Death Dimension
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Aldo Ray, George Lazenby, Harold Sakata, Jim Kelly (II), Terry Moore DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language) Format: Color, DVD, NTSC Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 90 minutes DVD Release Date: 2003-11-18 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Crash Cinema Media |
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Movie Reviews of Death Dimension
Movie Review: Late blaxploitation flick from Al Adamson is cheap, crazy fun
Summary: 3 Stars
I guess DEATH DIMENSION is most readily situated as one of the last gasps of the blaxploitation cycle, being released in 1978 after the genre had long since descended into self-parody, ever cheaper production values, and ever stupider plots, and several of its stars had moved on and up to more mainstream work. But frankly, I didn't find it to be nearly as bad as it's reputation (an under-3 rating on IMDb for one thing) would suggest. Sure, director Al Adamson - who had previously teamed with star Jim Kelly on both of the BLACK BELT JONES films and BLACK SAMURAI - has little idea of how to keep things interesting outside of the fight sequences, and Kelly - maybe the least charismatic of the major blaxploitation lead actors - is as wooden and dull as ever, but there's enough going on here to keep the fan of 70s shlock cinema entertained I think.
Kelly plays Lt. J. Ash, a martial arts expert and undercover LAPD officer - I guess, though I don't remember it ever being stated just what office he belongs to. At any rate, it seems that there's a genius scientist who has been coerced into working for mad villain "The Pig" (Harold Sakata, best known as "Odd Job" in Goldfinger, horrendously dubbed here), who has developed a freeze bomb, which he demonstrates at the beginning of the film to some prospective bidders from various countries. But the scientist gets the secret of the technology smuggled out by his assistant Felicia (Patch Mackenzie), and it's up to Lt. Ash and his friend and fellow martial-arts expect Li (Myron "Bruce" Lee) to save Felecia, keep the secret safe, and defeat the evil Pig. Ash works under Captain Gallagher (another Bond alum, in fact an ex-Bond, George Lazenby who perhaps made the very worst career move in acting history when he bowed out of the series after one film) but it seems like his every move is known to the Pig's trained assassins - could it be his buddy Li, or his boss Gallagher who is on the Pig's take? I'll leave you to find that out yourself.
Death Dimension is at its best when showing the nubile charms - scantily clad or completely undressed - of its various young females (the Pig's hideout is fronted by a whorehouse in Reno), and the action stylings of Kelly and Lee. There are some mediocre car chases and a couple of brief foot chases and shootouts, but most of the action is good ol' kung fu with the typical overdone fake grunting and contact sound effects. Kelly was a serious martial artist and I presume Lee and most of the extras were as well, and the fights look decent enough for such a cheap production which mostly looks to be shot on preexisting sets or in people's real houses. Our star also has one great scene where he explains the benefits of malt liquor ("the black man's beer") to one's health and libido. The last sequence is pretty awesome - a firefight between cablecars which segues into a helicopter chase and finally, our hero gets to shoot down the getaway chopper with a snub-nose .38! Pretty silly, pretty awesome.
Very typical late 70s cheesy score, by Chuck Ransdell. The photography is by Orson Welles' late cinematographer Gary Graver, but it's hard to tell what kind of job he did while watching the very poor VHS-to-DVD transfer from Mondo Crash. This had several other titles, including the somewhat more descrïptive ICY DEATH. All in all then, this isn't one of the top blaxploitation or cheap action films from the period, but it's dumb enough to be fun and at 84 minutes or so, it sure doesn't wear out it's welcome.