John Wick icon and still one of the most underrated players in the action thriller game takes the lead in a martial arts-meets-World War II mash-up that’s just fought its way onto a new streaming home. Delivering throwback action thrills for decades now, Scott Adkins has recently seen his star rise higher than ever thanks to roles in such high-profile releases as John Wick: Chapter 4 and the Netflix crime thriller The Rip with Hollywood heavy-hitters Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. But one of his best performances is in this solid, surprisingly powerful action war flick.
The Man Fighting to Save Them All
Directed by Louis Mandylor, who previously shared the screen with Adkins in the Debt Collector franchise, Prisoner of War is based on the unbelievable true story of the Bataan death march, which saw thousands of Filipino and U.S. prisoners of war being forced to walk between 60 and 70 miles following the Japanese victory at the Battle of Bataan. The movie finds Adkins taking the lead as a pilot who finds himself captured and forced to fight for his life.
Featuring an all-star international cast alongside Adkins, including Michael Copon (As Good as Dead, Power Rangers: Time Force), Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (The Equalizer 2), Michael Rene Walton (Reptile), Gary Cairns (Justified), Shane Kosugi (Nine Deaths of the Ninja), Masanori Mimoto (Baby Assassins), Gabbi Garcia (Unbreak My Heart), and Peter Shinkoda (I, Robot, Daredevil), Prisoner of War finds Adkins leading as British SAS officer James Wright, who is captured by the Japanese and held in a Philippine POW camp. Before the entire colony embarks upon the Bataan Death March, Wright and his fellow prisoners are forced to compete in brutal death matches for the entertainment of their captors.
‘Prisoner of War Boasts’ One of Scott Adkins’ Best Performances
Scott Adkins puts in a career-best performance as a man fighting for his own life while trying to save others in Prisoner of War, which was met with solid reviews and a 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes. A near-perfect 4.5/5 was awarded by action-flix, who, quite rightly, declared that it’s high time Scott Adkins’ name was spoken in the “same breath as other icons like Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme and Norris.” While In Their Own League praised Prisoner of War for standing out “as one of Adkins’ best due to its emotional sincerity in its formula narrative, powerful fight scenes and effective performances.”
Delivering a Bloodsport meets The Great Escape action thriller, Prisoner of War is now streaming on Hi-YAH! as part of the platform’s “FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS,” which aims to showcase “the best fight scenes in the martial arts and action genres.” The action outing is also available to stream on Prime Vidoe and The Roku Channel.
Scott Adkins continues to fly the flag for no-nonsense action movie thrills. The actor and martial artist will make his directorial debut with Brawler, join forces with The Raid star Iko Uwais for the sci-fi action sequel Skyline: Warpath, return for more one-take action in the upcoming finale, One Last Shot, break his sister out of an asylum in the period-set action thriller Bedlam, reunite with The Debt Collector director Jesse V. Johnson for Irish Dog, and once again face-off with fellow John Wick star and action legend Marko Zaror in Brutal Justice.
Birthdate
June 17, 1976
Birthplace
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England, UK