Director: Richard W. Munchkin
Screenplay: Jacobsen Hart
Starring: Cynthia Rothrock, Daniel McVicar, Lydie Denier, Marshall R. Teague, Ken McLeod, John O’Leary, Robert Miano
Country: USA
Running Time: 95 min
Year: 1994
PM Entertainment Group, Inc. was an American independent film production and distribution company that carved out a distinct niche in the action film landscape of the 1990s. Founded by Richard Pepin and Joseph Merhi, the company specialised in producing low-to-mid-budget action films, primarily targeted at the then lucrative home video market.
PM Entertainment’s films became synonymous with a particular brand of straightforward, no-nonsense direct-to-video action, filling a void for audiences hungry for fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled entertainment. They frequently featured martial arts stars like Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock, whilst also producing films that included actors such as Lorenzo Lamas, Gary Daniels and Wings Hauser.
Though they only operated under the PM banner between 1989 and the early 2000s, the company managed to put out a large volume of films, many of which are beloved by action movie fans.
Through watching a number of PM titles over the years, largely on the ‘Weekends of Trash’ with Andrew, Justin and Bill, I’ve become a fan of the company myself. However, PM’s films have been poorly served in recent years. Whilst most, possibly even all, of their titles have been put out on DVD, these have been budget discs with no frills, bog-standard picture quality and occasionally cropped aspect ratios. I’m not aware of any that have been upgraded to Blu-ray in the UK either.
However, there’s hope for European PM fans. The Swiss label Fokus Media have begun to dig through PM Entertainment’s extensive library and released a number of the company’s titles in handsome dual format Blu-ray & DVD mediabooks. On discovering this, I contacted the label to ask if they’d be willing to send me any screeners so I could review their range. They gladly obliged, and sent me a copy of Beyond Justice (a.k.a. Guardian Angel).
It’s a title I hadn’t seen before, so I was thrilled to receive the disc and below are my thoughts.
Beyond Justice centres around Christine McKay (Cynthia Rothrock), a police officer who’s attempting to break a counterfeit ring led by Nina (Lydie Denier) and David (Robert Miano). Her investigation leads her to put the criminals behind bars but it also results in the deaths of both her partner and her fiancé (who was also one of her police partners).
This tragic event causes her to quit her job and she starts a new career as a bodyguard. She is soon hired by Lawton Hobbs (Daniel McVicar), a wealthy playboy, who fears for his life due to the threat posed by his dangerous ex-lover, Nina, who has escaped from prison. Being the same Nina that ruined her life before, McKay becomes determined to get revenge and put an end to the villain’s reign of terror.
Beyond Justice is not a film to analyse deeply, so I’ll keep my review short. What’s good about this and most of PM Entertainment’s other better films though is that they know what an action movie fan wants and they know how to deliver it. There’s very little extra fluff. They use a tried and tested plot, a reliable cast and a healthy dose of action to produce a satisfying experience.
Whilst Rothrock’s fight scenes aren’t as dynamic or cleverly choreographed as those in her Hong Kong movies, she still gets to show off her impressive kicking skills. She also demonstrates why she was one of the world’s best weapons fighters.
What I particularly enjoyed though was the range of action. On top of hand-to-hand combat, you get a couple of exciting car chases, an unexpected horse pursuit and even some cool speedboat and helicopter stunts.
It’s the pacing that’s the star here though. PM were good at crafting efficient movies that spread the action out evenly, keeping audiences glued to the screen, even if they were never breaking boundaries. There’s a slight lull in the third quarter of the film but this is a common technique used to give the final act greater impact.
The film doesn’t take itself too seriously either, with some comedy peppered throughout. Admittedly, these moments can be a little groan-worthy but it’s all part of the cheesy appeal of a film like this.
As always, Rothrock is a pleasure to watch. She might not be the sort to win awards for her acting prowess but she has charm and charisma. She can pull off dramatic scenes when needed too, which is more than can be said for a lot of other martial artists-turned-actors.
So, like a lot of PM action movies, Beyond Justice is a solid, non-nonsense action movie that moves along at a good pace and is littered with enjoyable set-pieces. What more does an action fan need?
Film: 
Beyond Justice is out now in a dual format Blu-Ray & DVD mediabook, released by Fokus Media (you can order it here or you might be able to find it on various import sites). The transfer is pretty strong, if a touch on the soft side. I found the blacks a little heavy in some of the earlier scenes too, resulting in low details in darker shots. Mostly this looks good though. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed.
You get a choice of German or English language audio options (both 2.0 stereo). I opted for English and it sounds decent for the most part, though a couple of scenes had an ambience that sounded annoyingly high-pitched on my system. This might be a fault at my end though.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Interviews: Cynthia Rothrock, Art Camacho, Gilbert A. Wadsworth
– 10 Things About Cynthia Rothrock
– Action Star Cynthia Rothrock
– Cynthia Rothrock – The Queen of the Martial Arts
– Cynthia Rothrock Biography
– Picture Gallery
– Poster Gallery
– Booklet
There are several interviews with Rothrock on the disc. One is 31 minutes long and has the martial artist and actress discussing her life and career. Another 25-minute piece is in a Q&A format. This initially goes over some of the same ground, but diverges as it moves on. Finally, there’s an 8-minute interview talking about her work in film. This is just a smaller chunk from the longer interview, so I’m not sure why it’s included.
I’ve watched a lot of interviews with Rothrock on various discs and I follow her on social media. I think she’s a wonderful person – very positive yet down-to-earth. It’s always a pleasure to hear from her on discs like these.
’10 Things You Didn’t Know About Cynthia Rothrock’ is a light-hearted, slightly cheesy 11-minute featurette about the actress and martial artist. I learned a few things from it, so it’s a welcome addition to the disc.
There’s also a 14-minute featurette that shows some of Rothrock’s best fight scenes. This is a fun watch, even if the picture quality of the clips is quite poor.
Fight choreographer Art Camacho is also interviewed about his involvement in the film. It’s only 6 minutes long but it’s worth a watch. He’s honest about Rothrock being reluctant to work with him, initially, though Richard Norton talked her into it and they got on once production started.
1st AD/Second Unit Director Gilbert A. Wadsworth also provides an interview. This is only 4 minutes long but he gives a good idea of the on-set dynamics.
The only issue with the extras is that they’re all presented with a big blue frame around them. I presume this is because they were shot in SD and they didn’t want to blow them up to HD.
So, this decent PM Entertainment gem has been treated well, with a host of enjoyable interviews and a strong transfer. Fans should pick it up soon before it goes out of stock. Let’s hope I get to check out more of Fokus Media’s releases or that a British company follows suit and gets in on the PM action.
Disc/package: