Jaguar Lives!

A run-of-the-mill action/thriller/kung-fu movie with good main and support cast and ordinary theme about brave secret agent busts international crime ring plot . The world's new Karate hero , Jonathan Cross (Joe Lewis) who is out to stop enemies. Helped by Sensei (Woody Strode) , Cross battles drug dealers , nasty bands , and help save the world from an evil con (Sir Christopher Lee) and other defector agents . These treacherous times demand a new style of hero. Now is the time for Jaguar . Now is the time for a great new screen hero. Now is the time for Jaguar.

A no-interest , tacky and multi-location action movie that takes its cues from early 007 movies , cheapo chop-socky movies and Chuck Norris films . In fact Joe Lewis was a world class Karate champion, and trained with Chuck Norris and even fought several matches against Bruce Lee in the 1960s . It turns out to be the listless, tedious hokum of the secret agent battling an international conspiracy , that nowadays it looks hopelessly anachronistic in even the baldest commercial terms . Here stands out the appearances from notorious international actors at the time , such as : Christopher Lee at one of his ordinary 70s roles as a villain , Donald Pleasence as an overacting dictator , the gorgeous Bond-girl Barbara Bach , the elegant and cold Capucine , Joseph Wiseman as an old blind man , the hunk Woody Strode and actor/director John Huston . Being a US/Spain co-production with brief intervention of Spanish actors , such as : Luis Prendes as a prison chief , Simón Andreu , George Rigaud , Emilio Rodríguez , Víctor Israel , Taida Urruzola, Fedra Lorente , Maribel Hidalgo, among others .

Highlights the gorgeous and colorful cinematogrophy by John Cabrera shot in several locations in USA , Tokio , Macao , Hong Kong and shot mostly in Spain : Desert Tabernas , Almeria , La Alcazaba, Almería, Andalucia , Dehesa de Navalvillar, Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, El Escorial, Madrid, Valle de los Caídos, Madrid and Castle of Belmonte, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha where long time ago was filmed Anthony Mann's El Cid . The motion picture was lousily directed by Ernest Pintoff . Ernest was an ex-cartoonist and once once-touted filmmaker and winning the Oscar for best animated short for The Critic (1963), a satire on modern art written and narrated by Mel Brooks. Pintoff previously earned an Oscar nomination for his animated short The Violinist (1959), narrated by Carl Reiner. For television Pintoff directed episodes of numerous series, including Hawai 5-0 (1968), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and Falcon Crest (1981). As part of NBC's "Experiments in Television" in the late 1960s, he directed the documentaries "This Is Marshall McLuhan" and "This Is Sholem Aleichem." Among Pintoff's feature credits as a director are the low-budget Who killed Mary Magdalene (1971), starring Red Buttons, and Dynamite Chicken (1971) . Jaguar Lives! (1979) rating : 4/10 , inferior and embarrassing action movie .

"Jaguar Lives!" is the first of 12 movies made by Joe Lewis, a guy who was one of the top martial artists during his day. And, as I watched this film, I was impressed by his skills...they were far better than most martial arts films of the era. In other words, he's NOT faking it...the guy is tough and his kicks and punches are pretty scary! Yet, despite this, Lewis' career never really took off and he was not the next Chuck Norris or Jackie Chan.

Whoever made "Jaguar Lives!" managed to get quite a few famous actors for the movie...something unusual for a movie starring an unknown. I saw the film simply because Christopher Lee was in the film, though he is only one of many famous folks in the movie.

Jaguar is a codename for Jonathan Cross (Lewis), an agent working for G6...some top secret American governmental organization. He's out to travel the world tracking down various elements of an international drug cartel. Again and again, after meeting with these evil characters, they set their goons on Jaguar and repeatedly he beats the snot out of them. Can he manage to destroy this international organization of evil?

I've already mentioned the positive things about the movie. On the negative side, the editing is lousy and it makes the transition from one country to another very abrupt and cheap looking. Also, Lewis' acting skills are only fair. And, finally, the script itself manages to be rather boring. But the worst was at the end with the big confrontation scene. It clearly was DARK...nighttime.

Yet, moments later it looks as if the story is taking place around noon!! Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Despite this it's not a terrible film but one that could have been better.

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!).

"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.

Legendary heavyweight kickboxing champion Joe Lewis kicks off his mysteriously brief movie career with this globe trotting martial arts actioner in which he assumes the eponymous role of The Jaguar, a sort of James Bond type agent sans the gadgets (other than his lethal fists and feet)

The first thing that becomes immediately apparent whilst watching, is that a large amount of money was put into this judging by the multiple foreign locations and some of the incredible cast that has been assembled here. Such cinematic luminaries as John Huston, Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasance and Woody Strode all put in appearances! (albeit briefly) Also along for the ride is the familiar and welcome face of Anthony De Longis as Jaguar's friend and fellow agent.

All well and good so far then.....however it has to be said that for what is ostensibly an action movie, there is in fact far too little action on offer here. The majority of the films running time is taken with our hero jet setting from one beautiful location to another searching for clues as to the identity of an international drug dealer who in a somewhat lame and predictable twist at the end is revealed to be.....well I won't say it here.

Still, despite the above criticism the action sequences when they do arrive, turn out to be very exciting indeed. The final climatic fight especially, set atop the scenic splendour of an old castle, between Jaguar and his nemesis is very exciting and well handled.

It's rather sad that other than a tiny handful of other films, Lewis never further pursued his movie career. From the evidence here, although obviously not trained as an actor he nonetheless possessed a rather powerful on screen presence in much the same manner as the likes of the late great Charles Bronson.

Overall then, the film is certainly worth a watch for fans of martial arts, not least of all to see a genuine kickboxing legend in action, although it has to be said that it could have been so much better with less of the excessive talking and a bit more of the said action.