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By: John M Jerva
Welcome to FOOT FIST FRIDAYS! A weekly dose of fight action where the Action-Flix.com experts share their thoughts on some of the greatest scenes of fisticuffs in action cinema history!
We’re kicking it (Literally!) old school once again with this week’s edition of FOOT FIST FRIDAY as 90’s martial arts action star Jeff Wincott takes on the “Russian Circle” in one of the most epic fights of his action movie career from the film Martial Outlaw. The scene displays Wincott’s physical prowess and features brutal fight choreography from martial arts wizard Jeff Pruitt and famed Japanese action master Koichi Sakamoto who are also in the scene. Wincott is in fine form here and dispeneses some bad ass fisticuffs in one of his best roles and fight scenes ever!
The 90’s was just as good a time as the 80’s to be an action movie lover as the VHS boom was cranking out some pretty decent high-octane classics every week at the local video store. During this time, many action heroes rose from the fires to claim supremecy in the market including Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Gary Daniels, Mark Dacascos and, of course, the one and only Jeff Wincott.
Wincott was a special breed as he had the look, the moves and skills to take on the best in the business and above all he possessed a quality that a lot of actors didn’t…he could act. A native Canadian, Wincott burst onto the scene in the 80’s in the Canadian cop series Night Heat and parlayed that gig into a lucrative martial arts action career starring in such VHS epics as Martial Law 2: Undercover, Mission Of Justice, and one of his best films Martial Outlaw.
It is this very film that showcases one of Wincott’s best fights onscreen and it is the “Russian Circle” sequence where Wincott’s character DEA agent Kevin White gets ambushed by an elite crew of Russian martial arts experts while invisitagating a case. Don’t you hate it when that happens? You’re minding your own business and all of sudden, you’re fighting for your life from a gauntlet of ruthless Russian killers. Now that’s a bad day.
This scene highlights what Wincott did best in those days and that’s beat the ever livin’ crap out of people. The sequence takes place in a gym so we are treated to not just hands and feet but we are also witnessed to various gym equipment being used to pummel someone such as weights, staffs etc. Fight coordinator Jeff Pruitt, who also appeared in several martial arts action films like Wincott’s Mission of Justice, really shines here as the film’s fight choerographer and he really makes Wincott look phenominal with insane hand and feet combos and a flurry of lethal spinning kicks.
The “Russian Circle” scene is an extended fight scene that features an awesome array of martial arts moves from Wincott including his kicks as well as his fast and furious hand combinations. We also get some truly kick ass slo-mo shots that really enhance the action and all the stunt professionals really bring their A game as the late, great Stefanos Miltsakakis watches on from a second floor window. Wincott would eventually take on Miltsakakis later but here he has his hands full with an army of Russian cutthroats.
Wincott was truly an exceptional VHS action star in the 90’s and this film and scene is a true testament to the fact. I remember when I first got the film on video back then and I must have watched this one scene alone dozens of times. The movie is also pretty gritty and dark as Wincott is forced to face the fact that his brother, played by veteran actor Gary Hudson, is a cop on the wrong side of the law. It’s pretty weighty subject matter for an action film like this.
Now in the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzenegger from Conan The Destroyer…“ENOUGH TALK!” It’s time to get down and dirty with Jeff Wincott and the famous Russian Circle scene from Martial Outlaw courtest of Epic Fights on YouTube. Enjoy!
About The Author: John M Jerva is the owner and editor-in-chief of Action-Flix.com and is a DIE HARD fan of everyhting Action! From the glorious past to the thrilling future, John lives and breathes action!
[…] standout and probably is one of Wincott’s best scenes ever with the Russian Circle scene in Martial Outlaw coming in at a close second. This was 90’s VHS empty handed battle action at its bruising best […]