Karate Killer

1976

Action / Drama / Sport

4
IMDb Rating 4.8/10 10 700 700

karate desert martial arts tournament

Plot summary

Two former ranking figures of the Axis powers (the evil General Von Rudloff and Japanese master Miyagi) schedule a deadly martial arts tournament in Von Rudloff's desert castle. They race to assemble the top competitors from around the world, with the rebellious Steve Hunt being the most sought after.

Director

Ivan Hall Photo
Ivan Hall

Top cast

James Ryan Photo
James Ryan as Steve Hunt
Gordon Richardson Photo
Gordon Richardson as Karateka
Al MacIntosh Photo
Al MacIntosh as Karateka
Norman Coombes Photo
Norman Coombes as Baron von Rudloff
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
863.6 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds ...
1.56 GB
1920*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Bogmeister 4 / 10

To Kill, One Must First Fight...or something

MASTER PLAN: have the winning team in a deadly tournament. One of several martial arts action pictures that attempted to capture the flavor of the famous "Enter the Dragon" from '73, this one is an effort from South Africa. The villain's stronghold is a bit different, appearing as a white castle-like fortress in the middle of the desert from a distance. The villain himself, a Baron or general, is a slightly more perverse version of the "Dr.No" or Han mold of master villainy, having strange flashbacks to the glory days of Nazi Germany. He does wear the full regalia Nazi uniform at some points. His main ambition in life is to hold an illegal martial arts competition/tournament against his Japanese rival, an extension of their complicity in the 2nd World War (my army is better than your army). It sounds silly and it is, though the suggestion of madness and crazed machismo almost works. The central hero, Steve Chase (Ryan), resembles a white 'Bruce Lee' character, having a similarly lean, lithe physique, though obviously not on the same level of martial arts expertise. I thought he would be some secret government agent here but apparently not. He and his girlfriend have joined the Baron's team of fighters, but decide to quit (what did they think they were getting into?). Of course, it's not that easy. There's an odd sequence of them escaping through the desert using a wrecked car with a rigged sail - those desert winds can do wonders for travel, it seems.The plot kind of meanders in the 2nd half, as the hero joins the team of the villain's competitor and the girlfriend is held hostage by the villain in a cell, under threat of rape by the hero's rival. The most interesting character turns out to be Chico, a dwarf who is the villain's assistant; he's loyal to the Baron but is sympathetic to the plight of the hero. Much of the fighting utilizes the ballet-like capabilities of the hero, with a lot of leaping and slow motion. The sound FX are also amped up and exaggerated in an attempt to add more impact to the blows. There are a few good fights during the tournament towards the climax, but none really stand out. If one had to pick, I suppose the best involves the brutish muscle man-henchman of the Baron, introduced late in the story (he lifts the back of a car at one point). You wonder how the hero will take him out at the end, since the brute seems to shrug off most of the punches. The acting is very mediocre, descending into camp as far as the girlfriend, who tends to laugh for no reason, as if she's high on grass, though she is very cute. Some of the training scenes are also campy, especially all those guys running over or rolling down the desert sands. And, with such a title, there's surprisingly few actual killings. Ryan, as Steve Chase, returned as a traditional agent in the sequel "Kill and Kill Again." Hero:4 Villain:4 Femme Fatales:4 Henchmen:6 Fights:6 Stunts/Chases:4 Gadgets:2 Auto:3 Locations:5 Pace:5 overall:4+
Reviewed by BandSAboutMovies 5 / 10

Karate against Nazi!

Martial arts movies make little to no sense most of the time. Then, there's this movie.Steve Chase is a martial artist who goes to the desert for what he thinks is an Olympic style meet. Nope. An ex-Nazi general was defeated at the 1936 Olympics by a Japanese martial artist named Miyagi, so he's out for revenge. Luckily, Steve and his girl Olga escape.To fix up his team, von Rudloff's miniature henchman Chico goes around the world to recruit a new team. And Steve ends up meeting Miyagi and joining his team, which leads to the madcap fight between he and his girl when she is kidnapped and forced to join his team.Finally, Steve must fight and defeat Luke, the ultimate fighter, leading the Nazi to killing himself rather than face defeat.I've given you a straight reading of the film. To see it is to know how different it is, as it's either filmed by someone who wants to be an artist or someone who has been in the sun too long. This is often the same thing.This movie was a success for four years in its native South Africa, where many Japanese martial arts forms were done to perfection. Yes, that makes no sense to me either. Neither does the sequel, but trust me, I'll be covering that one soon enough, too!
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