FEMALE FIGHT CLUB / F. F. SQUAD (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby Jox on 09 Mar 2018, 03:02

The infamous Vern gives his perspective on FFC:
http://outlawvern.com/2018/03/08/female-fight-squad/
If you’re watching them in backwards order like me I’d say your most likely area of disappointment is in the fight scenes. Though there are some good fighters here, lots of head-to-toe shots of kicking, and opportunities for her to beat up deserving assholes outside of competition, we’ve seen Johnston do so much more that this seems kinda minimalistic in comparison.

But she’s also great in this, making me really care about her character, and believe her range from sweetheart to kind-of-a-psycho. There are some good twists that I didn’t see coming. And it’s a type of movie I cherish: the kind that follows tried and true exploitation formulas, but given life by little moments or scenes that add personality or humanity that you never would’ve seen coming.

One thing LADY BLOODFIGHT did not have: Dolph. That’s obviously a plus for this one. It’s not a very big part for him, and he’s barely on screen with Johnston. But I can imagine the version where her dad is just some dude, and this version is 100 times better than that version. Lundgren’s strong presence adds a center of gravity to the movie, and they do manage to give him a fun fight scene and a couple funny lines, one of them involving everyone’s favorite bit of trivia about real-life Dolph. Not that he used to date Grace Jones – the other one. Also if you pay attention there are little touches of things we can infer that Becca learned from her dad (HINT: the way she kills the bad guy).

I love this type of character and it’s even cooler when it’s a woman, because that’s so rare. I would be down for another Bex “The Beast” Holt adventure with her and her dad calling in the Female Fight Squad to help stop poachers in Africa.

FEMALE FIGHT SQUAD is more evidence that Johnston is poised to be one of our great action stars. I couldn’t be more on board.
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby Jox on 12 Mar 2018, 18:24

A pretty fair review from Starburst Magazine which I tend to agree with:
https://www.starburstmagazine.com/revie ... fight-club
There’s nothing remotely original about this low budget, girl vs. girl B-movie actioner, and the first third of it is admittedly something of a slog. But around about the halfway mark it suddenly slides into gear, and the filmmakers do at least make an attempt at springing a few surprises in the final act - the result of which is a rather more satisfying film than you might anticipate.

It goes without saying that there’s a fair bit of fighting in the film, but perhaps just a touch less than you’d expect (although Lundgren, in what amounts to an extended cameo, does get his own five minutes towards the climax; he’s actually pretty good in this). Director Miguel Ferrer, in his only feature to date, instead tries to concentrate on the relationship between his characters, and although they’re necessarily a bit obvious, they’re considerably less thin than they might have been. These do feel almost like real people, and that often isn’t the case at this level of movie-making.

And the fighting, when it does come, is fast and brutal and convincing, and those looking for visceral kicks will not be disappointed - there are plenty of ripped female muscle on display, which is surely the reason to watch this. Those expecting a Rocky-esque resolution to the story’s dilemmas though will find themselves confounded, as Ferrer and co-screenwriter Anastazja Davis evidently decided that would have been a cliché too far, and so provide us with something no less formulaic, but at least less predictable instead. The last shot of the film is nicely staged too.

It’s hard to single out any of the actors as particularly impressive, as despite everyone’s hard work there are very few moments of spontaneous authenticity; that said, Rey Goyos does make for an oddly charismatic and almost plausible villain, while Amy Johnston proves herself more than capable of holding the attention throughout what could have been a terribly slight film.

Those drawn in by the title will probably not be disappointed, but this might actually end up rewarding casual viewers a little more than they might predict, too.
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby Jox on 20 Mar 2018, 01:47

Visual FX breakdown (before and after)
https://vimeo.com/254579035

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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby bomaz on 21 Mar 2018, 21:53

about Jox's post on VFX Breakdown : I think it's kinda sad that nowadays they need VFX for this kind of stuff :(
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby Jox on 28 Mar 2018, 11:20

A good podcast interview with Amy Johnston (45 min)
http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/2/6/2/2623035 ... hnston.mp3

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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB / FFC (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016) (comple

Postby Jox on 07 May 2018, 22:33


The best trailer is the director's, now made public again 8)
http://miguel-ferrer.squarespace.com/na ... ature-film
It shows his intentions to make a dark and gritty film, which it is in the final showdown / climax of FFC...

