British-born karate champ Gary Daniels stars in this post-apocalyptic asteroid crash, direct-to-video actioner that makes up for numerous deficiencies with solid martial arts and stunt work.

The video rental and sales industry has for some time given birth to a whole mess of independent and low budget action films. While most are forgettable, a few rise above the pack by offering something that big-budget Hollywood films do not. In the case of Isaac Florentine’s COLD HARVEST, we see the continuation of a long tradition of bringing Western martial arts action to the small screen. Florentine brings his Eastern-inspired action, lightly peppered with a certain over-the-top playfulness to the well-tread, post-apocalyptic genre and throws in a dash of Spaghetti Western sensibility. The result is certainly something out of the mainstream and deep into B-movie territory.

After a massive asteroid hits Earth in the near future, mankind is thrust back into a frontier-like state of lawlessness. With the population already decimated, the survivors now contend with a deadly plague. The only hope is six carriers of an antigen on their way to a safe zone where further testing can be done. Unfortunately, all but one is killed by a gang led by Little Ray (Bryan Genesse). A hunt begins for the survivor, a woman named Christine (Barbara Crampton).

Enter Gary Daniels as Roland, Roland the bounty hunter who appears to have stepped right out from the pages of a Mac Bolan pulp novel. Fast with his guns and even faster with his hands and feet, Roland’s profession quickly turns personal. He discovers that there is a bounty on Little Ray, that Little Ray murdered his twin brother and that his brother’s wife is Christine. Naturally, he makes it his mission to get her to safety and to hunt down Little Ray.

There is no use trying to compare this film to a mainstream or Hong Kong action film. It thrives in its own world of exploding testosterone and stilted acting. Anyone who has followed the films of Chuck Norris or Don “The Dragon” Wilson should understand. But as B-movie material, COLD HARVEST is a cut above thanks to Florentine’s emphasis on quality martial arts action. Akihiro Noguchi, one of Florentine’s cohorts from his POWER RANGERS days, offers competent choreography.

All of the actors deliver sub-standard acting performances but at least Daniels’ martial arts skills are both impressive and featured with flair. The ladies may recall him as a chiseled and scantily-clad villain with a ponytail who gave Jackie Chan trouble in CITY HUNTER. With his clean-cut looks and polite demeanor, Daniels makes a lousy Road Warrior wannabe who is thoroughly unconvincing as a toughened killer. But in this case, action speaks louder than words or looks. The hand-to-hand combat may be a little contrived in a world dominated by guns, but it’s in these scenes that the film delivers the most fun. Whether busting heads in a brothel or trading blows with co-star Bryan Genesse in the film’s final moments, Daniels is a powerful screen fighter.

Besides Daniels’ martial arts, only the camerawork and some of the set design are worth mentioning as being above expectations for a limited budget film. Florentine’s trademark use of the “whoosh” sound for nearly every quick movement of the body adds to the camp flavor but gets a little repetitive. Everything else including musical score, costuming and script are mediocre.

The concept of a bounty hunter/hero in a frontier post-apocalypse is a challenging one to pull off successfully with any budget. The few past successes like ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE ROAD WARRIOR and SIX-STRING SAMURAI all had more to offer overall. But solely on the grounds of martial arts content, COLD HARVEST, along with Jean-Claude Van Damme’s CYBORG (1989) is leaders in this over-played sci-fi category. Gary Daniels fans won’t be disappointed.

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