Bullet Points: Broken Path

There is nothing cooler than hearing suggestions from the amazing readers of Bulletproof Action. We might be your trusted source for all things action, but we haven’t seen every single action movie ever made. A good friend of the site, Michael Scott aka @hibachijustice on Twitter started tweeting about Broken Path. A movie I had never heard of. He said the action was insane. He kept tweeting about it. I had to check it out for myself. I can’t believe what I just watched….

• The Plot: A man running from his past is forced to confront it head on when a gang of “ninjas” invade his home. It is a battle for survival as this man must use every trick he knows to survive the night and save his family. The hero is played by Johnny Yong Bosch and the main baddie is Dan Southworth. The actors have a history of working together. The film is directed by Koichi Sakamoto. For the readers of Bulletproof Action, you might know him from his work as the stunt coordinator in films such as Drive with Mark Dacascos and High Voltage with Shannon Lee and Antonio Sabato Jr. Almost the entire cast has worked a lot with different Power Rangers projects as well. It should also be noted Broken Path was filmed in Texas. Although, it definitely has a Japanese splatterfest vibe.

• The First 15: Broken Path isn’t going to win any screenplay awards. The first 15 minutes are all talk and no action. We learn our hero has been running from his past for a long time. He keeps moving from town to town and job to job. His wife is tired of moving. If she only knew what was about to happen. However, once the shit hits the fan, it keeps flying until the final credits roll. You have 15 minutes of plot, followed by almost 80 minutes of pure action insanity. When you start watching, just hang on. I promise it gets bonkers.

• The Action: Johnny Yong Bosch can fight. He borrows moves I’ve seen from Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jing Wu, Scott Adkins and everyone from The Raid. The type of action that comes at you at a feverish pace. The type of action a lot of us rediscovered when The Raid was released. I had no idea Broken Path existed. There is a reason. There’s no official release in the USA. So no DVD. There is a region 2 DVD for my friends in the UK, and I believe a region B Blu-ray from Germany. However, the Blu is edited to hell and back. The good news is anybody can easily watch because it is on YouTube. The action is awesome because Johnny is a man among men when it comes to fighting and the director knows how to choreograph fights. I sat in awe watching Johnny punch, kick, punch, jump, kick, scream, punch, dropkick, punch, and scream again.

• More Action: You would think everyone involved with Broken Path took some hard drugs. The baddies are dressed in creepy masks. There’s so much blood. Heads spin around. Ears are bitten off like it is Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield. Heads drop. A man with no head dances a funky groove. Characters forget they’ve been stabbed in the back and keep on with their business. There’s so much blood, you could feed a flock of vampires for a month. When I say the action doesn’t stop, I mean it doesn’t stop. 

I want you to watch Broken Path and get excited. It has so much insane action. It is one of the craziest movies I’ve ever seen. It deserves an audience. We as the action community need to embrace it. Remember, the first 15 minutes aren’t great. You might get annoyed with the lead and his wife as they talk. But, when it picks up, hot damn dog it picks up. Go to YouTube, watch the movie. Post on social media about it. Let’s spread the word about Broken Path. Hopefully, a distributor hears us and gives it a proper release.

Bonus Bullet Points…

• AKA: Also known as Attack of the Yakuza
• Special Thanks: Thank you again to Michael Scott for his passion about Broken Path. You should follow him on Twitter @hibachijustice. He also has a Letterboxd and it is the same handle as his Twitter. He is a great guy and really knows movies.