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The King of the Kickboxers

The King of the Kickboxers

Action · Crime · Thriller · 1990

Jake, a New York policeman poses as an actor to expose the making of martial-arts death movies in Thailand.

Movie details

The King of the Kickboxers

“In the ring of death, only one man can be king!”

1990 Action · Crime · Thriller 1h 39m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

Jake, a New York policeman poses as an actor to expose the making of martial-arts death movies in Thailand.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The King of the Kickboxers?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Kickboxer

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Action · 1989

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Lo Yuen-Ming

Written by

Keith W. Strandberg

Loren Avedon

Loren Avedon

Jake Donahue

Billy Blanks

Billy Blanks

Khan

Keith Cooke

Keith Cooke

Prang

Jerry Trimble

Jerry Trimble

Drug Dealer

Richard Jaeckel

Richard Jaeckel

Captain O'Day

Don Stroud

Don Stroud

Anderson

Sherrie Rose

Sherrie Rose

Molly

Court is in session

Put The King of the Kickboxers on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.