magilvilla

(2013-05-21 00:33:04)

Good Chemistry Between Two Leads, Lots Of Action. A Definite Winner!

This is an excellent "B" movie. Blanks and Piper work really welltogether.The story is decent. But story doesn't count, action does. And there ismorethan enough action to keep people happy. Blanks and Piper are good in thenumerous fight scenes. Overall a really good movie that any action fanshould check out.

Comeuppance Reviews

(2013-05-20 08:56:05)

Roddy and Billly are the new Wesley and Woody!

In 1958, Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier starred in The Defiant Ones(later remade as Fled in 1996). A decade later, Peter Lawford and SammyDavis Jr. starred in Salt and Pepper (1968), the title of which prettywell spells out its intentions - in our overly-PC society we won't seeits like any time soon. Then we saw Robert Culp and Bill Cosby team upfor Hickey & Boggs (1972). But then "Black and White Action" reachedits highest pinnacle to date in 1993 with the titans Billy Blanks andRoddy Piper in...BACK IN ACTION! Roddy Piper plays Frank Rossi, a copon the edge on the mean streets of Toronto. He's trying to stop a crimesyndicate run by the evil Kasajian (Nigel Bennett) and hisultra-sadistic henchman Charles "Chakka" Bender (Matt Birman). When thegang shoots Rossi's beloved partner Wallace (Barry Blake) during agraveyard shootout, and then Chakka savagely eviscerates Wallace infront of Rossi's eyes, Rossi vows revenge.Meanwhile, ex-Special Forces soldier, and now cab driver Billy (Blanks,who must have a Tony Danza-like contract wherein he can only playcharacters named Billy) gets swept up in the mayhem when he attempts toprotect his sister Tara (Kai Soremekun). Her boyfriend is in theKasajian gang, and she witnessed plenty of murder, and now she's thegang's number one target.It thus transpires that Rossi and Billy come together, initially withdifferent goals, but now with the same one: eliminate the Kasajiangang. But will their incessant bickering do them in before the gangdoes? Back in Action delivers the goods. There is plenty of action andthey sure don't skimp on the violence. The young-looking Piper isextremely charming, and has genuinely great comic timing and charisma.and this is easily Blanks' best performance. His karate moves are donewith aplomb (and with a lot of growling and grunting). The filmmakersgive the viewers a lot of what they want here - a REALLY evil villainthat will elicit boos and hisses, constant action and violence, and abit of nice camaraderie between the lead dudes.What's weird is that this is the first Blanks/Piper vehicle, yet it iscalled BACK in action. Shouldn't the follow-up, Tough and Deadly (1995)be called Back in Action? What are they back from exactly? Anyway...Bizarre antics ensue when two men, who can only be described as "TheKaratio Brothers" invade Blanks' apartment. They seem to be twins withbeefy physiques who wear striped spandex and seem like a meatheadversion of Mario and Luigi. Luckily Billy fights them, gratuitously (?)in his underwear. Another great (?) Blanks moment is when he runs inslow motion while screaming and shooting two machine guns. Compare thatto self-indulgent dreck like Ticker (2001) where Steven Seagal simplywalks down a hall and does nothing action-related. The villain Kasajianin some sort of trance, chanting "smoke is death" over and over again.And watch out for "The Giant"...Piper's contract must include a 15-minute fight scene, which occursduring the prerequisite bar brawl. He gets to employ some of hiswrestling moves such as a sleeper hold and a choke slam. Roddy andBilly should have been the "Wesley and Woody" that swept Hollywood inthe mid-90s. Alas, it was not to be. Can you imagine these two in MoneyTrain (1995)? For a fun, entertaining time, with a lot of high-qualitytechnical elements like good camera-work, Back in Action is primestuff.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

XCoRyX

(2013-05-20 13:19:30)

Perfect Display Of Good Chemistry

Both piper and blanks were great in this B movie action flick.While therestof the cast was laughable as far as serious acting was concerned,but these2carried the movie,and the fighting did also.Its not a joke when i say piperis a good actor...he fits the action scene perfectly and deserves abigscreen movie...this was one movie that should have been in at least sometheatres...better then many of the theatrical released action movies outthere today,and is a good night of entertainments worth for action fans,notthe kinda movie u can watch everyday though...5/10

(2013-05-20 03:02:36)

Time to pay the Piper!

Back in Action (1994) Roddy Piper (They Live) and Billy Blanks (Showdown) star in this "Kops and Kickboxers" movie. Piper's the policeman whose partner is killed, and Blanks has the dangerous feet and the kidnapped sister, so pretty soon the blitz is on and the bad guys don't stand a chance. I'm really not a fan of the glut of kickboxing movies from this period, but I saw this because I like Piper. He's funny playing the stock loner cop character. On the flip side, though, we have the aptly named Blanks. Although he seem competent when he's applying his feet liberally to some guy's head, but he's not much of an actor. He's also extremely goofy looking. (And I hope he never reads this!) He should probably stick to his Tae Bo tapes. If you like the kind of movie where people throw down their guns so they can kick each other, you'd probably enjoy this. Otherwise, steer clear! Also with Nigel Bennett (Darkman III).

