In the future... Madsen (Bottoms) is a bounty hunter and ex-CIA booze hound in need of a liver transplant because he's drowned his own in so much alcohol it has become terminal. He is hired by the Nova Corporation to track down a paranoid former colleague, Dr Oh (the one and only Pat Morita sporting a wind tunnel, Bride of Frankenstein, anime hairdo), who has created a clone warrior, Takeru (Masakatsu Funaki- Gojoe), and sent the clone assassin to kill Nova corp's scientists.

In their first encounter with Madsen, Dr. Oh is killed and Takeru is on his own, guided by his Obedience Strain DNA that propels him to fulfill his mission. As further incentive, Madsen is offered Takeru's liver if he can bring the clone down. As Takeru is let out into the world, he discovers his humanity (thanks to a hooker with a heart of gold) and fights his programming. Meanwhile Nova Corp's head scientist is developing a breed of heartless clone warriors.

Now, having expected this movie to be some typical straight to video/late night cable action cheapness, you can still never be too prepared. You just cannot foresee the wonderful lameness of things like the evil clone soldiers genetic sample resume which reads: Green Beret, Russian gymnast, champion boxer, and Jack the Ripper. Or, there is the films idea of a great action quip like, "Wha-daya' say killer? Time to boogie?" I'll spare getting into the general plot stupidity like why on earth they hire a middle aged, alcoholic, to protect their lives. Here is a guy who at the slightest touch is on the floor grimacing due to his wasted liver, yet he's who you choose to take on a genetically engineered super-soldier?.

His imdb resume states director Makoto Yokoyama's credits being different Power Ranger series. It does show, because while the stunt choreographer Tatsuro Koike does some great stuff here and there, notably some nice jumping off of buildings wirework and people being kicked and spun only to perfectly land on their feet and keep fighting, it has a sloppiness to the rest of the film you could get away with on a kiddie show but not on a R-rated grownup action film. For every neat stunt there is a too terribly cliched bit of business or Sam Bottoms scowling, prefixing the word "goddamn" to everything. It is barely tolerable even in its unintentional badness.

The DVD: Lion's Gate

Picture: Anamorphic Wide-screen. Picture quality is pretty good. The transfer is free of any quirks like artifacts or bad compression. The contrast is fairly deep and the sharpness detailed. Colors are also well represented. Really, the only minuses the image has are the low budget restraints, some poor stock, grain, or bad lighting here and there. I was expecting much worse, but Lion's Gate does a decent job with the feature.

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo English or German language channels with optional English or Spanish subtitles. The sound is a real minus. Now, I'm an old school kung fu nut, so some reverby sound, hollow fx, or lackluster mixing doesn't always bother me. In this case, the music score and action fx are really bottom barrel. The fx noise is cheap sounding, from blank gunfire to thin kicks. It is an action film after all, and, when your fx is this thin, it is a detriment to the single most important selling point of your film. Even though it is a b-film, one this recent could afford some better sound punch.

Extras: Chapter Selections— Trailer for Shadow Fury and Godsend

Conclusion: "Take my liver."- "I don't want your liver. I want your goddamned help.".... Lion's Gate does a passable, barebones job presenting the film, but they are delusional to put a $24.99 price tag on this kind of direct-to-video action cheapie. At the most, I'd say it is something to stumble upon on a pay cable channel or a rental for the brave b-film fan looking to really waste 90 minutes of his/her life.