Fists Of Blood (1988)

Fists Of Blood (1988)-* *1\2

AKA: Strike Of The Panther

Directed by: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Starring: Edward John Stazak, John Stanton, Zale Daniel, Rowena Wallace, Jim Richards, and Paris Jefferson



"Jason Blade...Every Woman's Dream...Every Criminal's Nightmare!"





Jason Blade is back! As is the rest of the cast, crew, music and backdrop to the opening credits, as this and Day Of The Panther (1988) were shot back to back. In true “45% New Footage” style, Fists Of Blood opens with a recap of the events from the previous film, with some handy narration by Anderson (Stanton). However, it seems to me that if you watch this one first, you would still be confused by this unnecessary and time-killing, money-saving exercise.

Continuing exactly where its predecessor left off, Jason (Stazak) and Gemma (Jefferson) have gotten serious in their relationship - so serious in fact that they are now working together on an anti-crime task force in their hometown of Perth. Despite some rockiness in their relationship, Gemma is still dancing up a storm and Jason is still foiling the bad guys with his martial arts skill. When the nefarious Baxter (Richards) escapes from Fremantle prison, he kidnaps Gemma and hides her away in an abandoned “steam factory”, the type of abandoned warehouse action movie fans know well. Jason must fight through an army of ninjas in multi-colored hockey masks to get to the final room to save the girl, just like in a video game. However, two new elements are introduced into this mix - while only touched upon in the first film, the idea of the psychic relationship between Anderson and Jason is fleshed out more. From his hospital bed, Anderson is able to telepathically communicate with Jason and warn him of dangers Jason can’t necessarily see, but Anderson can. We thought this was a fascinating and original concept that brought the level of the movie up. Additionally, there is the character of Sgt. Lucy Andrews (Wallace), who is working on dismantling the time bomb Baxter set. Oh yeah - if Jason doesn’t save the Gemma on time, a bomb will blow them all to smithereens. Can Jason Blade tangle with Baxter once more?

This time around, director Brian Trenchard-Smith delivers a bit more offbeat humor. The brothel scene is wacky, and the aforementioned “Jason Ninjas” add to that. Wouldn’t you be scared if you were all alone in a steam factory with a time bomb about to blow, and a ninja with a multi-colored hockey mask starts moonwalking with a baseball bat? Jason Blade faces his toughest challenge yet as he tirelessly faces off with these and many other punks until the final confrontation with Baxter.

Jason gets to do yet more training in his gym, Baxter takes a lot more punishment, and elements of the hostage drama are introduced in this installment. The idea of a bunch of special ops officers going into a booby-trapped warehouse while a mastermind picks them off one by one was later used in Jackie Chan’s New Police Story (2004). But like a lot of things in life, Jason Blade did it first.

There are a lot of funny sounds in the movie, and I don’t know who won the Oscar for best sound editing that year, but it should have gone to the sound effects department of Fists of Blood.  The original title of the movie was Strike of the Panther, which makes a lot of sense, but it was changed (there is a video-superimposed title) to Fists of Blood by Celebrity Video in the U.S. In other nonsensical box art news, it appears the British DVD tried to market the film as some kind of slasher horror, but that’s just misleading.

The directly continued storyline means the two films make a great double feature, which is perhaps what was intended. This would be the last we would ever see of Jason Blade, and, just as mysteriously as he arrived in all our lives, he now departs.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Day Of The Panther (1988)

Day Of The Panther (1988)-* *1\2

Directed by: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Starring: Edward John Stazak, John Stanton, Jim Richards, Zale Daniel, and Michael Carman









Jason Blade (Stazak), William Anderson (Stanton) and his daughter Linda (Megier) are members of a secret warrior clan known as Panthers. Anderson is a member of the Hong Kong Special Branch of Australian law enforcement. While in HK, he, his daughter, and his protege Blade found the time to go through the rigorous martial arts training of the secretive Panther clan. Back in Perth, Western Australia, it seems there is a new bad guy causing all sorts of trouble - the dastardly Damien Zukor (Carman). He’s into racketeering, drugs and any number of nefarious activities, and the ultra-wealthy Zukor has cops and politicians in his back pocket, allowing him to continuously expand his criminal empire, with the help of an army of rubber pig-masked goons brandishing machetes. But he didn’t count on one thing: JASON BLADE. After the murder of Linda by the super-evil number two man to Zukor, Baxter (Richards), Blade decides to go undercover as a thug and infiltrate Zukor’s organization from the inside. Gaining access to Zukor’s world proves complicated, especially when a team of law enforcement officials that disapprove of his rogue ways is constantly tailing him, and he manages a romantic relationship with Anderson’s niece Gemma (Jefferson). Will Jason Blade be the new action hero of the 80’s?

Fan-favorite director, Brian Trenchard-Smith here delivers the fun and the silly martial arts/stunt filled goods.  Edward John Stazak sadly falls into the camp with Jay Roberts, Jr. and Matt Hannon and never made any other movies (unless you count the made-at-the-same-time sequel, Fists Of Blood (1988). Obviously the filmmakers hope you like the name “Jason Blade” because you hear it many, many times throughout the course of the film. Sinister, Peter Cushing-like bad guy Zukor even gets off a witty, perhaps unintentional one-liner when, impressed with Blade’s intelligence (?), he tells him, “You’re sharp, Blade”.

Blade is a stylish man of the 80’s, but in the slick department, it’s hard to beat Baxter, a man who looks like a cross between David Hasselhoff and Ricky Gervais dipped in a rich, thick coating of eighties.  And let’s not forget that this movie came out around the time of the then-current exercise/aerobics boom. There are plenty of scenes in Blade’s gym, including a show-stopping moment involving Gemma. Let’s just say that woman was born to dance.

80’s fashions aside, what’s also good about movies of this time were that you could actually see all the stunts and all the martial arts moves.  It might not be the best kung-fu movie ever committed to celluloid but at least there’s no CGI garbage or annoying, eye-irritating “quick cuts”. Actual effort was put forth to make it all come together and the result is quite entertaining.

Naturally, there’s an extended, knock-down drag-out fight at the end between Blade and Baxter. Baxter’s main strength as a fighter seems to be his ability to withstand seemingly-endless kicks and punches to the face (although what you see here pales in comparison to what he endures in the follow-up). Harking back to the good old days of cinema good and evil, Blade wears white pants and Baxter black as they gleefully punch away the running time.

Featuring the memorable song “Take me Back” by Colin Setches, and released on Celebrity Video in the U.S. (as was its sequel), dare you enter the glorious world of Jason Blade?

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty