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Boxing movies have had a set of conventions that started in the 1930s and ran all the way up through the Rocky series and beyond. There's the hard-luck underdog contender, the talented boxer who's manipulated by crooked promoters and managers, the outside-the-ring love affair, the score to settle for a fellow boxer, the family tensions over the boxer's career and the climactic match against the big mean champion. Knockout manages to bring all of those ingredients to the table and mix them together.Maria Conchita Alonso plays the lovely and talented Belle, a young boxer with a future.Her dad is an ex-prizefighter himself, pursuing a career in law enforcement; his partner is Belle's love interest.Belle's mother died of a brain tumor some 15 years previous.When her friend, homegirl, and sparring partner is put in the hospital by the champion, Belle trains with a vengeance to take the title away and even the score for her friend's sake.This is a movie that tries very hard but is so riddled with the hoariest boxing cliches and trite dialogue that it can never rise above being heavy-handed and predictable.It's too bad, because the direction is competent and the performances are strong, but the by-the-numbers storyline breaks no new ground whatsoever.Granted, it's hard to rewrite the rules of the boxing movie, but Knockout's brand of prizefight melodrama veers from the formula only by featuring aLatino setting and female fighters. On the plus side, the fight scenes are well-choreographed and tough, but they have the weight of the rest of the movie working against them.Knockout isn't bad, but for even the most casual fan of boxing movies, you've seen it before. --Jerry Renshaw ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Not THAT bad!
OK-- just know what you're getting here. You're NOT buying this for the acting, script or other Oscar categories. You're buying this because it shows women beating each other up. Not so much boxing as landing 19-20 unblocked punches to the opponent's head or gut; each punch -judging by the sound effect-- would drop an elephant. Each boxer does a creditable job of grimacing, suffering and sweating. Way too much "plot" gets in the way here, but on DVD you can pass up the grease and go right for the meat.

Knockout!!!
This movie is for female boxing fans. It is the rise and fall of a latina Female boxer. The story is about an attractive latina starting in to the boxing business after her best friend who is a boxer whos name is Sandra (Gina La Piana) is suffering from a severe knockout. Belle is caught to find her way to boxing glory and has her heart broken when both mother and father have both past away. If you want to watch a Femle Rocky watch this

Good topic, bad movie
I was very disappointed by this movie. I had seen the great movie about female boxing called SHADOW BOXERS and I wanted more. This was not even in the same league.

Someone please knock me out!
I rented Knockout thinking that it would be like Girlfight. Girlfight was an amazing movie, with amazing acting. Knockout is an insult to Girlfight by just having the same SUBJECT matter. It was the worst movie I've ever seen with bad acting and a predictable ending. It was a waste of money, and a waste of time. Whatever you do, DON'T SEE KNOCKOUT!

Sucker Punch
Well, I fell for it. I should have paid more attention when picking out a movie to rent. I saw the box for this at the video store, and mistook it for "Girlfight", which I'd heard was great. In my own defense, the titles are similar, and they re-did the cover art for the box so it looked almost identical. Anyway, to sum it up, in my opinion they re-did the whole cover packaging/promo to capitalize on the buzz/success of "Girlfight". I popped it in and got a bad feeling when they started showing trailers for low budget straight-to-video flicks, and even worse when a music video of the main song for the movie, which sounded like elevator music and featured corny slomo clips from the movie preceded the main feature. When I saw the first few minutes and Maria Conchita Alonso showed up, I knew I'd fallen for it. (don't get me wrong, she's a talented actress, but I knew she wasn't in "Girlfight", the movie I'd been under the false impression I was renting).

So, apart from me feeling sort of cheated and mad at myself for not looking closer, the movie was OK. The plot involves Belle, a young Latino woman who is the daughter of an ex-champion boxer. One of her close friends is a female boxer, who--and I could see all this coming sooo far ahead of time it was really a drag--gets seriously injured during a match with a mean champ named "The Terminator", who resembles a female version of a bigger, more pumped up Ike Turner. Of course, Belle decides that the only thing to do is to become a boxer herself and avenge her friend. She lives with her caring, supportive yet protective Dad (her mother died of cancer when she was younger), who just happens to be a cop. Her love interest, also caring and supportive yet protective, is also a cop who works with her dad. Hmmm, they both have jobs that put their lives in danger in the line of duty...wonder what's gonna happen? She starts training and meets a sleazy manager who of course, pretends to care about her but just wants to exploit her. The actor they hired looks like a very low-rent Cary Elwes and is so young he barely manages to have a mustache. His acting was also really, really bad. Sorry, but it made me wince. I'm not even going to go into the plot any further because anyone who has seen Rocky, or almost anyone, knows exactly where this movie is going and how it will end.

