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The Hits Keep Coming In The New Trailer For SPECIAL ID

Tuesday gave martial arts fans its second trailer in a row for director Clarence Fok‘s gritty MMA cop thriller Special ID. The new footage unquestionably illustrates enhancements of the film’s high energy action, and thrilling tone with lead action star Donnie Yen accompanied by actress Jing Tian, actors Andy On and Hanyu Zhang and the rest of the cast and crew. The film may have hit a few brick walls over the past couple of years, hampered by past drama and legal inconveniences in the past, but as the October 18, 2013 release date draws near, fans of Yen and Hong Kong action can ease their souls knowing the film will finally see the light of day. Enjoy the footage and stay tuned for more action! SYNOPSIS: Yen takes on the role of Zilong Chen, an undercover police officer deep within the ranks of one of China’s most ruthless underworld […]

I, FRANKENSTEIN Goes IMAX In 2014

Lee B. Golden III

Experience the ultimate battle for humanity with #IFrankenstein in @IMAX theaters…this January. pic.twitter.com/Ax2IEO5qip — I Frankenstein (@IFrankenstein) September 17, 2013 Lionsgate is hitting the internet with big news surrounding its upcoming release of the sci-fi thriller, I, Frankenstein. The film garnered some attention back in May when a new motion poster was unveiled prior to its the release of several new character posters and set pics via Twitter and Facebook pages for its unveiling at this year’s San Diego Comic Con over the summer. The film also stimulated the press overseas a bit at ABS-CBN when lead actor Aaron Eckhart accredited fight trainers, industry stuntman and stunt coordinator Ron Balicki and wife Diana Lee Inosanto, daughter of highly acclaimed action cinema veteran, instructor and stunt coordinator Guru Dan Inosanto. And with today’s press release from IMAX Corporation, I gather that today presents an even bigger reason for the world of […]

PAY BACK Gets A New Poster And Release Date

Lee B. Golden III

A new poster is now circulating for MTime.com’s documented October 10, 2013 domestic release date of director Fu Xi‘s Mandarin language mystery revenge crime thriller, Pay Back from Legend Pictures. The film garnered heavy attention back in late August when four other character posters made their way to die hard martial arts cinema fans who were also blown away by the new trailer that arrived earlier this month. Pay Back sees actors Louis Fan Siu-Wong and Francis Ng in their respective roles as an ex-con and a taxi driver whose worlds collide, with one trying to solve his own attempted murder, and the other looking for the criminals responsible for the rape and murder of his daughter. The film also stars Deng Ziyi, Lam Suet, and legendary Asian cinema actress Cynthia Khan. Stay tuned for further updates.

The God Of Wealth Returns In The New Teaser For THE FOUR 2

Lee B. Golden III

The new animated ink teaser for the upcoming 3D wuxia action thrillee The Four 2, was unveiled this week at MTime. The sequel, written, produced and directed by Gordon Chan with co-director Janet Chun, was shot starting back in July 2012 after the commercial success of the first film, with a third already planned for production at the time. The first film, The Four, is now available in North America as of April, courtesy of our friends at Well Go USA. Based on a series of novels by Malaysian author Wen Ruian, the The Four 2 sees actors Deng Chao along with actor Ronald Cheng, Outcast co-star Crystal Liu Yifei, and Special ID co-star Collin Chou reprising their titular roles as four martial arts masters who utilize their skills in service Emperor’s to apprehend powerful criminals and solve crimes. Also starring are Wu Xiubo, Jiang Yan, Anthony Wong, Liu Yan, Shereen […]

Lucas Black Drifts Back Into Character For FAST AND FURIOUS 7

Lee B. Golden III

Deadline reports that actor Lucas Black is now being officially announced as having boarded the pack of action-branded cast members lighting the way for the current production of Fast And Furious 7, in addition to the eighth and ninth film to follow. This probably comes as no surprise to some people who may have been expecting to see the 42 and Legion actor reprise his role from the 2006 film, The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift. My best guess is that with things moving full speed ahead, and for all things considered regarding the connection between the 2006 film and the end of Furious 6, we can only hope to hear announcements about actor Mortal Kombat Legacy 2 actor Brian Tee returning to reprise his old role from the film as well. But that’s just me, although I hope I’m not alone. Produced by Neal H. Moritz with a […]

A Lone Cop Fights His Way From Behind Enemy Lines In The New Promo For SPECIAL ID

