Ebony Ivory & Jade

A middle-of-the-road entry into the '70s action adventure mould, mixing girls-with-guns shoot-outs, martial arts, blaxploitation and even a little women-in-prison peril into an action-fuelled, sometimes exciting odyssey. Cirio H. Santiago directs with his usual workmanlike abilities, avoiding style at every turn and instead offering up a bog standard and rather routine movie that never gets tiresome at a pacy eighty minutes. Shot in the Philippines with a bare minimum of expertise and money, the film chronicles the adventures of three ass-kicking femme fatales as they find themselves kidnapped for nefarious reasons by a gang of ugly Chinese and Filipino bad guys. As their relations (including a P.I. and a SHAFT wannabe detective) search desperately for the missing girls, they launch repeated escape attempts, which invariably result in some solid if not amazing kung-fu fight techniques.

The best thing the film has to offer is this action, which takes place in a nice range of varied locales - my favourite is the shoot-out in the graveyard. Santiago makes good use of the Filipino locations to provide an interesting visual backdrop to the story and maintains a sense of realism at all times. However, being a PG-rated movie, there is little of the explicit sex or violence which categorise '70s blaxploitation/women-in-peril drive-in movies, aside from a nice meaty moment where a bad guy is pushed into a mangler - hilariously entertaining! The acting is of an adequate standard, but there are no really outstanding performances or memorable turns from the cast here - many of the Filipino extras mingle together, Colleen Camp is a fairly annoying woman, and Katon and Anderson prove to be more adept at high-kicking than quality acting. Although the film does offer the basic minimum of entertainment, it still packs a punch in places and there isn't anything really to dislike about it. Personally I would have preferred something a bit more spectacular but hey, that's Cirio H. Santiago for you...

This one's a bit of a surprise in that it ends up being a pretty satisfying movie. Plenty of violent karate and kung fu with hot women beating the crap out of unidentified Phillippino men, co-ed blonde athletes killed by machine guns, and cheezy supposed boxer with a large afro. In other words, it's got a lot to offer. But, the photography is pretty crappy (although I wonder if it's not also cropped on Anchor Bay's DVD) and the acting is dragged down by a poor script with stilted dialogue.

I bought this movie a few months ago for the incredible sale price of $1.25 american (on DVD even). But that should tell ya'll how good it is. There are so many things wrong with this movie (technically speaking) it's insane. The two main problems are the sound and the lighting. First, whoever recorded the sound should have turned the treble way down. It's so high that everytime someone screams (which is often) my windows almost broke. So during the film I turned down the sound but then you can't hear any of the dialogue. Ahhh! Second, the lighting in the film is so bad that at least half the time viewers can't tell what's going on. I'm not joking, all you hear is sound effects (which sound worse than a cheesey Kung Fu flick)and see none of the fighting. My third and final complaint regards the character Ivory. The previews and plot line tag the three as ass kicking women, but in the movie all the fighing is done by Ivory and Jade. The white chick just sits and complains half the time. What a priss. Anyway, if you have a chance to see this movie or do something else, do something else.

Ebony Ivory And Jade is a ok film for fans of martial arts flicks, but if you're into dirty 70's b-movies, check yourself. The recent reissue on VHS and DVD barely mentions it in the liner notes, but this is a PG film. Considering the content of most 70's films, as well as the fact that this is considered a blax/sexploitation film, it's as bland as possible. The martial arts work is certainly impressive, and there's plenty of it. But it seems that the only reason this wasn't G rated, is because of the cartoonish violence.

I'm certainly biased towards quality period black action, with the likes of Pam Grier, Fred Williamson, Antonio Fargas, Rudy Ray Moore, Isaac Hayes, and so on. The grit and scintillation of those films makes me wanting more here. This movie was filmed in the Phillipines, which instantly puts it in league with many women-in-prison flicks (Big Doll House, Big Bird Cage, Black Mama White Mama, etc).

Whereas many of the films of the time focus upon sex and drugs, it's clear that the scenery and location of this film mattered to the people who made it. There are some unusual (for the genre) shots and an overall usage of the locale as much as possible. From jungle shots, to plains and shallow waterways, the feel here is more expansive than many backlot productions.

It's not that it's a bad flick, but it's a pretty harmless one. Fans of 70's film should know that the 'edge' that runs through many 70's b-flicks is missing here.