Shot back-to-back with BLOODSPORT 2 – THE NEXT KUMITE, BLOODSPORT 3 brings back the Kumite champion Alex Cardo. Like its predecessor, the film is told in a flashback during a camping trip with Alex and his son. Daniel Bernhardt returns to the role of Alex as it deteriorates into nothing more than a typical revenge tournament film.

When Alex refuses to defend his title at the request of crime boss Duvalier (John Rhys-Davies), who has prepared his best fighter, The Beast (Nicholas Oleson), for the next Kumite, Duvalier takes drastic measures. In an effort to get the message across, Duvalier has Alex’s mentor, Master Sun (James Hong) brutally killed. Alex, looking to seek revenge, turns to tycoon Leung (Pat Morita), who after helping Alex redeem himself, feels indebted to him.

Leung sends Alex to meet Master Makato (Master Hee Il Cho), who was the head judge at the previous Kumite. Makato is also revealed to be Master Sun’s brother and he accepts Alex as his student, having him go through intense training similar to his brother’s. After completion of his training, it is time for Alex to re-enter the Kumite and compete in an effort to seek revenge for his master’s death once and for all.

The theme of revenge has always been a staple in the world of martial arts cinema. Numerous times revenge has come in many forms. Perhaps the fact that BLOODSPORT 3 takes the usual story of student avenging the death of his master by entering familiar ground, in this case, the Kumite. There seemed to be something special about seeing the Kumite in the original BLOODSPORT and its sequel. However, here, it’s pretty much at a point where you’ve seen one Kumite, you seen them all. This is a danger when making these brand of films back-to-back. While it is all interesting to see a new story, it is safe to say that this is pretty much beating “a dead horse”.

The only thing BLOODSPORT 3 has going for it is in its fight sequences, this time with choreography under stunt coordinator Steven Ito. As with the first two films, the fighters of the Kumite train in various forms of martial arts. There’s an African martial arts stylist, a Jujitsu stylist, a flashy taekwondo stylist, and even an expert in silat. Two of the fighters in the film would go on to become stunt coordinators in their own right. Playing the silat stylist is Chad Stahelski, who would go on to become Keanu Reeves’ stunt double in the MATRIX trilogy and work as stunt coordinator on SPEED RACER and the upcoming NINJA ASSASSIN, while the taekwondo stylist is played by J.J. Perry, who went on to become a successful action choreographer with his work in ROAD HOUSE 2, UNDISPUTED 2: LAST MAN STANDING, THE SHEPHERD: BORDER PATROL, and the upcoming X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE.

Aside from this, just expect the usual martial arts B-movie routine, and while Daniel Bernhardt does have the necessary martial arts skills and charm, this time around it doesn’t help much, even with the presence of future LORD OF THE RINGS star John Rhys-Davies and the cameos from BLOODSPORT 2 stars Pat Morita and James Hong. In the end, it’s nothing more than a typical B-movie that has been beaten tons of times. Just watch it for the action sequences as they are the only positive factor here.

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