Angel of Destruction (1994)

recommended

disgusting, overrated, pointless

An action-packed slog

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

I came across this flick due being two reasons, first of all, it doesn't look like a 1994 flick it's more an eighties flick in the exploitation genre. The second reason is the fact that Maria Ford is in it. I never has seen a flick with her but liking exploitation, horror and B flicks and being Quentin Tarantino's "favorite B actress" I gave it a try.The story I could dig but it shows that this is a B grade flick with a lot of gratuitous nudity even from Ford. And it's so gratuitous that it even made me laugh. She plays a cop but just look how she walks around as a cop, it's more a hooker. But the scene I was referring to is the fight scene she has at a the home of the girl she body-guarding, she has a fight going on just in her G-string. Really?But the flick never has a boring moment, and a lot of fighting going on, in a ridiculous way edited and you can spot that the actors, ahum, all wait for impact of a fist or feet. No, this one you don't watch for the acting. With an eighties overlook it's out there for the lovers of exploitation and B-flicks. It's not that bad with only Maria Ford and Bob McFarland being the thespians who you can catch in other flicks. 99% of the actors here only appeared in this flick only. No special effects used, but a lot of action and T&A.Gore 0/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

I love this movie. Maria Ford is beautiful and deadly and god knows why she did not make more martial arts movies like this. I read here that she was only cast in the film when the original star Charlie Spradling refused to do a topless fight scene. I applauded Spradling at first for making an ideological stand, (and I was quite anti Ford at first) but then found Spradling has actually done nude sequences which are far less empowering than the scene she supposedly objected to. Spradling's character Britt appears early in the film and is an irritating swaggering imitation of a 'tough guy' male. She defeats several guys with martial arts but is easily beaten up and killed by a giant psychopathic soldier called Kell. Enter Ms Ford as her sister Jo. Everything Spradling does wrong, the talented Ms Ford does right. Her character is not trying to act 'male' in any way - she is confident, sexy and totally feminine. However when she fights nothing will stop her. Ms Ford must kill about 20 men with firearms and her body in this movie and what is satisfying is she has no 'super powers - she is just trained, fit and ruthless. The most famous scene is where Jo stays over at the house of the irritatingly fake 'female pop star' and her 'lesbian' lover . Several goons enter the house to kill or kidnap them but they don't count on the presence of Jo, who leaps from her bedroom dressed only in a thong and proceeds to destroy them with her hands and feet. Some have claimed that this scene was exploitative, but the thugs attacked at night – it's 99% certain that in a hot climate Jo would sleep in her underwear or nude. A friend of mine told me how she was awoken in her home when she heard an intruder. She was in bed naked at the time but confronted the startled thief and chased him out of her house without getting dressed! Regarding Ms Ford's body she is unconventional and refreshingly real for a 'B' actress with her then small breasts & untanned skin. The fact she is topless with her buttocks exposed makes her destruction of the attackers even more explosive and satisfying – here is an unarmed almost naked woman who uses deadly force to defend herself, crushing one man to death with her bare foot and snapping her final opponents neck with a beautifully executed roundhouse kick. I'm pretty sure it was not the intention of the director to produce a scene which appealed to me, but watching Maria Ford fight so powerfully and convincingly in attire which we normally associate with female passivity and the oppression of the 'glamour' industry is amazing. Straight afterwards she has a sex scene, but it's notable that she initiates the encounter and dominates it.It's not all good news though – there are a couple of embarrassing 'pop videos' which feature topless women for no reason other than 'eye candy' and Ford herself performs a silly and pointless striptease, but these obvious inserted scenes of titillation do not spoil the whole experience. I also liked that Jo is not invulnerable - she takes a beating in the final confrontation with Kell and realistically needs help to take him down. I heartily recommend this movie to those who want to see a powerful, uninhibited performance from an under appreciated star. It's a pity Quentin Tarantino didn't cast her as 'The Bride' in 'Kill Bill' as apparently he (like me) is a huge fan.

This movie is perfect escapist entertainment with the lovely Maria Ford as an avenging angel out to stop a creepy serial killer (Jimmy Broome) who has taken out her sister (Charlie Spradling) and plans to do the same to a bisexual Madonna-like pop singer (Jessica Mark) he is obsessed with. He also has a thing for mutilating topless Asian hookers in his down time and has a slew of 'Nam vet slimeballs working under him. The acting from the leads (Ford, Broome and Antonio Bacci as Maria's partner) is great, the dialogue and one-liners are absolutely hilarious, the guys in the audience will love the gratuitous female nudity and well the action just never stops as Maria karate kicks at least a hundred guys on her way to a final showdown with the killer! There are even several musical numbers! Ford is simply fabulous in this movie and is obviously trained in martial arts, not just some poser like you see in Hollywood garbage like Elektra and Catwoman. There's one hilarious moment I rewound like 10 times where one of Broome's henchmen says "Screw you douche bag!" and Maria immediately kicks him in the head! *Girl Power!* I love this movie. It never gets old and is a must in the collection of any self-respecting B movie fan!

This movie is overacted, and it's great! If you like watching B movies this is a great one. The line that sticks in my mind and will stick in yours once you see it because of the ho-hum delivery "did your father rape you?" as if she is asking if stamps still cost $.32. This is an example of a film that if the actors were replaced with mainstream actors would cause the film to suck, but the way it is so overly done makes it funny and entertaining. If you feel like making fun of a movie this is the one to rent.