Decent martial arts film.
Added 9/29/2009
Lets get onto the pros. The film has some good fighting scenes with blanks and others. He has some good moves. It touches upon gang violence,drugs and the effects it has on young kids. I love seeing a brother play a positive role model in films and really like that blanks does this. The acting isn't as bad as some here have said and I felt the actors did a good enough job.
Now the cons The acting while not being as bad as some say it's not any thing to write home about. It would have been nice if they had spent some more time on the negative influences of gangs and drugs on the kids. The storyline was kind of stupid in parts also. Not that fighting films have great story lines,but beating the main bad guys fighter and making him loose face and some money makes no sense. This guy is selling tons of drugs and could make any money back up. They also spent some time on silly test and trials like blanks enduring high levels of heat which could have been spent on more fight scenes. Also the fights could have lasted a bit longer as they are a bit short in my opinion. Also the film weakens itself by having to have a happy ending erasing the driving force and emotion that pushed blanks character to fight in the tournament.
I'm a big fan of billy blanks and love his workout tapes. Didn't know he had made any martial arts films so theses are kind if cool for me. This one is a average fighting films that could have been better with some script work and better direction. I had a decent time watching it and have seen worse films than this. No where near as bad as some people here have said,but it doesn't deserve any more than 2-3 stars. [...]
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Billy Blanks, James Lew, and Mako - why is this not awesome?
Added 8/26/2009
The title of this review says it all: you've got three martial arts b-movie legends coming together for a film, and even with the lowered expectations that you must bring to a movie like this, it's less than amazing. How can this be? - in poker, you'd call it "a hand of a lifetime", to have Billy (The King of the Kickboxers [VHS], Tough and Deadly) as the hero, James (American Ninja 5, Red Sun Rising [VHS]) as the villain, and Mako (Conan the Barbarian, Sidekicks) as the wise old mentor all in the same movie, but for one reason or another, it just isn't as good as it should be.
The story: Niko (Blanks) is a tough-loving karate coach doing his best to influence troubled youth attending his dojo. When he refuses to pay extortion fees to the city's crimelord (Dennis Akayama, Johnny Mnemonic), one of his students is targeted in drive-by shooting. Niko swears revenge...but the only way to get to the mobster is with the aid of the finder of fighters, Matsumoto (Mako), who will guide Niko through an illegal underground tournament, in which the sadistic champion Takamura (Lew) reigns supreme.
This was the last film that Billy starred in prior becoming a fitness guru and settling for a handful of bit roles, but you wouldn't think it: the man is still in terrific shape and gives what's actually one of his better acting performances. Aside from James Lew (who doesn't have much need to act) and young Lisa Boynton as Mako's precocious granddaughter (did I say precocious? I meant annoying!), most everybody gives a decent dramatic showing. Mako quickly ends up stealing the show from everybody whenever he shows up, but that was expected.
However, the movie begins to lag as soon the fighting begins...in other words, right off the bat. Of the `round six or seven hand-to-hand encounters, only a couple are worth watching, while the others seemingly only exist to further the story and feature lazy choreography and restricting camera angles. Luckily, the climatic Blanks vs. Lew encounter is among the good ones: while it's not exactly a showstopper, it's a better give & take encounter than both competitors are used to, with minimal over-editing and some cool moves by both. I can't speak for Billy, but it's definitely one of the best one-on-one fights that James Lew has been a part of.
Surprisingly enough, the film's story comes off as "The Karate Kid meets Bloodsport", with greater emphasis on the former since the tournament itself isn't very long. The production is very good as far as DTV films go, with the exception of when Billy and Mako travel "underground" for the tournament: the "stone" walls leading to the ring look remarkably fake. Almost a third of the movie consists of lengthy training scenes in which Billy learns to run across beaches and do inverted push-ups; it's cool seeing the master turn into a pupil and back into the master, but it's nothing you haven't seen before. There's one really silly scene in which Blanks must withstand a steam chamber, and does so by punching the air and shouting "Nooo! Nooo! Nooo!", but luckily the rest of the camp level is kept to a minimum.
Truth be told, "Balance of Power" deserves three stars for its superior acting and production, but the suckable fighting keeps me from rating it any higher than two. After seeing its cast list, I really, really wanted to like the film, but it just isn't the total package that it ought to be. Maybe it's because this is the only film that director Rick Bennett would direct... But for whatever reason, this one just disappoints. Buy it to complete a collection, but know that it will never be the centerpiece.
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the balance is just average
Added 6/13/2007
Balance of Power begins with quite a sense of excitement, with a decent musical/credits scene and into an audience filled gambling fight arena, where the movie's villain "Takamura" (James Lew - Showdown, American Ninja 5, Perfect Weapon) kicks someone's elses butt pretty good in a literally "bone-crushing" scene. Unfortunately, everything begins to go downhill from there, with a predictable and lame story, with almost nothing original to add.
Billy Blanks is the star, which usually isn't saying a lot. While his martial arts skills are pretty decent compared to most, his goofy acting sometimes can be a bit annoying, if not his stylish 80's haircuts. The hair is gone and is replaced with above average acting, compared to what is expected. Of course his highlights are the fight scenes and the plenty of training sequences he must endure. While the fights are average and not very exciting, the training scenes are about the only original element found in the movie. I must give credit to the training sequences in these martial arts movies, they always do manage to come up with something refreshing and fun to watch.
Other notable stars in the movie are Mako and James Lew. Mako, by no guess, plays the "old wise man and master" of the film, training the Billy Blanks character. James Lew, plays the villainous fighter, who comes off as a bit overdone compared to most of his roles, which normally are villain roles. The rest of the cast is pretty boring and cheesy, adding nothing exciting to the movie.
As for the fighting, well, average is about all you can expect. While many of the fights involve a lot of fancy moves, especially by Blanks himself, many look too rehearsed, don't make any noticeable contact, or move too slow. The final fight is Blanks against Lew, lasting about 4 minutes. Best fight of the movie, but under par as far as exciting final fights go in these films.
Balance of Power is only for a true fan of B-grade fight movies. You won't find any surprises here, except there is a slightly unexpected happy ending - cheesy no the less. Basically good if you just wanna see some more fights in addition to what you already own.
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An action movie that also teaches kids the valuable lessons of life
Added 3/11/2006
I think kids should watch this cause Billy Blanks is a good role model and don't say it's cheesy. Kids these days get into all kinds of stuff. His studient should of listen to his teacher when he told him not to got to the playground cause it has gangs and drugs. He got shot in the arm by asian terriorist. Now billy is out for revenge.
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I loved this flick. It was by far the best fighting action movie in years. Starting with the opening all the way through till the end. God bless the makers of this 5 star triumph!
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