A Dangerous Place (1994)

★ 6.1 1h 37m IMDb

When Ethan's older brother Greg is found dead, the police rule the case a suicide, but Ethan suspects foul play stemming from Greg's recent involvement with a martial arts team called the Scorpions. Ethan is also accomplished at martial arts, and he determines to join the Scorpions as a means of learning what really happened to Greg. - Written by Michelle Sturges

A Dangerous Place

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Cast

Ted Jan Roberts
Ted Jan Roberts as Ethan Died 2022 · Los Angeles, California, U.S Ted Jan Roberts (1979–2022) was an American actor, martial artist, stuntman, and producer best known for his work in 1990s direct-to-video Martial Arts Action films.. Born Ted Gilroy on September 24,...
Corey Feldman
Corey Feldman as Taylor Age 54 · Los Angeles, California, USA Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971) is an American actor, musician, and activist. He became well known during the 1980s, with roles as a youth in films such as Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter...
Mako
Mako as Sensei Died 2006 · Kobe, Japan Mako was born in Kobe, Japan, the son of noted children's book author and illustrator Taro Yashima. His parents moved to the United States when he was a small child. He joined them there after World W...
Erin Gray
Erin Gray as Audrey Age 76 · Honolulu, Hawaii, USA The very beautiful and talented model, actress, and author Erin Gray (born January 7, 1950) was one of the first models to successfully crossover into television. She is best known as "Kate Summers" o...
Marshall R. Teague
Marshall R. Teague as Gavin Age 73 · Newport, Tennessee, USA Marshall R. Teague (born April 1953) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role in the 1989 cult movie Road House and for his recurring role on the 1990s hit science fiction se...
Dick Van Patten
Dick Van Patten as Principal Died 2015 · Queens, New York City, New York, USA Dick Van Patten was an American actor best known for his role as Tom Bradford on the TV show Eight Is Enough. Van Patten also made appearances in the films Spaceballs, Soylent Green, and Robin Hood: M...

Audience Reviews

tenderlions2011 Oct 22, 2013
Why has this film been so completely neglected? A Dangerous Place is without a doubt one of the most competent and entertaining B-grade teen action films to be released in the 1990s. This film plays like a more violent version of "The Karate Kid", only with cool car chases and without the endless training montages.

A Dangerous Place reinterprets a classic martial arts storyline. One brother is killed in a fight (usually during a tournament), forcing the other brother to brush up his fighting skills before facing his brother's murderer in the ring. A Dangerous Place loosely uses this framework but makes a number of interesting adjustments. In this case, Greg is killed in a fight with Taylor (Corey Feldman), the leader of the Scorpions Karate club. Greg's younger brother, Ethan (T.J. Roberts), suspects foul play and joins the club to learn the truth. This leads to the classic match showdown between the Scorpions and Ethan's club, the Lions. This film manages to breathe new life into the well worn formula by transferring the action to a high school and by making the Scorpions a criminal outfit, which carries out robberies orchestrated by their teacher and sensei. The great Pat Morita would most definitely not approve!

A Dangerous Place is directed by Jerry P. Jacobs, who made a string of great low budget action films in the 1990s. This man knows how to entertain viewers with a steady stream of robberies, car chases and karate battles. This film never lets up, from the opening scene, (in which the gang carry out a robbery after being dropped off by one of the boys' mothers!) to the dazzling finale. The fight sequences are particularly well done, with clever editing and interesting camera work. There is not much blood but the action is relatively realistic for a film aimed at a teen audience. Oh, and keep an eye out for Greg's ghost, which I thought was a highly amusing creative touch.

In addition to great action sequences, the film offers a fine cast of cult actors. The always impressive Mako plays the good sensei, while Marshall R. Teague has a great time playing yet another evil character, the crime lord sensei/English teacher. Corey Feldman has possibly his best role of the 90s as Taylor. As unlikely as it sounds, he is actually quite believable as an evil karate villain and does not look completely ridiculous in the fight scenes. The same can be said for T.J. Roberts, who does well in the fight scenes despite looking half the size of his opponents.

A Dangerous Place is worth hunting down. Contrary to a couple of reviews here, I don't think it is as good as "The Karate Kid" but I do think it is considerably better than most of the crap passing for mindless entertainment these days.

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