This is actually the best of the Ring of Fire series. If you're like me and you love straight-forward '90s action/martial arts flicks, you'll enjoy this one. Don't expect a complex story with loads of character development. What you get here is a simple plot with a likeable protagonist and some solid action sequences. This reminded me of some of the early Steven Seagal films. If you're a fan of that kind of thing, give this one a shot.

I stumbled upon the 1994 martial arts action movie "Lion Strike" (aka "Ring of Fire 3: Lion Strike") here in 2021. Granted, I've never actually seen this movie, I do remember watching the original first "Ring of Fire" back in my late teenage years a couple of times, so of course I opted to watch this 1994 movie.

Well, this definitely was some campy and cheesy mid-1990s martial arts movies. Let's just be bluntly honest here. And I mean, the choreography and execution of the martial arts scenes was rigid and often painfully forced to look at. The martial arts just wasn't all that natural and fluid in its movement and momentum, and that took away from the movie.

The rooftop scene with the helicopter was just downright brutally painful to watch and witness. And it was just ludicrous that something like that found its way into a movie.

And then there was a fairly bland and overly generic storyline, even for a mid-1990s action movie, then the storyline told in "Lion Strike" was just generic.

Sure, I've never considered Don Wilson to be a particularly outstanding action star, but his movies are watchable at least. And he was joined by Bobbie Phillips in this movie, which was certainly a nice addition to the movie.

For a martial arts action movie then "Lion Strike" just didn't really provide me with much of any particular enjoyment or entertainment. It was watchable, but that was about it, so don't go expecting a grand movie.

My rating of "Lion Strike" lands on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars.

Dr. Johnny Wu (The Dragon) is once again taking on the baddies in this third (and, to date, final) entry in the Ring of Fire series. Johnny and his son Bobby (Wilson's real-life son Jonathan) decide to take a break and they drive into the country to relax at the cabin of a fellow doctor. Unfortunately, this is really bad timing, as the Italian and Russian mobs are joining forces to form an international criminal alliance. Their first order of business now that they are teaming up (and gathering lots of street thugs as foot soldiers to boot) is to get some nukes, a ton of money, and a computer disc (what else?) with all the important information baddies need to take over the world. By sheer accident, Johnny Wu ends up with the disc, so, far from enjoying this idyllic pastoral setting, he's kicking and punching his way through wave after wave of goons who think they can beat him. Along the way, he gets help from local park ranger Marla (Barish). Will the bad guys get the disc? What will happen to Johnny and his son? Find out today...

Lion Strike (as it's simply called in its on-screen title) is a movie of two halves. The first half has that wacky, freewheeling style we always love. Common sense is thrown to the wind and there are plenty of nonsensically enjoyable moments. The second half is your standard beat-em-up, filled with brain-numbing action bits. The fact that there are no less than three credited directors for this movie may have something to do with its schizophrenic character. While the first half has a machine gun-toting grandpa, an exploding helicopter, angry punks that drive their motorcycles into a hospital, and Don's son mercilessly beating up a bag of popcorn while wearing a li'l leather jacket, among other delightful moments, the second half just has some punching and kicking. So to whoever directed the first half of this movie, kudos. To the director (s) of the second half...you should have done better to keep the momentum of the first half going.

Because this is a PM movie, after all, it has plenty of high-quality explosions, and its time-honored car stunt. And Michael Delano is in it. While criminals searching for "The Disc" has been seen in countless actioners, there are plenty of classic 90's moments on display, such as Don's first-generation cellular phone, and Bobby's bowl haircut, which no 90's tot could be without. And because Joe Pesci was huge in the 90's, there's a classic "annoying Italian guy" with a nasal voice named Vinny (Del Regno) ready to give him a run for his money. As in most Don movies, he gets shirtless for no reason. Moving on, there's also the tried-and-true final warehouse fight. The fact that this movie gives Don the opportunity to take on the Russians and the Italians, working in concert, among other goons, is somewhat novel.

Fan favorite Michael Jai White is in it for a very small amount of time, inexplicably playing a guy named Silvio. We definitely wanted to see more of him. Also, as in other Don movies, at least one of his titles is on-screen with him in the opening credits, but why is "World Kickboxing Champion" in quotes? Is he not really? So, in the end, fans of the PM style or Don The Dragon will enjoy this, but we wish the whole movie delivered on the promise of its first half.