Search - Rage and Honor on DVD

Chemistry and Charisma

W. Gantt | Birmingham, Alabama United States | 09/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock co-starred in movies before
"Rage and Honor", such as Samo Hung's "Millionaire's Express",
but "Rage" established the charismatic pair as the Bogie and Bacall of martial arts movies. The chemistry of the two leads is
undeniable in this swiftly entertaining actioner about an Australian (Norton) set up falsely for a murder charge in L.A.
Norton's pursuit for exoneration pairs him with Rothrock in a battle against their criminal couterparts, played by Catherine Bach and Brian Thompson. Eccentric characters from the L.A. underground assist the leads in their mission, and the movie shrewdly punctuates the action-charged pace with light moments.
An actor of integrity, Norton delivers a performance with integrity as the unfairly accused Aussie. Thanks to the appeal
of both stars, "Rage and Honor" remains a rarely equaled martial
arts movie, even ten years after its initial release."

Average film that unfortunately dissapoints in the end

dominion_ruler | Carolina, USA | 07/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Rage & Honor is one of those martial arts films that keeps you guessing throughout the movie - is this good or does this stink. I felt this way every other 5 minutes, convinced it was a decently made film, only to be disspointed at some point with mostly slow pacing or really low-average fight action that stars like Cythina Rothrock and Richard Norotn could do better with. But then again, the camera angles, directing, and editing wouldn't be able to show off a good fight if one was achieved. Overall, this is an average film at best, with several little disspointments thrown in.



Perhaps the best thing about Rage & Honor is the story, which is not saying a whole lot. Richard Norton plays a cop named Preston, who is wanted for a drug deal shooting that went sour, involving other cops and the girlfriend of the movie's villain - Conrad Drago played by Brian Thompson (Lionheart, The Order, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation) A boy catches the whole act on tape, proving Preston's innocence, but the bad guys are desperate to get the tape into their hands. Kris Fairfield (Rothrock) comes to the aid of Preston, and eventually revealing her relation to Drago - which was a nice touch of originality. Unfortunately, pacing is very slow at times, and after an hour I was begging to see a good final fight already to save the movie.



There is an average amount of fight action in the film, but everything is just an average bang-em-up fight without a whoe lot of style. Brian Thomson makes a formiddable villain, but in the end I thought he was just average too. The final fight of the film begins with Rothrock against Thomson in what is a highly unenjoyable fight due to the camera zooming way in on some shots, then way out on others. The editing is bad too, making it look like pieces of kicks and punches were thrown together. Cythina has 2 decent moves, but its not enough to call this a worthy fight. Fortunately, Richard Norton gets a chance against Thompson too, but this time everyhthing is in close & slow motion, followed by a very poorly executed finish to the fight.



If not for Rothrock & Norton, this movie would bomb. They do have somewhat of a chemistry between them, which is why they have managed to appear together in other films such as the sequal to this one. Rage & Honor isn't a bad movie, its just not an exciting one. Its not overly cheesy either, except for maybe elements of the final fight. I'd watch it to see for yourself what you think, but I highly doubt a 2nd viewing would happen any time soon."