Lee B. Golden III

Easternlight Films and Starlit Group have released a brand new international promo for director Clarence Fok‘s upcoming MMA cop thriller, Special ID. The new promo shows brand new footage and displays a continuation of the film’s preconditioned promise to dazzle the world audience when the film is released in Hong Kong starting on October 18, 2013. The film stars international action sensation Donnie Yen leading the way also as co-producer and action choreography aided by his team, notably including action cinema veterans John Salvitti, Kenji Tanigaki and precision stunt coordinator Bruce Law. The film also stars Police Story 2013 co-star Jing Tian, along with legendary screenfighting actors Ken Lo and Andy On, with Hanyu Zhang and Qi Daji rounding out the main cast. Other release dates are currently pending. SYNOPSIS: Yen takes on the role of Zilong Chen, an undercover police officer deep within the ranks of one of China’s most […]

A New Terror Emerges To Continue The Nightwing Story Arc In THE DARK KNIGHT LEGACY

Lee B. Golden III

Machninima continues to lend its viewing audience the goods with Monday’s newly unveiled Batman-oriented fan film, The Dark Knight Legacy. Pitched as the start of a reboot of the story continuing one year from where director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy left off in the 2012 film, The Dark Knight Legacy relaunches “Robin” John Blake’s story as he sets out to protect Gotham from a new masked vigilante known as Red Hood, threatening to reignite chaos with the spilled blood of the criminal underworld. Interestingly enough, the brand new action short film also comes a few days after actor Harry Shum Jr. (Step Up 2 The Streets, Step Up 3D, The LXD, Mortal Kombat Legacy 2) was quoted in an article at MTV Geek sharing his own interest with reporters in playing Nightwing, which does share some appeal in the sense that it could get more people talking. And who knows? […]

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A Mace, A Machete And An Evil Clown Enhance The Brutality In The Stunt People's Newest Action Short, WAKE UP JUICE!

Lee B. Golden III

Independent action star and choreographer impressario Eric Jacobus is currently on the road making more action films after recently pushing his latest new shortfilm, Rope-A-Dope through the film festival circuit. And with more work on the way, today he is releasing his latest shortfilm from director Tyler Bohlman and producer Blair Kelly, Wake-Up-Juice. Jacobus has become increasingly sharp at what he does ever since he founded his indie martial arts action filmgroup, The Stunt People, forming partnerships with people like Rebecca Ahn who produced and starred in Jacobus‘s recent feature film, Death Grip. He now continues his craft with Ahn, as well as actors Jesse Chandler and Johnathan Stoddard, and actor, screenfighter and Dardrex Productions performer Thomas Tan. You can also capture Jacobus among the cast of writer/director Kevin Tacharoen’s Mortal Kombat Legacy: Season 2, produced by Lance Sloane on Septemeber 26, only on Machinima. SYNOPSIS: A computer hacker must […]

My Interview With Filmmaker FRANK T. ZIEDE On His New Online Action Series, BLACK

Lee B. Golden III

Independent filmmaker Frank T. Ziede is well known as a multi-faceted actor, writer, producer and short film director according to his IMDb page. As of this summer, however, Frank has turned to the internet to showcase his brand new military action webseries, Black, which has aired as of August 26. With five episodes of its first season now available online and thousands of subscribers already lining up, the series has begun earning appeal among viewers for its true-to-form style of entertainiment similar to films like Act Of Valor and television shows like 24, in addition high production scale and value, taking viewers into the battlefield where all the action is, in addition to an eclectic cast of characters led by actor and military veteran Mikal Vega. Film Combat Syndicate was recently invited to share an email dialogue with Frank this week about this webseries, and I’m very happy to present […]

Watch The New Trailer For GREEN STREET 3: NEVER BACK DOWN

Lee B. Golden III

The official Facebook page for Green Street 3: Never Back Down, has announced the official to DVD and Blu-Ray release date set for October 21, 2013 from Lionsgate UK. With Tower Block director James Nunn third in line after first and second helmers Lexi Alexander (Green Steeet Hooligans, Punisher: War Zone) and Jesse V. Johnson (Green Street 2: Stand Your Ground, The Package), the film is the third installment in the epic franchise based on a novel by Dougie Brimson, highlighting the grim, brutal life of football hooliganism. Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear star Scott Adkins leads along with Jack Doolan, Mark Wingett, Lee Charles, Casey Barnfield and Billy Cook, in addition to Christian Howard and co-star/fight choreographer Joey Ansah (Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist). The film is produced by James Harris and Mark Lane and is written by Ronnie Thompson. Further release dates are pending. SYNOPSIS: Danny Harvey (Scott Adkins) […]

