Rating: **
Review Date: 4/27/26
Cast: James Ryan, Anneline Kriel, Stan Schmidt, Norman Robinson,
Bill Flynn, Ken Gampu
"You mean to tell me the good doctor was kidnapped because of potatoes?"
A scientist develops a new fuel from potatoes, but a byproduct is a mind controlling drug. Naturally, an evil dictator named Marduke kidnaps the doctor and plans to enslave the entire world with the drug. The doctor's daughter, Kandy Kane (Anneline Kriel), hires martial arts mercenary Steve Chase (James Ryan) to rescue the doctor and recover the drug's formula so that "more ethical" governments can use it. Chase agrees, but he needs to recruit a team of specialists including such colorful characters known as The Fly (Stan Schmidt), Gorilla (Ken Gampu), Gypsy Billy (Norman Robinson), and Hot Dog (Bill Flynn). Yikes. With his team in place, Chase infiltrates Marduke's South African compound and saves the free world.
It's a laughably bad film that exists only to stage a bunch of outrageous karate fights, which isn't a bad thing. In fact, I applaud that, but the execution is lacking. There is an undeniable amount of talent on display, but the film fails to capture it adequately. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Hong Kong kung fu movies and their grace and skill with cinematography, choreography, precision, pacing, and editing. The cringy dialog and lame attempts at humor don't help, either.
James Ryan is a lean and sinewy fighter who has a strong cinematic presence and is charismatic enough to carry the film. Apart from some general misogyny, he's a likable character who favors wearing his shirts unbuttoned down to his navel. I don't know if this was ever in fashion, but it's definitely awkward. It's a challenging look, but thankfully he has the physique to pull it off. His fight scenes are obviously the focus of the film and they're quite good, even if his opponents can't keep up with him. Stan Schmidt and Norman Robinson are excellent fighters and their scenes are fun to watch. On the other hand, Ken Gampu and Bill Flynn exist for comic relief and are a chore to watch. Anneline Kriel is primarily eye candy, but she also has a few fight scenes. Unfortunately, even though she performed her own stunts, they aren't notable.
Considering when the film was made, it offers more action than its contemporaries, and certainly fares better than the drek that Chuck Norris was pumping out at the time. That said, the production values are low and it's not a polished film by any means. If you can get past its flaws, its bizarre mysticism, its hilariously bad makeup, and its awkwardly campy vibe, it's an entertaining low budget actioner.