Michael Rivers (Mathis Landwehr) is a retired karate champion who just wants to spend time with his family. One day, he is approached by a mysterious man named Ron Hall (Matthias Hues) who proposes he join an underground “no rules” fighting tournament to determine the greatest martial artist in the world. Rivers turns him down, seeing no reason to risk his life to prove his worth. Unfortunately, Ron Hall kidnaps his wife and daughter and forces Rivers to compete in the Kumite. When Rivers arrives in Eastern Europe where the tournament is being held, he meets other fighters like Damon Spears (Kurt McKinney) and Lea Martin (Monia Moula) who inform him that their loved ones have also been imprisoned with ominous threats placed on them if they perform poorly in the tournament. The seemingly indestructible Dracko (Mike Derudder) is the man to beat, but Michael lacks the confidence to take him down. On others’ advice, he tracks down Loren (Billy Blanks) and Julie Jackson (Cynthia Rothrock) who know Dracko’s weaknesses and are able to train Michael in how to take Dracko down. Will Michael be able to triumph in the Last Kumite?

The creators of The Last Kumite have an obvious affection for ’80s and ’90s martial arts movies, and this film is obviously intended as an homage with Bloodsport and Kickboxer being the most direct sources of inspiration. Director Ross W. Clarkson, who worked as cinematographer on competent action flicks like Undisputed 2 & 3, knows how to shoot action, and we are treated to lots of fights in a variety of styles, particularly in the second half of the film once the tournament begins. To aid him in this endeavor we are treated to a who’s who of late ’80s/early ’90s action film staples like Kurt McKinney of No Retreat, No Surrender, Michel Qissi from Bloodsport and Kickboxer, China O’Brien herself, Cynthia Rothrock, as well as Matthias Hues and Billy Blanks who co-starred in films like Talons of the Eagle and TC 2000 (and in case you’re wondering, yes, The Last Kumite does give us a showdown between the two). Clarkson, in an effort to bring as much of that ’80s action magic as possible into this film, has even recruited music maestro Stan Bush (most well-known for songs like “Fight to Survive” from Bloodsport, “Never Surrender” from Kickboxer and “The Touch” from Transformers: The Movie) to write new songs for The Last Kumite. Also on board is composer Paul Hertzog who was the composer for Bloodsport and Kickboxer. As you would imagine, the music is supremely on point. Now I could go into how this is a low budget movie with some stilted acting and weak dialogue, but to be honest, no one this movie is targeted to cares about that. Some folks just want a movie where a bunch of jacked dudes kick ass and take names. On that count, The Last Kumite delivers.

The image quality here is generally very clean and crisply transferred. The film is clearly low budget, but the quality of the digital scan wasn’t compromised as a result. On the audio front, we get a nice, impactful DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English track that has good separation and really immerses you in the action of the kumite. This film was actually launched on Kickstarter, so as a result, there are several nice extras included that were produced for the Kickstarter campaign. In addition to an interesting “Behind the Scenes” featurette, we also get several interviews with cast members like Kurt McKinney, Michel Qissi, Mathis Landwehr, Matthias Hues as well as composer Paul Hertzog. They discuss how they became involved in the film as well as what their favorite and most influential martial arts films were. Also included is a music video for Stan Bush’s “No Surrender” and a couple of trailers.

If you are the kind of person who has grown tired of the jittery overblown action flicks that Hollywood has put out over the last couple decades and want to return to a simpler time when you could watch two guys wailing on each other in a no holds barred tournament, The Last Kumite was made specifically for you. Get your blood pumpin’ and let the nostalgia course through your veins!