Death Dimension

Well, the cast of this movie certainly has great cult value: Jim Kelly, George Lazenby, Harold Sakata. The movie itself, however, is not as much fun as it could have been. Kelly still has the moves, but while some of his fighting isn't bad, it is spoiled by the unslick presentation (lighting, framing, etc.). Sakata is, for me and many others, an iconic presence: his Oddjob is arguably the best henchman in the entire Bond series. However, his role here adds nothing to his stature, in fact it probably detracts from it. Lazenby's participation is minor. The film is poorly directed, and obviously drawn-out at the climax. Worth a look for its cast, but don't expect too much. (*1/2)

Despite the ratings I found this to be the second best "Jim Kelly" movie I have watched. (And by that I mean one where he is top of the bill, so not the likes of "Enter The Dragon" or "Three The Hard Way"). In other words better than "Black Belt Jones", "Hot Potato" or "Black Samurai".

Why? Mainly because the action is for the most part competently choreographed and shot when compared with the others. The cutting and camera angles make for better movie action viewing.

The second thing which makes this more fun is the novelty cast, which include, George "James Bond" Lazenby, Harold "Odd Job" Sakata, Aldo Ray, the ever reliable Bob Minor and Myron "Bruce" Lee" (Myron? Really?). Lazenby, contrary to his reputation, can act quite adequately, but he can't fight convincingly in this company, which is where the competent use of cutting and camera angles come in. Sakata can't act, but he is the most iconic Bond villain of the Connery era, "Odd Job", so it doesn't really matter. Turns out he can't fight convincingly either and on this occasion the action Director doesn't come to his rescue for some reason, which is disappointing. Aldo Ray's career peaked early, around 1955 when he was in "We're No Angels" with Bogart and Ustinov, and his acting channels all the grumpy frustration that he must have been feeling by this time;- finding himself down among the B movie bottom feeders. Meanwhile Jim himself is in as good form as I've ever seen him.

The plot premise is ridiculous but barely explored, used merely as a "McGuffen" to set the ball rolling, the plot structure is routine but serviceable and the dialogue banal, but in the World of Jim Kelly movies that is all par for the course.

More than one dimension, possibly two dimensions, but not three.

A routine action vehicle for Jim Kelly (ENTER THE DRAGON), directed without any flair whatsoever by Al Adamson, one of the kings of the "exploitation quickies" along with Andy Milligan and Larry Buchanan. This is deeply clichéd stuff which manages to get by through the interesting and funny characters, the upbeat groovy '70s music and the martial arts sequences, which make up for in quantity what they lack in finesse.

Enter Jim Kelly, fresh from his success and short-lived career as a martial artist, as a "mean and moody" cop who likes to wear red shell suits on occasion. Kelly spends most of the film fighting and little time acting, as he repeatedly finds himself attacked by lots of bad guys. These fight scenes are hardly what you would term "well-photographed" but they are very entertainingly done, complete with over-emphasised sound effects.

Now, you would think that a film containing plentiful action (plus a couple of topless women for exploitation purposes) would have to be pretty exciting, right? Wrong. Adamson's tacky and cheap direction is evident at all moments, sucking vitality from the movie; loads of scenes consist of people arguing whilst sitting around in darkened rooms, which is hardly what I would call fun.

Kelly is pretty athletic in the lead role, but gets no chance to act or develop a character. George Lazenby (ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) co-stars as Kelly's chief; Harold Sakata plays the chief villain, the Pig, and his line readings are a hoot; it's a shame that it's impossible to take him seriously! Also around for good measure are a hulking black bodyguard with a nasty scar across his face who likes to break people's arms and necks, a couple of prostitutes who take their clothes off a lot, an incredibly evil-looking tortoise (the scariest tortoise I've ever seen in a film, actually) and lots of dumb criminal henchmen who appear from nowhere.

DEATH DIMENSIONis a bad film, to be sure, but quite an entertaining one, mainly for the interesting cast alone. I forgot to mention the Bruce Lee clone who actually ends up being called "Bruce Lee". Guess they had to throw in as many personalities as they could here. Lots of boredom is countered by lots of action, making a pretty fair movie in the end, which isn't that bad.

Pure comedy. I hired this film from a video store as a kid in the late 80's. Along with brothers and friends we were looking for dodgy 70's films with afro's, car chases, gun fights and most importantly a 'twangy' 70s soundtrack. We were not disappointed. We still talk about this film today. There is one scene where a character called 'The Pig' holds a turtle above a woman's breast and declares 'one bight of your tit and you have to cut head off before he let go'!!! (Said in dodgy Chinese accent - same guy who played Odd Job in Bond movie). If you are looking for laughs, get this film. Terrible plot, awful acting, hilarious fights and an amazing script!! I just want to get my hands on this again!!!

There is something about this Z grade martial arts flick that might make you want to take a shower after you watch it. A seedy, sleazy feel pervades every frame, and if you know about the LA scene of the 70's, and what was going on at the time, it feels even sleazier. Iconic martial arts master, and the "King of Cool," Jim Kelly made a handful of these movies, after his appearance in the very successful "Enter the Dragon," starring Bruce Lee. A lot of fans were disappointed that Kelly's ultra-cool character is killed off so early into that film, because we wanted more of this guy. And movies like "Death Dimension" give Jim Kelly a chance to show his stuff. Among these films, all of which are memorable and great in their own way, "Death Dimension" stands out as one of the cheapest of the lot. Filmed in the Nevada desert, and the glitzy Reno casino strip, on a very small budget, the movie still manages to be atmospheric and entertaining. Featuring a cast of cheap looking women who look like they were borrowed from a hardcore porn movie, as well as some truly mean looking men. There is an evil Haitian thug with a scarred face that will make your skin crawl. He likes to beat women and slice people's throats with his razor-like pinky ring. And the king pin scumbag is just called "The Pig," and he is truly a pig, in his skin tight polyester shirts bursting under the strain of his sweaty, big body. when Jim Kelly is on screen though, everything comes together, and we are reminded just why we are watching. Kelly's martial arts skills are finely tuned and hyper-energetic; the man is truly incredible to watch. Here he is partnered with Myron Lee, a Chinese undercover agent, and the two work very well off each other, kind of like the pairing of Conan and Subotai in "Conan the Barbaian." Some highlights include scenes of Jim Kelly walking around the neon-saturated Reno strip at night. The man is just so cool in everything he does. As far as the plot goes, well it concerns some evil bastards trying to get their hands on a machine that can freeze the weather in a concentrated area. It sounds a bit like the plot from "Black Samurai," another Kelly film that is actually better than this film. Anyway we don't watch these films for their brilliant story lines, do we? I recommend this movie for fans of exploit cinema and martial arts movies of the 1970's. It's good, sleazy fun.