Movies You May Have Missed: Shootfighter (1993)

Welcome to what will (hopefully) be a new regular series here on Nerdly, as I highlight some of, what I think, are the best movies that have flown under the radar of many or have been “forgotten” in the intervening years since its release. First up is Shootfighter.

Any film that features Van Damme’s Bloodsport nemesis Bolo Yeung in a starring role alongside former Karate Kid bad-guy William Zabka has to be worth watching right?

RIGHT!

Shootfighter is one of the many direct to video action movies that proliferated video stores in the early 90s and as such it has become somewhat of an overlooked classic and that’s despite doing gangbusters on VHS – so much so that is actually warranted a sequel, Shootfighter 2, which once again starred Bolo Yeung as the hero, three years later…

Shingo is the world’s Shootfighter champion, a skilled and deadly combat sport where only one man leaves the ring alive. Nick and Ruben are two of Shingo’s prized students; students who he hopes someday can take his place as Champion. But Shingo has his share of enemies, including the evil Mr. Lee, who has a personal grudge against the world’s reigning champion. Mr. Lee hoodwinks Nick and Ruben into a Shootfighting competition before they are prepared for the challenge.

Part Karate Kid, part Best of the Best, Shootfighter is an unmissable film for action-movie aficionados. Sadly the film has long-been deleted on DVD and, since I last checked, has also been removed from blinkbox’s online streaming service. However copies still surface on Amazon and on eBay and it’s safe to say that the film is well-worth snapping up.