Bolt - O Homem Relâmpago

Fred Williamson is Bolt and indeed does what Fred Williamson does best. Which is talk trash, beat up the bad guys and get down with the ladies . Bolt is a courier and takes a job to transport money from Hong Kong to Mexico City instead of doing jail time. On his way of completion of that task thugs from the syndicate try to take him down.Bolt than goes full circle and beats everyone up , chomps on some cigars and even finds time to get laid. That Man Bolt is a memorable blaxsploitation classic from a big studio . Fred went the independent route after this , quality varies but Fred Williamson still gets to be cool and take out the bad guys . Those movies don't look as good as this though and while I am definitely a fan of a lot of his independent features , it would have been nice if he got to make more movies that had larger budgets during this period.

"That Man Bolt" is a film situated in that part of videoclubs, far away from new or famous films, and really really far away from classics. I take the box, read the synopsis and look for the cast, no one is known. So, one day I feel very unconscious and rent the film and what is that? A very, very boring film with some pseudo-martial-arts that extende its relaxant effects during two hours. The idea of this film is very, very similar to "Rush Hour 2" (Hong Kong, false money, Las Vegas...) but Jefferson "Hammer" Bolt has nothing to do compared with Jackie Chan martial art style or Chris Tucker sense of humour. Perfectly forgetable.

In the age of the 1970's,Fred Williamson was the undisputed king of the black cimema,and one of the top action stars of his day,right beside icons as Burt Reynolds,Clint Eastwood,Charles Bronson,James Coburn,Richard Roundtree,Jim Brown,Jim Kelly,Telly Savalas and Steve McQueen. In the 1970's,per se you had the typical action picture that featured a smooth,tough talking,good-looking African-American male who can hold his own against all odds and still gets the girl or a bunch of them at the same time.

Even if the plot was offkey,WE as brothers and sisters would line up around the theatre to see it and we knew the if it was a black feature with a black actor in the leading role,it was a good one and it brought in the business too...and this was back in the day!!!!

In the film "That Man Bolt"(Universal,1973),Fred Williamson displays such a character that suppose to be among the ranks of James Bond,Derek Flint,and not mention John Shaft. Williamson plays secret agent Jefferson Bolt who goes to Hong Kong to stop an international ring of thugs bent on destruction and when things go dismal,Bolt handles things his way and saves the world,with soulpower!!! The picture is good with great photography locational shoots in Hong Kong,but the picture does get a little weak and between the lines with some of the lamest dialogue ever conceived. As far as the fight scenes,and the action part of it as well,it does look like a similiar detail to the Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker fare "Rush Hour",but it is not one of Fred Williamson's best,but it is passable. However,Williamson would go on to make several more action flicks in the 1970's and some of them are very good including "Black Caesar","Hell Up In Harlem", "Bucktown","Three The Hard Way","Black Cobra","The Soul Of Charley","The Revenge of Charley",and the one action flick that started it all..."Hammer". He also had a good looking female lead too,who also made a name for herself as one of the top female action hero of her day,Miss Foxy Brown herself,the legendary Pam Grier,who was not in "Bolt",but starred in several films with Fred Williamson.

"That Man Bolt" is available on DVD and Video.

Exactly that is what you get. A somehow black version of James Bond. Blaxploitation star Fred Williamson does a good job, fast story lines and a lot of action. Clearly as meaningless and senseless as in a James Bond movie but I enjoyed it a lot since I am also a bigtime fan of the whole genre. He even uses some special gadgets and travels around the world - of course not to forget - he gets the hot chicks. One of his best one liner - if he just finished some part of his job "charming". Of course not a shaft, coffy or foxy brown but a really nice second line blaxploitation flic. The addition of some martial arts shows also the KungFu heyday - of course not too professional but enjoyable.

I stumbled upon the 1973 Blaxploitation movie "That Man Bolt" by random chance here in 2023. I had never actually heard about the movie. And I am not all that keen on the genre in general, but I figured I would sit down and watch this movie since I hadn't already seen it, plus it also had Fred Williamson in the leading role, so that spoke for the movie.

And I will say that I was positively surprised with the outcome of this movie from writers Charles Eric Johnson and Ranald MacDougall, because it was really enjoyable and entertaining. It is actually one of the best Blaxploitation movies that I have seen, not that I have seen all that many though. But I enjoyed the storyline in the movie, because it was well-written and had a good amount of action in it as well. And best of all, it was devoid of all that pointless nudity that tended to be in these movies.

The acting performances in "That Man Bolt" were good, and it sure was enjoyable to watch Fred Williamson running around in Hong Kong.

Despite not being a huge fan of the Blaxploitation genre, then I will say that "That Man Bolt" was quite watchable, and it is actually a movie I will recommend.

My rating of directors Henry Levin and David Lowell Rich's 1973 movie "That Man Bolt" lands on a six out of ten stars.