No Surrender Cinema: One Man Army
Tragedy takes you back to your hometown, and you start to realize that this isn’t the same town you left behind when you went off to the big city. Corruption is rampant, crimes are being committed out in the open, and everyone but you is turning a blind eye to it all. So what do you do? Do you pack your bags, hop back in your Volkswagen Bug, and get back to your karate studio? Or do you enlist a little help from your friends and clean up the town the only way you know how?
I think you know the answer. You are the hero this town needs. You are China O’Brien!
Wait… hold on, that’s not Cynthia Rothrock! That’s Jerry Trimble, and he’s a ONE MAN ARMY!
Don’t take that humorous opening as a knock on Ms. Rothrock either. There’s nothing better than an attractive asskicker, and she checks off both of those boxes with ease. She’s always been a favorite of mine (my younger self even had the Lady Dragon movie poster as one of the many movie posters on my wall when I was growing up), but today we’re going to take a look at a movie that might feel a little similar to the China O’Brien movies. This edition of No Surrender Cinema covers another in the long list of karate flicks released by Roger Corman; kickboxing champion Jerry Trimble’s trip back home to a town gone bad in 1994’s One Man Army!
Trimble plays Jerry Pelt (and man, does that name sounds more like a real estate agent and not an action hero), a decorated martial artist running his own studio in the city. An old flame, Natalie Pierce (B-movie queen Melissa Moore) calls Jerry for the first time in years to deliver the sad news that Jerry’s grandfather, who we learn took Jerry in and raised him, has passed away. Jerry hops in his Volkswagen Bug (seriously now? Were they trying to make Trimble into the least intimidating action hero in history here?) and makes the trek back to his old stomping grounds of Johnson County. No sooner is he over the town line than he’s run off the road by a truck full of drunken roughnecks, and as fate would have it they just so happen to stop and cause trouble at the nearest service station. Jerry pulls in and dispatches of the goons pretty easily, and gets an extra dose of revenge by carjacking these thugs, taking their truck so that he can get to his grandfather’s funeral on time! Vigilante justice, thy name is Jerry Pelt!
Jerry arrives a little later than expected due to his gas station showdown, but Natalie is still there waiting to greet him. Also waiting back at home is Hank, his grandfather’s dog, who is all too happy to have Jerry around. Natalie and Jerry flirt a bit before it’s broken up by the arrival of Jerry’s old friend Eddie Taylor, who comes to claim Jerry for a boys night out. Eddie takes Jerry to a local nightclub, which not only doubles as a brothel (with topless prostitutes parading around out in the open), but has some illegal fights going on in the back room! It doesn’t take long for the accomplished kickboxer to be noticed, and Jerry finds himself in another fight, one that deteriorates into a full-fledged barroom brawl. After all that appears to be going on in plain sight, it’s Jerry’s return to town that draws the ire of Sheriff Pat Boze (Corman favorite Rick Dean, clean shaven for the role). I don’t think I need to tell you that Boze is down with all the criminal activity going on around town, and keeps it off the record so that his pockets can be lined with payoffs. He and Jerry have heat with each other from their youth, and time has not healed all wounds. Boze doesn’t like Jerry, Jerry realizes that “Bozo” isn’t worthy of his badge, and with the support of Natalie and the townspeople, decides to run against Boze for Sheriff. A well-timed run in with Sidney Sharperson (Paul Holmes of Blackbelt II: Fatal Force infamy) and a hidden recorder from Natalie put Jerry’s victory over the top, and put him in the sights of Boze, Sharperson, and the various underlings that they’ve dispatched to make Johnson County their own personal paradise of debauchery.
