WOW, and I had assumed GAME OF DEATH was probably better (never seen it)...
And yet he got some prizes for other drama and documentary work (JOHNNY'S GONE and WITHOUT BORDERS, which he made sometime in between AMBUSHED, BLOOD OF REDEMPTION and CERTAIN JUSTICE).
About Abel Ferrara, I have no idea how he got attached to this but this isn't his kind of thing (look at his films for the past 10-15 years), and he's an uncontrolable nutcase so not only it's not surprising he left or was let go, but he could have made an even bigger mess of it.