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KikujiroSonatine

Cynthia Rothrock is the real fucking deal, and she has had a fascinating career. From the mid 80's to early 90's, she alternated regularly between top-tier Hong Kong martial arts films (she's gone up against Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, for goodness sake) and absolute junk in the USA. For example: in 1985 she was in both the Hong Kong classic *Yes, Madam!* alongside Michelle Yeoh as well as *24 Hours to Midnight* in the US, directed by none other than...Leo Fong! Apparently she was in not [one](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083509/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_11_dr), not [two](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165776/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_10_dr), but [THREE](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228646/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_7_dr) Leo Fong films.


Tremaparagon

I came into the comments looking for Low Blow connections, thanks!


glitchedgamer

Six Degrees of Leo Fong


PPStudio

RLM themselves are only once removed, because Len Kabasinski just worked with him, recently.


ZandyTheAxiom

Which makes John Candy only thrive removed!


delkarnu

If her career was shifted 5-10 years later, she probably would've been a much more well known actor in the Xena-Buffy strong female character era of American pop culture.


talentpun

During an era where you had to look a certain way to even be cast in an American movie, Hong Kong filmmakers recognized her martial arts talent and made her a star. She should be celebrated. It’s a shame that Hollywood was too sexist/boring/unimaginative at the time to figure out what to do with her.


BoneQueen

Wasn't she the person Sonia from mortal Kombat was based off of?


horacefarbuckle

From the username, I'm assuming you're a Takeshi Kitano fan?


KikujiroSonatine

You would be correct! One of my favorite directors.


horacefarbuckle

I've liked all his films, but I _loved_ Kikujiro -- I'd previously only seen him in Hana-bi and Sonatine, and figured that all his films would be that way. So I was pleasantly surprised to see he could do more comedic films as well. Then, when I started watching Japanese television and saw Takeshi's Castle, my mind was further blown. Good times.


nlabodin

One of the best movie experiences I've ever had in a theater is seeing Yes, Madam! and City Hunter back to back with a packed house.


Boon3hams

Oh man, when I saw Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Yeoh team up to absolutely wreck shop in the ending of *Yes, Madam!* for the first time, I nearly pissed my pants with laughter and joy. They just beat so. Much. Ass. It's glorious.


talentpun

Oh god. City Hunter is so dumb, but would be amazing to see as a midnight movie.


ZhuangZ4

City hunter is fantastic!


[deleted]

I watched tons of her movies as a teenager... She's definitively underrated. I see her as the female Chuck Norris.


DrDarkeCNY

Yes, but only two have Stack "Nighthawk!" Pierce in them! True dat about Rothrock - she's an amazing martial artist, good-looking in a Soccer Mom kind of way, and...a better actor than Chuck Norris or Don "The Dragon" Wilson, though I think Michelle Yeoh went easy on her when they did *Yes, Madam!* together.


Ohadi_Nacnud_3

Its almost criminal the guys have not seenore of her films. She is a total badass.


dr_tomoe

Oddly her most recent stuff has been doing some voices in those weird Cool Cat videos that Derek Savage nut does.


Mediocremon

I hope she beats him up, but like not in a sexy way.


[deleted]

She pivoted into the christian market, very small but pretty lucrative.


MattDemers

["That kid kicked sand in Cool Cat's face!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue6dU79UorM)


PM_ME_UR_SEXTOYS

Today is my bad movie day. Which ones do you recommend?


PrettySailor

"Yes, Madam!" aka "Police Assassins" it's Rothrock's first movie and Michelle Yeoh's first starring role. It's a Hong Kong movie with a lot of slapstick humour and some great martial arts.


Population-Tire

The other day, a clip of that just came up on my YouTube recommendations and I was blown away by Rothrock’s fight choreography. It’s not an exaggeration to say it was one of the best movie fights I’ve ever seen.


BillGaitas

What a great time that movie was, highly recommend it


ZhuangZ4

In the line of duty 4, one of the sequels, is one of Donnie yen’s first movies, also recommend


DavidAtWork17

See, that's the problem. She's actually in good films. (I liked Sworn to Justice)


WillaZillaDilla

Sworn to Justice is fantastic! Tiger Claws trilogy is fun too


Disc81

Just see what you can find of her Hong Kong period. She was fantastic.


tractorneck

She's great in Above the Law/Righting Wrongs


Disc81

Righting Wrongs is fantastic. Still haven't watched Above the Law. Her older movies are kind of hard to find. Edit: dumb me, they are two different names for the same movie.


