Brandon's Cult Movie Reviews: MIAMI CONNECTION

Stream this movie via Amazon: amzn.to/2xKhFEb
I tackle the cult classic "Miami Connection" (1987), where a college rock band is the only thing that can stop a gang of drug-dealing ninjas!
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[@DocLantern85]

"Another sign you're not a tough guy: wearing a scarf." Somewhere in Japan, an irate Takeshi Hongo gets his henshin belt out of the cobwebs.

[@ultra6671]

Takeshi: Don't make me come down there, you punk!

[@goldosprey]

In another verse, Natsu Dragneel gets fired up

[@marhawkman303]

@@goldosprey does Piccolo in DBZ count? Also... Yusuke's mentor in Yuyu Hakusho was into scarves.

[@matthewdunk]

Hen...Shin!!

[@marhawkman303]

@@matthewdunk ah, yes, Viewtiful. :D

[@Awwscrewit]

Knowing that YK Kim and his co-stars appreciate how much people enjoy this movie always makes me smile.

[@kevincola3184]

The Live Rifftrax of this film was great and apparently YK Kim and some of his costars watched it as well.

[@Irondrone4]

The Dragonsound song "Friends for Eternity" is used for the end credits of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. That does not surprise me in the slightest.

[@weldonwin]

+Irondrone4 If there is ever a Blood Dragon 2, I honestly hope they use that "Against the Ninja" song

[@shermanbrown419]

That song is actually not that bad.

[@TBrianOnline]

Yeah, it's a good song (Against the Ninja too), just not really as a rock music as it tries to be.

[@TheDropOfTheDay]

It's called Friends Forever

[@dAvrilthebear]

Irondrone4 Friends Forever is really dull. Against the Ninja sounds like a decent 80s pop number.

[@TerminallyNerdy]

Fun fact: I was a kid when this movie was being made...and I was a student at YK Kims Tae Kwan Do School. I went to the premiere in the local theater, got a poster signed by him (which did not survive the test of time, its gone now) and I know where the filming took place cause its all local to me. YK Kim was always a trip. ALWAYS.

[@dancumbe]

I lived the 80s; I once walked out of my house and tripped over a kilo of Cocaine. It was a White Christmas every day.

[@dallasdandigitalproduction393]

"Only through the elimination of ninjas can we achieve world peace" 😜

[@grayeaglej]

What about the Pirates tho? O.o

[@robbijohnson6983]

😂😂😂

[@southanime]

@@grayeaglej they are at a stalemate with the cowboys, the moment that balance is broken WWIII happens

[@grayeaglej]

@@southanime But what about us NinjaPirateCowboyAstronauts? Where do we fit in? O.o

[@southanime]

@@grayeaglej you are like sweden in these conflict

[@Cosmoline]

Miami Connection is a rare gem. It's technically a disaster of course, but none of that matters. A lot of bad/good films were churned out to fill time at drive ins or made to support some inflated ego. This one is from the heart, and has an innocence to it that takes me back to the 80's playing dangerous games with throwing stars we'd ordered from the back of magazines. The fact that none of the plot makes sense actually makes it make more sense. And even with an A-list cast and all the money in the world you could never recreate this film.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Yeah, too much talent would actually undermine the movie.

[@michaelccozens]

YK Kim is so cool, too. IIRC, he basically made the film at the insistence of his students, who are all in it. He had no idea what he was doing, but he went for it anyway, just 'cause. And when Rifftrax (half of MST3K) did a 20th anniversary live riff, the dude showed up, and was amazingly gracious. Just all-around a humble nice guy, which is particularly cool seeing as he can kill you with his toe. Also, is that one gang member at the first Dragonsound concert wearing a noose? That's so ridiculous it circles back around to badass. I'm not gonna bother a dude wearing that. I love the sincerity of the "Father" speech. That guy is going for it. He's failing utterly, but there's not an ounce of cynicism in that performance. Kinda representative of the whole film. Breaking boards in the middle of a concert when nearly all of your band plays guitar is [chef's kiss]. Who needs finger dexterity? Maybe the second half of the show was going to be *all* drum solo.

[@drfr0stii704]

I don’t usually read long comments, but I’m glad I did this time.

