I recently tracked down a U. S import DVD of Martial (1998-2000) after seeing some of the awesome fight scenes on youtube. After watching the 2 seasons, I must say that Sammo is awesome, the fight scenes are excellent, and the fun factor is definitely evident throughout (the blooper reel at end of each episode was great!).
Season 1 had the best fight scenes, but Season 2 definitely had better consistent action and fights.
However, I do believe the show never really reached it's full awesome potential. For starters: 1. Season 1 had more generic cop show story lines that sometimes had me counting the minutes for the next fight scene.
2. Season 2 got rid of Louis Mandylor, who had much more chemistry with Sammo than Arsenio Hall did.
3. Sometimes the writers of the show never let Sammo ACT! They would focus on the other actors we don't care about because they were afraid that he couldn't speak english.
4. The show never let Sammo/Arensio develop a full chemistry/comic banter (sometimes they showed sparks of it (e.x S2 E1), but most of the time they're split up, or not focused on enough like Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker played off eachother).
5. The writers in both seasons (especially season 1) fiddled with the formula too much, meaning characters would come and go, Sammo would get focused on and then he wouldn't.
Still, I really recommend you track down this show. If you like martial arts or old style cop shows, this show delivers in an awesome way!
Season 1 had the best fight scenes, but Season 2 definitely had better consistent action and fights.
However, I do believe the show never really reached it's full awesome potential. For starters: 1. Season 1 had more generic cop show story lines that sometimes had me counting the minutes for the next fight scene.
2. Season 2 got rid of Louis Mandylor, who had much more chemistry with Sammo than Arsenio Hall did.
3. Sometimes the writers of the show never let Sammo ACT! They would focus on the other actors we don't care about because they were afraid that he couldn't speak english.
4. The show never let Sammo/Arensio develop a full chemistry/comic banter (sometimes they showed sparks of it (e.x S2 E1), but most of the time they're split up, or not focused on enough like Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker played off eachother).
5. The writers in both seasons (especially season 1) fiddled with the formula too much, meaning characters would come and go, Sammo would get focused on and then he wouldn't.
Still, I really recommend you track down this show. If you like martial arts or old style cop shows, this show delivers in an awesome way!