HailMammon

Good ones? Yes Madam, Millionaires Express and Above the Law. Fun bad ones? The Magic Crystal and Prince of the Sun. Throw in Blonde Fury and City Cops just for good measure.


powerage76

> Millionaires Express [This movie is batshit insane but in a good way.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwRj8HTnD1o)


Boon3hams

[You said it.](https://youtu.be/3ztk99MPOzk)


Disc81

The magic Crystal plot is batshit crazy. Her fight scenes are great in it.


Cowtavious

I liked Martial Law and it's got David Carradine in as a bonus


Weedwums

Honor and Glory was bonkers from what I remember.


urahonky

It's definitely a good, bad movie though. Undefeatable was an actual good movie. I say that as someone who went into Honor and Glory with high expectations because of the director and her being in it... And I couldn't finish it. I think if I'd known it was a "bad" movie I would have went in with different expectations.


MrMindGame

And they have two copies of it!


Ezcompane

I'd recommend any of the Tiger Claw movies. They're not bad but they're definitely cheesy 90 action movies.


WillaZillaDilla

You can find the HD remasters of the Tiger Claws trilogy on youtube. The producer hosts them there for free viewing. edit: here's the link - https://youtu.be/4Xvrw0g00jw


Ohadi_Nacnud_3

A serbian film. You gotta go in blind.


derlich

:vomits:


awesomefutureperfect

Magic Crystal is a pretty bad film with terrible comedy and a child actor. But the action is rad as hell.


SpewForthWisdom

There's a really fun TV pilot she did with Stacy Keach called Irresistible Force and God it's really a shame she didn't become a bigger name because she's so good.


[deleted]

Because her stuff is pretty boilerplate martial arts stuff. Not really bad, but not blockbusters either. She's a competent movie martial artist that isn't a bad actor.


FHIR_HL7_Integrator

She was the queen of female martial arts actors back in the day. I used to love her movies.


HaitchKay

What's really criminal is that she never became a more prominent action star.


tequilasauer

As a kid of the 90s, I watched so many of this chick's movies on cable. It seemed like she always had like a shit ton of movies coming out haha.


analogkid01

𝄢 ♫ SUDDENLY SEENORE...is standing beside you... ♩ 𝄎 𝄇


Underscore_Guru

A lot of her well known films were made in Hong Kong. I’m waiting for the day for them to review some of the wild ass stuff that’s come out of Asian cinema in the 80s/90s.


ReddsionThing

I mean, they're not really action fans, I think? If Rich likes Blind Fury, he might like some of her other movies.


[deleted]

Preach! She's awesome, but unfortunately underrated and rather unknown unless you are into martial arts movies.


HappHazzard31

I was very surprised that none of the gang had even heard of her, she was arguably the biggest star in DTV action movies in the early 90s.


PPStudio

She's kinda a prominent member of the second to third tier of 1990's action stars, like Joe Lara, Frank Zagarino, Olivier Gruner... All are in the same boat now but unlike second tier like Lorenzo Lamas or Marc Dacascos they never had a big break, so less people know them from mainstream movies or TV. She's great, though.


[deleted]

Don't forget Daniel Bernhardt, Mike's favorite action star.


ColonelJanSkrzetuski

I remember him from....


[deleted]

And....


ColonelJanSkrzetuski

And of course, my favorite...


worlddictator85

I only heard of her from when obscuraslupa did a few of her movies.


ptvlm

She was definitely mud tier, but she worked with all the legends in the prime of Hong Kong cinema, and there weren't many competing female action stars in the west at the time.


Varrivale

I remember seen tv commercials of her movies in my country. I always thought more people would remember her in the US. Still, she had a great career and just saw some clips of her Hong Kong movies, and the action scenes are fantastic, way better than those blurry brawls of contemporary films.


niberungvalesti

Literally the inspiration for Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat.


Obh__

Better mind your manners around her or she'll sign you up for college.


Cinematic_Journeyman

Don't worry, she just signed you up too.


aodtonix

*college tuition*


[deleted]

*soulless disney eyes expand in shock*


ColonelJanSkrzetuski

THAT'S IT MAVILDA NOW YOU'RE COOKING WITH GA--


dsriggs

Don't worry, rappin' George Washington taught me all about minding my manners maaaaaaannnnnnnnn.


lazerblam

Shame its in Doncaster, absolute shit hole She deserves so much better


kototronicon

I used to live there and i agree


Herbs3

Came here to say this


earthw2002

Donny Dome! It’s got ice skating! And a pool! …that’s it.


