Firepower is a 1993 science-fiction action film directed by Richard Pepin and starring Chad McQueen, Gary Daniels, Joseph Ruskin and Jim Hellwig in his first and only acting role.
In it, two near future cops (McQueen and Daniels) investigate a counterfeit AIDS vaccine originating from a lawless no-go zone, and get drawn into a deadly underground fighting circuit, whose champion is a deranged swordsman (Hellwig).
[1] Firepower marked the acting debut of professional wrestler Jim Hellwig, best known as "The Ultimate Warrior," who underwent training with karate instructor Richard Rabago and the film's fight coordinator Art Camacho for three weeks in advance of the shoot.
[5][6][7] The exterior of the Death Ring's venue was represented by the historic Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, but there is no indication that the fights set inside were actually captured there.
The BBC's RadioTimes Guide to Science-Fiction "predictably efficient thriller" and noted that "[e]very post-apocalypse cliché is present and correct, but the fight sequences will satisfy the more undemanding fans of the genre.
"[19] In his publication VideoScope, genre critic Joe Kane found the film "ruggedly staged and decently acted, Firepower plays a lot better than its clichéd plot synopsis reads.[...]