scott adkins

PAYBACK: Jesse Johnson’s Hit Sequel To ‘The Debt Collector’ Arrives In UK On VOD In June, DVD In July

Apart from Samuel Goldwyn’s domain in the U.S., Dazzler Media is coming to U.K. homes with Jesse V. Johnson’s new film regionally titled Payback. The film is already host to swaths of praise from action fans, as well as niche bloggers with early reviews already making the rounds. Johnson directs the film from a script he penned with Avengement and Accident Man cohort Stu Small, following up on the 2018 inaugural hit that featured Louis Mandylor and martial arts action mainliner, actor Scott Adkins; Both leads return respectively as Sue and French, supposedly back from the dead and sooner cornered into a two-day job with three collections to be made in Las Vegas where the truth of their work will ultimately be revealed in a brutal test of friendship and loyalty, and a twisted revenge plot by a ruthless gangster. Save for whatever’s been written elsewhere, I didn’t give the […]

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DEBT COLLECTORS Review: Adkins And Mandylor Pay Their Dues With Smartly-Crafted Action And Drama

Lee B. Golden III

The chances of a continuation after Jesse Johnson’s 2018 film, The Debt Collector, seemed pretty slim given the ending. For Johnson and co-writer Stu Small, it was clearly more then enough to provide the framework for this year’s Debt Collectors, capitalizing off of a suggestive conclusion that paves the way for a second chapter. Our story begins seven months after the events of the first film, and indeed, times have definitely changed for our budding duo Sue (Louis Mandylor) and French (Scott Adkins) in the months that followed their bloody conflict with gangster Barbosa, having since gone seperate ways and getting their wounds patched. Sue’s entrance in a low-level bar cues a surprise reunion for French, whose day job as a bouncer isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Indeed though, French has grown more adept to the hustle and tussle of dealing beatings on a regular basis with unruly […]

DEBT COLLECTORS: Violence Is The Inevitable Answer In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Debt Collectors. Plural. Seems there is life after death after all for Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor, reprising their roles once more from their brutal and witful 2018 venture in sequel reunion with director Jesse V. Johnson helming the storied gangland calamity. Eagle-eyed fans caught on early to the news of a May 15 release which has otherwise now been rerouted instead, to a May 29 releade on VOD, Digital and DVD from Samuel Goldwyn Films. This week, the company rolled out the official trailer to get the chatter going. Debt collectors French and Sue get to work doing what they do best – cracking skulls and breaking bones – as they chase down the various lowlifes who owe money to their boss, Tommy. They’re summoned to Las Vegas to collect from a dirty casino owner, who happens to be a vicious ex-lover of Sue’s. Meanwhile, a notorious drug kingpin […]

WATCH: Scott Adkins Lists The Top Five Movies Of His Career

Lee B. Golden III

Got sometime to kill? Actor and action star Scott Adkins has done plenty of killing on screen in a number of action genre hits, and he’s given the spotlight to at least five with personal anecdotes and stories to each production via his YouTube channel. Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear, Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning, Accident Man, Undisputed 3: Redemption and Avengement are all up for grabs and available wherever movies are sold. So, granted if you need a playlist to help kill time at home while in isolation, here’s Scott Adkins, at your service (I have a seperate recommendation a la thinkpiece published at The Action Elite as well in case there are those of you who haven’t seen that film yet, and surprisingly there are a few). Enjoy the playlist below!

VIGILANTE: William Kaufman’s Latest Spawns New Concept Art

Lee B. Golden III

One key ingredient when pitching projects at any film market usually includes some kind of concept art. Bleiberg Entertainment is in Berlin with their own package which also consists of William Kaufman’s latest, Vigilante, which wrangled through a ton of unease earlier this month when fan sites spilled the beans. Scott Adkins (Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning, Undisputed film series) is set to star in the flick rejoining Kaufman long since 2016’s Jarhead: The Siege, and Daylight’s End screenwriter Chad Law. With Vigilante making the rounds at this year’s EFM, there’s no question with the sales art’s blaring similarities to the pre-sales art for Jesse Johnson’s hit 2019 thriller, Avengement. Welp…enter Kaufmann who is brandishing new mock up art on social media showcasing Adkins, edited into heavy tactical gear per the story; Described as Taxi Driver meets Punisher, Adkins will play a disgraced soldier who wages war against the city’s […]

CASTLE FALLS: Lundgren, Adkins Clash For New Explosive Heist Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

