Bloodsport 4: The Dark Kumite is a 1999 martial arts sports action film directed by Elvis Restaino, from a script written by George Saunders, while Alan Mehrez once again serves as producer. A sequel to Bloodsport III (1997) and it is the fourth installment overall in the Bloodsport film series. Daniel Bernhardt returns to the series, albeit in the new role of John Keller. It was released direct-to-video in 1999.
Contents
Premise
Agent John Keller goes undercover into the tough prison known as Fuego Penal to find out about the corpses of prisoners disappearing without a trace. There he gets involved in a dangerous tournament, the Kumite, arranged by a man named Justin Caesar, where the prisoners are forced to fight to the death. The tournament has only one rule: There are no rules.
Cast
Daniel Bernhardt as John Keller
Stefanos Miltsakakis as Maximilian Schrek
Ivan Ivanov as Justin Caesar
Lisa Stothard as Blaire
Michael Krawic as Winston
Derek McGrath as Warden Preston
David Rowe as Billings
Elvis Restaino as Dr. Rosenbloom
Dennis LaValle as Files
Christine Marais as Regina
Jeff Moldovan as Captain Anderson
Mike Kirton as Prison Guard
Mitko Kiskimov as Tongo
Linda Kouleva as Rita
Stefan Valdobrev as Gills
Production
The prison sequences were shot at a real prison in Bulgaria and actual prisoners were extras in the scenes. Although the film was shot in Bulgaria, Bloodsport 4 is set in the United States. This not only makes it the only Bloodsport movie set there, but the only Bloodsport movie to not be set where it was shot. Though Daniel Bernhardt stars in the previous two films, his character John Keller is different from Alex Cardo in the prior installments.
Reception
The film was panned by critics. Robert Pardi of TV Guide gave the film one star and said: "The good news is that you needn't bother watching the first three Bloodsport flicks in order to make sense of this sequel. The bad news is that it's pure Grade-Z schlock."