One Down, Two to Go

This film begins in New York with a prize of $400,000 being promised to the winner of a competition between a martial arts dojo from California against one from New York. Although the organizer of the event, "Frank Rossi" (Peter Dane) has secretly colluded with a local mobster named "Gabe Mario" (Tom Signorelli) to fix the fight, they are thwarted in their effort when the California dojo manages to prevail against the odds. Not only that, but while the main fight is taking place, Rossi becomes alarmed to discover that the sensei of the California dojo "Chuck Wells" (Jim Kelly) has found out what is going on. So to remedy that problem he sends some thugs to make sure he doesn't tell anyone. One thing leads to another and Chuck ends up being shot. Not long afterward, his good friend "Ralph Dart" (Richard Roundtree) becomes concerned about his absence and takes it upon himself to not only find Chuck but also tries to collect the prize money as well. However, after being severely beaten up for his efforts, he sends for two friends from Los Angeles known simply as "Cal" (Fred Williamson) and "J" (Jim Brown) to help him out-and they are more than willing to take on anybody who gets in their way. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film seemed to rely more on the "star power" of the four main actors than anything else. As a result, the plot seemed to be a secondary consideration. To that effect, unless the viewer is in awe of the cast, there really wasn't much to be impressed about and I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly below average.

Judging by the other user-comments around here, apparently I'm not the only one who's disappointed by this seemingly awesome early '80s reunion of '70s Blaxploitation heroes. Your day can't get any better than when you stumble upon a DVD with on its trashy cover image the names and cool faces of Fred Williamson ("Black Ceasar"), Jim Brown ("Slaughter"), Richard Roundtree ("Shaft") and Jim Kelly ("Black Belt Jones"). When you then notice that Fred Williamson is also the director, and that the plot revolves on four black buddies declaring war against the entire New York gambling mafia, you immediately purchase the DVD and you're convinced that you have a genuinely golden piece of Blaxploitation action cinema in your hands! Unfortunately, however, "One Down, Two to Go" doesn't even come close to the quality level of other Blaxploitation classics (the aforementioned titles, for example) and the whole film is actually even less than mediocre. The script is weak and far too talkative, especially during the first half, and the fighting/action sequences are poorly shot and clumsy. Furthermore it seems like the main roles aren't fairly divided. Director Williamson once again rewarded himself with the role of the cool and womanizing macho, while Jim Brown acts very passively and both Richard Roundtree and Jim Kelly don't have that much to do. At one point Roundtree's character even explicitly says to his pals Cal and J: "you guys are having all the fun, save some for me!" As said, this is purely a film to own in your collection because of the 4 terrific lead stars, although personally I would have preferred seeing a couple of extra ones as well, like Isaac Hayes or Billy Dee Williams. Or why didn't they think of hiring a Blaxploitation heroine as well, like the fantastic Pam Grier or Tamara Dobson?

I did not realize that Fred Williams made another flick which consist of the biggest stars of Blaxploitation. but unlike Original Gangsters this movie came out at the height of their careers, which is good because the only reason you would want to see it is because of the black star power.

With a title that sounds like the Sequel to 3 the Hard Way, adding Shaft to the list making 4, the movie starts with marshal arts master, Jim Kelly and Richard Roundtree getting into some trouble with dudes who don't want to pay the money they are owed, and when trouble escalates, they call in their boys Fred the Hammer and Jim Brown to help.

The movie is not much different from 3 the hard way with Jim carrying a big gun and Fred hooking up with some chick. In fact, I mentioned basically every movie these two did in the 1970's.

What's lacking is Jim Kelly's marshal arts. Sure nothing can beat the scene in 3 the hard way where somehow his nice boots are replaced with sneakers out of nowhere and he gets into some hard hitting action, but it would be nice if they tried.

This wouldn't be much of a problem if Shaft was used to his fullest in the film, but he's not. I guess when you got the Hammer in the directors chair, he's got no choice but to make super star Jim Brown more than just his back up, but once Fred is on screen it's his show, make no mistake.

Most of these movies are just like the other, but somehow this movie's quantity is a little under, despite the large talent pool. Try to Avoid.

With this once-in-a-lifetime cast (reuniting the four greatest blaxploitation stars of the early seventies), this picture should be more fun than it is. Someone seems to have drained the life out of these performers; Jim Brown, in particular, comes off very badly (judging only from this movie, you'd come to the conclusion that he can't act). The film is also poorly structured, keeping the stars away from each other (and from any enjoyable interaction) for laaaaarge periods of time. And Williamson must have really had it in for Jim Kelly; he barely gives him 1/5 of the screen time devoted to the other leads, and he features him in only two brief fight scenes (he even loses in one of them!). Cool score, though. (*1/2)

One Down, Two To Go is a later blaxsploitation/action movie that was directed/produced and acted by Fred Williamson. The Hammer brought along Richard Roundtree, Jim Brown and Jim Kelly to join the party. The film is in no way a bad movie, but the pacing and script don't do the high powered cast of 70's black tough guys justice. There is plenty of action and trash talking, but a lot of the film is boring and takes a while to get there. It picks up once Fred Williamson and Jim Brown show up. Richard Roundtree didn't get enough screentime to utilize his full potential and Jim Kelly gets hardly any screentime. This film was the last of three films that Fred Williamson, Jim Brown and Jim Kelly acted together in. I much prefer Three The Hard Way over this, but there were parts of this movie that I did find entertaining.