Such a frustrating disappointment

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

ONE MAN ARMY is the second of three collaborations between B-movie guru Cirio Santiago and kickboxer-turned-actor Jerry Trimble, as well as a low-budget made-in-the-Philippines derivative of WALKING TALL. It sits pretty much in the middle of the work Santiago's done, as well as Trimble's as a solo star, but unless you're a fan of either, it's nothing special. Questionable production methods counter the average-to-good fight scenes, leveling out this one's rating to an unenthusiastic three stars. Newcomers to Santiago's fare might as well start here, but Trimble devotees have the option to acquaint themselves with stronger work before giving this one a shot.The story: Upon the death of his father, tae kwon do instructor Jerry Pelt (Trimble) returns to his rural hometown to find it transformed into a hotbed of underground activity, oppression, and blatant corruption. At the urging of his old flame (Melissa Moore), he takes it upon himself to clean up the town by running for sheriff, therein putting both his friends and his himself at risk.Let's get the important stuff out of the way: Jerry's martial arts moves are excellent but the fight scenes themselves are a little weak. I can say with certainty that Trimble is one of the very best kickers in the film world and the fact that he does most of his own stunts does not go unappreciated. However, the coolness of his performances is stifled by having almost all of the fights filmed in shadowy areas with only a single camera that doesn't always capture the best angle of things. Of the nine fights, the best happens about halfway through the movie when our hero takes on two thugs in a pool room, but even this is nothing breathtaking. Some gunfighting mixes things up a bit, but it's not terribly exciting, either. However, there is the minor bonus of Jerry having a German shepherd as a constant companion, and the dog's always attacking someone. The filmmakers could've done a lot more with this aspect (make it kind of a more violent K-9, perhaps), but it's cool enough as it is for me to appreciate it.The cast is comprised entirely of B-movie performers - including Dennis Hayden, Rick Dean, and James Paolleli - and you can expect approximate acting, though it's on the more tolerable side of things and for once Jerry Trimble doesn't look confused all the time. There's a bit of exploitation going on, with no less than three scenes featuring naked breasts and another two featuring women being shot. Aesthetically, the movie isn't boring to look at but I always find myself irritated when these Filipino movies fail so poorly at trying to convince you they're taking place in America - it's quite clear where it was actually filmed. More than a few scenes are shot in dark or shadowy environments, which really doesn't help things especially when the characters are similarly dressed in black. The story offers next to no surprises beyond a late one concerning the allegiance of the Dennis Hayden character, so there's hardly any need to watch the non-action portions of the movie.It's clear that the performers had fun making this movie, and the carefree feeling sorta-kinda rubs off if you're a game viewer, but the movie's just not strong enough to qualify for repeat viewings for most folks. Again, fans of the bigger names involved in this one might want to check it out, but everyone else ought to consider this throwaway material. If you catch it on TV sometime, give it a peek, but don't feel obligated to spend money on it.

Jerry Pelt (Trimble) is a devoted Martial Arts instructor in the big city, who loves teaching tots how to punch and kick. When he receives word that his beloved grandfather has died, he travels to the country to go to his funeral. Once there, he finds the old town of Johnson City is rife with gambling, prostitution and corruption of every kind. There's even illegal, underground Punchfighting taking place at the local watering hole. Jerry then teams up with lawyer Natalie Pierce (Moore), his old buddy Eddie (Hayden), and his trusty dog Hank (Yup) and he goes on a crusade to clean up the town. In order to do this, he must defeat Sheriff Boze (Dean), so Jerry runs for Sheriff himself. But it's going to take all that Jerry Pelt has to save the town, his friends, his dog, and himself from the evil forces in Johnson City. Can he do it? The man with Sean Penn's face and Reb Brown's voice returns for One Man Army, a movie with a storyline that will seem familiar if you've seen China O'Brien (1990), or even fellow Cirio outing The Devastator (1985) (among many other possible influences). Because this is a Corman-produced Cirio movie, the running time is only about 75 minutes - and in that time a lot of pleasantly dumb and very silly action is crammed in. We really like Jerry Trimble, and we felt this movie was better than his Die Hard knockoff Stranglehold (1994). We felt his character, Jerry Pelt (is he like Tony Danza, who contractually can only play characters named Tony because he cannot respond to any other name?) was put in an interesting position: He's forced to Punchfight, and then wants to shut down the Punchfighting ring once invested with the legal authority to do so. We don't think we have ever seen that before.A dog named Yup plays Jerry's devoted sidekick (sadly it's his only credited movie role to date) - and he's listed proudly among the other actors in the opening credits. At first when you see "And Yup as Hank", you feel confused, but Yup has a surprisingly big role, and has to do a lot of stuff to help Jerry. His dog acting was impressive, we have to say. Fan favorite Nick Nicholson is on board, pretty much guaranteeing that this movie was shot in the Philippines (not California as we're led to believe). Melissa Moore is always nice to see - her batting average is pretty high, having appeared in Samurai Cop (1989) and The Killing Zone (1991).One Man Army is brief, derivative fun from start to finish. It won't tax your brain or your schedule. Trimble fans need to come out of the woodwork, so here we are talking about one of his mini-classics.

One Man Army is just another low budget, straight-to-video movie. Nothing special to it. If you like mindless action, give it a try.Typical plot includes Jerry Trimble returning to his home town for his grandfather's funeral, gets suspicious about his death, finds out the town is corrupt, and runs for sheriff. Nothing interesting.Pretty wooden acting as well. Of course, that is expected in small-time movies. Also included in the package is a bunch offight scenes, some gun-play, and a random sex scene thrown in for no reason. Overall, nothing special or unique unless you you want to see some intense footwork by kickboxing champion Jerry Trimble.

Typical martial arts/revenge type film featuring the good guy coming home to find his grandfather has been murdered. He then runs for sherrif and seeks revenge. I'm sure you have seen this formula before, but it might be worth watching it to see the gorgeous Melissa Moore in it. Try it if you've got time to kill.** 1/2 out of ****