bensonmum2 When a Hong Kong diplomat's daughter is kidnapped by drug smuggler / Satanist named Janicot, Robert Sand aka the Black Samurai (Jim Kelly) is called in to rescue the girl. And it's more than a job, it's personal. Sand and the girl have a relationship. Sand must use all his skill karate skill and training to bust up the bad guys and free the girl.In something I wrote recently about the movie 100 Rifles, I called Jim Brown "wooden". That was before I saw Black Samurai. Jim Kelly makes Jim Brown look positively animated. Kelly may have been a martial arts master and good in the choreographed fights scenes, but a thespian he ain't. You can't question Kelly's athletic ability, but his acting ability – forget about it. Believe it or not, Kelly isn't the worst this movie has to offer. Most of the rest of the cast is even worse.Everything about Black Samurai is, in a word, amateurish. The movie is a technical mess. Editing, cinematography, lighting, sound, etc. are horrible. Al Adamson has to be one of the most untalented directors ever. It's amazing he was able to find people willing to hire him to make so many movies. Ed Wood comes off looking like Alfred Hitchcock in comparison.Even with all the faults, and there are plenty, there is some entertainment value to be had in Black Samurai. Where else are you going to see Jim Kelly kicking butt, battling midgets, fighting a vulture, flying in a jet pack, and just being plain old cool?

Infofreak Jim Kelly was a great fighter, but no Richard Roundtree or Fred Williamson as an actor. He was good as the third banana (after Bruce Lee and John Saxon) in the martial arts classic 'Enter The Dragon', and even better in the surprisingly entertaining starring vehicle 'Black Belt Jones'. But that movies "sequel" 'Hot Potato' was pretty awful and the prospect of Kelly being teamed up with legendary schlockmeister Al Adamson ('Horror Of The Blood Monsters', 'Dracula vs. Frankenstein', 'Naughty Stewardesses',etc.etc.), made me think I was in for one of THE worst movies ever made. But you know what? This movie was ineptly dubbed, badly acted, had some crappy dialogue and was full of dull stock footage, but I still actually enjoyed it. Not much, but at least SOME, which is something I certainly didn't expect! Kelly plays an agent of D.R.A.G.O.N. which sounds really cool, but we're never told what that means exactly. The movie opens with him on holiday, but some guys in suits spoil it by making him a proposal to eliminate Janikan (Bill Roy), the leader of a drug/voodoo/slave trade cult. He refuses initially but is then told that his own girlfriend Tokai (Essie Lin Chia), who I think is an ambassador's daughter or something, has been kidnapped by these evil mofos. So of course, Kelly goes instantly into action, opening several cans of whup-ass on assorted thugs, voodoo baddies, midgets and even a vulture (named Vultron!). Adamson being Adamson, he still manages to make all this nowhere near as entertaining and exciting as you'd imagine, but there are still a few decent fight sequences, and a memorable jet-pack ride by Kelly. The supporting cast is very odd, and cult fans will get a big kick out of it because it includes D'Urville Martin (Reverend Rufus in Larry Cohen's 'Black Caesar' and 'Hell Up In Harlem' and director of the blaxploitation cult fave 'Dolemite'), Biff Yeager (from 'Repo Man' and other Alex Cox movies), little person Felix Silla (Cousin Itt from 'The Addams Family', 'Demon Seed', 'The Brood'), and even tough guy Aldo Ray ('We're No Angels', 'Angel Unchained'). 'Black Samurai' is trash, but there's lots of dumb fun to be had, especially if you keep the pizza and cold beers flowing throughout. And as bad as it is, it's STILL better than 'Hot Potato'!

spiderman-3 This movie is a forgettable karate flick starring the wonderful Jim Kelly. Every karate movie cliche is here, including midgets, and an evil white guy karate master (who doesn't know karate) with a vulture named "Voltan."STANDOUT SCENE - Watch closely when the evil white guy sends his vulture to attack Kelly. Quote, "Voltan! Kill!!" (never mind that vultures are lazy creatures by nature who wouldn't even eat a dead deer if they had to cross the street to get it). Okay, now watch when Voltan lands on Jim Kelly -- Kelly's stunt-double is a white guy. A blonde white guy - they didn't even give the double a dark haired wig or anything.Other standouts include Kelly's staff fight with a group of thugs, and his pre-final showdown with a Damon Wayans lookalike, where Kelly spouts Muhammad Ali like banter ("C'mon chump! C'mon sissy!")A great movie if you can a) find it and b) stay awake through it!!

RPBongo Just this past weekend, a bunch of my friends and I planned on going to out local multiplex and see either Man on the Moon or Magnolia. But both films were sold out and our hopes were dashed, but we decided something should come out of this. We stopped by our local Blockbuster Video and after browsing came up with 2 titles; Office Space and Black Samurai(neither film was one I wanted to see in the slightest, but since I wanted to allow my friends to pick something they wanted to see I indulged them). After we finished watching the former film (which my friends found hilarious, I found to be only alright)we decided to pop in Black Samurai, a film we had no expectations for other then to be amused by it. This film definitely followed through in this aspect.After a brief opening that takes place in a completely non-descript place and where Robert Sands aka Black Samurai's girlfriend also the foreign ambassador's daughter (what a coincedence!) gets kidnapped by a couple of thugs who work for a voodoo priest who plans or bringing a modern day slavery ring to life. Definitely has to be a mission for D.R.A.G.O.N member Black Samurai (I still have no idea what that acronym could possibly stand for). When Sands/Samurai hears of this crime he goes off on an adventure featuring the shortest, most anti-climactic car chase, a jet-pac that resembles scuba gear, fights with cowboy midgets and spear chucking natives that reside in what looks to be Nevada and to top it all off a climactic battle with the Voodoo Priests vulture (named Vultron) add a dash of horrible lighting and a director who just allows the action to go on somewhere in the vicinity of the camera's shooting area, a sprinkle of gratuitous nudity, and every cliche found in the Blaxploitation films in this era, and you have one of the most unintentionally hilarious films ever made! Definitely a must-rent for someone who is need of comedy...but to make it better get a group of friends and let the Mystery Science Theater 3000-type mockery begin!88 Minutes long Made in 1976 Rated R for Gratuitous Nudity, Mild Violence, Brief Language