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Released by: Blast Films
Released on: June 5th, 2003.
Director: Damien Lee
Cast: Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, Roddy Piper, Brett Halsey
Year: 1995
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Terminal Rush - Movie Review:
A national monument held hostage. A forgotten hero rises with a vengeance. When a terrorist organization moves in on a huge hydro-electric dam and holds the crew members hostage, it's up to a deputy played by Don 'The Dragon' Wilson (the kickboxing love machine from the Bloodfist films) to sneak in and kick everyone in the head. Too bad for Don 'The Dragon' Wilson that Roddy Piper (They Live) is on the bad guys' team, and he's all too happy to blow stuff up with his bazooka (which can apparently fire four times in a row without reloading - maybe it's a magic bazooka).
Is it any coincidence that this movie was financed by companies based out of my motherland - dear, sweet Canada? Is it any coincidence that this DVD was released on my birthday? No. I think not. This movie was made for me. And if you love Don 'The Dragon' Wilson like I love Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, then just maybe it was made for you too. When I saw Don 'The Dragon' Wilson and Roddy Piper staring at me from the cover of the DVD sitting in a bin at Walgreen's, I just knew I had to plunk down my hard earned $4.99 (I don't pay MSRP, baby!) and check it out for myself.
What sets this Don 'The Dragon' Wilson movie a notch or two above most other Don 'The Dragon' Wilson movie (and yes, I do truly believe that Don 'The Dragon' Wilson movies are a genre unto themselves) is the presence of a worthy foe. More often than not, we know that Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, regardless of what character he's playing, is going to win. He'll go up against some other tough guy and challenge him to some sort of kickboxing match. Well kickboxing fans will be relieved to know that yes, Don 'The Dragon' Wilson does kick a lot of people in this film but he also goes up against a man with a bazooka. I don't care how good a kickboxer Don 'The Dragon' Wilson is, if he gets shot with a bazooka, he's going down for the count. That makes Terminal Rush more suspenseful, because it's not a foregone conclusion that Don 'The Dragon' Wilson will be able to kickbox a bazooka successfully, and if he can't do that, how can Don 'The Dragon' Wilson save the hostages?
The ladies reading this may be a tad dismayed to learn that there is no Don 'The Dragon' Wilson love scene in Terminal Rush but what the movie lacks in romance it more than makes up for with bazooka wielding raccoon eyed former pro-wrestlers gone bad. Roddy Piper chews through the scenery like a beaver through a twig, and when Don 'The Dragon' Wilson goes so far as to make things personal, you best believe that there will be a clash of the titans as Don 'The Dragon' Wilson and Roddy Piper square off and show down. The film also benefits from a brief role starring Euro Cult/Lucio Fulci regular Brett Halsey (Cat In The Brain, Four Times That Night).
While the movie is obviously a low budget affair, it doesn't stop Don 'The Dragon' Wilson from scowling his way through the terrorists one at a time. So efficient are his take down methods that one has to wonder why the government hasn't called upon Don 'The Dragon' Wilson to take care of business for them in the Middle East. If he's half as efficient there as he is in this movie, Don 'The Dragon' Wilson could very well be an instrument for world peace. In fact, I think that Don 'The Dragon' Wilson should probably be president.
Terminal Rush - DVD Review:
The fullframe image is consistently riddled with mild edge enhancement, but the key word there is mild. Don 'The Dragon' Wilson looks pretty crisp and the sharpness captures his fast moving feet very naturally when he kicks people in the head. There are some mild compression artifacts here and there but print damage is never a problem even if the colors look a tiny bit faded.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track captures all of Don 'The Dragon' Wilson's soothing vocal stylings with ease, and gets the job done just fine. There's not a whole lot of channel separation to discuss and the track sounds a little flat in a few scenes but the clarity and levels on it are fine.
The only features on this budget DVD release are brief biographies for Roddy Piper and Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, and the film's trailer which features a lot of clips of Don 'The Dragon' Wilson kicking people in the head.
Terminal Rush - The Final Word Review:
Those who appreciate Don 'The Dragon' Wilson's approach to non-acting will no doubt get a kick out of seeing him square off against 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper in Terminal Rush. The action scenes are budget but fun, the dialogue is utterly predictable and the movie is all the better for it. A guilty pleasure to be sure, but a pleasure none-the-less. Long live Don 'The Dragon' Wilson.