VMI Worldwide is currently setting up to present its slate at EFM which kicks off this week. On deck among its neighbors is Castle Falls (formerly “The Castle”) which sees Scott Adkins and Dolph Lundgren (Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning, The Expendables 2, Legendary) back together again with the latter set to direct. Castle Falls centers on Mike (Adkins), a struggling fighter-turned-foreman working a luxury condominium set to be demolished in eight hours. He soon finds himself enveloped in a deadly cat-and-mouse game when he finds a stash containing millions of dollars – the prized subject of a relentless search between two vicious rival gangs, one led by Shea (Lundgren). THR brings the exclusive which confirms principal photography is set for March in Alabama: “This combo with action stars Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins is just what the buyers are looking for, and we are excited to be working with […]

VIGILANTE: Action Pic In-Development From ‘Jarhead 3’ Director, Scott Adkins In Talks To Star

Lee B. Golden III

Avengement star Scott Adkins is reportedly circling a chance to reteam with director William Kaufman for action thriller, Vigilante, according to news broken at City On Fire on Friday. The film also reunites Kaufman with screenwriter Chad Law who penned the director’s 2015 dystopian zombie thriller, Daylight’s End, as well as Adkins’s Isaac Florentine actioner, Close Range. Law is co-penning the script with Josh Ridgeway, and with Andrea de Liberato (Among The Shadows) producing. Vigilante centers on a disgraced soldier who wages war against the city’s most dangerous criminals, only to end up endangering the lives of the very same people he initially set out to help protect. Kaufman and Adkins last paired up for 2016 threequel, Jarhead 3: The Siege. A seperately-gestating reboot of Kaufman’s stellar 2010 crime pic, Sinners And Saints, which the two circled with actor Johnny Strong back in 2017, still waits in the wings. Vigilante […]

Top 50 Action Gems Of The Decade (20-11)

Lee B. Golden III

Sometime late last year, Robb Antequera of The Cinema Drunkie sought for the services of several online film reporters, bloggers and willing participants to help contribute to a top fifty list – with sets of ten of our own written summaries – of the previous decade’s best action gems. I contributed about twelve films among which can currently be read among a mix of forty others now opined online as of this article, and in the wake of entries published over at The Action Elite, Action Flix and Bulletproof Action, the series continues below. Hit up the gallery with entries courtesy of screenwriter Chad Law, authors David J. Moore and Mike Fury, and members of The Action Elite, and tune in to Ultimate Action Movie Club for Robb’s final ten. To view the written portions, be sure to open the page via native browser without the /amp modulation, and tap […]

IP MAN 4 Review: Wing Chun, Ip Man…One Last Time

Lee B. Golden III

Call it providence. Call it luck. Call it what you will. At the height of their careers, a film like Ip Man 4: The Finale, couldn’t have come at a better time for actors Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins, both who’ve successfully garnered the acclaim and passable demand that their fanbases have been hoping for. They are two of the most highly-regarded martial arts stars of today’s moviegoing generation, who share their own space on the Disney spectrum with the former playing blind spiritual warrior Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the latter getting some screentime as a heavy-hitting zealot in Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Together, their credits bring a combined total of sixty-six years of experience; Between Yen’s Hollywood breakout near the turn of the century and Adkins’ own proliferation stemming from his successes beginining in Hong Kong cinema, it boggles the mind as to what […]

IP MAN 4: THE FINALE Trailer: Donnie Yen Wages One Last Stand

Lee B. Golden III

Christmas will undoubtedly come a bit earlier for Donnie Yen fans looking toward advance screenings this month for Wilson Yip’s Ip Man 4: The Finale. Expect some heavy-handed press by then with some of the film’s own stars touring select territories to promote the film, including the ‘Man’ himself in what he now elucidated will be his final kung fu movie according to his statements to South China Morning Post in the past week as of this article. Martial Arts master, Donnie Yen is back for the final installment of the Ip Man Universe franchise in Ip Man 4: The Finale, directed by Wilson Yip. Ip Man’s life remains unchanged after his wife’s death, but he and his son are slowly drifting apart. To seek a better future for his son, Ip Man decides to travel to the U.S. only to find the stable, peaceful life abroad is only skin […]