[@drfr0stii704]

@@fightingmedialounge519 This really is the byproduct of guys who loved movies, just making a movie. I think that is what so many people miss when it comes to the 80s in particular. In the decades before and after it, making a movie was hard to do.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

@@drfr0stii704 I'd say making a movie was still hard back then(just look some director commentaries). I just found it a bit funny that it was suggested a better made movie would have been overall worse. No disrespect to the original comment.

[@FumblsTheSniper]

“Friends Forever” is actually one of my favorite songs lmao

[@ThyDavideth]

"You're father is a postcard?" Epic.

[@seb24789]

So THAT is where that anti-ninja song comes from!

[@FingerBreakerWu]

Dragonsound is like the male version of Jem and the Holograms.

[@midwestkrazy83turner50]

LMFAO 😂😂😂

[@JamesW6179]

Miami not being in the Miami Connection is fine. The film's title is an homage/rip off of the French Connection, and that film was barely in France. It's about a heroin connection bringing the drug in to NYC from France.

[@paxhumana2015]

The French Connection II WAS mainly in France, though. I honestly feel like both movies should have been one larger movie, but I guess that, even in the 1970s, people had ADD/ADHD, so that it did not get it done.

[@doublep1980]

This movie has a cocaine dealing,ninja/biker gang.I repeat: *cocaine dealing biker-ninjas!* Enough said. Btw.the guy who plays ''Jeff'' looks like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,if he was a mid-80's cocaine dealer,in Florida.

[@MariktheGunslinger]

I want to make a sidescrolling beat 'em up based on this movie.

[@OpiateVictory]

Totally, with music events and all. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@ExUSSailor]

That's actually a really good idea. I'd play the Hell outta that.

[@marcoantoniosalazarmatamor9496]

So how would it be? Sidescroller beat-them-up a la "Streets of Rage" with Guitar Hero-ish bonus sequences for the songs?

[@marcoantoniosalazarmatamor9496]

So how would it be? Sidescroller beat-them-up a la "Streets of Rage" with Guitar Hero-ish bonus sequences for the songs?

[@thedrewdog]

Imagine one of the super moves being a loud "FATHER!" scream that wipes out all the enemies onscreen.

[@midwestmonster9886]

"I'm sorry I walked out on you, son. It took me hearing of you taking a sword to the chest to realize what it means to be a father."

[@elliotappleton3266]

"This is your brain on drugs, this is your brain after getting a sword sliced through it." My favorite part!

[@ShadowPlay1919]

It is called "The Miami Connection" because the drug connection was through Miami and it took place on Orlando. if it was to take place in Miami it wouldst had to be like Colombian connection etc

[@kdrkdr5123]

Yep, a lot of people make the joke about Miami Connection not being in Miami. Like you said, it would be like complaining that the French Connection didn't take place in France.

[@weirdkitty07]

Edited. Martial arts movies in the 1980s inspired me to take up Tae Kwon Do and become a black belt, but not to fight ninjas. Ha.

[@cale42]

Ninja are always after the Noodles.

[@goufr3540]

+cale42 Had to fend off Naruto from my ramen, I hate Thursdays.

[@cale42]

Tell me about it. Just last week I tried making Soba from scratch. I finished it only to get knocked out by one of those pajama wearing hoodlums and woke up hours later with all my soba gone, as well as my beer. Assholes.

[@MrKhalil9]

+cale42 Luffy has to stay away from my spicy beef Ramen noodles

[@cale42]

I always figured pirates were more likely to swipe booze than noodles.

[@MrKhalil9]

+cale42 that's Zoro

[@hemidas]

4:16 Ah, the Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon End Credits!

[@Dynaman21]

15:19 - The only character ever that can pull off the scarf and look badass is Kamen Rider. That’s it.

[@Maswartz226]

Rider fan!

[@Nestalgba92023]

And he's also Asian.

[@danialyousaf6456]

Don't forget Christopher Walken from seven psychopaths.

[@Mecha82]

This made me want to see you review Kung Fury.

[@TheNomadicPyramid]

Correction: This movie was truly seems like it was written with the help of cocaine, due to it make little sense and having questionable sequences of events. And congrats on going on tour Brandon! Your band deserves it

[@dAvrilthebear]

it's like calling a movie "Brazil" and not setting it in Brazil) btw, the team didn't just come 4th! they came last!

[@ConstantineFurman]

Rifftrax used your "ceiling fan nightclub" gag the other night.

[@ComputerLearning0]

At 3:25 the title say's "Orlando, Florida" but you can see a bank in the background with red letters that says "Coral Gables Federal", which is in MIAMI.

