Le samouraï noir

My first Cirio H Santiago film! This one has a brain-meltingly random premise, Afros, cool music, is choppy as hell and even throws in a bit of gore at the end there.

Russell is a Vietnam vet who's smuggled some gold with his mates Morrello and McGhee, who of course double cross him, slit his throat, throw him in the sea and head off to L.A to waste the mob there and become crime lords (as we see them blast their way through many gangs). McGhee also has the hots for Russell's wife, and periodically turns up to try and woo her (getting more aggressive with every visit).

Russell, however, washes up on a desert island, where he meets two Japanese soldiers who have never surrendered (and never will). After becoming friends and indulging in some funny banter ("You should see Japan now!"), the ranking officer (great character) teaches Russell how to slice things up good with a samurai sword, which as you know will lead Russell back to LA where he can chop his buddies, and their hired goons (Hired goons?) into little pieces.

Full of ridiculous situations, action scenes and funky music, Fighting Mad is a good bet for an exploitation fan. There's a good relationship between Russell and the Japanese officer, and just when I thought Russel would never get off that damn island, he does in a rather sad scene and the film picks up from there. Whenever the film bogs down in training sequences, Santiago just switches to L.A to show McGhee and Morrello taking on rival mobs.

Once Russell arrives in LA, he becomes an unstoppable killing machine to get to his enemies. It looked like some of the violence had been cut from the version I watched (a leg being severed), but as there were several graphic decapitations at the end, who knows? This is good for a watch if you're like me, and just switch your brain off before hitting 'play' and just go with the flow. It's cheap and cheerful and action packed – what else do you want?

Hi, Everyone, This film has Leon Isaac Kennedy billed as Leon Isaac. He is the rottenest villain in the story. He is superb as a likable monster.

James Inglehart is all things good, but still willing to smash a person's head. The hero is part of a trio of bad guys who aren't real bad at the beginning of this movie. James takes it personally when his buddies try to kill him. The scenes where our hero is learning martial arts are very well done. The casting is very true to character. A nice mix of an Asian martial arts pro who is believable and very funny and White and Black and Asian good and bad guys and girls in a 70s era story.

The one song sung by Jayne Kennedy is played instrumentally throughout the film. It is actually a nice song that could have become a hit for that time period.

The movie has lots of good location shooting. Lots of scenes in a Pacific Island and scenes on a boat mix with street scenes in Los Angeles and then Mexico.

I got this as part of a 50 Martial Arts movie package for about $19. It is well worth that and it is worth much more. If you like action, this movie should give you plenty.

Leon Isaac Kennedy was one of my favorites in the early 1980s. He was always tough yet he had a smile for the ladies that made him appear to be a a real sweetheart.

One last observation about this movie is something to watch for in the barbershop scene. What is the price of a haircut? In this nice barbershop it will cost you only... $2.

Tom Willett

Leon Isaac Kennedy is Doug Russell, an American who steals a shipment of gold in the Phillippines with two Vietnam War buddies, who cut his throat and throw him overboard. Russell washes ashore an island inhabited by two Japanese soldiers stranded there since World War II. They nurse him back to health and he is taught martial arts and the art of the samurai. Back in the States, his treacherous pals, Marelli and Maghee, use their loot and viciousness to muscle their way into Los Angels mafia turf. Maghee sets his sights on Russell's wife, Maria (Leon's real-life spouse at the time Jayne Kennedy), a lounge singer who can't get a gig because Maghee has her blackballed all over LA in his scheme to make her come crawling to him. Russell, samurai sword in hand, hitches a ride on a boat back to America and begins his search for his wife and son; he learns that Marelli and Maghee are the top men in town and he begins slaughtering their cohorts, working his way up the hoodlum food chain. Plenty of action and yucks, including a "touching" montage when Russell is reunited with his wife and son. FIGHTING MAD, not to be confused with the Peter Fonda revenge flick of the same name, is entertaining in a MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 kind of way.

Death Force (1978) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a man shot and left for dead by his drug lord partners. He wakes up stranded on an island with Japanese soldiers left there since World War II. They train him on the art of fighting and sword work. When he is rescued from the island the man sets out on a path for revenge against those that left him stranded to begin with.

This movie is directed by Cirio H. Santiago (Firecracker) and stars James Iglehart (Savage!), Leon Isaac Kennedy (Lone Wolf McQuade), Carmen Argenziano (Broken Arrow) and Jayne Kennedy (Chips).

This is one of those movies that's more fun than good. The cast is well selected and fit their characters perfectly. The action scenes are entertaining with some fun shootouts, sword fights and hand to hand action sequences. There is a decapitation scene in this that's awesome.

The training scenes on the island are fun too and had me laughing at times. The background music is very well selected and give the movie a classic feel from this era.

Overall, this movie is far from perfect, or from being one of the better blaxploitation movies, but it is worth a watch. I would score this a 5.5-6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Classic cult martial arts movie i had this movie on vhs back in the day