Stoner se déchaîne à Hong Kong

Lazenby plays Stoner, a cop who in search of a organization who makes "the love pill" that is killing and spreading the market in Australia. Angela Mao only has a supporting part for top billing, so it makes me wonder if she is the lead (with more footage) in the HK version. The dubbing is terrible, but good action scenes helps. Look for Sammo Hung and Kurata Yasuaki as the bad guys fighter.

...perhaps I ought say "distilled" rather than refined - this film embodies the concentrated essence of the trashy 70s action flick, a heady brew for the irony-poisoned minds of today's trash conisseur's minds (e.g. mine).

"Stoner" (as it was labelled at my local rental store) opens with a shot of an urbanely smug 'Asian drug lord' kicking back in his office. The walls are all red, his desk perpetually rotates, and there's a big map on the wall covered in flashing lights. The mere shock of the decor alone sets the tone for the remainder of the movie - jerky fight scenes, needless sexploitation, and pornstar swaggering all drenched in polyester and enveloped in a funky soundtrack punctuated with some very strange moog.

Needless to say, it's hilarious. George Lazenby, incidentally, proves himself pretty useless throughout the film, both in-character and out-. The real star is Angela Mao, rolling her eyes about furiously and kicking arse in the surprisingly good final fight scene. I guess George's role was played up for Western release so we'd have a strutting, obnoxious white guy to relate to.

A lot of people say that George Lazenby was the worst Bond. I thought he actually did a decent job, albeit a bit hard to fill in the shoes of Mr. Connery. However, I think majority of previously stated people said that after having seen Stoner.

This is a good time capsule piece for the 70s. Psychedelic design, funky lapels and moon dresses, and of course drugs galore. Kind of like a precursor for E? Plus, the main boss knows how to throw a party: check out those cocktail uniforms! A cop named Stoner (HA HA HA, get it?) goes around asking questions and gets beat up a lot for it. You do have to admire his tenacity though. Lazenby's fight skills are more brawling than kung fu with him mainly slapping someone's face with a backfist. Also, credit Sammo with working on the fight scenes. Although he gets his butt whooped by Lazenby (yeah RIGHT!), Sammo takes a beating well and helps make others look great.

Ah, Angela. The true femme fatale of action cinema. She was the real deal and could probably beat the crap out of you if you looked her the wrong way. But with that pretty face and sweet smile, who would ever do that? Angela's movements are so fluid that it's almost like a dance. She hits with force and I love seeing her busting heads or sending guys sprawling with her swift kicks. She's so good that even the main baddie gives a flirty smile her way. It would've been great to see her fight Betty Ting Pei, but it would've been no contest. My favorite scene has to be the cage where a lesson is learned: when Angela says no, she means NO!!

The action comes every now and then, but the finale is so awesome that you don't want it to stop. Who knew a rotating desk could be so practical? Seeing Angela fighting thugs in a room set ablaze is all you could ask for.

As a fan of bad movies (and MST3K, and a member of MFT3K), I must say I've seen my share of them. But geez! Even the worst I've seen at least had a soundtrack. As George Lazenby stiffly wanders around Hong Kong, doing who knows what, you can guarantee that you won't be distracted by any of that background music that fills todays cinema. Or any of that music that fills elevators. I don't think anyone in this film even hums.

Now, this isn't entirely true -- there *is* a sound track. if you listen closely, you will hear it chime in about a half-dozen times through the course of the film. Of course, the timing will be entirely inappropriate, and it doesn't last very long, but something that could be classified as "music" does occur. Your best bet, though, is to sit your toddler armed with a wooden spoon down in front of the TV with a collection of pots and pans while you watch. The rhythm and flow would be better than anything the film offers.

Keep an eye out for Sammo Hung as a minor villian in this film. Aren't we all glad he found Jackie Chan to work with?

George Lazenby has a moustache and is Stoner (!), an angry Australian antidrug-cop who takes on the Chinese mafia who tries to push a new drug that makes women super-horny! He also says "Hmm..." a lot, wears pimp suits and kicks ass. A lot of ass, using his own special "kung fu" technique. Basically he's just waving his arms around like a madman while the villains fall like bricks. More Cüneyt Arkin than Bruce Lee if you catch my drift... The real kung fu (and eye-candy) comes from his female sidekick Angela Mao who really got some moves! To sum it up, this is a cheezy but highly entertaining kung fu-burger full of 1970s charms. A new martial arts favorite of mine! Blink and you'll miss a young Samo Hung getting his ass beaten to shreds by George Lazenby (the humiliation!)