Prolox

(2013-05-19 14:47:42)

Worth tracking a copy of this down!

RODDY PIPER is a cop & BILLY BLANKS is a vigilante, who team up to takedown a series of bad guys for different reasons, Piper because hispartner was killed by these sleaze balls during an undercover operation& Blanks because his sister has been abducted by the group, nownaturally like in pretty much all the buddy action flicks, they hateeach others guts at first, but soon realize that they need each otherin order to take these bad guys out & keep themselves alive. I heardlots about this movie from action fans & I was eager to see it, but Icould not find a video store that carried it for rental, finally thisbaby came on TV & let me tell you something, unlike most direct tovideo action flicks, this one is worth tracking down, if you can find acopy of it, unlike most Hollywood action films that seem to have moretalk than action, BACK IN ACTION is loaded with fights, chases, shootouts etc. The villains were so well written & Blanks & Piper made forsome likable hero's, they acted well together & it's such a shame thata sequel has not been done on this movie, the action scenes areexciting & the plot keeps you interested right to the end & there'snever a dull moment. Highly recommended for action fans! **** stars

(2013-05-19 06:54:58)

Decent time waster

This review is from: Back in Action [VHS] (VHS Tape) Not a bad film. Blanks plays a brother trying to stop his sister from getting mixed up with drug dealers. And piper plays a cop trying to avenge his partners death. Some good fighting scenes,a decent car chase and some decent gun fights. Not a bad film to waste some time with and see some good fights and solid actingAs to what I didn't like. The movie is decent in most areas,but never good. The only thing that stands out is the fighting scenes with blanks. I would have liked to see piper play the rouge cop angle more also. Would have been nice to see him going punisher style on gang bangers or something. Maybe he could have been had a drug or drinking problems. I would have liked to seen this character developed a bit more. The acting by blanks and piper is solid,but the rest of the cast delivers lines like they are in the first resident evil game for ps1. The main bad guy had to be one of the most boring and uninteresting bad guys in movie history. This film also contains a number of cheesy bad one liners like most low budget b films.In any case it's not a bad time waster. I like billy blanks and got to see him do some good martial arts moves with some decent gun play subpar acting thrown in. Not a bad film to watch when your bored or just want to watch people getting punched,shot or kicked.

gridoon2011

(2013-05-16 03:34:26)

The sound effects guys worked overtime for this one

For a movie that is largely sold (on posters, taglines, etc.) on thestrength of the Billy Blanks - "Rowdy" Roddy Piper teaming, "Back InAction" doesn't really feature as much of their teamwork as you mightexpect - it's only in the last half hour that they join forces to goafter the same targets. It's a bit of a shame, too, as these two dohave some strong chemistry (in their first scene together, they fighteach other, and it's amusing to see Blanks' kickboxing vs. Piper'sbrawling), and the rest of the "plot" is far too weak to hold yourinterest in other ways. The action in general is nothing really specialin quality, but it's hard to complain about the quantity at least. Thetwo women in the film, Bobbie Phillips and Kai Soremekun, are gorgeous,but it seems a bit of a waste to cast Phillips in a martial artsactioner and give her only about 10 seconds of fighting in total,considering how much a$$ she kicked in the same year's "TC 2000" (alsowith Blanks). Also be warned: this is an extremely violent film. Iwasn't surprised to read on IMDb that it was originally rated NC-17 inthe USA, and banned (!) in the UK. ** out of 4.

Miyagis_Sweaty_wifebeater

(2013-05-15 20:02:26)

Welcome to the 90's: Roddy Piper and Billy Blanks, direct-to-video stars.

Back in Action (1994) was another direct-to-video-movie that starredtwo of the biggest players in the rising rental market. Billy Blanksplays a former decorated solider who's sister is mixed up with a localgangster. He knows that he's no good and she'll end up in trouble orworse. Roddy Piper co-stars as a hung over drunken cop who crossespaths with the enraged Billy. How will theses two be able to help eachother out? Roddy wants to bust the mobster and Billy wants to put themsix feet under. Will these two hot heads be able to work together andtake a bite out of organized crime?Roddy Piper and Billy Blanks found new careers in making low budgetdirect-to-video-action-films. This was a few years before Mr. Blanjsstruck gold with the Tai-Bo gimmick and no longer needed to play inthese cheesy films. Another underrated action duo. Blanks and Pipermade a very interesting team.Recommended.