One of my all time favorites.

Fantastic!

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

The attempts at comedy, wooden acting, fake from beginning to end. Who writes this crap? Worse who invests real money and time into this tripe? The two leads cannot act to save their lives much less the attempt at a movie. I am only glad that it was a dollar rental and not a pricey ticket stub I had in my hand. Literally one of the three worst movies I have ever seen.

Tyler Wilson (Blanks) is a tough New York City cop who is also proficient in martial arts. Because he is such a "loose cannon", he is shipped off to Toronto to team up with Michael Reeds (Merhi) because he is dubbed a "loose cannon" as well. This police chief is quite a matchmaker. It seems a Mr. Li (Hong) has his hands in drugs, prostitution, gambling, and the like, and, as we've seen before, Li is taping Councilmen and other government officials indulging in these vices, and the corruption goes...wait for it...all the way to the top! But wait, there's more! Li also holds punchfighting competitions to find new recruits for his organization. When the dynamic duo of Reeds and Wilson foil a plot to assassinate Li, Li hires them to be his personal bodyguards. Now they're on the inside, and they team up with Cassandra (Barnes) to bring down the evil empire. They must do so before Li can annex the evil Fong Wai Hut (Foo) and his gang.Additionally, since Master Pan (Quing Fu as himself) is a noble monk who won't take bribes from Li, and they are at odds, Wilson and Reeds go through rigorous training sessions at Pan's monastery. Here they learn the secret of the "Eagle Claw", which is not to be confused with the "Tiger Claw" from the other Blanks/Merhi production TC 2000 (1993). Master Pan commands an army of bald, white, mustachioed monks that really help out Wilson and Reeds. They're going to have to train hard to defeat Li's henchmen Khan (Hues) and Eric Lee (credited only as "bodyguard").You've gotta love Billy Blanks' wide-eyed, childlike delivery of his lines. He has some great martial arts moves in the film as well - doesn't everyone kickbox with a white collared shirt buttoned all the way up? - luckily Blanks makes his trademark funny faces and sounds. Just look at the above picture. Gaze upon Blanks' facial expression for 10 seconds and try not to laugh. And that's just a still shot from the poster! As far as Jalal Merhi (whose hair appears painted on, so we started calling him the Painted On Hair Guy), try to imagine a cross between Steven Seagal and comedian Nick DiPaolo. His "loose cannon" status mentioned earlier is clearly evident in his ponytail and leather outfit. As seen in Tough and Deadly, Reeds loves hockey (this is Canada, don't forget) and Beethoven, and Wilson loves beer and urban R&B music.Will they ever be able to get along? Painted On Hair Guy is smarmy and unlikable, and his fighting is somewhat lackluster. Wilson even calls him, and I quote, a "Bubblehead". Does anyone know if he's related to PM's Joseph Merhi? It couldn't be a coincidence that there are two men named Merhi in the direct to video world, could it? Matthias Hues as Khan snaps his fingers and commands a kung-fu army. With this one snap, he displays ten times the charm of Painted On Hair Guy and we remember why we love Hues. Seeing as the film is set in Toronto, they don't have to hide the fact that it actually is Toronto. That seems like a wise move. The extended (read: most of the movie) training sequences strongly recall the other Blanks vehicle Balance of Power (1996), especially the beach scenes.For a professionally-made production featuring some familiar faces and, to quote the Video Hound, "Featuring the most advanced fighting techniques ever filmed", and with a memorable title song by Jonas J. Patricko, do check out the silly fun of Talons of the Eagle.

Talons of the Eagle stars Billy Blanks (Back in Action) as martial arts champ Tyler Wilson. After three DEA agents are killed by crime boss Mr. Li (James Hong, Shadowzone), Tyler is sent on assignment to Toronto, where he teams up with vice detective Michael Reeds (Jalal Merhi, Tiger Claws). The two decide to enter a martial arts tournament to impress Li, but first decide to train at the academy belonging to Master Pan Qing Fu (Playing Himself), who has an experience of his own with Mr. Li. The two also learn about the eagle claw technique, hence the film's title. After saving Mr. Li's life from a rival crime boss during the tournament, Wilson and Reeds are given an opportunity to join Li's line of work, which they accept. At Li's casino, Wilson and Reeds meet up with fellow undercover agent Cassandra Hubbard (Priscilla Barnes, Traxx) who has already found info on Li's gambling and drug operations. The three agents eventually find the evidence they need, but will have to escape Li, alive.As cheesy and somewhat low budget as the film is, I found it to be quite fun. I especially became fond of the performances of James Hong and Billy Blanks, and the film has some good lines too. "You look like your picture." "I'm sorry to hear that." The fight sequences were cool too.Recommended.Also Recommended: Tiger Claws, Back in Action, Expect No Mercy, and Tc 2000.DVD EXTRAS: The DVD is presented in a decent full frame presentation that is probably the same as the old VHS, if not somewhat better. The DVD is also out of print, so if you find it, especially if it's around $5-$10, get it.

If anyone say that this is a B-movie, then I suppose they are right about that. If anyone say that this is low-budget, I guess they are right about that too. But these minor details don't mean that this movie isn't good. Personally, I think this is pure entertainment from beginning to end. Good fight scenes, especially from Blanks. It was also interesting to see that Matthias Hues were in it as a bad guy. As always, he does that job in an excellent way. And if you like James Hong, he's here too. All in all a good fighting movie with excellent teamwork between Billy Blanks and Jalal Merhi. The ending proves just that.