Some people drown their woes in alcohol, others watch B-movies starring Lorenzo Lamas whose character in this particular case drowns his woes in alcohol (tequila, to be precise, that is sweated off in large doses). Portraying a former world champion in kick boxing, Nick, he discovers a strapping young lad (not the metal band), Danny (Michael Worth), and accepts to assist him in meeting of his ambitions. Standing in their way is Nick’s arch-rival, Jake (Jeff Langton), whose brutish style involves a move – let’s call it ‘headbutting of the pelvic zone’ – that adds a whole new layer to homoerotic undertones or rather, overtones that pervade the proceedings...
When Danny first arrives to Nick’s nightclub, he frowns at the idea of oiling up the girls who participate in bikini wrestling, going ‘straight’ to the office of his fallen idol. Under the pinkish lighting, with Mr. Lamas sporting a leather, hairy chest-revealing vest, the exchange of cheesy lines gives the impression of a queer version of Red Shoe Diaries, so ‘fight’ in ‘let’s see if you can fight as well as you can talk’ sounds more like the other ‘f’ word. And we’re not even ten minutes into the movie. Later on, we learn that Danny has no girlfriend back home, and only moments after his confession, the camera – taking his POV – focuses on the ‘coach’ at these very words: “I never wanted anything so badly in my life.” Not even the shirtless combat can match that, or the subtext behind ‘I want you to come at me hard’.
Once the tournament begins, and we realize the true antagonist is Nick’s drinking issue (that supposedly messes with his potency), the drama grows darker than expected, in spite of the neon-lit setting of Las Vegas, as genre tropes and (slightly subsiding) gay vibes effectively blend. The central bromance may not be as obvious as the one between Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren in Showdown in Little Tokyo released only a year earlier, but there’s no denying that the sparks are flying. Successfully capturing them is DP Richard Pepin who – according to IMDb – honed his skills under the pseudonym of Rick Christopher in adult flicks of the 80’s, with extra steam produced through the jazzed up score from John Gonzalez.