[@scotthillman9134]

Heres the thing. Miami Connection isn't all that diffrent then any number of 80s martial arts movies. They often feature a lot of what seem Semi improvised scenes of people goofing off broken up by ninjas involved in vaugely defined plots. Hell Karate Kid does this too. What makes it special...is yeah how wieridly it does both of these.

[@leswest9893]

This makes me more anxious to see RiffTrax take on the movie!!

[@picvegita]

Check it out on Amazon prime, classic stuff!

[@sheltonbrightjr.5988]

PUNCH!! KICK!! ACT!! ITS ALL IN THE MIND!! 🤣🤣

[@VeganJustToAnnoyYou]

9:45 "Orpens". I love this film.

[@awsikee]

😂😂😂

[@joeedwards8863]

Ironically, Mustache mcMullet head, (Angelo Janotti) is now a world class, prolific guitar player, who also married the female lead "Jane" in this same movie.....Yep. Let that sink in....

[@joeedwards8863]

@Razh 80 Oh hell yeah.Definitely! Dragonsound should've been a real band in the 80s....Id have bought their stuff....

[@ryanbarker5217]

his facebook says he's single now.

[@joeedwards8863]

@@ryanbarker5217 He has a facebook!!!??? Holy crap!!! Friend requesting.... INITIATED....

[@dbsommers1]

Saw this when rifftrax did this. Brilliant stuff.

[@projectconstellation4053]

Our band opened up for Auto Pilot back in 2018 while they were touring the U.S. They're really sweet and down to earth guys too.

[@andrewkaye2108]

"They look like the Warriors played by a bowling team." Lmao

[@davidtheboy448]

This was on Netflix at one point

[@smuglytherat]

Fun fact, farming equipment really was what ninjas used

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

Smugly Otaku Even fun-er fact, that’s incorrect. Ninjas used practically anything they could get their hands on.

[@JosephXFS]

@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick Soooo, farming equipment as well??

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

Joseph Initially, yes. That was where they formed their start.

[@Bacteriophagebs]

Wait, what!? That's a _very_ different ending than the one I saw! The version of _Miami Connection_ I saw ended with Jim dying, and the survivors driving to the airport and watching a plane land and saying "Oh, no, Jim's father is on that plane." Then cut to the "elimination of violence" thing.

[@theamazingspiral]

8:17 I found it. I finally found it. After all these years, I finally found the clip that I keep hearing in Brandon's videos.

[@zw246]

DECAPITATIIOOOOOONNNNN

[@NikkiLeeSimmons]

This is the third youtube review I've watched of this flick and its also the best.

[@TallSilentGuy]

It's like somebody strained the 1980s through a filter and made this movie out of the dregs.

[@jcp3666]

but fortunately our heroes show up just in time... wait what... the fight is over already!!! PRICELESS

[@Tareltonlives]

Still waiting for Brandon and his band's cover of "Friends"

[@adamthaxton3157]

So YK Kim is a local celebrity, and half this movie was filmed on the University of Central Florida campus. The other half at Church Street Station. He's also the McDonald's of martial arts studios.

[@jamesmoseley5428]

Dude. Great review. Your parody of that guy playing guitar was way more believable than the actual footage. I swear that guy doesn't even know what a guitar is. He's not even pretending to strum the strings. I think he's not sure how the thing he's holding makes music. He couldn't take one second to look at the other actors? He's squeezing the tail like an accordion

[@rorylumley4727]

Dragon sound: we will kill the ninjas with peace and love.

[@boxtank5288]

And these swords they had!

[@sheltonbrightjr.5988]

YK Kim listened to the Oscar caliber dialogue in "Troll 2", called Joseph Diamond & said, "I KNOW HOW TO IMPROVE MY MOVIE!!! COME OVER & WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT!!" 🙄😄

[@Kizunaut]

This honestly looks amazing in it's 80s cheesines

[@RikoJAmado]

This movie gives me vibes of "The Last Dragon" combined with Power Rangers' levels of "teenagers with attitude."

[@MrDanAng1]

15:38 There is 9 levels of black belt in Taekwondo, so yes, the Korean guy is probably supposed to have a super black belt, or master grade black belt, somewhere between 7-9 dan.

[@hude7360]

This was hilarious! I laughed hard from pretty much start to finish. Awesome.

