Director: Art Camacho
Screenplay: Richard Preston Jr.
Based on a Story by: Art Camacho
Starring: Gary Daniels, Gregory McKinney, Richard Foronjy, Thomas Kopache, Billy Maddox, John Sanderford, Robin Curtis, Maurice Lamont, Michael Alaimo, Christopher Boyer, Kelli McCarty
Country: USA
Running Time: 97 min
Year: 1998
Art Camacho worked on a number of PM Entertainment films as an actor, stunt performer and action co-ordinator before producers Joseph Merhi and Richard Pepin gave him the chance to direct his own film, The Power Within in 1995. This, and the next film he helmed for the company, were relatively small-scale efforts but, in 1998, they offered Camacho his first big action title, the Gary Daniels vehicle, Recoil.
Considered by many Daniels fans to be one of the martial artist and action star’s finest films, Recoil is the next title being upgraded to Blu-ray by Fokus Media. I got hold of a copy and my thoughts follow.
In Recoil, Daniels plays Detective Ray Morgan, a tough but honest cop, partnered with his good friend, Detective Lucas Cassidy (Gregory McKinney). One day, a violent bank heist takes place in central L.A. and the whole squad is sent in to catch the crooks.
With the robbers wearing heavy-duty body armour and wielding an arsenal of automatic weapons, it turns into a bloodbath that ends with a team of officers jumping in their cars to chase down one of the perps riding a motorbike. When they’re finally cornered, the rider is gunned down, as the police instinctively believe him to still be armed. However, they soon realise the criminal had dropped his gun and was only a young man.
The incident deeply troubles family man Ray, so Lucas books both of their families on a holiday out of town to recover.
Meanwhile, we learn that the criminal who was killed was the son of mob boss Vincent Sloan (Richard Foronjy). Furious that the police would gun down his youngest boy when he was unarmed, Sloan goes on a quest for vengeance. He sends his goons to kill all the officers involved in the shooting.
With Ray being away, however, he’s left out of the initial hit (Lucas wasn’t involved in the shooting). When he discovers what’s happened, Ray races to find out who killed his colleagues, but Sloan hasn’t finished enacting revenge just yet.
Later, when the mobster hits targets even closer to home, Ray too becomes hellbent on revenge.
Well, I can see why this is popular among PM and Daniels fans. It’s a cracking action movie, with some incredible set pieces. The opening bank heist, which was inspired by a real-life incident, is the standout. It’s a lengthy scene that begins with an epic gunfight between the criminals and the police. Daniels gets a cool ‘standing in front of an explosion in slow motion’ moment, and there are squibs and explosions galore.
It’s once the sequence moves onto the road that things get really special though. It’s the great Spiros Razatos who was coordinating the action and he excels himself with this set-piece. If you read my review of Last Man Standing, which also featured action choreography by Razatos, you’ll know I made the bold claim that it contained a car chase that could stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best I’ve ever seen. Well, the chase at the start of Recoil is even better. The stunt work is phenomenal, with a host of dangerous manoeuvres all happening at once in some shots, including a wide variety of jumps, slides and flips. It’s all edited and shot incredibly well too, with some highly effective low-angle mounted camera angles.
Daniels also got to do some of his own choreography and action direction in the fight scenes. Whilst I tend to lean towards the Hong Kong film industry’s approach to martial arts, the fights in Recoil are still decent and Daniels gets to show his skills, being a genuine martial artist.
What’s also impressive is that the film was shot in only 15 days. It was made using multiple units though, it must be said. Razatos would shoot the action scenes, whilst Camacho would simultaneously work on the dramatic sequences with the lead cast.
Speaking of which, whilst the action is sensational, the drama backs it up all the way. Some of the earlier scenes with Ray and his family are a little corny, but I’ve seen much worse, and the film gets surprisingly dark as it moves on. In fact, it’s emotionally devastating in places, which I wasn’t expecting from what, on the surface, is a generic, straight-to-video action movie.
Daniels holds his own in these more powerful scenes. Granted, he’s not going to be troubling Robert De Niro for any acting awards, but Daniels is effective in gaining our sympathies without losing his tough-guy edge. It’s possibly the strongest performance of his I’ve seen.
So, overall, Recoil is a surprisingly dark, yet still badass action movie from PM Entertainment. With some superb action scenes, it’s another winner from the company and one of Gary Daniels’ strongest efforts.
Film: 
Recoil is out on 30th August in a 2-Disc Blu-Ray/DVD Collector’s Mediabook Edition (presumably with a standard Blu-ray edition to follow), released by Fokus Media (you can order it on the Fokus Media website or you might be able to find it on various import sites). The transfer is very impressive, looking sharp and detailed, with rich colours. I spotted very occasional inconsistencies in colour in literally one or two scenes, but this is likely to be as originally shot. 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 sounded good. German or English subtitles are also available on the disc.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Gary Daniels on Recoil
– Art Camacho on Recoil
– Ken Blakey on Recoil
– Image Gallery
– Original trailer
Art Camacho is interviewed about the film in a 7-minute piece. He talks about how this was the first really big film he directed for PM. He has fond memories and kind words to say about those he worked with.
Daniels is also interviewed. He’s very proud of the film, as the action and drama are both strong. Like most of the interviews on these PM discs, you also get a sense of the family atmosphere behind the making of those films. They used similar casts and crews, and studio heads Merhi and Pepin gave them the space and opportunity to develop their skills.
Finally, there’s an interview with cinematographer Ken Blakey. This is only 6 minutes long, so it doesn’t dig too deep but, once again, it’s a fond recollection of working with the PM team.
Overall, whilst not loaded with lengthy extras, what is included is well worth watching, and the film looks great. It’s highly recommended to fans of PM Entertainment.
Disc/package: