Where to watch Death Match
1 1/2 Stars
A kickboxing champ and a reporter are searching for a missing man, but they turn up a series of illegal kickboxing matches run by an arms dealer.
The action genre is filled with 90s-era B-movies, and one of the glorious aspects of these direct-to-VHS films is that they were shot on location in Los Angeles. Today, most of such productions are filmed in remote Eastern European cities. It also seems that the budgets for these films were considerably larger decades ago, during the boom of the home video market and the martial arts sub-genre. At least one or two new karate movies would appear on the New Release wall at the local video store every week. These titles weren’t limited to small shops; national chains often stocked them as well.
I first watched Death Match when I was a teenager working at Blockbuster, which allowed employees one free rental a day. I picked it up and headed home after closing the store at midnight. I remember liking Death Match enough, but it didn’t captivate me like other similar films, such as Bloodsport 2 or Superfights. Perhaps I was tired during that initial viewing, so I decided to give Death Match a rewatch 30 years later. My assessment remained the same: while Death Match is a decent, if overly familiar, fight film, it lacks any distinguishing features compared to its peers.
Ian Jacklin resembles a blend of Jan-Michael Vincent and Sasha Mitchell in a compact, muscular frame. He makes for a likable screen hero, leaving me puzzled as to why he wasn’t cast in more projects by PM Entertainment or New Concorde. The acting is solid, particularly from Kove and Richard Lynch, who deliver a fantastic monologue. The fight scenes are entertaining as well. However, Death Match isn’t particularly memorable, apart from a wacky opening scene, and it doesn’t hold up favorably against the Kickboxer or Bloodsport series, which it seems to have drawn inspiration from.
Directed by: Joe Coppoletta
Written by: Curtis Gleaves, Bob Wyatt, Steve Tymon
Starring: Ian Jacklin, Martin Kove, Matthias Hues