Nom de code: Jaguar

I had first recorded this off late-night Italian TV but, thankfully, had not yet checked the movie out before it turned up in English: a vague James Bond rip-off in which the protagonist (one Joe Lewis) happens to be a martial arts expert – for the record, the two styles had already clashed, far more successfully, in Bruce Lee's last-completed and best vehicle i.e. ENTER THE DRAGON (1973). Even if the producers of this one were wily enough to recruit a roster of co-stars – no fewer than 5 of whom had appeared in previous Bond extravaganzas (Barbara Bach, John Huston, Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasence and Joseph Wiseman)! – the result is, while not boring, hardly thrilling, in spite their being practically no let-up to the action!!

Incidentally, much is made of the mysterious identity of the chief villain (at least, they had the good sense to not cast an established actor in the role – who would have invariably blown the hero out of the water in that department!) when the pre-credits sequence gives this away all-too-plainly!! Lewis' "sensei" is Woody Strode and, among his adversaries, is Capucine (who, having failed to dispatch the "Jaguar" herself, later calls on Lee and insists to be informed when this is finally accomplished!); the latter, however, displays an admirable code of ethics when he lets Lewis go after he has repeatedly defeated his goons inside a Japanese cemetery! Wiseman plays blind and Huston (amusingly, his character is named Ralph Richards!) wheelchair-bound, so that only Pleasence has fun as the self-appointed but – inevitably – cowardly dictator of a banana republic.

As I said, the action highlights (personally choreographed by the leading man) are not exactly ground-breaking and too often merely silly – at one point, he takes on a gang of motorcycle thugs, not to mention the various minions at a factory, whom he overcomes not via his usual karate moves but by throwing every kind of accessory which comes his way at any approaching assailant!; then again, it must be pointed out that director Pintoff had started out in animation. The film, at the very least looks good – helped in no small measure by the globe-trotting nature of the plot – but, atypically, Lewis proves oddly resistant to female company (save for ex-colleague Sally Faulkner, who has improbably forsaken espionage for a nun's habit!). The concluding moments show the protagonist once again having his training sessions interrupted by the arrival of agent Bach…but, unsurprisingly, no sequel ever surfaced (or was likely ever commissioned, though the star would in fact return to the big screen for FORCE: FIVE {1981}, directed by ENTER THE DRAGON's own Robert Clouse!).

This flick has one of the most incredible casts ever assembled for a B-movie! You've got Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasence (fresh from "Halloween"), Barbara Bach (former Bond Girl), Woody Strode (those who've seen "Spartacus" aren't likely to have forgotten him), Capucine (Inspector Clouseau's wife in "Pink Panther"), even the legendary director John Huston (not his first useless supporting role; remember "Tentacles"?). Unfortunately, none of those performers get a chance to stand out and do anything memorable, the story is confusing (although the main villain's "hidden" identity is easy to guess) and karate expert Lewis, who stars, knows all the right moves but has little acting charisma. (*1/2)

During a mission a secret agent called Jaguar loses his partner in a explosion. So after the disaster he goes back to his sensei to continue his training. But after a while he is called back on a mission involving that of a international drug dealer that might have had a hand in his friend / partner's death. This leads Jaguar on a whirlwind trip across the glob, where he encounters many foes before he confronts his main man.

I wasn't expecting too much, but I was pleasantly surprised in what I got from this b-grade romp. It's your typical textbook James Bond adventure with the agent travelling around the world to many exotic locations, gathering information on a villain he's tracking down. But our secret agent here Jonathan Cross - Code name Jaguar; has a speciality in martial arts, which he demonstrates on those who get in his way. While, the big scale production and story shares some familiarity to a Bond film, also the stars play a high influence to that factor. You got Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasence, Joseph Wiseman and Barbara Bach making up the cast with some nifty performances. Ironically, they themselves have starred in a Bond film. It's just too bad that they have very little to do here with their meagre roles. Other notables making up the well-known cast include Woody Strode, Capucine, John Huston, Anthony De Longis and an enticing Sally Faulkner in some sexy lingerie. Man, just looking at the names - it should have been a blinder. Kickboxing expert Joe Lewis as Jaguar delivers the goods in the moves, but his overall acting performance is rather wooden. In the end the cast like this is simply wasted.

"Jaguar Lives" at times is an exciting escapism story that's filled with some cartoon like characters and a sizzling verve of precise and intense action scenes. The rollicking martial art scenes seem to feed off the story rather then being just senseless mayhem. Well, that might be a plus, but sometimes there was just too much talk where there could have been some vigorous activity. But when the action did kick in, the tempo was staged with supreme skill and impressive set pieces - just like the fitting climax battle. The jam-packed story which the film follows real closely is an convoluted mess with many illogical steps, but it's basically working itself up to the final confrontation. And when it came to providing us the main villain's identity, it shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone. I found it to get incredibly better and more intriguing the further along it went. The script is terribly blunt and quite forced, although there's an ample amount of wit found throughout (even though it doesn't always come off). Since the agent travels high and low that means there's quite a change of scenery with some astonishing locations and the sublime photography is professionally set-up with many creative and brisk manoeuvring shots. The fruitful score is an energy charged belter that gives out that groovy 70s twang in neat short pockets.

At best a cheesy time-waster that's filled with a mish-mash of ideas and comic book heroics within it's martial arts background.

Jaguar Lives! Is a strangely shot yet alluring yarn about globetrotting martial arts expert Joe Lewis who works on a ranch with sensei Woody Strode, somewhere in Spain. The entire movie was filmed in Spain in September 1978. When Lewis' services are needed, a goddess (Barbara Bach) arrives from the sky in a helicopter to tell Lewis where to go and what to do. It jumps around a bit. I didn't really try to understand what was going on too much, and found it to be an interesting watch, not so much for the plot. It's sort of James Bond meets Mission Impossible meets Steven Seagal meets Beverly Hills Ninja. Being familiar with Lee, Pleasance, Strode, and Bach, I figured a movie with that cast couldn't be too bad. And it wasn't. Lee is his typical staid and villainous self. Donald Pleasance is especially amusing in his role as a dictator, but it is only slightly more than a cameo appearance. The reason I watched was because of Bach, with Jaguar Lives! coming up on a search result for her. She was good as always but her parts too few and far between. Lewis, who was a complete unknown to me, pretty much hogs the screen. I would've liked to see more of Bach, obviously, but Lewis was actually better than i expected him to be, and this is a martial arts movie, so for what it is, i think it succeeds to an extent. Watch it twice if you don't believe me.

"Jaguar Lives" is very slow and plodding entertainment, despite a tip-top cast being associated. The action (well that's when it gets around to it) is too little and unexciting martial arts... because we have to wait through long dry spells of talk. The climax battle is the only thing worth waiting around for. Not helping is that the twists in the story are plain easy to pick up on and it doesn't make too much sense. Wow, just look at the names! The main reason I decided to give it a look. The likes of Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasence and Barbara Bach are simply wasted, and Joe Lewis is just too deadpan in the lead role. Fun this is not. No wonder why it's not too well known, as it's largely dismissible.