Didn't ring any bells till I watched the trailer. I recall watching it about a million years ago. Now I feel like I need to watch it again.
Another honorable mention though it's from the early 90's is The Perfect Weapon with Jeff Speakman. I served with a member of his family, but so many years have gone by I can't remember the guys name or his relation to Jeff Speakman. I just remember he had a big Perfect Weapon movie poster in his office with Jeff's autograph.
I never even heard of this movie. Now I must see it.
I found the full version of By The Sword on YouBoob and I'm already twitching watching Eric Roberts fence without face protection. How does the man still have two eyes? Guess I turned into a safety nerd somewhere along the way.
You don't need a mask for choreography...
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
Wing Woo Gar
Grandmaster
I saw Van Damme get KO’d in one shot in front of Spago restaurant by a guy in a giant cowboy hat circa 1990. Just happened to be walking by with my buddies. I heard the guy was a bodyguard for somebody famous and may have been a ranking member of H.A. I have no idea what caused it, but it will always be the first thing I think of when I hear Van Damme’s name.
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
That was a Stan Bush song.
Wing Woo Gar
Grandmaster
Huh? I don’t get it. Maybe your comedic timing was off.
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
How could you not get Stan Bush. Maybe you're a little too focused on Jean Claude.
Wing Woo Gar
Grandmaster
Ouch! That was painful. I still don’t get it. I wish I did because I never wanted to hear that song, ever.
Just finished watching By the Sword.
Just as cheesy as you'd expect. Classic Sword-Fu, with everybody parrying waaayyyyyy too far and trying to hack & slash with an epee. And the usual nonsense about taking the rubber tip off a super flexible practice sword and turning it into a deadly weapon, instead of a super flexible practice sword with a smaller, but still blunt, tip. Laughed out loud at the two-handed rapier hacking.
For the genre, not bad at all.
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
Just finished, a bit later than you because of the wife's honey do list.
Coming from someone who doesn't know much about fencing, I enjoyed the movie. I thought F. Murray Abraham delivered another amazing performance. Eric Roberts was solid as well. I did notice he said "What is wrong with you?" Which was the same line in the Best of the Best. It made me wonder if maybe he just says that instead of it being on the script.
Sword fighting is so romanticized in literature and film, I suspect the reality would be ghastly to behold. The sword fight at the end of Rob Roy comes to mind.
My thanks to Steve for recommending the movie.
They're excellent actors. But they can only do so much with what they're given. Like the weird cut scenes involving armored knights. What does that have to do with anything in the movie?
Steve
Mostly Harmless
Rob Roy was great. That last sword fight was amazing.
Wing Woo Gar
Grandmaster
Yes, yes I am doing that exact thing. I may do it again too. I’m likely to Make a poor joke with impeccably bad timing.
