Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Michael Ledo
The scene opens with Linda (Linda Megier) and Jason Blade (Edward John Stazak) being initiated into the ancient and secret Order of the Panthers, a crime fighting martial arts thing. Blonde Linda does undercover surveillance in Hong Kong...then off to Australia. On of the two don't make it past 20 minutes (the one that has a stunt double which looks like a man in a blonde wig) and Jason has to avenge her death. We know who kill Linda...at least we think we do as we see a guy throw a knife in her general direction. Guns are rarely used...hey! It's a martial arts film. Jason works carrying suitcases filled with flour and blank paper for the guy who tossed the knife. Bad guys get to wear cool Halloween masks. No sense letting someone you are trying to kill, see your face.It was pretty boring stuff. I watched it on a 50 film unit and it could have used restoration. Cliché, formula, and poorly acted.Guide: Brief sex. No swearing or nudity.
Comeuppance Reviews
Jason Blade (Stazak), William Anderson (Stanton) and his daughter Linda (Megier) are members of a secret warrior clan known as Panthers. Anderson is a member of the Hong Kong Special Branch of Australian law enforcement. While in HK, he, his daughter, and his protégé Blade found the time to go through the rigorous martial arts training of the secretive Panther clan. Back in Perth, Western Australia, it seems there is a new bad guy causing all sorts of trouble - the dastardly Damien Zukor (Carman). He's into racketeering, drugs and any number of nefarious activities, and the ultra-wealthy Zukor has cops and politicians in his back pocket, allowing him to continuously expand his criminal empire, with the help of an army of rubber pig-masked goons brandishing machetes. But he didn't count on one thing: JASON BLADE. After the murder of Linda by the super-evil number two man to Zukor, Baxter (Richards), Blade decides to go undercover as a thug and infiltrate Zukor's organization from the inside. Gaining access to Zukor's world proves complicated, especially when a team of law enforcement officials that disapprove of his rogue ways is constantly tailing him, and he manages a romantic relationship with Anderson's niece Gemma (Jefferson). Will Jason Blade be the new action hero of the 80's? Fan-favorite director, Brian Trenchard-Smith here delivers the fun and the silly martial arts/stunt filled goods. Edward John Stazak sadly falls into the camp with Jay Roberts, Jr. and Matt Hannon and never made any other movies (unless you count the made-at-the-same-time sequel, Fists Of Blood (1988). Obviously the filmmakers hope you like the name "Jason Blade" because you hear it many, many times throughout the course of the film. Sinister, Peter Cushing-like bad guy Zukor even gets off a witty, perhaps unintentional one-liner when, impressed with Blade's intelligence (?), he tells him, "You're sharp, Blade".Blade is a stylish man of the 80's, but in the slick department, it's hard to beat Baxter, a man who looks like a cross between David Hasselhoff and Ricky Gervais dipped in a rich, thick coating of eighties. And let's not forget that this movie came out around the time of the then-current exercise/aerobics boom. There are plenty of scenes in Blade's gym, including a show-stopping moment involving Gemma. Let's just say that woman was born to dance.80's fashions aside, what's also good about movies of this time were that you could actually see all the stunts and all the martial arts moves. It might not be the best kung-fu movie ever committed to celluloid but at least there's no CGI garbage or annoying, eye-irritating "quick cuts". Actual effort was put forth to make it all come together and the result is quite entertaining.Naturally, there's an extended, knock-down drag-out fight at the end between Blade and Baxter. Baxter's main strength as a fighter seems to be his ability to withstand seemingly-endless kicks and punches to the face (although what you see here pales in comparison to what he endures in the follow-up). Harking back to the good old days of cinema good and evil, Blade wears white pants and Baxter black as they gleefully punch away the running time.Featuring the memorable song "Take me Back" by Colin Setches, and released on Celebrity Video in the U.S. (as was its sequel), dare you enter the glorious world of Jason Blade? For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
chamilton-10
I had zero preconceived notions about this one - just picked it at random from my Mill Creek "Drive-In Movie Classics" 50 movie DVD set. I'd never seen an Australian martial arts flick before. Now I know why.The lead character is so untalented as an actor that he hardly is given anything to say. I was starting to wonder if he'd ever speak. Then he did, and I can't remember anything he said. He's got just THAT much charisma! As a fighter, he's top-notch, but he doesn't get to do much, nor does anyone else. I found myself quite bored watching this, which is probably the worst thing you can say for an "action" movie.The pig-mask guy was certainly unexpected, but one left turn doesn't make an otherwise cliché-filled snoozer any better.
edwithmj
I picked up this movie on DVD as it was 99p in 99p stores in Norwich. I watched it with my brother and it truly is crap. The acting is bad by everyone. The lead is played by an "actor" who looks like Stephen Hendry. (He's a Snooker World Champion for all the Americans). Any film that is cheap and Australian is bad. The woman looks like some cheap hooker they picked up off the street and the bad guy is definitely a pimp! I loved those men in masks! Damn I would not be scared if they were after me! Seriously though they do belong in a circus. The martial arts are OKish but you know "Jason Blade" (sorry that name makes me laugh) is going to win the fights. I keep this movie as it is a reminder that TV can be bad... sometimes. Watch this movie just to laugh. The clichéd baddies and the poorly delivered lines cheer me up every time I'm down. Bad.
