Hey guys, so the 1990s were an interesting, exciting, fun time for martial arts
There was still a sort of mystique about them. This was pre-MMA, befor that ever blew up.
Really the only way you could see a martial artist was in the movies and we really only had 2 broke out mainstream.
So, in the action cinema martial arts sub-genre, of course I'm talking about Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal.
But in today's video I wanna breakdown 5 others guys who had a real shot of vying for a spot next to them.
Now they were all in movies that went to the theater, and I consider movies that went to the theater in the 90s as "real movies", They had good production values, good story, real directors.
Solid co-stars as well, with actors who actually knew how to act like James Earl Jones and Lance Henriksen for example.
So anyway, sit back and I hope you enjoy this top 5 list, and let me know your top 5 of course.
So number 5 on this list is Thomas Ian Griffith, as far as his martial arts style and background goes, he holds blackbelts in tae kwon do and kenpo karate. On a side note, I do as well, so I may be biased towards his style.
The Tae Kwon Do is clearly evident in the film Excessive Force with this beautiful jumping sidekick here and this axe kick here.
As far as his stature goes, he stands 6'4" tall, so he's right up there height-wise with Steven Seagal.
Though he's got a much more slender physique, he's also knows for his long dark hair, like Seagal, but he's got these cold blue eyes, which makes him look very unique.
You could say he looks like a soap star, which funny enough, he had a role in a soap opera, Another World, between 1984 and 1986.
So, he kinda looks more like a pretty boy than a tough guy, but that would certainly help him towards building a female audience.
Soap Opera aside, he really got his start in playing Terry Silver, one of the villains in The Karate Kid 3 in 1989.
The really cool part about his by the way, is that there are rumors that he'll be reprising his role as Terry Silver in Cobra Kai Season 3.
If you guys a fan of the Karate Kid series, you have to check it out, which, I'm sure if you're fan of those films, you probably already have.
I myself absolutely loved Season 1 and 2 and can't wait to watch Season 3.
So Thomas Ian Griffth's role in Karate Kid 3 really put him on the map and in 1992 he came out with Ulterior Motives, which had a straight to video release,
but I wanted to bring that film up because it used the tag line, "You've seen Seagal, Van Damme and Norris, now... Meet the new contender".
Although that film went straight to video, he had a legitimate shot going mainstream the following year with his lead role in 1993's Excessive Force.
A film that really tried to make him a legitimate contender to the likes of Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Interesting side-note, he not only starred in this film, but also wrote it. He also had the benefit of working alongside some really solid co-stars such as
James Earl Jones and Lance Henriksen and Burt Young, which you probably all know as Rocky's alcoholic brother-in-law, Pauly in the Rocky series.
Now as far as the success of Excessive Force, we gotta put it in perspective with Van Damme and Seagal films at the time.
So, for newcomer Thomas Ian Griffith, Excessive Force would have a box-office take of only $1.1 Million at the domestic box office, which, is not exactly breaking the bank. In fact, it didn't even make the $3 Million that went missing during the raid
by a group of Chicago cops in the actual film.
So what was Jean-Claude Van Damme doing in 1993. He was working with none other than Hong Kong film director John Woo, who made his American directing debut with Hard Target, which grossed an impressive $32 Million domestically. Oh, and funny enough, this film also had Lance Henriksen in it, who played an amazing villain!
And then Steven Seagal at the time, 1 year later in 1994 had Under Siege, which grossed a staggering $85 Million.
So why do I bring up these numbers? Well, it shows you what Thomas Ian Griffith was up against. While I as an audience member and a fan don't really care how much a movie makes,
the studios producing them certainly do, since it can be considered a gauge of how big a star actually is. Basically, you gotta be able to put asses in seats.
Which, unfortunately Thomas Ian Griffith was unable to do, and the follow-ups the following years, such as Crackerjack, Blood of the Innocent and Hollow Point
never really got him the audience I thought he deserved. But anyway, let me know in the comments section what you think about Thomas Ian Griffith
and are you excited about Cobra Kai Season 3.