bomaz wrote:It probably doesn't reflect the final product but gosh that's an efficient trailer ! :shock:

It kind of does reflect it to some extent ;)

Tom wrote:That looks surprisingly good. Nice visuals, decent standard of cast. I assumed this would probably be Shark Lake standard but it looks a hell of a lot better than that. Are we sure John Hyams didn't direct this??? ;)

The final showdown kind of does go into the Hyams or even Refn territories and influences... Low budget and less ambition sure, but there's a director with at least a minimum of vision and taste.
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby Jox on 03 Jul 2018, 14:56

Amy Johnston interview:
New Princess of Martial Arts Movies: – Kicks Butt
http://www.woma.tv/new-princess-of-mart ... icks-butt/

The Film you made around the same time was Female Fight Club with Dolph Lundgren and Cortney Palm.
How did you get involved in this film and did you make this before or after Lady Bloodfight?

I got involved with Female Fight Club after Lady Bloodfight. Lady Bloodfight actually helped to get me the role in Female Fight Club. I absolutely loved working with Cortney Palm, she is amazing! It was great to work with Dolph as I had looked up to him for a while. The director Miguel Ferrer was so wonderful to work with and really knows how to bring out the best in people. The whole team was absolutely amazing to work with!

The fighting in this film looks brutal and dirty how did you feel about the choreography to this movie?
Yes, Johnny Yang and Malay Kim did a great job with the choreography. It needed to be brutal and dirty as a fight club would be.

​As a Karate black belt what was Dolph Like to work with?
I really only had a few scenes with Dolph so I didn't get to work with him much but he was great! It was very cool to have him hold pads for me in one of the scenes!

Were you happy with this movie or were there things you would like to have improved?
There are always going to be things that I would like to improve on personally and also with the film as a whole. Filmmaking involves multiple people working together to create what they think works best. Sometimes it comes together incredibly and sometimes there are issues. With that said, I am really happy with how Female Fight Club turned out and it was a fun challenge for me as an actress to really play with some emotions. I am so grateful to have been in that film! I learned so much!
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby Jox on 01 Aug 2018, 20:43

http://theactionelite.com/amy-johnston-interview/
In FFC Dolph Lundgren acted as your father... how was this experience?
I only had a few scenes with Dolph but he was great to work with! I really enjoyed the flashback scene where he was holding pads for me to do some training!

Right now this movie is available on Amazon Prime in Germany... why should people give it a chance and watch it?
FFC is more than just an action movie. The director Miguel A. Ferrer really turned an action film into a good drama piece about family and power.
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby savagesketch on 25 May 2020, 08:05

Special PLUS SIZE interview episode is here! This month featuring exclusive interviews with both the lead and director of FFS — Amy Johnston and Miguel A. Ferrer! Two rising talents in the business who were both an absolute pleasure to speak with! Enjoy!!!

https://imustbreakthispodcast.wordpress ... -a-ferrer/

As always, please feel free to rate and review the show on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever else you go to subscribe!
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB / F.F. Squad (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby Jox on 12 May 2022, 13:35

HELP NEEDED from American fans:

Can anyone confirm that the US region 1 DVD includes 'Deleted Scenes' and 'Behind the Scenes' as listed on the above advert?

(on the ALTITUDE ad BTS was announced but turned out as false advertising)
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB / F.F. Squad (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby savagesketch on 14 May 2022, 04:13

HELP NEEDED from American fans:

Can anyone confirm that the US region 1 DVD includes 'Deleted Scenes' and 'Behind the Scenes' as listed on the above advert?

(on the ALTITUDE ad BTS was announced but turned out as false advertising)


I was actually JUST gonna comment as soon as this was posted… Having just recently watched the DVD, this is false advertising. DVD is extremely barebones with just Scene Selections and subtitles. Pretty disappointing.
Last edited by savagesketch on 14 May 2022, 16:35, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: FEMALE FIGHT CLUB / F.F. Squad (Miguel A. Ferrer, 2016)

Postby Jox on 14 May 2022, 15:11

Thanks!

Yeah that's not only disappointing but also pretty unprofessional (the same was with the US Blu releases of DIRECT ACTION and COMMAND PERFORMANCE which had extras listed on the covers but completely absent from the discs)...

On another note, special features (including promotional EPK featurettes) have become rarer and rarer on most of the newer titles of the past 7-8 years (thankfully SKIN TRADE was packed though)...
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