First of all, special thanks to Will Viharo, son of the star of the movie, for showing this on the big screen so we can all appreciate it (I saw the trailer years ago and I've always been curious about it), and thanks to Quentin Tarantino for loaning Will the nice print as well. After the movie Will brought his dad up on stage for a big hug, and it was great to see Robert Viharo still looking very fit and tough in the 21st Century.
I was actually pretty surprised by the technical quality of this film, since I haven't really heard anything particularly great about the director, Don Edmonds (who's most well known for directing "Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS"). This isn't one of those "grindhouse" or exploitation film that was just slapped together without any care or style. The action scenes are pretty decently staged and there are some great stunts, like the chase scene with car and motorbike and the scenes with Viharo hanging off a bridge in L.A. By the way I think I recognized the thin wooden bridge that Michael Heit, the villain of the film, rides his bike across from the Alan Ladd film "This Gun for Hire." I quite liked the performances of Viharo and Sherry Jackson. There's a really amusing and interesting scene towards the beginning where he seduces her with his special intense way of eating pizza. Viharo is an unusually scruffy hero, especially at the very beginning before he gets the girlfriend. He also has a black partner, played by John Daniels (whom I've enjoyed in "Candy Tangerine Man" and "Black Shampoo") who's simply named "Black." Way to be direct. I was surprised we didn't see more of Gloria Hendry. She showed in "Black Belt Jones" that she can hang in a fistfight along with the big boys. Michael Heit is a kind of unfortunate villain though, and his assistant Kido (Jace) even moreso. He's a bit too animated, his performance comes off as pretty showy. But if that was meant as a contrast to Viharo's steady cool then I guess it was reasonably successful.
A decent action movie about bounty hunters with some notable "blaxploitation" elements thrown in, recommended to fans of low budget film.
I was actually pretty surprised by the technical quality of this film, since I haven't really heard anything particularly great about the director, Don Edmonds (who's most well known for directing "Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS"). This isn't one of those "grindhouse" or exploitation film that was just slapped together without any care or style. The action scenes are pretty decently staged and there are some great stunts, like the chase scene with car and motorbike and the scenes with Viharo hanging off a bridge in L.A. By the way I think I recognized the thin wooden bridge that Michael Heit, the villain of the film, rides his bike across from the Alan Ladd film "This Gun for Hire." I quite liked the performances of Viharo and Sherry Jackson. There's a really amusing and interesting scene towards the beginning where he seduces her with his special intense way of eating pizza. Viharo is an unusually scruffy hero, especially at the very beginning before he gets the girlfriend. He also has a black partner, played by John Daniels (whom I've enjoyed in "Candy Tangerine Man" and "Black Shampoo") who's simply named "Black." Way to be direct. I was surprised we didn't see more of Gloria Hendry. She showed in "Black Belt Jones" that she can hang in a fistfight along with the big boys. Michael Heit is a kind of unfortunate villain though, and his assistant Kido (Jace) even moreso. He's a bit too animated, his performance comes off as pretty showy. But if that was meant as a contrast to Viharo's steady cool then I guess it was reasonably successful.
A decent action movie about bounty hunters with some notable "blaxploitation" elements thrown in, recommended to fans of low budget film.