'Tis the Season - Riot (1996)

Director: Joseph Merhi

Cast: Gary Daniels, Sugar Ray Leonard, Patrick Kilpatrick, Charles Napier, Paige Rowland

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 94 minutes

Your typical Christmas action viewing is always going to consist of Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, or the several Christmas themed action pictures penned by Shane Black. However, I thought that I would shed light on Riot, a little seen DTV action film set at Christmas time that I figured most action fanatics had not heard of. Riot is three things to me: a Christmas themed action picture, a Gary Daniels vehicle, and a low budget DTV action picture. You know you are an action fan when you are checking out an action film for one of these three reasons since casual audiences care less for that stuff. Thankfully for me, Riot has them all.

I had planned on reviewing Riot for my 'Tis the Season series long before we arrived to the Christmas season. However, Riot is oddly topical and relevant to what is going on in the United States right now concerning the riots in Ferguson, Missouri over a police officer shooting an African American to death. I don't know if Riot, a film released to video in 1996, was already responding to the riots and police beatings concerning the infamous Rodney King case in 1991. Either way, it is topical that the film gently touches upon excessive police force and the organized violence that results from it. Daniels gives the film's opinion of rioting best when he says, "What do these people think they are going to resolve acting like this?" If you think that Riot is some intelligent commentary on rioting and police beatings thought, it's not. This is a dumb as nails DTV film that is all action from start to finish. And that is just fine by me.

Just your average ordinary bar brawl against a baseball team.

Riot opens up with a riot on Christmas Eve as citizens destroy the city after hearing the news of a police officer accidentally gunning down innocent children mistaken as gang members. Major Shane Alcott (Gary Daniels) watches televised coverage of the riot from a bar in disgust. After Shane and his buddy Major Williams (Sugar Ray Leonard) leave the place after an unnecessary but entertaining bar fight, they are taken to the British Embassy for a mission. The British Ambassador's daughter, Anna (Paige Rowland), was kidnapped during the riot. The kidnappers demand money in exchange for her life. Therefore, Agent Devaney (Charles Napier) assigns Shane and Williams the task of rescuing Paige from within the riot zone Escape From New York-style.

Riot is a dumb, basic, and silly DTV action film that delivers the goods from start to finish. The film delivers set piece after set piece without a moment for the viewer to breathe. As I just stated, the film's rough plot is very similar to John Carpenter's eighties classic Escape From New York. Shane is dropped off into a dangerous quarantined zone by aircraft with a handgun and a limited amount of time, just like Snake Plissken. However, this low budget copy cat is set at Christmas time! Riot is jam packed with Christmas aesthetics from its ever present Christmas lights, to the numerous Christmas songs that play during fight scenes, to even the rendition of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" that plays during the opening riot footage. Shane even works out to Christmas music when he pumps iron in his apartment! That's how Christmas minded this film is people. I would argue that there is more Christmas decorations and aesthetics in this film than any of the Die Hard sequels or Shane Black films. It's a shame there are no great Christmas one-liners though.

Unfortunately, Riot suffers from a weak pace and inability to craft true tension or excitement. Even though Riot is based around a high stakes situation that features numerous action scenes, the film never feels exciting even for a moment. You could easily chock this up to the film's weak editing, bad acting, and truly terrible film score. Oh man, my ears haven't hurt from a score this bad in a long time. The terrible repeating theme in Game of Death I and II is better than any of the score heard here. It's a damn shame the film's pace and energy can't match its superb choreography and action craftmanship. The film also lacks a distinct or attractive visual style. Images are rarely lit in a pleasing manner and are even quite hazy a-la John Hensleigh's The Punisher. DTV films of the 1990's were most definitely low budget.

A hockey gang? What is this The Warriors?

Riot stars former kickboxer and British action star Gary Daniels. The man has starred in so many DTV films that it is hard to keep track of them all. Daniels has also appeared in a few theatrically released films over the years (City Hunter, The Expendables, and Tekken), so his career has not been entirely reduced to home video. With so many films under his belt, I commend Daniels for squeezing a Christmas action film in there. And while Daniels does a great job in the film's many action scenes, he comes off fairly weak in the dialog and drama scenes. However, Daniels is one of those cheesy actors you can't help but love. He's just unique. Maybe it's his Britishness. As far as hammy actors come, Daniels is one of the best. At least he's not a dreadful cheesy actor like Highlander: Endgame alumni Adrian Paul and Christoph Lambert. Those guys have yet to convince me that they can show a genuine emotion on screen.

