Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

MisterWhiplash I had the suspicion that the lead actor YK Kim, who also directed the film (uncredited) and basically backed the making of the film, wasn't a professional in the movie industry, and I was right. He was a Tae-kwon-do instructor, apparently (according to here on IMDb) very popular in Orlando (though the movie is shot there and Miami) and there's even a point in the middle of this movie where everything just stops - whatever there was in the story that one could follow, if barely - and we see a demonstration of his skills. And I don't mean in a fight, I mean with him and John, played by Vincent Hirsch, demonstrating their skills in like practice mode. Not that there still isn't some requisite slow-motion cinematography of course, and (as if anticipating Zack Snyder by 20 years) sometimes going into slow-motion just briefly in a shot, and then going back to regular speed. Because you got to see that foot grab on to a dude's nose! Miami Connection is some silly stuff, but done in the 1980's, and the movie never lets you forget it. Despite Kim most likely being more into the fights than the actual filming or acting, he did know to get some production designers and just, you know, people off the streets from Florida at the time to get that 80's FEEL. The hair is there, the clothes, the music... good lord the music. There's a moment when one of the bands is playing on stage - not the 'friendship' one, the 'Against the Ninja' song with the girl singing, and I swear if you look around the room it's not smoke going up around the air, it's cocaine. It's somehow made the room smoky.There is a plot involving coke deals, and rock-n-roll ninjas, and bikers at some point, and other ninjas who looks like a lift from every other ninja movie ever made (with the fleet of black-suited ninjas with the white-suited master - because, you know, camoflauge), and characters who you kind of see some relationship going on, and then the one black guy will get a letter and pour out a monologue about his parental troubles and... plot? Perhaps it's so simple but it goes to show that the filmmaking muddies it all up. Far as I can gather is this: the motorcycle ninjas are the bad guys, smuggling in drugs, and the rock band Dragon Sound (haha) is tired of it, and their master (played by Kim) is going to take it to them and stop what they're doing for good.The French Connection this certainly is not. And if you're by chance going into it thinking it'll be any good, you will be mistaken; this 7/10 rating is in large part due to the guilty pleasure factor. Actually, that's not true in that I don't feel much guilt in laughing about this movie, and staring at times in slack-jawed disbelief at the ineptitude of things like audio dubbing of lines (it's so bad it makes The Room look professional), and the moments when in the fights (and those make up most of the running time) things just get ridiculous. Watch when any time super-violence gets into the mix, anything to do with blood and gore, and the filmmakers don't skimp on that, not in the least.But why it's so pleasurable is that there's a kind of innocence to the whole enterprise. This Tae-kwon do master just wanted to expand his horizons and try something different, and somehow with his collaborators - most of them as inept as he at making movies, but passionate about martial arts and, you know, all things 80's and wussy rock & roll (seriously, these songs, the Ninja Turtles do a better job in Coming out of Our Shells). It's bad, but you don't feel bad watching it, and with a bunch of friends at home, or with the right crowd in a theater, I'm sure it's a blast. Oh, and watch for any LONG montages, including one on a beach where they're just driving along, and they cut to a shot of a couple supposedly meant to be still on the beach... after the tide's come in!

