Bad Movie Tuesday: The Best Spin Kicks are in Bad Movies

Spin kicks are a staple of bad cinema. In a direct to DVD action film acting is not a necessity. What you need is the ability to ride dirt bikes into terrorists homes and spin kick the bad men into oblivion.  If you are decent looking and can throw a spin kick you will most certainly become a henchman or hero in a bad action film. Most importantly you can end up in scenes like this.

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The spin kick has long been a staple of cheesy cinema. The kick when used correctly is impossible to defend and awesome when pulled off correctly. The reason the spin kick is not featured in many A-list films is because the diminutive actors are incapable of such a graceful act. The actors who have mastered the move (sans good actor Swayze in Roadhouse) are people who can kick not act. Thus, in bad action films the actors kick a lot and act little. I’m sure fellow MFF co-writer John knows more about spin kicks and bad movies but I came to this interesting realization first.

My favorite exception to the rule as mentioned earlier is Roadhouse. The reason it is a classic is because it is 100% bonkers yet features an A-list star who can spin gracefully with his foot in the air.

Viva la Swayze!

Aside from Swayze the high flying actors who are martial artists do not need to act like Brando. Take a look at this JCVD highlight clip and you will notice bad acting, poor defense and glorious spinning maneuvers that lead to unconsciousness and concussions.

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The art of the spin kick is lost to me. When you are a 6’4 Swedish man your only option is to imitate the Dolph Lundgren front kick or John Cusack side kick.

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We don’t have the torque or ability to manipulate our bodies into a spin. Watch this fantastic clip of Dolph and JCVD fighting to catch a glimpse of Swedish fighting.

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Scott Adkins is the king of B-movie action and he has mastered the triple lindy of spin kicks.

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Michael Jai White made the fantastic film Black Dynamite and made a name for himself with his spin kicks in DTDVD films.

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Before Gary Daniels was crane kicked to death in The Expendables he was spin kicking Wesley Snipes.

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Spin Kicks are beautiful things that happen in bad movies. They are like the monologues in a Mamet play or a Daniel Day-Lewis transformation. You have to seek them out and suffer through bad movies to witness the aerial acts. If you are lucky they can even teach a tough group of high school students to appreciate the bigger picture.