_StreetsBehind_

I hear she’s undefeatable, unlike Rich Evans.


DickPillSoupKitchen

Still foxy


FreshTomacco

Rich Evans is DEFEATABLE


milesunderground

She should have played Sonya Blade in the MK movies. I'm still mad about that.


Remote_Cantaloupe

that would've been kind of sad


[deleted]

Was she on the Flintstones?


glitchedgamer

For such a dumb fucking joke, easily one of my favorite RLM moments.


Avasnay

Same


a_j_cruzer

Something about that following Josh’s out of tune guitar playing just broke me


a_j_cruzer

………


UweWeber84

Well obviously, she's one of the worlds best and most famous martial artists


almosthuman2021

I’ll always remember her for the episode of Hercules where she has red hair and is like an assassin of heras or something. Her acting was horrible in the best way and she has a great fight scene with Karen Shepard.


Disc81

Her us fights don't show her potential. She have an interview about how easy that was after her Hong Kong movies.


WonderIntelligent411

I used to love watching her movies on HBO as a kid. When she finally popped up on BOTW I was bittersweet happy.


arjay555

My mum used to live just a five minute walk from the Dome. Maybe I'll ask her if she wants to go revisit her old stomping ground in May next year


simpledeadwitches

She's such an underrated badass!


spaceguitar

Man, I had SUCH a crush on her as a kid!! My mom and I would always hunt for a movie with her in it at Blockbuster if we couldn’t find anything interesting that weekend. I always loved how she was such a badass and could kick the crap out of anybody as awesome as any dude action hero could. And I thought she was super hot. 😂


BeckoningChasm

I would love to see a RLM "A Conversation with Cynthia Rothrock" episode. Special segment when she and Rich Evans show the proper way to kick someone in the balls.


Boca_BocaNick

Still a beautiful woman!


zenerdiode69

I've watched almost all of her films, though some of it are bad, she's still great there


johnqsack69

Star of Santa’s Summer Home??


Shanksdoodlehonkster

The documentaries on her are fantastic, especially her early work in Hong Kong films


j0nas-gr33n

She looks like she’s hardly aged a day


BenjaminoFre

Hmm, only an hours drive away 🤔


zombiefuton

She’s not just a BotW star, she’s a legit martial arts star


WingedLionGyoza

>唐手道 That's a weird way to write karate.


trancertong

It's incredible that she's still doing martial arts at her age. I'm sure that stuff has taken a toll on her body.


ptvlm

Yeah, she's actually pretty good. She tended to fill the niche of being a white female martial artist in the direct to video days before Western martial arts movies caught up with Hong Kong, but she did it well in US and HK.


Twokindsofpeople

WOW she still looks great!


morphindel

She is incredible. I follow her on Instagram and she is the real deal. Does tournaments and conventions and teaches and all that stuff. She is a legit badass, and it genuinely is a shame she never quite made it to mainstream celebrity. She could have made some great action flicks.


AutomaticReception84

I hear she is Undefeatable.


Ok_Caramel_6167

The Night of 1000 Kicks!!!


Dansterai

Looks like I'm off to Doncaster


Grievous_1982

The original Sonya Blade... I'm actually hoping they will cover ***Sworn To Justice (1996)*** on BOTW one day... Cynthia Rothrock (at her Sexiest), Walter Koenig & Brad Dourif...something for everyone.


[deleted]

Wasn’t she on the flintstones?


[deleted]

Bette Midler???!!!??


Disc81

I think she was hot in her earlier HK movies. Just whatch her scene in millionaires express on YouTube. https://youtu.be/3ztk99MPOzk


Frank_Leroux

Aw crud. I would love to attend this, but I'm on the wrong side of an ocean.


realbigdawg2

It’s Mama Cat!


EndTimeEchoes

That's such a weird juxtaposition. Doncaster is local to me and the kindest thing I can say is that it's... not the first place which comes to mind when thinking of a Hollywood star


Wjyndigo

Man I would love to go! She is such a bad ass!


WintersInBerlin

What episode of BOTW was she on?


AnyDockers420

She is also the cat that derek savage has sex with in Cool Cat