IP MAN 4: Yen’s Last Stand As The Grandmaster Gets A U.S. Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Well Go USA is answering the call once more for Donnie Yen fans the world around with a first teaser for the U.S. release of Ip Man 4. More than ten years since the first installment and roughly seven since I wrote an op-ed aspiring for a two-hander between Yen and actor Scott Adkins, it’s fan service to the fullest at this point, in particularly for a franchise spotlighting a style of martial arts that has taken life in various forms through other IP. Ip Man’s life remains unchanged after his wife’s death, but he and his son are slowly drifting apart. To seek a better future for his son, Ip Man decides to travel to the U.S. only to find the stable, peaceful life abroad is only skin deep. Underneath lies a deep rooted racial discrimination that is far worse than he has expected. Ip Man re-examines his position […]

Louis Mandylor and Scott Adkins in The Debt Collector 2 (Courtesy of Jesse Johnson via Instagram)

THE DEBT COLLECTOR 2: Sue And French Are Back In BTS Stills From The Upcoming Mob Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

On Friday, Jesse V. Johnson took to Instagram with set stills to officially publicize his latest endeavor with The Debt Collector 2. Louis Mandylor and martial arts star Scott Adkins are reprising their respective roles as Sue and French, two collectors under the employment a well-connected gangster in Los Angeles named Tommy. Stu Small penned the script and Luke LaFontaine is returning as fight coordinator and choreographer. An official announcement elucidating cast and crew remains pending. The film will be a seventh for Johnson and Adkins including hits like Savage Dog, Accident Man, Triple Threat and Avengement. Johnson also wrapped The Mercenary with Dominique Vandenberg which premieres in the UK this weekend at the third Fighting Spirit Film Festival. Peep the images above via Johnson’s Instagram.

Scott Adkins angry bars - Avengement.jpg

[UPDATED] AVENGEMENT: Sink Your Teeth Into The Hardest Of Hard-Hitting Scott Adkins Action Movies Right Now On Netflix (Now In The U.S.)

Lee B. Golden III

Director Jesse V. Johnson’s brutal crime drama, Avengement, is now streaming on Netflix in the UK, and as of September 16, in North America!. Johnson directs from his own script with actor and martial arts star Scott Adkins leading the tale of Cain Burgess, out on furlough, hardened, calloused and armed to the teeth when he locks down his brother’s pub, unraveling a tale of crime, betrayal, brutal pennance and redemption after years of fighting for his life behind bars. The film marks Adkins’ sixth collaboration with Johnson while recent months have seen the star’s completion on Isaac Florentine actioner, Seized, and in Ukraine on Adrian Bol’s spy thriller, Legacy Of Lies. Avengement also stars Craig Fairbass, Thomas Turgoose, Nick Moran, Ross O’Hennessy, Kirsten Wareing, Jane Thorn and Louis Mandylor. Johnson penned the script with Stu Small and with fight scene direction by Dan Styles with Luke LaFontaine (Triple Threat, […]

AVENGEMENT: Hey UK! Win A Blu-Ray Copy Of The New Scott Adkins Smash Hit Action Drama

Lee B. Golden III

Martial arts action star Scott Adkins hit it big this summer with the release of his newest hard-hitting drama, Avengement. Directed by Jesse Johnson, the film has become a cornerstone achievement for the martial arts star who plays Cain Burgess, a man out of time and patience as he looks to even the odds with his older brother and his pub-based dubious money-scheming gangster outfit (read my review). Fans in the UK can now bring home Cain’s catharic, teeth bashing and head smashing exploits thanks to the new Blu-Ray/DVD and Digital release from Dazzler Media. In the meantime, Film Combat Syndicate is now partnering with “Life Of Action” author Mike Fury – who also makes a split-second appearance in one of the film’s key prison fight sequences – for a brand new Blu-Ray giveaway to UK-based applicants, and here’s how to enter: E-mail us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com with an answer to […]

Scott Adkins: I Think The Undisputed Movie Franchise Is ‘Done And Dusted’

Lee B. Golden III

The Undisputed movie franchise, as it stands, is officially over according to Scott Adkins in an interview in with The Action Elite contributor Matthew Essary on Monday. The actor had previously expressed the desire for a fifth film even as the franchise, which began in 2002 and continued with Adkins opposite Michael Jai White in 2006, suffered due to rampant piracy. The subject arose near the end of the interview when Essary asked for updates on the film franchise. “I’ll never say never, but those films, they suffered with piracy,” says the martial arts star. “The reason those films are so good is that we do have enough shooting days to make them good because that company knows how to make good films. They don’t want to do them on the cheap.” Piracy was especially an issue following the release of Undisputed 3: Redemption. Development on fourth languished and production […]

