With his presence both charismatic and imposing, Richard Gutierrez has cemented himself as one of the most formidable forces in the action genre through his intense portrayal as Apollo aka Tisoy in the Kapamilya series The Iron Heart He was able to craft an iconic action character, embodying Apollo’s superhuman strength and unbreakable principle to perfection.
As Richard’s heart-thumping journey in The Iron Heart ends tonight, let us relive his baddest action-packed scenes in the hugely successful teleserye.
With a heart embittered by his tragic past and keeping an iron will, Apollo trained to become an undercover agent tasked to destroy the Tatsulok mafia. And he did it silently from the inside, sabotaging the group’s crucial activities until everything was doomed. Well, a brilliant spy knows how to strategize. His first covert mission was to stop a supposed mall bombing incident, taking the explosive from Sol (Mark Oblea), who died by falling off the building amid their brawl.
He had escaped the most brutal of attacks, confident that his superhuman strength and abilities wouldn’t fail him, making for the most stunning death-defying stunts such as when he climbed down a tall skyscraper to trick the enemies.
The second season gave viewers another wild ride with the entrance of a bigger enemy, the Altare. One of the first members to succumb to Apollo’s no-mercy game was Brother Joseph (JM de Guzman) in a breathtaking tour-de-force that had Apollo fighting solo by engaging in a thrilling gun battle while speeding up a motorboat – pure action delivered with stunning choreography. His fire-breathing grit was on full display since this was a personal fight to save Lia (Althea Ruedas) from the group.
Motorcycle riding has never looked amazingly hot until Richard made it a trademark element in his action sequences. Remember when he raced with time riding his motorbike to save Venus (Sue Ramirez) and Nyx (Sofia Andres) from their abductors? This scene proves that Richard is unstoppable. Jake Cuenca, whose evil portrayal of double agent Eros was a perfect contrast to Apollo’s heroic nature, also added sexy alpha male vibe to this scene.
Completing the list is Apollo’s chase scene with Eros and Menandro (Ian Veneracion) which exuded class and grit. Here, Richard jumped from truck to truck in spectacular passion, leading to a long, exhausting race with the CIB led by Menandro and Eros. What makes this so riveting is the exciting blend of heart-stopping choreography and stunning visuals, plus we were scared for Apollo’s life when he got shot while trying to jump off the building.
Unlike other action scenes that rely on modern editing, most of Richard and his castmates’s dangerous stunts are as raw as possible – refreshing and gritty from start to finish.
Catch the The Iron Heart The Ultimate Ride Finale tonight October 13 on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, TV5 and A2Z.