It’s that time again! Welcome to #TrailerTuesday, where we look at some trailers that are action/martial arts related, catch our eye and make us excited. This week’s trailers include a one woman army, an international martial arts short film, assassins battling, and the end of an underrated Sci-Fi action trilogy. Without further ado, let’s begin #TrailerTuesday!

Army of One

Directed by

Stephen Durham

(click on poster to view trailer)

 

Starring Ellen Hollman, Matt Passmore, Stephen Dunlevy, Barry Hanley, Gary Kasper, Kendra Carelli

Plot: Out hiking, special forces commando Brenner Baker (Ellen Hollman) stumbles onto a drug cartel’s compound. Her husband is killed and she’s left for dead. The Cartel made two mistakes: Killng her husband and leaving her alive. They won’t live to make another.

Film Fan Dojo reaction: Don’t mess with a woman with special forces training! Ellen Hoffman (The Matrix 4) doesn’t play around in this trailer. After they kill her husband, she puts her elite military training to good use to get revenge. We get some flashes of her training as well as one of the bad guys receiving a juji gatame (armbar), gun disarms, knife-throwing, gunplay and more combat butt-kicking! Army of One will be released on VOD and DVD December 15 from Uncork’d Entertainment.

No Way Out

Directed by Max Huang

(click on on picture to view trailer)

 

Starring Max Huang, Eskindir Tesfay, Volkram Zschiesche, Stephan Schäfer and Mariella Lin 

Plot: An ex criminal (Max Huang) gets hired by the police to work undercover inside a drug cartel, but when he saves a little girl, he blows his cover.

Film Fan Dojo reaction: Action movies have a way of transcending language barriers, cultural boundaries and other things we humans put in place to separate ourselves. Action, especially martial arts action, has the potential to simultaneously draw from old-school and create something fresh and new. And the film doesn’t have to adhere to the 90-minute structure we have grown accustomed to in order to thrill us, excite us and give us the action pay off we so badly want. No Way Out is an example of what I mean. Writer, director and star Max Huang gives us an international flavor  this a German film), a simple, yet workable plot, and martial arts action! In this trailer we see homages to old school late 80’s Jackie Chan (multiple opponents swinging weapons on our hero who valiantly defends), some new school tricking kicks and Wushu and vintage Hong Kong style falls by stunt actors, as well as Donnie Yen-style slow mo hook punch to the face, as well as wide and mid-shot camera angles to emphasize the action. 

Max Huang, winner of the 2019 Best Action Star and Best Choreography categories at the IDTV Action Film Fest,will no doubt be a force to be reckoned with in the action and martial arts action movie scene in a big way! Why wait to see? To be released in May 2020, No Way Out is currently available to view free here! Enjoy the martial arts action of Max Huang and his stunt team!

Contracts

Directed by Alex Chung

(click on poster to view trailer)

 

Starring Alex Chung,Margaryta Soldatova, Kyle Stewart,  Christena Gaunce, Dan Sanderson, Jermaine Carty

Plot: A team of assassins led by an extremist become victims of a superior killer.

Film Fan Dojo reaction: Coming for our northern neighbors, Contract Killer is written and directed by Toronto stunt man Alex Chung. First off, what we at FFD like, a simple plot and a reason to have hand to hand and weapons based fight scenes. In this trailer we get previews of both: machine gun style Taekwondo kicks, knife combat, some acrobatic kicks, punches, judo like throws, quick kills (John Wick style) and some gunplay for good measure. This movie looks like a lot of fun and we can tell that hard work was put into the fight choreography and stunts. Currently available on Amazon Prime Streaming as well as DVD/Blu Ray. 

Skylines

Directed by 

Liam O’Donnell

(click to view trailer)

 

Starring Lindsey Morgan, Rhona Mitra, James Cosmo,Yayan Ruhian,  Daniel Bernhardt, Alexander Siddig,Phong Giang, Cha-Lee Yoon

Plot: When a virus threatens to turn the now earth-dwelling friendly alien hybrids against humans, Captain Rose Corley must lead a team of elite mercenaries on a mission to the alien world in order to save what’s left of humanity.

Film Fan Dojo reaction: Skyline has to be one of the most slept-upon modern sci-fi movie series!  But what does a Sci-Fi movie have to with martial arts films, you may ask. The Skyline series merged the two starting with the second release of the trilogy in 2017, when Frank Grillo (Wolf Warrior 2, Jiujitsu, Captain America: Civil War), Iko Uwais (The Raid, The Raid: Redemption) and Yayan Ruhian (Wira, John Wick: Parabellum) came aboard the franchise! Skylines promises the end of the trilogy in thrilling fashion. We also get some human vs alien fight scenes, superhuman powers and visit the alien homeworld. Lindsey Morgan (The 100) returns, aided by Daniel Bernhardt (Bloodsport 2, The Matrix:Reloaded, John Wick), the returning Yayan Ruhian and action director Cha-Lee Yoon (known for his work on Skyfall, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 and xXx: Return of Xander Cage). Skylines looks like an action packed and satisfying end to the Skyline trilogy. Skylines is scheduled for release on December 18, 2020. 

Hope you enjoyed this week’s #TrailerTuesday. What trailers have you excited? Leave your thoughts in the comments section. Happy viewing!