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I’ve always been a firm candidate that martial arts star Matthis Landwehr has always had the right stuff to excel into elite action cinema status. From cult classics like Death Train (AKA Lasko) to The Challenge and most recently, the old school DTV martial arts actioner The Last Kumite. Landwher has what it takes including hero level talent and sick signature skills to headline bone crunching flicks that raise the adrenaline levels to 100.
Now Landwehr is back and he’s employing all of his empty-handed martial combat for his latest starring vehicle which looks to assemble some of the greatest legends that the DTV action era 0f the 80’s and 90’s ever featured. The film has the appropriate title of Lion Fist and Landwehr stars as an ex-con who must battle the best in order to save the life of his son who needs a very expensive surgery to eradicate a life-threatening tumor. To do this, he will do whatever it takes and that includes centering the ring to fight an army. Scroll below for the official, first look reveal!
Martial artist Joe (Mathis Landwehr) emerges from four years of wrongful imprisonment to devastating news: His son needs an expensive operation to survive a life-threatening tumor. With no other options, Joe enters a brutal martial arts tournament offering $100,000 in prize money. Under Grandmaster Wu’s intense training, he faces some of the world’s strongest fighters but discovers his opponents will do anything to win.
Lion Fist is helmed by Taim M. Adams, and the film has recruited a who-s who of retro action legends including King of the Kickboxer’s Keith Cooke, No Retreat No Surrender’s Kurt McKinney, the one and only Gary Daniels (The Expendables, White Tiger), and David Yeung (The Last Kumite, The Circuit 4) who is the son of martial arts icon Bolo Yeung. That is quite the exceptional fan dram casting and here’s hoping they all get the chance to demonstrate what makes them fan favorites. Additional supporting cast include Li Yan-Long, Konstantin Lindhorst, Bloodstorm’s Michael Nesto. Lucian Roucka (who appeared in Cynthia Rothrock’s Black Creek), Julin Täubner and Joey Truninger, who also appeared with Landwehr in The Last Kumite. Lion Fist was co-written by The Last Kumite’s Sean David Lowe along with Keith W. Strandberg, who is the writer behind a bevy of classic martial arts actioners including the No Retreat No Surrender franchise as well as Gary Daniels’ Bloodmoon which is considered one of the action icon’s best fighting films.
TRAILER TACTICAL REACTION: The trailer for Lion Fist warrants the desired response from action film buffs who are looking for more retro martial arts video store goodness. From the ample training montages, in ring beatdowns and fleeting glimpses of the star-studded cast, this has the makings of paying the ultimate homage to the kinds of films we would find at our local video store back in the day. While this is more of a teaser, there is still enough footage of the extreme action design and Landwehr’s skills are on full display. It doesn’t give away too much while eliciting the desired retro martial arts action vibes that it is going for. I’m a big fan of Landwehr and am extremely excited to see him headlining more films as he has the right stuff to dish out the top tier fight action employing jaw dropping kicks infused with ground and pound MMA style aesthetics. Sign me up!
Capelight Pictures is Set to Unleash Lion Fist on Digital on September 15, 2026!