[@dallasdandigitalproduction393]

lol,great review.👍 loved the Oscar Clip monologue scene

[@TF2Fan101]

Okay, so... this might sound crazy to say, but... I legitimately think that Miami Connection has potential to be an entertaining (And well-told) TV series.

[@Tareltonlives]

I'd totally watch it!

[@RichardWatt]

Wow, those old-school IBM PCs! My college/polytechnic/university had some of them in its computer labs - in the mid-1990s.

[@willtheangrydudeist9120]

10:20- "And worst of all... I never even learned to read!!!"

[@garyhall7867]

But you just read that

[@dmustakasjr]

The Oscar Clip is some of the best "its so bad its good" film I have ever seen... nice

[@Dynaman21]

This feels like the ninjafied poverty version of “Streets of Fire.”

[@mattirealm]

LOL... I was thinking the same thing.

[@xxedgy_outsiderxx9978]

keep forgetting that movie exist given it was a cultural touch stone in japan somehow

[@Tareltonlives]

This review is great back to back with Brad Jones' review and the Rifftrax. I love this movie.

[@picvegita]

This is such a great Rifftrax, and it's on Amazon prime for free!

[@arikay3054]

the fact that that first shot of UCF looks exactly the same as it does now in 2019 gave me whiplash

[@adiraiju9336]

If Dave Barry is to be believed, this is EXACTLY what Miami is like! XD

[@Igarappappa]

I legit had to check to make sure this was made in the 80's and not just a parody of the 80's.

[@SonOfTamriel]

I'm just glad John Oates was in it.

[@joeomalley2835]

And Micheal Phelps.

[@notsparctacus]

Say it ain't so.

[@meab12]

I love the way that, in "against the ninja" the crowd clapping is completely out of sync with the beat of the song 😂

[@kevincola3184]

Yeah, the Rifftrax Live show of Miami Connection from 2015 pointed that out, lol.

[@frandsenphilip1]

So far, my favorite review by you - way to go Brandon!

[@therottenapplepk8881]

man I spit my soda all over. when I heard the kid rock comment lol

[@ComputerLearning0]

This may be a cheap movie with poor acting but personally I thought most of the fight scenes were fairly decent. Although rather dated, I also felt the music, which the leader of the band wrote himself, wasn't half bad either. I've seen productions with a much larger budget sound far worse than this. Although there were several things I found confusing about this movie, one of issues I had with it was the fact you were never quite sure which city you were currently in. They would switch between Miami and Orlando so often that it seemed random in nature and much of the time I found myself having to just **guess** which of the two they were currently at. This was clearly a VERY low budget picture but as goofy as it was I still liked it.

[@brianoconnell6459]

Looking at the horrible proportions and sad excuse for airbrushing, I gotta ask: Did the guy who did the Miami Connection box cover also do the one for the American Mega Man box? Edit: Whoa, that box was designed in 2012.

[@weirdkitty07]

GI Joe the Movie came out in October 1987, but Miami Connection appeared a full year later, in November 1988. So even though you were kidding about the similarities, Miami Connection is likely riffing GI Joe.

[@joshua2814]

It's Miami Connection the same way French Connection is---that's where the drugs come from (not where it's set). But this review did make me laugh. Van art would've completed the awesome 80s-ness.

[@garyhall7867]

Krieger approves

[@tak13954]

The music from this band sounds like that one south park episode where they were playing ninjas.

[@kingofpointless]

As much as I love Brad Jones, I think this was actually funnier than the Cinema Snob review of this movie.

[@MatthewLMaw]

Great vid. Would love to see how you review "Streets of Fire."

[@TheAztecScorpion]

you're so funny! Love your sarcasm. hope to see more movies after your tour. :)

[@rusalexander1757]

Jane's/Ninja Leader brother Jeff looks like a full size 60's era G.I. Joe....with kung fu grip

[@MarindiaProductions]

You totally need to do Death Promise now. It’s the 70s precursor to this film, only it’s martial arts experts vs. greedy landlords. Hilarious final fight scene with LOTS OF SCREAMING!

[@johntumahab323]

Hey, that beach scene pictured a nice three second clip of sandpipers.

[@garyhall331]

French Connection was in New York

[@Fishinggod21]

Wow. Just wow.

[@tylerskiss]

Seeing this I thought "wow, I'm surprised Rifftrax hasn't-- oh, wait! Next week!?!" How can I miss it? Seriously, my wedding is on the 4th and the rehearsal dinner is on the 3rd, but had either fallen on the 1st, I might not have been getting married.

