Day of the Panther

"Day of the Panther" is a kind of movie you don't see every day - a martial arts movie from Australia. Though watching it will probably reveal why there haven't been that many more martial arts movies coming from that country. In fairness to the movie, there are some positive features. The martial art sequences, while not as fancy as those from Hong Kong movies, do manage to generate some excitement, and at the same time come across as more believable than usual. And while the actors in the movie aren't that great actors, the actors playing the protagonists do come across as likable all the same. However, the movie does all the same have some serious problems. The movie obviously had a low budget, with the general look of movie looking somewhat tacky. The screenplay has assorted plot turns that you will have seen in dozens of other movies before, and has the various characters coming across the same way as well. And the middle of the movie is a long dull stretch. However, I will say this movie all the same is far from the worst martial arts movies I have managed to see.

Without doubt one of the best movies ever made ! Set in beautiful Perth Western Austraila it rightly holds the title of the best movie ever made in that fair, if remote, city. Starring that well known son of Boroloola Kadeem Hardison, who is one of the few remaining exponents of the ancient northern Australian martial art of Beltemtokumbukta, it snarls its way through a part of the 1980's where yacht salesmen are important people in town. Oh it's all too too real, frightenly so. I'm utterly serious when I say that this movie is so faithful to the Australia of the time I almost thought it was a documentary, really. I was back there. Stunning is the only word to even come close to describing this cinema gem. Enjoy it in the spirit of filmic perfection it so richly deserves. Note this movie was nominated in 1988 for the prestigous Palm 'd Bunge at the eclectic Missabotti film festival. Anyone who pretends to know film must see this movie. Really.

Austria, Austria .... it's in Europe, unlike Australia.

Stumbling upon the 1988 martial arts action movie "Day of the Panther" by random chance here in 2025, of course I had to check it out. This was a movie that I had never heard about, and thus of course never watched. And with it being a late 1980s martial arts movie, I figured that chances were that I might have been missing out on something.

It was a bit amazing that writers Peter West, David Groom and Brian Trenchard-Smith collectively could manage to concoct such a bland and generic script. Sure, it was watchable enough, but it was nothing outstanding, and there are far better martial arts action movies from the late 1980s.

I was actually not familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, which is something that spoke in favor of the movie. Yeah, I do enjoy watching new and unfamiliar talents on the screen when I watch a movie. The acting performances in the movie were fair enough.

The movie's cover over-sells the movie by landslide. I will admit that I liked the movie's cover and it was the reason why I picked up the movie. But the contents of the movie weren't as interesting as the cover, sadly so.

My rating of director Brian Trenchard-Smith's 1988 movie "Day of the Panther" lands on a four out of ten stars.

When his partner is killed by an Australian crime syndicate, a studly undercover agent goes vigilante to avenge her death while the Australian authorities try to keep him on a leash so that they can nab the syndicate's ringleader.

"Day of the Panther" is a Van Damme rip off that looks like it was filmed on someone's video camera, but it does have its merits, chiefly among them that it's never boring. It's a hoot to see the 1980s revived in all their pastel splendor, and there's enough unintentional hilarity to keep lovers of bad movies watching.

The fight scenes are choreographed competently if unmemorably and will most likely satisfy your craving for some martial arts sleight of hand. Unfortunately, if you're looking for a little skin, you won't find it in this movie, unless you count that of our hero, who spends much of his screen time shirtless. The rest of us have to make do with a couple of aerobic dance numbers performed by the female lead, one of them, a seductive dance done in a gym while our hero works out and looks on, a real howler.

Grade: B-

Veteran genre filmmaker BTS revisits his earlier martial arts success with this vehicle starring Edward John Stazak as the indestructible cop Jason Blade, out to avenge the death of his partner. Familiar faces (and voices) Michael Carman and John Stanton feature in supporting roles in a generally fast-moving, colourful and exciting flick made for and of its time.

Garish Miami Vice style wardrobe (that's the pastel shirts and pleated trousers sans belts for the men, whilst the ladies live perpetually in bikinis) and synthesiser sounds paints the 80s excess well, even if it's all cliched. But it's the action sequences which standout, and BTS handles these with his usual flair, beginning with the rooftop foot-chase through the industrial estate, through to the rousing climax with Baxter the enforcer (Richards).

Nicely lit visuals of the Swan river and Perth surrounds, no-nonsense, functional dialogue that doesn't become sentimental nor melodramatic, there's even a half-dozen or so sweaty workout /aerobic dance sequences (including a montage that finishes with a roll in the hay) to keep the pulse-racing in between the well-choreographed roundhouses. It's no 'Man from Hong Kong', but as far as Oz-styled chop-socky goes, it's easy to enjoy matinee-grade material, good enough to go hand in hand with a simultaneously filmed sequel.