A Young Boy's Escape From Reality Turns Into A Battle Against One Mean, Giant Robot In CROSS FIRE

Lee B. Golden III

With a story and screenplay written by Michael A. Lerner and producer/director Dzhanik Fayziev, the latest film to come from the Russian filmmaker, August. Eighth. blends a real world story of war with science fiction spectacle that pretty much leaves you wondering if this was partially ripped off from the first two Transformers movies. So, it’s almost no wonder why a film like this didn’t pop on anybody’s radar, but it does deliver quite an intriguing plot that takes place in 2008 at the height of the Russia-Georgia war where a newly divorced mother forced to infiltrate South Ossetia to rescue her son, who transports himself to his imaginary world for his own sanctum, hence all the indiscreet nods to Hasbro. The film has seen its ups and downs since its domestic premiere back in February 2012, but the film just made its way to its Beijing premiere late last […]

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Film Of The Week: OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (2013)

Lee B. Golden III

SYNOPSIS: When the White House (Secret Service Code: “Olympus”) is captured by a terrorist mastermind and the President is kidnapped, disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped within the building. As our national security team scrambles to respond, they are forced to rely on Banning’s inside knowledge to help retake the White House, save the President and avert an even bigger disaster. REVIEW: Actor Gerard Butler stars as Mike Banning, a former secret service agent who saves the President’s life from a freak car accident that kills the first lady, leading up to his removal and demotion to a desk job. Over a year later since then, the South Korean prime minister visits the President, when all of a sudden, Washington is taken in a hail airborne gunfire, with ground forces turning the White House front lawn into a war zone. Unbeknownst to the prime minister however, North […]

"The Unknown Road Ahead" Highlights The New Still From FAST AND FURIOUS 7

Lee B. Golden III

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’)); Post by Vin Diesel. Multi-franchise actor and producer Vin Diesel has shared a new still from the set of Fast And Furious 7 on his Facebook page. Casting announcements are still pending seeing as how we are still getting our ducks in a row with who’s who in the film since it began shooting earlier this week, but we know so far that Diesel will be joined by actor Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, (possibly) Kurt Russell and Chistopher “Ludacris” Bridges, Djimon Hounsou, actresses Nathalie Emmanuel and Deepika Padukone, and international martial arts action star Tony Jaa. Question comes into play only after word came that Russell may have no longer been involved in the film now newly being helmed by Insidious 2 director […]

DOUBLE FIST: My Interview With PAUL MORMANDO

Lee B. Golden III

About a week ago I came across an intriguing poster for what looked like a piece of cinema in the works. I ultimately contacted the man featured on it, actor, martial artist, instructor and innovator, avid Bruce Lee and Van Damme fan and native New Yorker, Paul Mormando who is currently working on the production for his upcoming webseries, Double Fist, in which he will also use as a plarform to further showcase his own martial arts system, Cha Ki Do. It also turns out he has his own wikipedia page, which intrigued me even further. So I traded emails with him last week to learn more about him. In the following brief interview, not only will get to not only learn about the webseries, but his roots as a martial artist and what makes him tick. Film Combat Syndicate: How did you get started in martial arts? Paul Mormando: […]

Check Out The New Poster For SKIN TRADE

Lee B. Golden III

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’)); Post by Dolph Lundgren. Actor Dolph Lundgren shared this post earlier in the week on his official Facebook page from The Expendables (2010). I have to say, the nostalgia kicked in after reading this post. He and Sylvester Stallone were a classic pairing in 1985 when they duked it out in Rocky IV. Almost 30 years…that’s how long its been. It’s very humbling. On that note, check out the following. The brand new promotional poster is online for the upcoming production of writer, producer and star Dolph Lundgren‘s next film, Skin Trade, from director Ekachai Uekrongtham. The film was recently announced on Lundgren’s official website with international action star Tony Jaa cast for a lead role, as per a “deal” Lundgren made with the […]