hellraiser7 This film is one of my guilty pleasures, I've seen my share of so bad their good films, to me this is my favorite one because of all the things it done wrong it did one thing right, it actually entertained.This film is a very odd duck indeed. This could almost be an amateur film that the Dead Gentlemen/Zombie Orpahus group could make if they decided to do an action film on the cheap. Well OK, their film are actually content and quality wise I personally think a lot better. But still despite the films low budget it really felt like the makers were trying and their hearts were in the right place they wanted to make a fun martial arts action film and in a way they succeed well kinda sorta. In a way this film is like watching a live action Shonen Anime or even an 80's cartoon show since those series consist mainly of action and very little time for melodrama. It's no doubt a product of the 80's since MTV, Miami Vice, and even Ninjas were in. The story is colorful but yeah non sensical almost like something out of a bad pulp action novel. There are plot holes let alone doesn't really make much sense when you think about it, like for example there is some subplot of one of the band members trying to find and reconnect with his lost father which I'll admit was just out of the blue and the way it was handled felt like a stock plot for a soap opera. I couldn't help but both cringe and laugh a little at this at the same time, in a way you could say that could be a parody of the kind of subplots in most TV show even Shonen Anime that sometimes just pop out of nowhere just as a cheap shot at drama or just filler. And of course some of the dialog along with some of the line delivery is just terrible but in a good way that makes you almost both groan and laugh. Most to all of the cast weren't really actors in the first place but it did look like most of them tried even though they fell flat. And even the writers tried but couldn't cut it.The action is solid, the chirography is pretty good Y.K. Kim is a talented Tae-Kwon-Do martial artist even if he clearly can't act, at least not very well as it seems like his face is always stuck in intensity mode let alone seems like he still needed to learn more English as it looked like he had trouble delivering lines smoothly . But still I do like his skill in that style of martial art which is cool since I've taken that art and I'm a black belt in it.I really like the battles like one in the construction yard but mainly my favorite one was with the ninjas in the jungle area, we got to see some sword effects as well as some sword action, the ninja we could easily see and acted like ninjas even thought these ninja were clearly using the Tai-Kwon-Do style. And there were a few gore effects which were effective like a beheading scene. Though like I sad choreography is pretty good didn't say it was great, there are places where the choreography is off let alone some people in the fights looked like they needed to train more. But whatever it still delivered the goods.But also what stands out is there is some style the locations were all real they do take place in Florida and not somewhere else which is what most films do sometimes. So in a way when you watch this it could be like a travel guide for anyone that wants to go there. But also that music, this film has one of my favorite movie soundtracks ever. The songs are memorable, two of them are "Friends" and "Against the Ninja". Yeah their cheesy but catchy and just a lot of fun to dance to. On a side note the song "Friends" was in the end credits of the game "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon" which is cool and fit perfectly for that game since it was a celebration of the eighties.Miami Connection is a kick, well sort of.Rating: 3 stars

bayardhiler What do ninjas, bikers, drug dealers, and a martial arts themed band have in common? Well, everything, according to 1987's martial arts cheese-fest "Miami Connection"! It's a movie that I expected to be bad, but in a good way and man was I right. The basic plot of the film-if you can call it that-involves a gang of motorcycle riding ninjas taking over the drug connection in Miami with the help of their allies. For some reason, one of the drug big wigs has a real problem with a cool sounding (At least if you like cheesy 80's songs!) martial arts band Dragon Sound because his sister's in the band. Determined to shut them down, the crooks go to any lengths to shut the group down, even going so far as to supply some thugs to a wild-haired lounge singer who has an ax to grind with the band for stealing his show time! Taekwondo master Y.K. Kim stars as the band's leader and sensei Mark and you can tell the man's never had a single day of acting class in his life. Still, that doesn't stop him and his fellow cast mates (some of whom were his students, others just some bikers off the streets) from giving it their all. Can Dragon sound prevail or are they destined to fall?It's obvious this isn't an Oscar worthy picture folks. But with that said, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy this masterpiece of cheese. I mean who doesn't find the idea of a martial arts themed band battling a gang of motorcycling ninjas hysterical? The one true cinematic praise a person can say of this is the quality of martial arts used throughout the film. The part where Kim and his students are practicing their craft on the college lawn is simply breathtaking due to the amount of skill and dedication they have. Plus, it's a treat to see them riding around in their white Thunderbird (At least I think it was a Thunderbird), serving justice to any street scum that comes their way, including the leader of the biker ninjas himself, who's just as much at home in his dojo as he is in a dirty biker bar (For some reason I really get a kick out of that scene). While watching the film, though, I'm not going to lie when I say I feel a bit sorry for Mr. Kim. By all accounts, he's a real nice guy and really wanted to do a good film. Well Mr. Kim, if you're reading this just know that while the film may not get any praise from critics, in terms of entertainment value it rocks. When it's all said and done, folks, "Miami Connection" is one for the ages. True, it's no "Ben-Hur", but then again, did you really expect it to be?

Wizard-8 It doesn't take long into watching "Miami Connection" to come up with a sizeable list of various kinds of ineptness to be found in it. But I want to start off by listing a few positive things about the movie. It is well photographed and lit, including the night sequences. Plus, the themes of friendship and loyalty found in the movie are commendable. And I can't say that the movie is *boring*. But more often than not, the movie gets away from being boring by being amusingly inept. The acting is incredibly bad; it's easy to see that none of the cast is a professional actor. The fight sequences are awkward. The songs are awful, but catchy enough that you won't be able to get them out of your head. And don't let me get started on the motorcycle ninjas! Is this a classic so bad that it's good movie? In my opinion, no - it isn't *quite* that aggressive in its badness. But with modern so bad that they're good movies being nearly impossible to find these days, this is adequate enough to feed your appetite for cinematic silliness.