When my latest online order of imported DVD's arrived the first one I watched was LEFT FOR DEAD, which I had imported from the UK, when I popped it in my player and started watching the first thing that almost made turn it off was the very poorly staged gunfight sequence in the beginning, I thought to myself then "Oh hell no" but I then decided to watch until the end and give it a chance to redeem itself.Redeem itself it certainly did, the beginning of the film came off almost completely disjointed, I mean to me it looked like this thing was going to be a total disaster, that's how bad it started but as the film progressed it started to look like things were getting more and more organized, such as the editing was very uneven at first but got better as the film progressed, the acting was bad but it also got better and the best action scenes in the film were in the final act that feature a whole collection of well staged and nicely choreographed fight scenes that came up one after the other non stop.Overall, the start of this film might put you off if you are really fussy about the quality of your action films but give it a fair chance, the action in the final act is certainly worth the wait.

The film the term 'So bad it's good!' was invented for. This film has all the hall marks of a very bad 80's action movie. The kind of film that was frequented by Jeff Speakman, Michael Dudikof and Jeff Wincott. The kind of film you rented because the cover had ninjas and fighting drawn so badly that it looked more like your grand ma than Chuck Norris.The kind of film where the good guy gets shot, kicked, stabbed, beaten, blown up and yet still manages to take down the bad guys army of 200 highly trained soldiers.The kind of film that had a name like 'American Ninja', 'The Perfect Weapon', 'Ninja Exterminator', 'Invasion USA', 'Eye Of The Tiger', 'Kick Boxer' and 'Missing In Action'.The kind of film that I always chose at my local video shop over the higher budgeted star driven studio fair. The kind of film that, well, that I love so much.Don't get me wrong. Like the films mentioned above (and the many I have failed to mention), this isn't a masterpiece in terms of production value, acting or (sometimes) editing or direction but in terms of bang for buck well this film does what it says on the tin. In spades.And lets face it I never watched Segal movies for the character development or plot. I watched them because I knew, just for that hour and a half, that I'd get to see some tubby white guy kick the crud out of a bunch of bad guys in inventive and fun ways.But the strange thing is, for all its faults and over long running time, this film does just what I wanted. It offers an 80's styled action film that is true to the genre and superb fun to watch.So, in short, if your idea of a good film is Citizen Kane, Remains of the Day or Notting Hill this film is not for you.If however, like me, you grew up on a staple diet of action movies, body counts and ninjas then you 'Left For Dead' is that rare find… a butt kicking, head stomping 80's styled action romp that makes for almost 2 hours of mindless fun, bloody, guts and over the top martial arts moves.--eye--

I don't normally DO action or martial arts films. I'm a girly girl. But every so often you have to relent and let the boyfriend watch something HE wants.'Left For Dead' was it. He followed the production of this in magazines in the UK like Impact and Combat. We had a double bill of this and Richard Jobson's 'Purifiers'.Comparing the two is like chalk and cheese (although they both share similar actors and stunt men and where made around the same time). One is interesting. Enjoyable. Fun. And exciting. The other is The Purifiers.Left For Dead surprised me. As I said I don't normally DO action or martial arts films. But this was a fun movie, enjoyable and not badly put together for an independent action film.If you have the choice of watching one or the other Left For Dead is the one to go with.

Lets get one thing straight from the get go, this is a Martial Arts action film, so the plot is not all that important, however work should of been done on this aspect of the film, as it is lacking even considering the genre. But that said the action is what people will be most interested in. It is a mixed bag of fighting action. Some sections here and there are well done and its obvious there is a lot of talent in the film, however here come the faults…. The speed of the fights can be slow and lack energy, in part due to the performers and also the director. When a fight is shot in a certain way allowing you to see more of the action akin to Hong Kong style, camera speed is very important as it is easier to see the pace with longer cuts and wider angles. Quite a lot of the fighting falls into the 'pitter patter' form. There is not a lot of contact made and some people seem afraid to hit each other. This is a fight scene, not a toy fight and there is a distinct difference. There are quite a few misses in the fights when air can be seen, this is a kindergarten error, it also takes any viewer away from the sub-reality films create and an illusion is broken. Also two actors playing main parts are just painfully bad at fighting. One of them also looks some what similar to a hamster!I know this may seem like a harsh review, but its true and I think its important not to sugar coat things to much, so giving the film makers a chance to improve.(well maybe not the hamster comment.