Matty takes a quick look at a disappointingly throwaway sequel. 

BLOODSPORT III (1997) boasts an unusual distinction:

It’s the only film in the four-part series to properly tie in with its preceding instalment narratively, rather than just porting over a side character for lip service a la Bloodsport II (1996).

James Hong and Pat Morita briefly return as Master Sun and David Leung, and the bulk of Bloodsport III’s plot concerns the ongoing personal and professional development of Daniel Bernhardt’s thief turned noble warrior, Alex Cardo. 

In III, several years have passed since the events of the last movie. Cardo is now an art dealer and has a young son who’s been getting in trouble at school for fighting. Wanting to teach the lad about honour and the like, the canvas hoarding bruiser — in an echo of the flashback/Jackanory-style framing device of Bloodsport II — regales him with tales of the Kumite; specifically, his second stint in the violent knock-out tournament, which happened due to the dastardly doings of an evil tycoon (John Rhys-Davies). 

Shot for a pittance in Sri Lanka, Bloodsport III is, alas, stricken with a noticeable cheapness. Many of the sets look as if they’ve been assembled in someone’s garage, and the film’s tech credentials are comparable to your average corporate video. The brawling — coordinated and choreographed by stunt and action legends Steve D. Ito, Chad Stahelski and Brad Martin, all of whom crop up throughout the film in various capacities, alongside fellow form hero J.J. Perry — is impressive, but it’s hindered by flat execution. The pomp and spectacle of Bloodsport (1988) and Bloodsport II is sorely missed. However, there’s a definite uptake in quality when the Kumite finally kicks in at the fifty-five minute mark.  

Bloodsport III is a functional and watchable number, and the passages where its exotic location actually factors into the film’s fabric exhibit a modest travelogue quality (specifically, Cardo’s training with Master Hee II Cho’s martial arts guru, Judge Macado — another Bloodsport II holdover). And though the script is riddled with the sort of knuckle-headed dialogue that’d make even Tommy Wiseau groan, the air of magic realism conjured by the expansion of Bloodsport II’s Iron Hand mythos is surprisingly effective. 

Once again produced by FM Entertainment International and, like Bloodsport II, directed by shingle bossman Alan Mehrez, Bloodsport III was issued on tape by the company’s own label. It landed on U.S. video on 13th May 1997 and arrived on U.K. cassette via Third Millennium in summer 1998, shorn of twenty-six seconds by the BBFC (that’s twenty-five seconds more cuts than Bloodsport II received, fact fans).