JUI JITSU [2020 / 2021] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] PREDATOR meets MORTAL KOMBAT!
NICOLAS CAGE is back and this time he's got a sword and an alien invasion knocking at his door!
The future hangs in the balance as a being from another world returns to Earth to face off against the best warriors the human race has to offer. From special ops soldiers to the best in MMA, this epic battle for the survival of Earth will place humanity on the brink of extinction.
An all-star action packed cast lead the fight. ‘JUI JITSU’ stars FRANK GRILLO (‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’), ALAIN MOUSSI (‘Kickboxer: Retaliation’) and TONY JAA (‘Ong-Bak’).
FILM FACT: ‘JUI JITSU’ filming occurred in June 2019 partially in Cyprus and included a glimpse of ancient temples of Bagan in Burma.
Cast: Alain Moussi, Nicolas Cage, Raymond Pinharry, Mary Makariou, Tommy Walker, John D. Hickman, Eddie Steeples, Rick Yune, Marie Avgeropoulos, Philip Kkalas, Tony Jaa, Frank Grillo, Marrese Crump, JuJu Chan Szeto, Ryan Tarran, June Sasitorn, Dan Rizzuto, Rigan Machado, Jack Kingsley, Alexandros Photiades, Andreas Masouris, Andreas Kentis, Pavlos Miltiadous, Evangelos Iordanou, Orestis Vasiliou, Harris Papanikolaou, Neophytos Spyrides, Constantinos Michaelides, Andreas Ioannou, Rafael Papanikolaou, Alexander Michaelsson, Petros Dimitriadis, Eleonora Vasileiou, Marianna Neophytou, Christian Lauren Jocson, Michael Jeff Socratous, Jamis Jamshed Djurakulov and Antonis Antoniou
Director: Dimitri Logothetis
Producers: Alana Crow, Arianne Fraser, Caesar Augustus, Chris Economides, Delphine Perrier, Dimitri Logothetis p.g.a., Euthymios Logothetis, Jeff Rice, John D. Hickman, Jim McGrath, Gary Wood, Martin J. Barab, Scott Putman, Shaun Sanghani and Steven Swadling
Screenplay: Dimitri Logothetis and Jim McGrath
Composer: Mocean Worker
Cinematography: Gerardo Madrazo, A.M.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 102 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Highland Film Group / Signature Entertainment
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘JUI JITSU’ [2020] Every six years, a comet passes Earth. During which time, a portal in a Buddhist Temple opens, allowing an alien creature known as Brax [Ryan Tarran] to enter our planet and comes here for one reason – to fight. If he doesn’t get it, he stays here and kills everything in his path. It’s up to an amnesia suffering solider named Jake [Alain Moussi] and his highly trained acquaintances to fend off Brax’s attack, with a little help from a paper hat wearing Wylie [Nicolas Cage] along the way.
In case you were in any doubt this was based on a comic book, penned by its director Dimitri Logothetis and his co-writer Jim McGrath, they helpfully included comic panel-style interstitials to underline the fact that, eh, maybe you should not be taking it with the utmost seriousness, and really it was pure pulp fiction from beginning to end. Indeed, it came across as if it was the fantasy of an adolescent boy – not that kind of fantasy, but one where a space alien arrives on Earth to battle our greatest champion, and there were all sorts of overcomplicated backstory that needed Nicolas Cage, of all people, to fill us in on.
‘JUI JITSU’ opens up with some comic book imagery before taking us into the action straight away as Jake is being chased by an invisible foe before jumping from a clifftop into the ocean to escape, and then the comic book style credits kick in. When Jake is taken to the nearest army base he has no idea how he got to Burma and during what seems like a routine interrogation he takes out several troops with some pretty nifty martial arts, but after being given a truth serum things start to make more sense to him as glimpses of his memory flashback and what he was being hunted by.
We are then introduced to Keung [Tony Jaa] characters in some serious martial arts action with plenty of high kicking, back flipping, bullet-dodging and slo-mo moments from the master of martial arts, listen out for the famous “Wilhelm scream” during this rather long action sequence. As Jake and Kueng leave the village they meet up with Jake’s team Harrigan [Frank Grillo], Carmen [JuJu Chan] and Forbes [Marrese Crump] before more ass-kicking during their journey to find out what is happening.
Considering that ‘JUI JITSU’ was shot in only six weeks it certainly packs in mazing action packed scenes and if you are a fan of martial arts then this is going to be perfect for you, and the special effects from the “alien” does remind me a lot of the ‘Predator’ film as you watch the team moving through the jungle which works well for the idea behind the film, and it is certainly a film that packs in a lot of action as they try to defend the Earth from the alien that is looking for the best warriors that the planet has to offer and then there is the wild card that is Nicolas Cage. When it comes to the alien warrior I have to say I was impressed how cool it looked; now there’s some great looking cosplay for anyone wanting a challenge at any upcoming Comic-Cons, when they are safe to return to of course.
This is the latest from writer director Dimitri Logothetis who has a number of TV credits to his name but has spent the last few years making low budget kick ass films. Financing films is a notoriously difficult dark art and you can’t take away the enthusiasm that Dimitri Logothetis clearly invests in making what are ultimately straight to home video films and ‘JUI JITSU’is no different. Dimitri Logothetis’s got on board several notable names in this type of genre with Rick Yune, Tony Jaa and Frank Grillo and with Nicolas Cage to sell the title internationally.
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Signature Entertainment presents us the film ‘JUI JITSU’ with a stunning and colourful 1080p image and enhanced with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio that gives the film a spectacular look. A few of the scenes in this film are the best shots I have ever seen on Blu-ray. The colours are spectacular, bright, and vivid. There are some darker scenes towards the end that don’t seem to have quite the detail that the early part of the film does. This film I suspect was digitally shot and looks really great and with this film it is so nice to see so much spectacular professional work done towards this film, especially with the designers and special effects crew who did such a brilliant job in making the film look really good. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Signature Entertainment brings us the film ‘JUI JITSU’ brings you an equally spectacular and very impressive. The audio mix is totally impressive, and is very immersive and so ideal for your Home Cinema system. Sometimes the sounds can be a little too loud as some sound effects over power the voices at times. However, despite this, the immersive nature of the side and rear speakers is very engaging and especially the front channels deliver pinpoint directionality of the voices. The sub-woofer is constantly engaged, especially with the explosions, and the heavy action scenes with the pyrotechnics really give your speakers a good workout. So all in all, this is a very impressive surround sound mix.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Trailers: Here we get to view two trailers and they are as follows: ‘Fall Of A Kingdom’ [2020] [1080p] [2.39:1] [1:24] and ‘POSSESSOR’ [2020] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:10].
Finally, ‘JUI JITSU’ is aimed squarely at fight fans with the presence of the Brax’s stuntman in the lead role should make these sequences exhilarating. Instead they serve to pad out the film with Dimitri Logothetis using some odd point-of- view moments that make it like a 1st person PlayStation game. Add to this a swooshing sound effect for every arm swing or high kick as well as copious slo-mo to cover up what are obviously pulled punches and it all adds up to an appreciation for the sequences in films such as ‘The Raid’ and ‘Extraction.’ Dimitri Logothetis does have a few flourishes from extreme high angles to strapping his camera to the actors in using comic book frames to connect scenes and it is a film you just have to sit there and enjoy the action packed sequences in the film ‘JUI JITSU’ which to me personally it is definitely a fun action packed sci-fi film and ‘JUI JITSU’ is everything you’d expect it to be with near constant action, impressive fight sequences and a winning cast. If you also want memorable pure action thrills, then this film delivers the goods. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
