Samurai Cop (1989/Cinema Epoch DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C- Extras: C Film: B+
The cops
of Los Angeles
are under attack of a wave of crime by the Katana gang as the police find
themselves, out gunned, out sword-ed and out manned. Only one man can stop them and that is
kung-fu, sword swinging, gun fighting Joe Marshall (Matt Hannon), aka the Samurai Cop (1989). Trained by the masters in Japan he is the only one well
equipped (and well endowed enough) to take on this mafia. Along with his partner, a horny nurse and sexy
police woman he'll leave a path of destruction in his wake.
This film
was a blast from the past, when Mafioso wore shades all the time, a good cop
carries a big gun and blows away the bad guys, and Synthpop was considered
cool. Joe is hero cop, he looks like a
buff-outed hippy that somehow wandered into the ‘80s, he's lucky with all the
ladies, a pain in the butt for his chief and leaves a trail of body bags and
explosions where ever he goes. He is
good with swords, guns, or even his bare hands, he takes on the entire mafia
single handedly, working his way up from the street thugs to the final boss.
Director
Amir Shervan’s film was one clichéd movie of the ‘80s if I ever saw one, coming
at the end of the decade of so many similar, reactionary films. The main character was like a Fabio, the
'Japanese' mobsters were mainly played by Americans and camera shots looked
like they were all filmed on site in a real location. The actions scenes had a lot of posing and
cheesy one liner jokes and between the action scenes was sex scenes. This is a lot of fun and a must see camp
action classic!
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image has a print that shows its age, but
efforts have been made to make this look as good as it could, while the lossy
Dolby Digital sound shows the age and low budget of the recording, but I found
this more warped and distorted than expected; again from the age of the
material. Extras include interviews,
gallery and trailers.
- Ricky Chiang
