Father and son Chinatown bar owners, Burt & Jim Roth(Lee Van Cleef and David Carradine)become inadvertently involved in a war with the Tanaka crime family over a jade statue, quite a pricey artifact desired by a powerful Yakuza family.
Clay Roth(David Goss), Burt's son/Jim's brother, is partners with a no-good, dirty, rotten scoundrel, Cory Thorton(Ross Hage, perfectly vile and two-faced)who has taken a job to exchange money for a jade statue, commissioned by powerful mobster Akira Tanaka(Mako). It would be a 5 thousand dollar payday to orchestrate what seems like an easy task, but Cory's greed and avarice throws a cog in Akira's plans. Cory is to take all of Tanaka's money, kill the thieves(an unhinged Laurene Landon and Dick Miller offers another cameo), and set up Clay as the one responsible for the botched job. But, a wounded Clay delivers the jade statue to Jim and Burt before dying. With the money, Cory goes into hiding, with Tanaka targeting the Roth family desiring to get the statue he must provide to a major Yakuza boss arriving by plane in the coming days. Kidnapping Tommy Roth(Fred Olen Ray regular Brett Huff), and torturing him with acupuncture needles, Tanaka and his men will stop at nothing to secure the statue, but waging war with Burt and Jim may not be the smartest idea despite how powerful and dangerous a threat they are. When Tanaka captures Jim's wife and daughter, as well as show him his slain brother, Tommy(..whose courageous escape attempt ends in a shot gun blast to the chest), there'll be hell to pay. Another development is that one of the thieves, Deborah(Landon)didn't die after all(..she's one tough chick)and wants the money Cory took from her.
I imagine it was a dream come true for director Fred Olen Ray to obtain the star power of Carradine and LVC in his movie. To have them in a war with Mako, Michael Berryman, and a litany of mobster vermin must've been a joy. FOR also has two major action set pieces, the double-cross when Cory betrays Clay, with hired guns(..paid by Cory)blasted in their cars before they could cause any damage. There's the Chinatown showdown where Carradine faces off with Mako and his goons(..my biggest disappointment was not seeing LVC getting to partake in the festivities very long). There's also a chase where a cop pursues a wounded Berrymen, with innocent bystanders(..in their vehicles)impacted, resulting in car crashes(..and FOR gets to demolish a telephone booth). Carradine's Jim has some plot development as FOR establishes some trauma that has left scars from a combat experience in Vietnam. Berryman seems to be having fun as one of Mako's assassins. Unfortunate for me, LVC doesn't have as substantial a role in the movie as I, a major fan, would prefer, but he was on up in age by this time. When Carradine tosses grenades at Mako's gunmen, explosions hurl lots of stuntmen in the air.
I think fans of low budget action, not expecting strong acting or a challenging plot, might enjoy this rather straight-forward, undemanding, uncomplicated B-movie. Carradine's revenge over Mako("Rest in Pieces.")is certain to amuse. Brett Huff has a great scene where Mako and company seek information, using torturous methods which would make most squeal, not allowing them to benefit from his anguish. LVC, in his seventies, gets a chance to kick some ass, punishing a pack of loathsome customers looking to start some crap when they enter Jim and Burt's bar. Lois Hamilton, as Carradine's wife, gets to blow away a bad guy with a machine gun in a memorable final scene after a car is driven into Jim and Burt's bar! Another rather unfulfilling scenario for me was not seeing Cory get his comeuppance in gruesome style(..while he does pay, it's not nearly the fate he deserves for the trouble he has caused).
Clay Roth(David Goss), Burt's son/Jim's brother, is partners with a no-good, dirty, rotten scoundrel, Cory Thorton(Ross Hage, perfectly vile and two-faced)who has taken a job to exchange money for a jade statue, commissioned by powerful mobster Akira Tanaka(Mako). It would be a 5 thousand dollar payday to orchestrate what seems like an easy task, but Cory's greed and avarice throws a cog in Akira's plans. Cory is to take all of Tanaka's money, kill the thieves(an unhinged Laurene Landon and Dick Miller offers another cameo), and set up Clay as the one responsible for the botched job. But, a wounded Clay delivers the jade statue to Jim and Burt before dying. With the money, Cory goes into hiding, with Tanaka targeting the Roth family desiring to get the statue he must provide to a major Yakuza boss arriving by plane in the coming days. Kidnapping Tommy Roth(Fred Olen Ray regular Brett Huff), and torturing him with acupuncture needles, Tanaka and his men will stop at nothing to secure the statue, but waging war with Burt and Jim may not be the smartest idea despite how powerful and dangerous a threat they are. When Tanaka captures Jim's wife and daughter, as well as show him his slain brother, Tommy(..whose courageous escape attempt ends in a shot gun blast to the chest), there'll be hell to pay. Another development is that one of the thieves, Deborah(Landon)didn't die after all(..she's one tough chick)and wants the money Cory took from her.
I imagine it was a dream come true for director Fred Olen Ray to obtain the star power of Carradine and LVC in his movie. To have them in a war with Mako, Michael Berryman, and a litany of mobster vermin must've been a joy. FOR also has two major action set pieces, the double-cross when Cory betrays Clay, with hired guns(..paid by Cory)blasted in their cars before they could cause any damage. There's the Chinatown showdown where Carradine faces off with Mako and his goons(..my biggest disappointment was not seeing LVC getting to partake in the festivities very long). There's also a chase where a cop pursues a wounded Berrymen, with innocent bystanders(..in their vehicles)impacted, resulting in car crashes(..and FOR gets to demolish a telephone booth). Carradine's Jim has some plot development as FOR establishes some trauma that has left scars from a combat experience in Vietnam. Berryman seems to be having fun as one of Mako's assassins. Unfortunate for me, LVC doesn't have as substantial a role in the movie as I, a major fan, would prefer, but he was on up in age by this time. When Carradine tosses grenades at Mako's gunmen, explosions hurl lots of stuntmen in the air.
I think fans of low budget action, not expecting strong acting or a challenging plot, might enjoy this rather straight-forward, undemanding, uncomplicated B-movie. Carradine's revenge over Mako("Rest in Pieces.")is certain to amuse. Brett Huff has a great scene where Mako and company seek information, using torturous methods which would make most squeal, not allowing them to benefit from his anguish. LVC, in his seventies, gets a chance to kick some ass, punishing a pack of loathsome customers looking to start some crap when they enter Jim and Burt's bar. Lois Hamilton, as Carradine's wife, gets to blow away a bad guy with a machine gun in a memorable final scene after a car is driven into Jim and Burt's bar! Another rather unfulfilling scenario for me was not seeing Cory get his comeuppance in gruesome style(..while he does pay, it's not nearly the fate he deserves for the trouble he has caused).