Watch The First U.S. Trailer For VIKINGDOM

Lee B. Golden III

IGN has a brand new short trailer on its YouTube portal for director Yusry A. Halim‘s period fantasy swordplay epic, Vikingdom. The film already had its Malaysian premiere on Thursday, with other forthcoming releases in other territories planned, courtesy of Universal Pictures. The film bows in North America for a limited theatrical, 3D release on October 4, 2013, and stars Dominic Purcell, Craig Fairbass, Natasha Malthe, Jon Foo and Conan Stevens, with a script by James Coyne. SYNOPSIS: In the midst of time comes the clanging of steel against steel, a collision of myth and history…. “Vikingdom”. Based on Viking legends and the epic poems they left as record, “Vikingdom” is a fantasy, action adventure about a forgotten king, Eirick, who was tasked with the impossible odds to defeat Thor, the God of Thunder. Thor is on a mission to gather the key ancient relics – “Mjolnir” – his hammer […]

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Every Move Counts Within Every Second In The New Machinima Prime Shortfilm, ASSASSIN'S CREED: CHECKMATE

Lee B. Golden III

You know a director like Guy Ritchie has done something brilliant when he seemingly inspires other artists to interpret his comprehensive, cerebral style of work. Such is the case with director Joe Miale‘s latest live-action independent online shortfilm take on the highly acclaimed UbiSoft property in Assassin’s Creed: Checkmate. The shortfilm stars actor and action impressario Reuben Langdon, whose history in action performance is well rooted in independent action cinema, Hong Kong cinema, Hollywood stuntwork and especially motion capture for film and video games. His credits include films such as Extreme Challenge, Gen-Y Cops, The Medallion, Avatar and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and video game franchises like Devil May Cry and recently released title The Last Of Us. Langdon also starred in the highly acclaimed blockbuster 2012 short film from Thousand Pounds Action Company, Street Fighter X Tekken along with players Dan Southworth, Mark Musashi and Brendon Huor, and […]

Anthony Pho Works For His Shot At Glory In The New Dramatic Action Short, I'M ON IT

Lee B. Golden III

The latest short film treat to come my way features my distant friend, French actor and stunt performer Anthony Pho in I’m On It. The film isn’t a typical movie with dialogue, but an otherwise vague, short musical tale about a man training to fight in an underground circuit. They say some movies are best left played without dialogue, in which case, this should be a nice little artful peace of dramatic noir French action for you while you wind down this Friday. I’m On It also stars Alain Pambou-Suami, Hamid Hashemi, and is directed by Alexandre Desane. Pho also has his own channel where you can currently see some of his own directorial miniwork by clicking HERE. I’m on it from Alexandre Desane on Vimeo.

The New Trailer For OLDBOY Goes Greenband

Lee B. Golden III

The new green band trailer for Oldboy came out this week, in addition to two new promotional images for the film. Based on Mark Protosevich’s screenplay, the film sees actor Josh Brolin inheriting the title role from the previous actor, Choi Min-sik in the 2003 film of the same name, impressively showing Brolin’s adaptability to the beloved role Asian cinema fans have come to appreciate. I like Brolin as an actor as he has yet to disappoint, and I can easily see how he would have been just as equally great a pick for Batman as actor Ben Affleck in the upcoming DC Universe starter from director Zack Synder, as previously revealed in the headlines several days ago. Brolin previously starred in the live-action comic book western, Jonah Hex, which I mostly feel suffered from an underwritten script, but delivered a noteworthy effort from Brolin as the lead. That said, […]

Watch The New Trailer For GRUDGE MATCH

Lee B. Golden III

The new trailer for producer/director Peter Segal‘s upcoming Christmas boxing comedy, Grudge Match is online, arriving just one day after the official first photo was released. The film stars Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro in opposite roles as bitter, and (literally) old rivals who decide to go toe-to-toe one more time in the ring to settle the score once and for all. Produced by Bill Gerber, Mark Steven Johnson, Michael Ewing and Ravi Mehta, the film also stars Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin, Kim Basinger and Jon Bernthal with a story and screenplay by Tim Kelleher and Rodney Rothman. Grudge Match will release on December 25, 2013. Follow the film on Facebook. SYNOPSIS: Award-winning movie legends Oscar® winner Robert De Niro (“Raging Bull,” “Silver Linings Playbook”) and Oscar® nominee Sylvester Stallone (the “Rocky” films, “The Expendables”) star as old boxing rivals who come out of retirement for one final match. De […]