Joe Marshall and Frank Washington are two tenacious police detectives who seek at all costs to stop the Katana, a renegade Yakuza gang composed of violent and sadistic killers who want to le... Read allJoe Marshall and Frank Washington are two tenacious police detectives who seek at all costs to stop the Katana, a renegade Yakuza gang composed of violent and sadistic killers who want to lead the drug trade in Los Angeles.Joe Marshall and Frank Washington are two tenacious police detectives who seek at all costs to stop the Katana, a renegade Yakuza gang composed of violent and sadistic killers who want to lead the drug trade in Los Angeles.
- Joe Marshall
- (as Matt Hannon)
- Jennifer
- (as Jannis Farley)
- Peggy Lee Thomas
- (as Melisa Moore)
- Female Henchwoman
- (as Cameron)
- Costa Rican Waiter
- (as Joselito C. Rescober)
- Burning Van Driver
- (as Ali Teymury)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Smaurai Cop spares no expense. It gives you what you really want: Boobs, Racial Comments, Excessive Groping of Handgun by a Lacky, Fight scene with obvious continuity issues, Pimp Van in fast motion chase scene, Disturbingly Effeminate Waiter, 4 different samurai wigs, Matt Hannon acting, and too many other priceless moments to recount.
I am not sure how Amir got Robert Z'Dar and Gerald Okamura on this film (considering their "star power"), but thank God he did. This movie does not get the credit it deserves. It is one of cinema's greatest gems and should be recognized as such. Please, if you have watched this movie, and loved it, comment now!
Words might fail while trying to adequately describe this phantasmagorical piece of cinematic perfection. You could write a lengthy article criticizing a terrible acting, editing or utterly ridiculous dialogues. Or the fact that the story is so much saturated with every cliche of 90s action cinema that it cannot be considered as an independent script but rather as an amalgamation of a dozen scrips borrowed from other films. Severe objectification of women and excessive voyeuristic nudity serving no purpose whatsoever might just leave you entirely speechless. And lets not dwell too much on the fact that the main character, supposedly expert in Japanese martial arts, couldn't even throw a decent round house kick, while ridiculous hand gestures he performs during various fights, make American Ninja look like a documentary quality depiction of Ninjutsu. Shot inconsistency, the main character switching from a wig to a real haircut multiple times throughout the film is just an icing on a cake.
Somehow all the critique you could master up about 'Samurai Cop' doesn't seem to make it justice. The overall result is so much worse than the sum of its negative parts that your brains just cannot rationally explain or perceive it. One thing couldn't be denied though, the film is entertaining as hell. And that's, after all, the main point of action cinema - to entertain. In that regard 'Samurai Cop' is truly a film in the class of its own.
Thankfully you don't need to get any further than the opening 15 minutes to know the answer to the above question; a staggeringly amazing prologue of b-movie awesomeness which, among other things, serves to introduce the Katana Gang, which counts within its ranks a red-haired chick whose entire contribution to the gang is announcing the entrance of the boss ("The boss is here"), the samurai cop and his mandatory black sidekick indulging in a little sex talk with the blonde helicopter operator bimbette in the middle of a drug bust, sped-up chases followed by amazing dialogue ("shoot", "faster", "shoot", "go faster") and a sex scene with underwear on (hey, it's low budget) between blonde bimbette and lovable hunk Matt Hannon.
What else do you need? Have you ever wondered what the real samurai code is (a real samurai always gets his weapon from his Katana Gang henchman)? Did you always want to know what is the mandatory hairstyle all Katana Gang henchmen ought to keep at all times (a mullet)? Did you always complain to anyone who'd listen that cinema doesn't have enough gay Costa rican waiters cracking jokes about suicide? Were you always itching to see security guards calling for security? The Katana Gang red-haired chick enriching world culture with the line "I'm going to change the trash" (!!)? Everyone in the movie getting sliced up while Matt Hannon is too busy canoodling another bimbo in a pool? Nurses randomly asking Matt Hannon if he wants to have sex with them, then belittling him for his circumcised penis? Matt Hannon pondering on whether he should make the arrest during or after the suspect has finished having sex, finally making his mind only to be stopped by a sliding door (!!!)? A beach house transforming into a house in the suburbs between takes? Well, here's your chance.
Yes, just break out the beers. I've seen quite a few no-budget schlockfests in my time but Samurai Cop stands tall among such venerable classics as Werewolf, Timechasers and American Commando - Angel's Blood Mission 2 as one of the most triumphant displays of unintentionally hilarious genius. See this if you're cool.
This film is so much like Killing American Style it feels like they were shot back to back: the movies share cast members and look and feel exactly the same in terms of staging, fight scenes, etc. The staging is staggeringly inept, with most scenes shot in single takes, and the acting is quite horrible. The main actor, Mathew Karedas, has a long hair style that swaps from being real to a woman's wig and back again as the story goes on (the story is that he had his hair cut short halfway through the production so had to wear a wig for the rest of the filming).
SAMURAI COP is a film that nobody can take seriously, so the best thing to do is to sit back and laugh at it. In this respect it becomes something of a gem, an example of so-bad-it's-good entertainment. As with Killing American Style, Robert Z'Dar plays in support as the chief villain. Others must have enjoyed this movie, because a sequel followed in 2014 (!).
Did you know
- TriviaLead actor Mathew Karedas (credited as Matt Hannon) cut his long hair very short seven months after filming wrapped. While he was looking for more acting work, director and screenwriter Amir Shervan called him back for some re-shoots. Shervan was furious that Karedas had cut his hair and immediately went out to look for a wig. Unfortunately, Shervan was only able to find a woman's wig that looked nothing like Karedas's long hair. Karedas agreed to wear it, assuming Shervan was going to do some long-shots and pick-ups. Shervan still had half of the movie to shoot, completely out of chronological order. As a result, Karedas' character's hair alternates between his natural long hair and an obvious wig. The wig even comes off a few times, revealing Karedas's real short hair.
- GoofsAt numerous points in the film, Mathew Karedas is clearly wearing a wig. During one fight scene it even begins to slip off, revealing his short hair underneath.
- Quotes
Joe Marshall, the samurai cop: Now I'm telling these son-of-a-bitches that we respect the Japanese of this country, who are honest businessmen. And yeah, this is the land of opportunity for legitimate business, not for death merchants who distribute drugs to our children through schools and on the streets. Now I'm telling these motherfuckers that if they continue killing our children to make their precious millions that they deposit in their secret Swiss bank accounts, counselor, before your last suit even gets off the court clerk's desk, I'll have their stinking bodies in garbage bags and ship them back to Japan for fertilizer. Got it?
- Alternate versionsReleased in three versions in Germany. An unrated yet uncut (via SPIO/JK approval) version released on DVD, a cut FSK-18 rated version on VHS by Scala Video which was edited by 5 minutes (yet still BPjM indexed from 1992 up until its deletion in 2017), and a further cut FSK-16 rated version which has all violent scenes shortened or removed entirely. Only in 2024 starting with the upcoming German Blu-ray release by Vision Video was the uncut version granted a FSK-18 rating.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Half in the Bag: Your Highness and Samurai Cop (2011)
- How long is Samurai Cop?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Samouraï Cop
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $7,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $384,756
- Gross worldwide
- $386,821
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1