Riot proves itself to be a true DTV when a twist around the halfway point over complicates the plot beyond no end (DTV action films are notorious for over complicating their plots). Even though it seemed that Anna, Shane's ex-girlfriend by the way, was kidnapped by simple gangsters, it turns out they were pawns in a larger scheme. Former IRA soldiers who had a history with Shane in the past planned the entire riot and kidnapping just to get revenge on Shane and obtain money from the British Ambassador. How could the villain expect Shane of all people to show up to save his ex! It's his ex for goodness sakes! And how did they fabricate the riot? Did they murder the poor innocent kids and dress as police officers? If they did, that's a pretty cold tactic! It is also interesting that the film's main villain is Irish and the hero is British, considering the prejudice and history between the two nationalities in real life.

The film's supporting cast is also not half bad. Sugar Ray Leonard has a small supporting role as Shane's buddy in the first half of the film. I don't mean to be rude to Leonard, but the guy definitely doesn't have a future in acting. Still, Leonard does a fine job in his one action scene in which he and Daniels go head to head with a team of baseball players. Character actors Charles Napier (Rambo: First Blood Part II, Maniac Cop 2) and Patrick Kilpatrick (Under Siege 2, Last Man Standing) also appear in small supporting roles. They do just fine. Moving on.

The key to my heart: double fisted gun action.

Besides the Christmas setting and star Gary Daniels, the main reason anyone is going to be checking this movie out is for its action. As is typical with most DTV flicks, Riot is all action from start to finish. There is very little down time in the entire film. The film is so worried about boring the audience that there is an unnecessary fight in a bar at the beginning that is completely unrelated to the plot of the film. Nothing says Christmas cheer like a bar fight set to some hip hop music. 

Riot benefits from plenty of bad ass action beats. Here is a list of some beautiful moments in the film: Daniels pops up out of a car's hood and uses the hood for cover as he fires his gun through it, Daniels sets a motorcycle henchman on fire who proceeds to chase him down only to crash into a car and explode, Daniels wraps a rope around a motorcycle henchman's neck thereby snapping his neck and pulling him off of his motorcycle, Daniels sends a henchman off of his motorcycle into a front flip through three panes of glass, and Daniels even leaps out of a car as it flies off of a parking garage in order to grab a rope to save himself from certain death (pictured below). Say what you want about DTV action, but they know how to deliver the goods. Also kudos to Riot for the ridiculous amount of motorcycle henchmen!

Even though Riot has some awesome action scenes that benefit from great explosions and good choreography, these scenes tend to suffer from painfully weak editing. The editing is extremely clunky at times when it comes to establishing new locations or transitioning between scenes. For example, one fight scene in the middle of a neighborhood immediately leads into a parking garage the very next shot. This happens several times in the film and it is quite jarring whenever it occurs. I also noticed that Riot features an exceptionally high body count yet not an ounce of blood. The film is so low budget that there is not a single squib or blood splat to be found. Sure, every bullet fired is a blank and it always looks great whenever a henchman flies through the air. But don't expect any bloody finishes. Some tighter editing and bloody squibs would have greatly benefited the film's numerous action scenes.

Now that's what I call a stunt.

Riot is nobody's first choice when it comes to Christmas action movies. Therefore, let me be the one to spread awareness of the movie. Even though Riot is your typical DTV in parts (overly complicated at times, weak scoring and editing, terribly paced), the Christmas setting, cheesy acting, and awesome action scenes go a long way in making this one hell of an entertaining action picture. I plan on watching this film every Christmas time in order to honor its memory and to be the only person making Riot a tradition (even though I could be watching something far better). This flick is purely for the die hard action fans, Daniels geeks, and Christmas junkies.

Rating: 6/10 - A clunky, silly, but entertaining film that packs lots of action and Christmas cheer into one direct to video package.