Tiger Claws II VHS

What a miserable film. You want Bolo to be in this thing. It's why you BOUGHT the film, right? (Well, other than Ms. Rothrock, herself) But he's barely in it! The dude sits in a jail cell until you're marginally entertained by the dude in the bright green pajamas whooping ass near the end.Just watch the first one a second time and toss Tiger Claws 2 into a burn barrel.

When the history of low-budget martial arts cinema is written, the "Tiger Claws" trilogy isn't going to rank strongly against the likes of the  No Retreat, No Surrender  series or the  Kickboxer  bunch when considering its thoroughly run-of-the-mill opener, its unaccountably weird finale, and this bridge of a middle act that mixes parts of both. That doesn't mean it ought to be ignored, though, if only for being a solid set of vehicles for Cynthia Rothrock, a fun little excursion for Bolo Yeung (who'd leave the series after this one), and pretty much the only starring films Jalal Merhi can watch and be proud of. That's pretty much what "Tiger Claws 2" is, as well as a rounded DTV karate outing...with some faults. Come, fans.The story: when imprisoned martial arts serial killer Chong (Yeung,  Bloodsport ) is rescued en route to his trial by his brother Dai Lo Fu (Ong Soo Han,  Bloodsport 2 ) - a crime lord and occult leader who's also employed a dangerous arms dealer (Evan Lurie,  Hologram Man ) - it's up to Tarek Richards (Jalal Merhi,  Talons of the Eagle ) and Linda Masterson (Cynthia Rothrock,  Above the Law ) to reunite and stop their plan to harness mystic powers...In addition to the aforementioned names, the cast also boasts Eric Lee ( Ring of Fire ) as the thought-dead sensei of Chong and Dai Lo and Paul Rapovski ( Extreme Challenge ) as a main henchman, as well as about a dozen unnamed but thoroughly noteworthy fighters; making for a pretty sweet B-movie ensemble. The only problem here is that many of the performers aren't used to their full potential, in one way or another: on one hand, you've got plenty of character interaction between Bolo and Han, but they hardly fight (Han doesn't even have a single one-on-one match), and on the other hand, Cynthia Rothrock supplies some nice brawls but otherwise feels like a bit player in her own movie. Then there's Eric Lee, who not only doesn't get to fight but also has his voice dubbed the entire time. Geez.When everybody does get to fight, though, it's good - sometimes very good - but you'll have to wait almost an hour into the movie to get beyond split-second encounters and down to the real martial arts fighting. Again, it's disappointing that Han, Lee, and Bolo don't get to show off their considerable talents much, but the remaining stars (and non-stars) really step to the plate to make up for this. The choreography trumps that of the first movie, with faster brawls, less restrictive editing, and a much greater variety of fighting styles represented. The last twenty minutes or so are an almost nonstop fight scene, featuring Cynthia taking on a tae kwon do fellow and a stick-wielding Paul Rapovski with a wooden bench while Jalal Merhi has a one-on-one fight with Evan Lurie that was better than anything I'd imagined Merhi capable of. Anybody with experience in flicks like these will know that "Beirut's Steven Seagal" was never Van Damme, but dangit if the showdown he has in here isn't a perfectly respectable one.The introduction of supernatural elements as a plot point (Dai Lo's trying to take Evan Lurie's weapons back in time to do...something) comes as a really weird twist after the first movie was played as straight as it was, but when considering what  Tiger Claws 3  turned out to be, I guess this is the friendly middle ground of the series. Production values are decent and there were enough subtle weirdo moments to make even the boring scenes a little interesting (e.g. to fool policemen, Chong masquerades as a french fry vendor and serves them frozen fries), but nevertheless, I still give my nod to the first installment of the trilogy above the others: its characters were better developed and it did a better job of balancing the story with the butt-kicking. Fans of the first ought to find this one worth the price, though, with Jalal Merhi followers in particular having reason to get excited.

Like so many action films, it starts with a BANG ... resulting in one of the best car crash roll-over scenes I've ever seen, back in the golden (more like orange) age of napalm. From this point on, we're not deprived of violent action sequences, although they are mostly human-powered. This scene alone gives 3 stars.Another fighting gem from Jalal Merhi, however in this case, he was simply too cold and calculated, seemingly 100% focused on the script's eventual outcome, as unlikely as it was.Great fighting sequences from all, especially Merhi and Evan Lurie, who is quite possibly the most unknown bad-ass martial arts villains of all time.This is also one of Cynthia Rothrock's best physical efforts, and that is really too bad since that the script sucked so bad. Almost like "Mortal Kombat", but even more child-like. Bolo's character does practically nothing worth mentioning, fighting or otherwise.All in all, a very bad sequel, despite some really good efforts from actors and stunt performers. Hoping Tiger Claws III will be better...

Share some 16:9 and some 5.1 and then throw a 4:3 with stereo old TV format with action and violence and I am very well pleased. I like the action and violence. I like the punching and kicking. I like the explosions. Present a villain and a hero and there is a good story to be told. Beware of a little sciencefiction for the viewers' amazement. Amazon Prime Video can be pretty amazing.

I've seen this movie back in the 90s, so I'm a bit biased. As a sequel, it isn't bad. While the first movie has generally more to it, and fits better in the 90s martial arts action movie genre, the second one certainly has its own edge. While the script, action and fight choreography may seem dated and dull by modern standards, I can appreciate its few unique features, and the generally unexpected take on Bolo Young's character alone is worth watching the movie at least once.

I've got every other Cynthia Rothrock movie. This was "ok", however the fight scenes weren't choreographed very well and Ms. Rothrock didn't show very much in the few fight scenes that she did. The acting was a bit lame, and "Tiger Claws" was much better. This would be a good movie to have if your just a Cynthia Rothrock collector and don't really care too much about the movie quality.

I love it! I like all and any Cynthia Rohthrock movies (videos). She is the Best! Cynthia Rothrock is the best martial-arts actress I have ever seen, and she is For-Real, and she is a good actress, as well. I have purchased a lot of her movies. I hope she will make a few more movies, unless she is getting too old (no disrespect intended), to kick the crap out of the bad guys! She is my favorite martial-arts actress.

Cynthia Rothrock did a very good job in this movie. It was well written and the martial arts scenes were well done.