This was not a completely terrible movie. Most of the acting was OK, and the lead actress was very good. There were good, strong female Latino role models. The final fight scene did get me sort of interested, even though I knew everything that was going to happen long before it did. The actress that played "The Terminator" did a great job of being unlikeable enough that I really did want Belle to kick her butt, and rooted for Belle-again, although there were absolutely no surprises. My favorite moment (maybe the only moment where I wasn't mad at myself for renting the movie by mistake) was when Belle slaps her sleazy manager after he's shown his true colors, yells at him, and then turns away only to suddenly fake a punch and watch him cringe back in fear, showing that she is really the one in charge.

The dialogue was really, really bad, my main complaint. One of their attempts to be witty was someone discussing boxing saying "size doesn't matter" and the female replying wryly, "now where have I heard that before?" Other lines that are supposed to have dramatic impact are "The doctors told me I may never walk again!" "Come on, you know you can trust me!" and "Your mother would have been so proud of you". I could go on and on. Nothing you haven't heard a million times before in bad soap operas or movies-of-the-week.

Maybe I'm being too mean-the filmmakers did make an effort, and I did sit through the whole thing voluntarily...but only because there was nothing else to watch while I worked out. You could do worse (especially if you are looking for a movie with strong female characters). ... Read more

Reviews (12)

You Need Not Take It Seriously to Like It
BUG BUSTER is one of those rarest of fright films: it knows when not to take itself too seriously even if it does not know when to frighten and when to amuse. The Bug of the movie is the Mother Bug, a flying roach that looks exactly like what is it, some guy on wires wearing a bug suit. It is hard to imagine even small children being fightened, but it is far easier to see that the audience is titillated by overlapping waves of corny dialogue, cheesy special effects, and guest appearances by Star Trek's James Doohan as a corrupt small-town sheriff and George Tokei as a demented entymologist. The plot is nonsense, of course. A Mother Bug lays eggs that threaten everyone in town. This theme of insectoid mother love we have seen before. ALIENS showed us how it could be presented in a serious vein. But here, in BUG BUSTER, everything is played for laughs. Randy Quaid steals the show as exterminator General George, who squares off in a boxing match with the Mother Bug in a scene that pays homage to Charles Dutton, who tried much the same in ALIENS 3. The result of this slugfest is a microscopic metaphor of the joy that a Big Bug movie can bring if only it refuses to take itself too seriously.

BEAM US UP SCOTTIE!
Yes, James Doohan and George Takei, STAR TREK's Scotty and Sulu, are in this movie. Doohan has more screen time as the sheriff, but Takei as an eccentric scientist, looks like he stepped right out of a Japense scifi flick.
BUG BUSTER, an entertaining little flick, has an identity crisis that works against its overall effectiveness. Is it a horror movie with comic touches or is it a comedy with horror touches? It's not out and out satire like the Scary Movie series, and it seems to want to take itself seriously, even with Randy Quaid's over the top General George, the pest eliminator. At any rate, director Lorenzo Doumani keeps the movie going along pretty well and has some unique things going for it.
First, here we have Bernie Kopell (from LOVE BOAT) and Anne Lockhart (June's daughter) playing the parents of premenopausal Katherine Heigl. And they get their own love scene..it's nice to see people past the age of 50 having the desire to have sex and show their love for each other.
As for the bugs, the real roaches are quite repulsive, and even the giant one at the climax is effectively disgusting. Downtown Julie Brown has a "cute" cameo as the reporter for FU2 t.v., where she blatantly extols the calamities happening in the little town of Mountainview.
Another unique touch: Trailer Trash, the band in the lodge's lounge, featuring Melba Toast and ?, is hilarious.
Entertaining, but its identity crisis, keeps it from being better. Oh, Brenda Doumani who plays the veterinarian is effective, and probably related to the director? Anyway, she also sings the movies closing credit song, "Virtue", which is about as bad as a song can get!

