I had next to no hopes for STREET WARRIOR, a TV movie variant on the kind of arena-fight films that Van Damme used to make at the beginning of his career like A.W.O.L. However, I ended up mildly enjoying it, although to be fair it's not something I'd watch again. STREET WARRIOR has the most clichéd plot imaginable, and all of the scenes are predictable, from our hero beating up some thugs robbing a store to the characters of his fellow fighters that range from Nazis to good guys in it against their will. Slick editing and a rocking soundtrack show influence from the likes of UNLEASHED, WARRIOR KING, and dozens of other movies, but STREET WARRIOR succeeds because it knows exactly what it's doing: delivering plenty of action.Max Martini, a pretty much unknown actor, is passable as the hero, not really distinctive enough to make a big impression although he's a better actor than some I've seen. Nick Chinlund overacts as the chief bad guy and there are a ton of supporting actors and actresses chosen for their looks rather than their thespian skills; whether it's the gorgeous henchwoman employed by the bad guy, the topless dancers in the strip joint, or the oiled and muscled beefed-up fighters in the ring.The action is well choreographed and fast paced and I enjoyed the fight scenes, even if they do remain utterly predictable. Unfortunately, the film begins flagging at around the halfway mark, despite its short running time, and the scenes ripped off from ONG BAK (the drugs pumped into the villain's neck, for instance) bog it down a bit; the climax is nowhere near as good as a couple of the early fights. If movies are food, then STREET WARRIOR is nothing more than a simple cheeseburger, eaten fast, easy to digest and tasting okay – and sometimes all you want is a cheeseburger.

Jack Campbell (Martini) is a soldier who gets a dishonorable discharge for beating up his commanding officer. He goes back to his old stomping grounds and finds out his brother has been severely beaten by a steroid-enhanced punchfighter named Isaiah. So he infiltrates the underground fighting circuit called "The Gauntlet" in order to get answers. So after meeting a bunch of crazy characters, the evil fight promoter Pope (Chinlund) kidnaps Jack's brother's pregnant wife so Jack will keep fighting in the tournaments. Does this plot seem familiar? The meatheads that Jack must fight include: Jersey Devil, Farm Boy, Zeke, Isaiah, and the Nazi Baldus, who, when he wins a fight does the Nazi salute AND the goose-step. The fights in the film are haphazardly edited with a bunch of quick cutting.Chinlund as Pope looks like a cross between Barry Williams, Ray Liotta, David Hasselhoff and Ryan Seacrest. He puts in an over the top performance, screaming all his lines, including the oft-repeated "LET'S SEE... SOME BLOOD!" Max Martini mumbles all his lines and the DVD has no closed-captioning to help you out. In the obligatory bar fight scene, he beats someone up with an 8-ball from a pool table and proclaims "8 ball in the corner pocket". Another understandable line: "I'm okay with trouble".It seems "Street Warrior" was made in the wrong decade. It should have been made in the late 80's/early 90's when direct-to-video punchfighting movies were king. It's good that this one comes so late in the game, but it is unclear whether we are to take it seriously or not. One minute it is serious, and the next, there are some ridiculous moments, characters and one-liners. In old-school punchfighters, you can actually see the punching. Here, there is incomprehensible, ADD-addled editing which hinders the final product."Street Warrior" is an enjoyable-enough latter-day punchfighter, but, but despite its many flaws, we are happy that they are still cranking out movies of this subgenre. We should be grateful.

Street Warrior was super kick butt. What I hate about most reviews on IMDb are knuckle heads that spew bile on low budget movies. I tried to watch huge budget WANTED and was bored in 2 minutes. A video game is not a movie. I have much love for movies like Street Warrior that entertain without trying to be overly artistic. This movie has a strong dose of action you can main line. Camera work was amazingly sick. It was like 3D when punches came at the tele. I very much felt like this was a Seagal or Norris movie movie. Fight parts were incredible. I can only hope other more open minded movie watchers give this a chance. I would watch this any day over WANTED.

The "Street Warrior" is Jack Campbell, played by Max Martini, an ex-army ranger, who comes back home to discover his brother beaten near death because of an underground no holds barred fight club. He enters the gauntlet to avenge his brother and bring order to the town that has been corrupted by the ring leader, played by Nick Chinlund."Street Warrior" supplies us with tons of great action fight scenes that are at times vicious. Various styles of fight techniques are used... martial arts, boxing, wrestling, street brawling, luchador, and lots of cheat moves. What more can you ask from a fight movie? Well, how about some beautiful women? Street Warrior has lots of great eye candy as well to keep your interest piqued between the fists and blood.The acting is very good and believable by the entire cast. Props to Max Martini and Nick Chinlund on their performance, but also to the characters of Baldus, played by Gary Kasper, the evil white supremacist Nazi fighter who entices the rabid paying audience by yelling "Hate Me!", and the character of Santo, played by Danny Arroyo, the luchador fighter who befriends Campbell and is forced to fight in order to save his wife and children.Fighting, sex, blood, dancing women and great action... What more can you ask from a fight movie? "Street Warrior" is well worth the rental.