Dave dusts off the first star vehicle of Mimi Lesseos, a top female wrestler who jacked it all in for the movie business.
She might have failed to win the American Wrestling Association Women’s World Championship, but Mimi Lesseos was a bona fide contender in the sport during the late ‘80s. Whether or not we can dub her the Cynthia Rothrock of grappling is up for debate as her professional achievements pale in comparison to the Lady Dragon. Nevertheless, what is clear is that Lesseos harboured an ambition to rival Rothrock as the action queen of the ‘90s.
Although her success didn’t quite match her aspirations, Beyond Fear (1993), Streets of Rage (1993), and Personal Vendetta (1996) are all interesting pieces of work. Granted, they fall short of Rothrock’s output, but credit where it’s due: Lesseos wrote, produced, and starred in each one of her four big features from the ‘90s and had an enviable degree of creative control in a relentlessly male dominated industry. Lesseos’ reasons behind the micro-management of her own movie career were made clear to the Los Angeles Times in early ’93:
“All the producers I worked with promised me the world, but in the end it was always ‘Let’s exploit Mimi and have her fighting in a bikini’.” [1]
It was PUSHED TO THE LIMIT that started the ball rolling. With an affluent investor cutting her a cheque for (allegedly) $600,000, Lesseos agreed to spring for the remainder, cashing up her life savings from lucrative wrestling matches in the Far East and contests on the American circuit. Even then she found herself falling short of dough, necessitating a return to Japan for a series of ‘death matches’ involving barbed wire ropes and electricity.
“They were crazy,” Lesseos told NPR in 2018. “When you got kicked, you got kicked into the wire. And you would not only get shocked, but your skin would get stuck onto it.” [2]
The bruiser plays a version of herself in Pushed to the Limit, even to the degree of being introduced into the ring under her familiar moniker, ‘The Magnificent Mimi’. The storyline centres around Harry Lee (Eidan Hanzei), one of the most feared gangsters in Los Angeles and the boss of the Kumite: a gladiatorial duel-to-the-death where huge sums are won and countless live are lost. When Lesseos learns that Lee was behind her brother’s savage murder, she commits to taking revenge at any cost.
Conforming to a three-pronged template of set-up, schooling (Verrel Reid is great as the aging sensei), and settling the score, the neatly compartmentalised nature of Pushed to the Limit makes for a well-worn comfort blanket of an action flick. Certain elements catch the eye, notably Christl Colven’s portrayal of bad girl Inga, carrying a cyborg-style steeliness beneath a veil of peroxide blonde hair and copious eyeliner. Surprisingly it was the first and last turn in front of the camera for Colven, who immediately went back to her career as a resident make-up artist for Full Moon Entertainment.
Pushed to the Limit‘s production design warrants a nod too. It’s obvious that Lesseos wasn’t blessed with great riches, but Al Locatelli, who started out in the ’60s as art director on a pair of Curtis Harrington movies no less (Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) and Queen of Blood (1966)), manages to elevate the sparsity with a little substance. The ring itself is a dystopian bit of artistry: there’s a flaming torch in each corner, and every level of the three-tiered audience is illuminated by neon tubing. It’s not Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985) by any means, but it deserves applause for initiative.
If anything, it’s the fight sequences that prove to be the biggest let down. Director Michael Mileham shoots them flatly, and though there’s visual flair buried somewhere, it’s nigh-on impossible to mask the rigidity of the choreography. Praise for enthusiasm and enterprise can only go so far when your primary objective is to pull in the punters with some finely forged fisticuffs.
Pushed to the Limit was shot in Las Vegas and Los Angeles throughout October 1991. It hit video stores in America the following summer courtesy of Imperial Entertainment, which was around the same time that ITC distributed it here in the U.K.
USA ● 1992 ● Action ● 97mins
Mimi Lesseos, Eidan Hanzei, Verrel Reid, Michael M. Foley, Christl Colven ● Dir. Michael Mileham ● Wri. Mimi Lesseos
[1] Kicking Down Doors: Female Wrestler Mimi Lesseos Fights For Respect in an Industry Where Titillation is Often Stressed Over Technique by Denise Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 4th February 1993.
[2] After Living Dozens Of Lives, Leading Stuntwoman Mimi Lesseos Has Lessons to Offer by Peter Breslow, NPR, 13th October 2018.
The Schlock Pit 