One of Heigl's best films
OK, there are two reasons why this film gets 5 stars. You Katherine Heigl fans know what I mean.

Here Heigl's family moves to a small west coast town being pleagued by giant bugs. And only the cast of 'Star Trek' can save her.

For a B movie the production is suprisingly good.

For those of you disapionted by Heigl's recent films 'Valintine' and 'Evil Never Dies' have no fear. Thoses film stunk because Heigl barely had any screen time. In 'Bug Buster' she is truly the main character and does what she does best, taking baths and showing.

I'd probably rate this film third after 'Wish Upon a Star' and 'Prince Valient' (where is that DVD?)

If your a guy wondering "who in Katherine Heigl?" Look her up on the internet. Then come back here and order this film.

Bug Buster
Well guys, I was one of those who made the movie. Comical is the only word for it. Let me tell you, it wasn't intended to be a humorous film at first!
-this from the hard working art department

Where No Movie Has Gone Before...
Comical supposed "horror" movie with the doctor from "Love Boat" (Bernie Kopell), Sulu (George Takei) and Scotty (James Doohan) from "Star Trek", and Isabel (Katherine Heigl) from "Roswell", as well as co-star of those wonderful "Vacation" movies, Randy Quaid.

The whole thing with the bugs and the dark and the water was pretty darn far-fetched. If you are a horror movie fan, this is NOT the film for you. Randy Quaid as a twisted exterminator-general -- that's about the only scary thought in the movie. But if you want see former Trek dudes die, it's all right.

But let's face it: this movie would have been pretty darned unwatchable without Katherine Heigl in it. She looked the best I had ever seen her look (at least until the June 2000 Maxim shots). She has some acting talent as well, though you would not be able to discern it from this flick. More Heigl and less Scotty in the future works for me... ... Read more

Reviews (1)

SEX DRIVEN SILLY FILM....DOES HAVE SOME LAUGHS!!
THE MISERY BROTHERS is the concoction of writer/director/actor Lorenzo Doumani, and he even uses his actress wife, Brenda. I first came upon them with the well done, if uneven, horror spoof BUG BUSTER.
This really corny and derivative comedy spoofs everything from JFK and Marilyn Monroe to "A Few Good Men" and "The Godfather."
Most of the jokes miss horribly, but there at least a half dozen that really work well. Doumani and veteran character actor Leo Rossi play the Misery brothers, who stand to inherit 200 million dollars from their gangster fathers estate IF they do two things: not get arrested for any felonies for at least a year; and secondly, get married within that year. If they don't the money will go to Rev Scheister's Second Son of Christ church. You know from here what will happen. But it doesn't really matter as the movie is simply a vehicle for over the hill actors to have fun. For example:
ABE VIGODA plays the gangster dad, Don Frito Layleone, head of the huge food chain syndicate.
PAT MORITA appears as Judge Ben E Hana, who serves justice with a variety of culinary weapons.
DR. JOYCE BROTHERS appears at the very end to hear the Misery boys' story. (A previous listener dies during the story).
NELL CARTER shows up as a witness who don't know nuttin.
NORM CROSBY has a field day as the prosecuting attorney who uses most of his words in erroneous context (He's really funny).
ERIK ESTRADA appears as the jail warden who breaks into an Elvis Presley impersonation of the Misery Blues. (His jump suit, however, is red).
LOU FERRIGNO isn't green in this one, but he riotously plays the brothers' servant, chauffeur, cook, etc.
SHERMAN HELMSLEY is the villainous Rev. Scheister, and Don King effigy.
RODDY PIPER appears as a wrestling referee who officiates a tag team match between the brothers and two prostitutes (who later show up unexplainably dead?).
FRANK STALLONE appears as Frank the cop, with as much brain matter as his famous brother's Rocky character.
Musical numbers come out of nowhere, and although one is very funny, the others fall flat.
There are tons of bodacious bosomy babes, none of them with any acting talent, but one cowgirl is hilarious when she tries to execute the boys.
THIS IS DEFINITELY A GUILTY PLEASURE, but it does have enough laughs to entertain you. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

