Karate Cop

This is a real bad movie. I can live with bad movies, but when it's a bad sequel to a bad original, than apparently the makers choose not to learn. Even when it's your own movie and you're proud of it, you just have to admit that the original was a bad film.

I gave this movie a 3, instead of a 1, but only because they got this movie made and released with practically no budget, which I respect. But this collection of bad acting, bad fighting, no story etc. on tape deserves no better point.

The only enjoyable thing is Michael M. Foley (Lincoln's champion) who seems to enjoy his part (bad as it is) and someone who enjoys his role is fun to watch.

But for fans of sci-fi, there is none. For fans of martial arts, there are no good fights. You may skip this.

Painful – that's the first word which comes to mind when I think of describing this movie. As a film star, Ron Marchini has possibly the worst catalog of starring vehicles among any regular action hero, and KARATE COP represents his low standard well. Some B-movies are a chore to watch, but KARATE COP crashes beyond this extreme by not only being technically inadequate but by being almost completely joyless.

The story: On a quest to find a teleportation crystal for the leader of a gang of street children (Carrie Chambers), an ex-cop (Marchini) battles through the vicious gangs of a post-apocalyptic city.

Given that Marchini is a karate pioneer whose name is heard alongside the likes of Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis, I was expecting at least something out of the fight scenes, but the film offers me zilch. Every single one of the eight brawls stink and their collection provides an encyclopedia of things to do wrong in a choreographed fight. Lead-footed kicking, poor timing, slow pacing, poor extension on strikes, cramped camera angles, unnecessary slow motion, and that dreadful technique wherein a strike is filmed with multiple shots and edited together to give the impression of many hits. Marchini looks strong but entirely graceless. David Carradine appears in a small, non-fighting role, and while I'm usually disappointed whenever Carradine partakes in a martial arts flick without showing his own moves, I understand why he might not have wanted to have gotten involved here.

Speaking of David, his scene constitutes the one and only part of the film that entertained me, solely because Carradine's personality eclipses both his costars and the production in general. Many movies with ambitions larger than their budget have struggled with trashy sets, clunky costumes, and destitute filming locations, but this is one of the few wherein the sheer bleakness of the production depressed me. To be fair, there are flashes of energy in the performances and several moments wherein the filmmakers make creative use of their indie medium, but these are obscured by the tepid tone and tedious pace. Every development in the plot feels like a concession: the movie *wants* to be over and is grouchily doing us a favor by reaching its conclusion, dragging its feet as it goes while muttering "Whatever."

I only finished the movie for the sake of this review, and I don't recommend that anyone else put themselves through the ordeal. Don't get this one. Pick up any Fred Williamson junker or Leo Fong schlock before putting money towards KARATE COP, which is among the pickiest of niche features I've ever seen and a very steep gamble if you're looking for fun.

Let me start by saying that I enjoy finding and watching bad movies. That doesn't mean that I love them all, but sometimes I find ones I like. This one hits many of the right buttons.

It is hard to say why, but I think mainly because it is really entertaining and light. The actors all seem to be having fun yet are somewhat serious as well. The movie also hasn't got any down moments.

Ron Marichini is fine. I liked Omega cop with him as well. Carrie Chambers is amazing looking. I wish she had been in more movies. The cheap sci-fi wasteland feel works well. David Carradine's scene is funny. Overall it is just a good little B-movie to stick in for some mindless entertainment.

Thinking of the title of this film and the last film I do believe they should have been swapped. This one should have been Omega Cop and the other one Karate Cop, because he was not the last cop in the previous film, but he is here! What do we get, pretty much a film that is sort of a sequel, but at the same time it ignores the previous film's ending altogether. Still set in a strange future where the depletion of the ozone has caused crazies; however, they do not even bother doing a solar flare scene. They also copy Mad Max a lot in this one right down to the sawed off shotgun and leather.

Last we saw Omega Cop who is now Karate Cop he was in the mountains with three very attractive for an apocalypse girls swimming! Well forget that, because either they ignored that scene or Karate Cop is actually gay and decided he like roaming around the city looking at all the leather clad rejects from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome! Another girl needs his help as her totally tall blonde girlfriend dies while taking too long choking someone on a chain rather than watching her back and soon he must find a key component for a teleporter which is always underlined like I misspelled it and apparently not a recognized word even though I've heard the word since 1987's The Fly and which makes absolutely no sense existing in a film like this as I am doubting something like that could be made and things still be awful. Then again it does not make any sense why Karate Cop did not just unload both barrels of his shotgun into the henchman Snaker as that would have saved him a lot of trouble as I'm pretty sure the other dudes would have just left had he killed Snaker from the get go. However, then we would not have seen fat dude and his Thunderdome or rather his narrow fighting trench and super strong henchman that feels no pain from anyone except Karate Cop...

This film is like a lot of those sequels to cheap films in that it does some things different, but you are still watching the same crap with a lower budget so it's not quite as good. In the last film we get Adam West and in this one we get David Caradine because this film has a lower budget so you get a less polished and well known actor. Terror Within had George Kennedy and the sequel had R. Lee Ermey, same concept. They did okay though as far as the action scenes as they were actually about like the first film and there was a better duel at the end than in Omega Cop.

So, this is a sequel that should have been called either Karate Cop II had the first film been called Karate Cop or this one should of been Omega Cop seeing as he keeps saying in this film he is the last cop. All in all, it is pretty much the same film except with less attractive girls the hero keeps picking up throughout the city as he did in the first film. Seriously though, why would he have left the mountains and those women? We deserve an answer as ignoring it insults all of us!

I hired this movie recently from a video store, it was nothing like i expected, John Travis is the only cop in the world, he saves this girl from a bunch of ruthless thugs, she has something that belongs to these ruthless thugs and they come after her and John Travis, it has to be one of the worst movies i have seen i give it a three out of ten.