Former Navy SEAL, John Merill (Jerry Trimble, One Man Army) happens by and comes to her rescue. After subduing the three toadies, John turns his attention to the ring leader Chavez and that’s where the bad news comes in for the damsel in distress… she’s dead. Chavez slit her throat with his knife and is looking to do the same to John. The two fight and during the scuffle, Chavez ends up a victim of his own knife… John is then knocked out from behind by one of Chavez’s guys. When John wakes up, he has the murder weapon in his hand and the police surrounding him and witnesses saying they saw John kill the woman and then Chavez when he tried to stop him.
- Guilty: John is found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life on an island prison. When John arrives on the island he meets the hard ass head of the guards, Captain Vargas (Roland Dantes, Angelfist). John then gets into a shower fight in what may be record time for a “behind bars” movie. Despite the fact that he was merely defending himself, Vargas takes John to see Warden Acosta (Vic Diaz, Silk) who brings up John’s “penchant for violence” and from that one conversation you know the Warden is going to be a pain in John’s ass much like Vargas. Once John is dismissed, Acosta tells Vargas to let Alvarez (another inmate in the island prison) that John Merill was the man who killed Alvarez’s brother, Chavez! That certainly isn’t going to make John’s stay any easier.
- Meet the Inmates: Once Alvarez (head of the prison’s Asian faction) gets word about John Merill being his brother’s killer it sets up fight scenarios all over the island… the mess hall, the quarry, the fields wherever John may be, Alvarez and his minions seem to find him but John keeps kicking their asses… Another notable inmate is the Confederate cap wearing Sacker (Ted Markland, Eye of the Tiger), head of the “gringo” faction at the prison. Sacker tries to recruit John to his faction, for John’s own safety, although that never quite pans out… The most notable inmate of them all is John’s cellmate Uncle Coronado (George Takei, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). Uncle is standoffish with John at first, but once he hears John’s story he realizes that John, like so many in the prison, is there unjustly. Uncle is also well aware of the shady dealings that Warden Acosta and Captain Vargas, but unfortunately doesn’t have the proof that can incriminate them… perhaps John can help with that?!!?
- The Human Fund: Warden Acosta is about to have his own pain in the ass in the form of Helen Ferris (Laura Albert, Blood Games). Ferris is with Human Rights International and she and her team have come to the prison to let Acosta know they will be conducting an investigation after receiving some anonymous letters about the goings on at the prison, which include 29 dead inmates in the past two years! Ferris mentions they’ll be back in one week to begin their investigation… that’s going to put a damper on any plans of making John Merill dead inmate #30, but Acosta may have another way!
- Save Ferris: All the storylines converge in the third act of the film as Warden Acosta conspires with Alvarez and Sacker to kill Uncle Coronado (who Acosta learns was the man behind the anonymous letters) and pin it on John, with Captain Vargas help of course. The murder of Uncle is planned to take place while Helen Ferris and her team are the “honored guests” of Warden Acosta and dining with all the inmates before they get down to business… Alvarez and Sacker do their part and kill Uncle Coronado, then show up to the mess hall to start phase two of Acosta’s plan, incite a riot amongst the prison factions! But John Merill has other plans… and soon the evil doers will get their much needed comeuppance, a helicopter is blown up and John gets a second chance at saving a damsel in distress!
I am of the belief that every action hero should get their own “behind bars” movie and I am glad I finally got to witness Jerry Trimble’s contribution to the sub-genre. Trimble has multiple fight scenes, allowing him to put his championship kickboxing skills to good use in a variety of environments, which is always a plus in my book. And it is the fight scenes that really helped put Live by the Fist at the top of my Jerry Trimble list (at least where his heroic efforts are concerned)… It helped that Trimble’s character name was strong and not “realtor like”. And I can’t discount the efforts of Live by the Fist‘s deep roster of villains.
You won’t have to dig very deep to find some Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Live by the Fist was released as American Samurai 2 in Germany.
- Familiar Face: The cop who finds John with the knife in his hand after the Chavez fight was played by Henry Strzalkowski, who I just spotted as a familiar face in the abysmal Mission Manila earlier this month.
- Chasing the Dragon: Much like Trimble’s Full Contact was a remake of the Don “The Dragon” Wilson film, Bloodfist, Live by the Fist is basically a remake of Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight, however there are enough unique elements that prevent it from feeling like a total carbon copy.