You Need Not Take It Seriously to Like It
BUG BUSTER is one of those rarest of fright films: it knows when not to take itself too seriously even if it does not know when to frighten and when to amuse. The Bug of the movie is the Mother Bug, a flying roach that looks exactly like what is it, some guy on wires wearing a bug suit. It is hard to imagine even small children being fightened, but it is far easier to see that the audience is titillated by overlapping waves of corny dialogue, cheesy special effects, and guest appearances by Star Trek's James Doohan as a corrupt small-town sheriff and George Tokei as a demented entymologist. The plot is nonsense, of course. A Mother Bug lays eggs that threaten everyone in town. This theme of insectoid mother love we have seen before. ALIENS showed us how it could be presented in a serious vein. But here, in BUG BUSTER, everything is played for laughs. Randy Quaid steals the show as exterminator General George, who squares off in a boxing match with the Mother Bug in a scene that pays homage to Charles Dutton, who tried much the same in ALIENS 3. The result of this slugfest is a microscopic metaphor of the joy that a Big Bug movie can bring if only it refuses to take itself too seriously.

BEAM US UP SCOTTIE!
Yes, James Doohan and George Takei, STAR TREK's Scotty and Sulu, are in this movie. Doohan has more screen time as the sheriff, but Takei as an eccentric scientist, looks like he stepped right out of a Japense scifi flick.
BUG BUSTER, an entertaining little flick, has an identity crisis that works against its overall effectiveness. Is it a horror movie with comic touches or is it a comedy with horror touches? It's not out and out satire like the Scary Movie series, and it seems to want to take itself seriously, even with Randy Quaid's over the top General George, the pest eliminator. At any rate, director Lorenzo Doumani keeps the movie going along pretty well and has some unique things going for it.
First, here we have Bernie Kopell (from LOVE BOAT) and Anne Lockhart (June's daughter) playing the parents of premenopausal Katherine Heigl. And they get their own love scene..it's nice to see people past the age of 50 having the desire to have sex and show their love for each other.
As for the bugs, the real roaches are quite repulsive, and even the giant one at the climax is effectively disgusting. Downtown Julie Brown has a "cute" cameo as the reporter for FU2 t.v., where she blatantly extols the calamities happening in the little town of Mountainview.
Another unique touch: Trailer Trash, the band in the lodge's lounge, featuring Melba Toast and ?, is hilarious.
Entertaining, but its identity crisis, keeps it from being better. Oh, Brenda Doumani who plays the veterinarian is effective, and probably related to the director? Anyway, she also sings the movies closing credit song, "Virtue", which is about as bad as a song can get!

One of Heigl's best films
OK, there are two reasons why this film gets 5 stars. You Katherine Heigl fans know what I mean.

Here Heigl's family moves to a small west coast town being pleagued by giant bugs. And only the cast of 'Star Trek' can save her.

For a B movie the production is suprisingly good.

For those of you disapionted by Heigl's recent films 'Valintine' and 'Evil Never Dies' have no fear. Thoses film stunk because Heigl barely had any screen time. In 'Bug Buster' she is truly the main character and does what she does best, taking baths and showing.

I'd probably rate this film third after 'Wish Upon a Star' and 'Prince Valient' (where is that DVD?)

If your a guy wondering "who in Katherine Heigl?" Look her up on the internet. Then come back here and order this film.

Bug Buster
Well guys, I was one of those who made the movie. Comical is the only word for it. Let me tell you, it wasn't intended to be a humorous film at first!
-this from the hard working art department

Where No Movie Has Gone Before...
Comical supposed "horror" movie with the doctor from "Love Boat" (Bernie Kopell), Sulu (George Takei) and Scotty (James Doohan) from "Star Trek", and Isabel (Katherine Heigl) from "Roswell", as well as co-star of those wonderful "Vacation" movies, Randy Quaid.

The whole thing with the bugs and the dark and the water was pretty darn far-fetched. If you are a horror movie fan, this is NOT the film for you. Randy Quaid as a twisted exterminator-general -- that's about the only scary thought in the movie. But if you want see former Trek dudes die, it's all right.

