Angel Town 1990

Jacques Montaigne, Olivier Gruner, is a French college student who heads to Los Angeles not only to study but to help train an Olympic team of fighters. He rents a room from Maria Ordonez, Theresa Saldana, a single mother, and her son Martin, Frank Aragon. When gang leader Angel Diaz, Tony Valentino, tries to recruit Martin, Jacques decides he must help him. During an attack at the house, Martin’s grandmother collapses and is rushed to the hospital. With Maria working, Jacques takes Martin to a local martial arts school run by Henry, Peter Kwong. Henry is the one who convinced the Olympic Committee to bring Jacques to L.A., and there he and Jacques begin to train Martin in self-defense.

When Maria and Jacques are shot at by Angel and his gang, Henry and his wife step in to protect Maria and Martin. Henry finds a connection with Mr. Park, a Korean gang boss, Bruce Locke. He warns them that Angel can be intimidated, but it is Angel’s gunfire that gives him power. Angel escalates his war and launches a brutal assault on Maria, who is again taken to the hospital. Martin returns home and arms himself with a shotgun, preparing to defend his family. As the siege intensifies and Angel’s crew closes in, Jacques and the defenders mount a fierce resistance, stopping a gang member who hurls a stick of dynamite just as a final confrontation looms. Jacques and Angel trade blows, but Henry urges that Martin should be the one to finish the struggle. In a hard-fought end, Martin defeats Angel and kicks him unconscious, after which Jacques tells Martin that he did what he had to.