[@MrZerothejedi]

Oooooo hope you had a nice tour.

[@vicethane]

This movie is like 7 movies mashed into one and it somehow come how comprehensible.

[@badegg1262]

i was falling sleep the first time i saw this review, somehow i imagined a plot where all the main characters were orphans and somehow they need to stick to each other, like brothers or something, so sad that it is was only a dream XD

[@TBrianOnline]

So glad this made it to be considered a classic. Back in the day, indie film makers focused on making the movies funny rather than technically good. I think that Miami Connection is right there in the sweet spot along with Streets of Fire.

[@ComputerLearning0]

There's a continuity error at 3:25 where it says the location is "Orlando, Florida", yet the building to the upper left background says Coral Gables Federal which used to be a bank but Coral Gables is a suburb of . . . *MIAMI*.

[@thecinemagician]

Oscar Clip... OSCAR CLIP!! USE THIS MORE OFTEN!!?

[@quartermaster19k]

The most epic movie ever

[@lkrnpk]

I'd say that when it comes to a ''director'' wanting to be involved in every aspect of a movie then nobody comes close to Neil Breen...

[@xnsimmonsx]

Friends forever sounds like it could be the opening to the Captain Planet cartoon.

[@gaillewis5472]

Once again, only the power of rock can save the day, or dusk in this case. This was hilarious. Thanks, man!

[@Awakeandalive1]

Okay, i hate to actually defend this...thing...or give it any credit whatsoever, but the scene where the white guy with the head injury tries to get the other gang/cartel/miscreant association to handle the "protagonists" might not be full of continuity errors. It might be that we're supposed to understand he's lying to make them sound more powerful than they are so that he doesn't look as pathetic as he actually is -- instead of "my whole gang was singlehandedly beaten up by the manager for a silly rock band of middling tae-kwan-do enthusiasts" he tells the guy "Uh, we were beaten up by a whole bunch of people...yeah, that's the ticket! And...uh...they're all black belts!"

[@calamusgladiofortior2814]

"They will not escape the MIAMI NINJA!" That's a great action movie line. Too bad it was wasted in this movie. Although, I think Quentin Tarantino should pick up the rights to do a reboot set today. Dragon Sound is now an aging 1980s-style rock band playing KISS covers in crappy club gigs to get by. Jim, played by Samuel L. Jackson, stumbles across some deadly secret which thrusts the band back into conflict with their old enemy... the Miami Ninjas. With a kick-ass '80s rock soundtrack and lots of martial arts choreography, that could be a fun movie. If they could get Jackie Chan and a couple of the old martial arts stars like Chuck Noris and Jean Claude Van Damme to play the rest of the band, it could be a legitimate hit.

[@thewanderingfool4435]

I love this live action version of South Park and the song "Let's Fighting Love!" they sing in the episode is also great.😁

[@beezzarro]

It's brave that they went out of their way to exclude anyone with even a modicum of acting experience

[@TheBlackKnight1o1]

"Vegeta, what is Brandon's subscriber count?" "It's over 9,000!!!"

[@notasherlockk4983]

"WHAT, 9000?!"

[@pterrordactyl5694]

+TheBlackKnight1o1 Mondo Cool!

[@Tareltonlives]

"Hey, I like this song! ♫Friends for eternity, loyalty, honesty!♫ Just like us, Vegeta!" "God damn it, Nappa"

[@FlukeDogg08]

*Vegeta:* I just had my Scouter upside down. (takes off his Scouter) It's over 9,000. (crushes his Scouter) Rah. *Nappa:* Why are you sound so bored? *Vegeta:* Because... it's still not a threat. *Nappa:* But-- *Vegeta:* ...to me.

[@LeonGarnet]

10:58 That guy can rock a Japan's Flag bandanna for sure... oh wait...

[@dano8902]

I was hoping you'd do this one!

[@sigmacademy]

06:33. Okay, okay. Jeez, I didn't ask you your entire life history. XD

[@fredleggett923]

Holy shit. My degree is from UCF. And that's actually UCF! My car is probably parked illegally near the admin building. And get a load of those pencil sharpeners!

[@KageNoTora74]

This flick looks like it could be remade with Ken Jeong and Zack Galafinakis. The Hangover Part IV: Miami Connection

[@philipmonihan8222]

Common, how much of French Connection was in France?