Eternal Fist is a 1992 post-apocalypse action film, a Philippine-US co-production directed by Teddy Page, starring Dale "Apollo" Cook and Cynthia Khan, in her first (and by far, only) American film.
Amp (Cook), a fighter and brawler living in a mostly-destroyed world after a nuclear apocalypse, who is struggling with his personal demons after the death of his girlfriend, unexpectedly meets up with Lyssa (Cynthia), who greatly resembles his deceased lover.
This film contains examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Although not specified, the movie is implied to take place decades into the future.
- Action Girl: Lyssa, in the second half of the film, although she occasionally crosses into Faux Action Girl territory due to being needed to be rescued by Amp during fights.
- After the End: The movie is set after a nuclear apocalypse wiped out most of civilization (the opening credits are shown after stock footage of a nuclear explosion) and turns the entire world into a desert, where the surviving population have to fight and kill or be killed, not unlike Fist of the North Star.
- The Apunkalypse: The desert raiders are all dressed in punk gear, many which have mohawks, face-paint, leather jackets and uses chains as weapons.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Amp and Lyssa whenever fighting loads and loads of raiders, and in the final battle.
- Battle Couple: Amp and Lyssa, after the latter went through a training sequence and became the Cynthia Khan character audiences knows and loves.
- Black Dude Dies First: RIP Scudder. Even after the apocalypse, this trope is still being played straight!
- Chain Pain: Most of the desert raiders fight using chains throughout the movie.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Amp, who gets crucified alive by the raiders. He gets better.
- David vs. Goliath: The hulking Mainframe, whose body is coated with excessive amounts of kevlard and stands over two meters tall, against Amp. Amp wins.
- Deadly Hug: The huge, oversized Mainframe tries to do this on Amp, to crush and smother Amp to death in his thick layers of Kevlard, but Amp broke out in time.
- Disposable Woman: Amp’s first girlfriend, Wild, who dies mere minutes after the opening credits, whose death serves as motivation for Amp to continue living for her sake. And then he meets Lyssa.
- Earth That Was: The earth in this movie is reduced to a massive desert wasteland.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Both Amp and Lyssa wears leather during their fight scenes throughout the movie. Lyssa notably ditches her dress and robes after she Took a Level in Badass halfway through the film.
- Hiding in a Hijab: Lyssa, in her first few scenes of the movie. She ditches the headscarf and robes after a training sequence.
- Identical Stranger: Lyssa looks identical to Amp’s former deceased girlfriend, Wild. Of course, that’s because both of them are portrayed by Cynthia Khan.
- Impaled Palm: On Amp, after being crucified.
- Kevlard: Mainframe, a morbidly obese fighter Amp fights in an arena halfway through the film. Amp’s attempts to punch Mainframe barely leaves a dent due to Mainframe's size and humungous build, but Amp eventually wins by getting to a higher position and landing a leaping kick on Mainframe's face.
- The Straight and Arrow Path: Lyssa uses a mini-crossbow when fighting mooks.
- Thirsty Desert: Much of the movie is in a desert setting, where according to Amp, they (desert raiders) will kill for "a drop of water".
- Training Montage: A lengthy training scene behind the setting desert sun, with Amp training Lyssa to make her the Action Girl as played by Cynthia Khan.
- Unexplained Recovery: Amp gets crucified alive with holes being pierced through his palm. The holes have disappeared in subsequent scenes.