With a runtime of 80 minutes, One Man Army picks up the pace quickly and never settles down. It seems that every time Jerry is ready to unwind, something new comes up that finds him throwing hands (and feet) with some ruffians. As a lawyer, Natalie was already investigating Sharperson prior to Jerry’s return, so it makes good story sense to have her guide Jerry on his path of justice. She knows that Sharperson is no good, Boze is corrupt, and not everything is what it seems. This knowledge, coupled with the fact that she finds herself drawn close to Jerry again is what gets her shot in a skinnydipping scene that didn’t serve much purpose other than to have Melissa Moore bare her breasts. Oh, and if that got your attention, you can rest easy knowing that you’ll get to see her in the shower and in bed with our hero. Even at an 80 minute runtime, there’s plenty of T to balance out the A(ction). Moore was another Corman favorite, having appeared in numerous movies put out by the low budget auteur, appearing in films such as Sorority House Massacre II, Hard To Die, and Angelfist. Yes, I’ve seen all of those. While she’s awfully nice to look at, she does serve a purpose as Jerry’s confidant, playing into the fact that it’s tough to trust the people around him. He’s especially lucky to have Natalie when Eddie’s wife reveals to them that Eddie has become a drug addict so desperate for a fix that he’s been working with Boze and Sharperson just to get some coke as a payday. Eddie takes that as well as a coke fueled dirtbag can, blowing his own wife away with a shotgun and setting up a final confrontation with Jerry where the truth of Jerry’s grandfather’s death is revealed.
What really makes One Man Army work is Trimble. For a guy who played a scumbag so ruthless he turned on his own sons in Breathing Fire, he has a wholesomeness to him that makes him a worthy hero. As a kid, I dubbed him “Martial Arts Owen Hart” due to his resemblance to the famous wrestler, and it became an inside reference among some friends of mine that lasts to this day. The comparison definitely extends to Trimble’s persona, because he has a natural likability that really shines when he’s the main babyface. It’s a shame that in an era where cable and video stores were bombarded with films featuring Don “The Dragon”, Jeff Wincott, and Billy Blanks that Trimble never had the focus put on him as much as those guys did. Much like One Man Army was a derivative of China O’Brien, his other films met the same fate. Full Contact (an awesome movie and my favorite of the Trimble films, which I plan to review here in the near future) was Bloodfist in the back alleys of Los Angeles. Live By The Fist was Bloodfist III with Jerry in the Don Wilson role and George Takei replacing Richard Roundtree. Not only was Trimble stuck with recycled scripts, but even the final song played over the end credits in One Man Army was Deirdre Imershein’s song “My Love” from Blackbelt! The same song that sent Matthias Hues into a murderous rage in that film was the ending “love theme” here, and coming after a violent climax where our hero battles the best friend who betrayed him, it’s especially out of place. I’m not saying that there was (or needed to be) a lot of originality in the glory days of DTV films, but I feel like the “been there, done that” aspects of these films prevented Jerry from breaking out as a major martial arts movie star at the level of his peers. Don’t weep for Mr. Trimble though. He’s had a great career in Hollywood, both as an actor and a stuntman, including recent stints on popular TV shows such as Supernatural, The Flash, and iZombie. He’s also married to Ami Dolenz, daughter of Monkees member Micky Dolenz and a B movie queen in her own right. You might remember her from movies such as Demolition University, Miracle Beach, and Rescue Me with BPA favorite Michael Dudikoff. She also once had a guest role on Saved By The Bell: The College Years, and if you know me at all you know any connection to SBTB will immediately have you on my good side. All things considered, Jerry’s had a damn good life, even if his days as a leading man were short-lived.
One Man Army was produced by Cirio H. Santiago, a prolific producer who was responsible for many of the movies mentioned previously in this review, including three of Trimble’s star vehicles (Live By The Fist, Stranglehold, and this one). That could explain why so many of these movies have the copycat feel. I can imagine him bored at his desk, thumbing through a stack of old scripts and just deciding to reshoot it with a new cast of characters. Speaking of casts, One Man Army is held up by a solid supporting cast (Dennis Hayden was great as the deteriorating Eddie, Moore was fine as a romantic interest and even better to look at, and while Rick Dean might have been typecast as a slimy heel in these types of flicks, he does it so well). Even Hank the dog gets time to shine as Jerry’s loyal sidekick who helps save the day on more than one occasion. What it lacks in originality it makes up for in action, and Trimble is a skilled fighter who is always fun to watch. This one is pretty easy to track down, be it on DVD, VHS, or in full on YouTube. With its quick run time and constant action, One Man Army breezes by, and if you’re like me, you’ll be wishing Jerry Trimble got more time in the martial arts movie spotlight.
