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Black Samurai

  • 19761976
  • RR
  • 1h 28m
IMDb RATING
4.7/10
1K
YOUR RATING
Black Samurai (1976)
ActionCrime
Robert Sand, agent of D.R.A.G.O.N. (Defense Reserve Agency Guardian Of Nations), is playing tennis on his vacation with a beautiful black girl, when his commanding officers ask him to save a... Read allRobert Sand, agent of D.R.A.G.O.N. (Defense Reserve Agency Guardian Of Nations), is playing tennis on his vacation with a beautiful black girl, when his commanding officers ask him to save a Chinese girl who happens to be Sand's girlfriend, and the daughter of a top Eastern Ambas... Read allRobert Sand, agent of D.R.A.G.O.N. (Defense Reserve Agency Guardian Of Nations), is playing tennis on his vacation with a beautiful black girl, when his commanding officers ask him to save a Chinese girl who happens to be Sand's girlfriend, and the daughter of a top Eastern Ambassador. The ransom for the abduction was the secret for a terrific new weapon - the freeze ... Read all
IMDb RATING
4.7/10
1K
YOUR RATING
    • Al Adamson
    • B. Readick(screenplay)
    • Marc Olden(novel "Black Samurai")
    • Marco Joachim(additional story ideas)
  • Stars
    • Jim Kelly
    • Bill Roy
    • Roberto Contreras
    • Al Adamson
    • B. Readick(screenplay)
    • Marc Olden(novel "Black Samurai")
    • Marco Joachim(additional story ideas)
  • Stars
    • Jim Kelly
    • Bill Roy
    • Roberto Contreras
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 24User reviews
    • 22Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos52

    Jim Kelly in Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)
    Black Samurai (1976)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jim Kelly
    Jim Kelly
    • D.R.A.G.O.N. Agent Robert Sand alias Black Samurai
    Bill Roy
    • High Priest Augustus Janicott
    Roberto Contreras
    Roberto Contreras
    • Victor Chavez
    Marilyn Joi
    Marilyn Joi
    • Flossie Havens alias High Priestess Synne
    Chia Essie Lin
    Chia Essie Lin
    • Toki Konuma
    Biff Yeager
    Biff Yeager
    • D.R.A.G.O.N. Agent Pines
    Charles Grant
    • Janicott's Henchman Bone
    Jace Khan
    • Janicott's Henchman Jace
    Erwin Fuller
    • D.R.A.G.O.N. Agent killed by snakes
    Peter Dane
    • D.R.A.G.O.N. Chief Farnsworth
    Felix Silla
    Felix Silla
    • Little Hitman Rheinhardt
    Harry Lang
    • Janicott's Henchman Cowboy Lang
    • (as Cowboy Lang)
    Shigeru Akabane
    • Janicott's Henchman Little Tokyo
    • (as Little Tokyo)
    Jerry Marin
    • Janicott's Henchman Shotgun Spiro
    Alfonzo Walters
    • Leopard Man…
    Charles Walter Johnson
    • Leopard Man…
    Regina Carrol
    Regina Carrol
    • Blonde Partyguest with Big Sunglasses
    • (as Gina Adamson)
    • …
    Jesus Thillet
    • Martial Arts Fighter…
      • Al Adamson
      • B. Readick(screenplay)
      • Marc Olden(novel "Black Samurai")
      • Marco Joachim(additional story ideas)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Jim Kelly also choreographed the martial arts scenes.
    • Goofs
      When Sands is fighting Bone at the end the over-dubbing is never in sync. Neither of their mouths are moving at the right time, and the voices were obviously dubbed in later.
    • Quotes

      Robert Sand: Surprise Monkeys!

    • Alternate versions
      A censored version exists with all the swearing and nudity edited out of the film.
    • Connections
      Featured in Trailer War (2012)

    User reviews24

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Low quality in every regard – poor even by the standards of the blaxploitation genre
    It has been a while since I watched Black Belt Jones, but that was the previous Jim Kelly film I had seen and recently the mood took me for some blaxploitation films. Where the previous film had Kelly fighting for his own streets, here we have him as a much in demand secret agent. He plays Robert Sand (Bobby to his mates) who is on holiday playing tennis with some hotties with the phone off the hook whenever his employers come to him for help in breaking a right of black-magic using international drug dealers. Sands of course says no, until he finds the group have kidnapped the daughter of the Japanese Ambassador to the US (Toki) who also happens to be Sand's girlfriend (albeit not one he is particularly faithful to). Sand sets out to rescue her and bring down the gang all at once.

    I quite like Blaxploitation films when they work; the best of them manage to be really good and make the most of limited resources, but there can still be good ones that try and have fun while being inherently poor. Unfortunately Black Samurai seems to either not be aware of its own limitations or just seems content to totally ignore them and hope it will all just come together. By this I mean that it doesn't play to its strengths very well but instead plays to an ideal that it can't achieve either financially or in terms of the skills of those involved. There are big moments of this (like the jet-pack scene) but generally the whole film is poor and just seems worse for how far from its own target it falls. The plot is clunky and very little fun at all while the action sequences don't even offer cheesy thrills because they are mostly poorly done. It is a shame because I like Kelly but he looks poor because of how bad the extras are at even things like falling down.

    Technically the film shows how little effort went into this. The direction and shot selection is poor but it is the audio that is most shocking. Quality varies between lines within the same scene but more annoying is the ADR/dubbing done after the film. When it at its best it is just out of synch but at its worst lines are dubbed onto people who aren't even speaking at the time – the fight with Bones and Sand is hilarious as a result. And so the film goes – it fills time when it can, point a camera roughly where people are standing when they're doing something and generally fails to be fun, dramatic, exciting or even funny in a cheesy retro way. The cast can't do much. Kelly is not a great presence but he is totally wasted here – uncool, not allowed to impressive physically and just looks uncomfortable for most of it. The supporting cast are weaker – Joi and Chia are cute but never given the chance to be a sexy distraction in the film as they should have been. Meanwhile the main villains stand and pull faces while rubbish henchmen fall over awkwardly.

    A poor film then – even by the standards of the genre. It seems to think it can make big things work despite having no talent or resources to achieve it and the end result is poor no matter how you look at it. It says a lot when you consider that the entertainment high-point of the film is a fight with a vulture where Kelly lies on his back doing defensive arm movements while someone waves a stuffed toy in his face, intercut with a white stuntman standing in for Kelly who appears to have had a panicking vulture stapled to his chest – and even this only works because of how unintentionally daft it all looks.
    helpful•3
    0
    • bob the moo
    • May 6, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 1977 (United States)
      • United States
      • Official Movie site
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Haiti
    • Production companies
      • BJLJ International Corp.
      • Televentures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 28 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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