Dimension de la mort

Afro-tastic! When Odd Jobb from Goldfinger forces a scientist to create a freeze bomb to sell to the arms community, the scientist implants the instructions for the bomb into the head of his assistant, sends her off, then kills himself. Odd Job is miffed at this turn of events and sends his cronies off to track her down. Meanwhile, Big Jim Kelly is investigating the murder of a cop (by Odd Job's right hand man) and sets out to find the killer and the assistant, but Odd Job's men are out to get him too. What's a brother to do?

Get out them lightening fast fists and beat them turkeys, that's what! Jim visits one of Odd Job's brothels for no reason, but after that he's kicking heads in left and right and centre, sometimes with the help of a sidekick. You get fights on boats, car chases, punch ups, a gunfight between a cable car and a helicopter, Odd Job threatening a woman with a turtle (I mean he's brandishing a turtle at a woman rather than threatening a woman in possession of a turtle), loads of hookers and Aldo Ray (Psychic Killer, Haunts) shouting at the top of his voice.

What more do you want? George Lazenby? Well, he's here too! Throw in a very funky soundtrack, non-stop action and that's pure entertainment. Sure, it's all done on the cheap and some of the fights are a bit hokey (especially between Kelly and Odd Job, but that ain't Big Jim's fault), but this is pure seventies gold.

The freeze frame of Kelly's triumphant flying kick at the end seals the deal. RIP big man – you'll be missed.

Death Dimension aka The Black Eliminator is one of two films that Jim Kelly made with infamous schockmeister Al Adamson. Both of these movies are really bad, this is the worst of the two. Black Samurai was the better of the two, it was just as poorly made as this. However, it was more over the top and entertaining. This has a lame plot that has Jim Kelly go after a villain named "The Pig" and has to save a woman from getting killed by a freeze bomb. The only reason to watch this movie is Jim Kelly, who really deserved better. There are a few decent karate fights and Jim Kelly still is a cool hero. I would have rather Jim Kelly fired his agent to get him better projects, but doing crap like this you can't really blame the guy for his exit from the film industry to pursue a career in tennis.

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.

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.

I think anyone studying film making should be required to watch this film, and learn how NOT to make a film! This is just plain stupid!! I can see why the "Goldfinger" director had OddJob mute. Because Sakata's line readings are so bad, they might as well have dubbed in his voice. Why was poor George Lazenby cast to play in such trashy films? Was he really that bad in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"? Did the director of this film think that by casting two Bondian actors in this film that he would be raising the production value of such a horrible script? The action scenes are so tame and unexciting, that you can't believe why Jim Kelly would allow this to be vehicle in his career after the success of "Enter The Dragon". The only one aspect of this film worth viewing (with the exception of the Bondian actors) is the soundtrack. Not that it's completely brilliant, but it definately has a Rare Groove edge to it (if that's your bag), but I doubt a Soundtrack album ever accompanied this "drive-in" "B-" movie. Oh, and Jim Kelly has a cool red jump suit to wear. But that's about it. If the opening scene (with a woman getting stitched up in a nauseating slow pace) doesn't get you to turn the video off, the action will slowly put you to sleep. Only interesting if you were ever curious to see what George Lazenby got up to after his turn at James Bond.