You know how it is. You’re out of work, but then you get a sweet job being part of some bad guy’s Kung Fu army out in the middle of the desert. Only you were so desperate for dough that you didn’t bother to check the guy’s background before signing up. Now, as it turns out he’s a Nazi. Bummer.
So, if you’re like our hero Steve (James Ryan), you do what any Kung Fu mercenary would do in that situation. You escape into the desert with your girlfriend (whom you met while she was also in your Nazi employer’s Kung Fu army) in tow. Naturally, once your employer kidnaps her and tries to force you to fight for his elite Kung Fu team, there’s only one thing to do: Join the other guy’s fighting force and kick some ass.
Kill or Be Killed starts off with a great From Russia With Love-style opening credits sequence where the titles are projected onto the bodies of sweaty Kung Fu fighters. That perfectly sets the tone for the next ninety minutes or so. There’s a ton of action and not many lulls in between the fight scenes, car chases, and Kung Fu battles. We also get a lot of weird moments along the way (like when Ryan disassembles a Volkswagen Beetle with his bare hands and turns it into a land sailboat) to remind you that this ain’t no ordinary martial arts movie.
Whenever things do threaten to slow down, there’s a completely gratuitous fight scene complete with breaking furniture, smashed knickknacks, and smashing doors to hold your attention. All of this isn’t exactly great, but the movie has an odd energy and plenty of personality, which at the very least sets it apart from other similar Kung Fu flicks of the era. Plus, it has one of the most memorable final karate battles I’ve seen in some time.
In short, Kill or Be Killed is a fun way to kill ninety minutes.
AKA: Karate Killer. AKA: Karate Olympiad.
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