A CASE FOR BETTER ACTION MOVIES: ….Or, Why We Don’t Deserve Another Sequel After BOYKA: UNDISPUTED IV [Reprint/Revisal]

Lee B. Golden III

Director Todor Chapkanov’s latest feature-length affair, Boyka: Undisputed 4, isn’t exactly the kind that would get the big screen treatment in North America. Elsewhere? Perhaps. Not so much here though, and it’s a shame as it was still a hope of mine that I shared as a theatergoer, albeit understandable with a limited number of screens at the least considering how rare it is to see martial arts movies these days, and of the caliber they bare in talent and content. I take this fact to mind in observing the career progression of martial arts star, actor Scott Adkins, once a stuntman and someone who has essentially woven himself into ample popularity as an action-capable actor, and with his biggest audience keen on major martial arts fanfare. It’s a succession that has not been easy – one plagued by the ever-continued proliferation of piracy that causes films like Adkins’s latest […]

AVENGEMENT Review: Johnson’s Latest Delivers A Cathartic, Bone-Crushing Siege Drama You Can Drink To

Lee B. Golden III

Not too long since the release of Triple Threat, it now comes down to a matter of days as fans of action movie favorite, Scott Adkins await the release of his newest Jesse V. Johnson follow-up, Avengement. Far from anything pedestrian, the film is consistent with the continued pattern of work from Johnson whose directing career has proliferated favorably in the last few years with Adkins in his stewardship. Avengement is also something special, in a sense, kind of indicative of what Johnson has been trying to crank out in terms of what stories and roles could best flesh out more of Adkins as an actor past the fan-favored Boyka persona that largely crowns his career these days. Much ado was the fallout chatter from early test screenings of Avengement a few months back; It was talk that spotlit this latest outing from Johnson as the quintessential Adkins showcase for […]

Florentine/Adkins Thriller, SEIZED, Lands Explosive New Poster Art

Lee B. Golden III

Action star Scott Adkins is running high on momentum this month following news on Strapped and Adrian Bol’s Legacy Of Lies. For this, we turn to the first poster for Seized, his recently-completed pairing with director Isaac Florentine and actor Mario Van Peebles. The film is now in post production, featuring Adkins as an ex-special forces agent on a trio of missions in order to save his son. Adkins will soon be seen this summer with the release of Jesse V. Johnson’s crime drama, Avengement, and Ernie Barbarash’s Abduction. (H/T to City On Fire)

STRAPPED: Scott Adkins And Isaac Florentine Reunite For The New MMA Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

It’s the action romance that won’t die with actor/director duo Scott Adkins and Isaac Florentine back for a ninth outing together called Strapped. Production begins later this year with Adkins starring as a former MMA fighter forced to confront the heart of his dark past following a brutal robbery and the theft of his championship belt. Florentine, credited for hits like Acts Of Vengeance and U.S. Seals 2, and a string of Adkins headliners dating back to 2003 pic, Special Forces, also developed the screenplay with Adkins, Michael J. Luisi, and Matt Venne who is penning the script. Luisi will produce with Kirk D’Amico whose Myriad Pictures will finance and represent for international sales in Cannes. “We are excited to be working with this team, including Scott Adkins and Isaac Florentine, and alongside producer Michael Luisi, who are all so experienced in making dynamic action and fight films,” said D’Amico. […]

ABDUCTION: Catch The New Scott Adkins/Andy On Rematch In The Official U.S. Trailer From Shout! Factory

Lee B. Golden III

If a double dose of explosive martial arts screen action is what you’re looking for this summer, exec producer Roger Corman and director Ernie Barbarash (Assassination Games) are here to heed the call to fan service forthwith in upcoming thriller, Abduction. Shout! Factory officially launching its U.S. trailer as of Friday ahead of a theatrical and digital release beginning June 7, reuniting action star front runners Scott Adkins (Boyka: Undisputed 4) and Andy On (Once Upon A Time In Shanghai). Quinn (Scott Adkins), a member of a SWAT unit, steps out of a park fountain in an Asian city with no recollection of who he is or where he came from. As he pieces together clues from his past, he vaguely recalls his young daughter, who has been kidnapped. Meanwhile, Connor (Andy On), a former military operative turned gangster-for-hire, discovers that his wife has also disappeared mysteriously in the middle […]