A confused brawl of a movie set in the wastelands of the near future "1990s"--a giveaway that this straight-to-video pic sat on the shelf years after completion in the previous decade--DRAGONFIGHT adopts a weak framing story of big business interests negotiating deals by single combat
using corporate gladiators in televised hand-to-hand duels.
$300 million is at stake in a death match in the Arizona desert between Falchion (Paul Coufos), representing the Japanese, and his former friend Lochaber (Robert Z'Dar), eager to kill for American capitalism. But the middle-aged Falchion is sick of being a rent-a-warrior and walks away, stunning
the wealthy spectators. Lochaber is unhinged by this attitude, and he stalks the sands, slaughtering a surprising quantity of innocent bystanders.
Action-hungry viewers should also be annoyed, since this means that one of the main contenders spends most of the film avoiding mayhem, not seeking it. Uselessly padding out the running time are many postcard shots of cliff formations, sunsets, and wide-skied landscapes. Familiar performers make
the going as smooth as they can, under the circumstances, with established tough guy Pare (STREETS OF FIRE) intriguingly cast against type as the ponytailed yuppie who arranges the showdown. Character actor George 'Buck' Flower narrates in folksy tones curiously reminiscent of "Convoy" singer C.W.
McCall. The massive Z'Dar fills his silly Prince Valiant costume well, but he's psycho one moment, docile and poetically philosophical the other--maybe a side effect of his dying over and over again, each time revived by the gyrations of a sexy shamaness (Fawna MacLaren) brought in as a hedge by
the sneaky American business interests. Her powers extend far beyond the budget's ability to show anything, so each resurrection occasions more postcard shots of cliff formations, sunsets, etc. Lochaber stays dead once and for all in an insult of an ending when Falchion simply snuffs him outside
the boundaries of the battle zone, voiding the whole tournament. Why didn't the reluctant champ think of that before? (Violence, profanity, alcohol abuse.) leave a comment