But let's face it: this movie would have been pretty darned unwatchable without Katherine Heigl in it. She looked the best I had ever seen her look (at least until the June 2000 Maxim shots). She has some acting talent as well, though you would not be able to discern it from this flick. More Heigl and less Scotty in the future works for me... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Wonderful Love Story
I saw this movie on cable and just had to buy it. It is a great love story. I loved the scene when Jimmie is waiting for Taylor after he gets out of the hospital. When he sees her coming home with Scott in the morning he thinks she has spent the night with him. The emotions he shows are wonderful when he tries to leave, but comes back. You can tell he is so confused. It is great!!!!....

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
I C-RRR-A-C-K-E-D U-P-. IT WAS SO HALARIOUS. I WATCHED EVERY EXPRESSION ON MR.SCALIA'S FACE AND I LAUGHED TILL THE TEARS ROLLED.THE DRUNK SCENE,AND THE ELVIS INPERSONATION WAS FABULOUS. WHEN HE CARRIED TAYLOR UPSTAIRES AND TOSSED HER ON THE BED AND SHE BOUNCED OFF ON TO THE FLOOR AND THEN MADE THAT FLYING LEAP ONTO THE BED HIMSELF WAS ABSOLUTELY AWSOME.OF COURSE I AM PARTIAL TO MR SCALIA ANYWAY SO WHAT CAN I TELL YOU.ON SOME OCCASSIONS HE MAKES ME LAUGH AND IN OTHERS PUTS A LUMP IN MY THROAT.MY I MAKE SOME THING PERFECTLY CLEAR HERE.I AM A RETIRED ITALIAN MOTHER OF 5,GRANDMOTHER OF 4,AND NOT SOME 21 YR.OLD INTERN.I ADMIRE AND RESPECT THE MAN FOR WHO HE IS.MY DREAM IS TO BE ABLE TO LAY THESE TIRED OLD EYS ON HIM SOME DAY BEFORE THE GOOD LORD WANTS ME TO HELP HIM RUN THINGS UP THERE,AND WHILE I STILL KNOW WHO I AM LET ALONE HIM.I DO BELIEVE.ANY WAY, THANKS FOR LETTING ME CHEW YOUR EAR OFF.I NEEDED TO DO THAT.NO BIG DEAL IF YOU POST THIS OR NOT.JUST WANTED TO VOICE MY OPINION ON HOW I FEEL ABOUT MR. SCALIA AND HIS FILMS.THANKS FOR LISTENING. RESPECTFULLY GAETANA(TINA)POWERS grammatina@earthlink.net ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Eleniak,Brenda Doumani, Rossi and Tessiero
Movie was ok could have been MUCH better, Erika Eleniak was great as always, and Brenda Epperson Doumani is definitely right up there with Eleniak, it was great to see Steve Rossi from the old comedy team of Allen and Rossi his performance was excellent, the director should have capitalized on one of his cast members Michael A. Tessiero, needed to see more of him, this guy is turning up everywhere , has great screen presents, can't put him in a scene with any leading men though, if you do viewers will be wondering why Tessiero is not the star. All in all it was entertaining.

Vegas: City Of Dreams??
When I got this film, I bought Four Dogs Playing Poker as a Amazon.com deal. Vegas: City of Dreams had a very interesting plot in the beginning of the film but it slowly declined. I felt like I was watching a soft-core porno-soap. It seems casting wasn't the best... they probably went to every strip joint in Vegas and said to every stripper, "Hey, ya want to be in a movie?" I am a huge John Taylor fan and I was thrilled to hear he got one of the lead roles, but I was very disappointed because his acting wasn't the best. If you are a down-right fan of one of the actors in the movie, buy it... but don't buy it out of curiousity. Sorry, John.

Modest prdouction values but high Erika content!
This advertizes as being in the spirit of 'Charlies Angels' and 'The X-files' but is a low budget affair throughout. 3 sisters return home at X-mas only to find their 4th murdered and they want to know why. The 4 do not even remotely look related but if you are an Erika Eleniak fan, she gets lots to do and delivers her lines with professional zeal throughout. ... Read more