DVD Synopsis: Jason Blade and his partner are two of a select group of Westerners permitted to join the legendary Panther School of Martial Arts. Intercepting a Triad drug ring while on a stakeout in Hong Kong, Blade and Linda cross the path of Jim Baxter, Australian right-hand man of drug boss Damien Zukor. Having learnt too much about Zukor, Linda plays with her life. Blade's revenge is slow and starts from the inside of Zukor's empire. He impresses the drug boss with his extraordinary fighting skills to the point that he decides to have him fight at his annual tournament of martial arts. Soon, however, Baxter uncovers Blade's identity and consequently Zukor discovers Blade's true intentions. (85 Mins)

 

Views: This late 80s Australian production is the first of two films about Jason Blade – an ass-kicking martial arts-expert who takes on a criminal gang after they kill his partner. The film begins with a lengthy introduction that shows Jason being trained in Hong Kong while, in Australia, his old partner has run into some trouble with a local drug lord. After he returns to his homeland, Blade works with some highly trained friends to infiltrate the gang and bring them down from the inside! To be honest there's really not a lot more it, but I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed this action adventure. Most of this has to do with the fact that it delivers some pretty exciting martial arts-action (quite a bit actually) and was directed by the brilliant Brian Trenchard-Smith; an Aussie director who is widely known for his exploitation titles covering martial arts, science fiction, action, thriller, romance and more. Of course, one of his most famous works is his feature film directorial-debut The Man From Hong Kong with the late Jimmy Wang Yu and legendary Sammo Hung. I love this film in particular and highly enjoy many of his works overall – in fact, I'd say we have quite a bit in common as directors and have often said that I should have been doing what I do in the 1980s...

 

But this isn't about me! This is about Jason Blade and his first adventure as an action hero. I must admit, as dull-looking as Eddie Stazak is throughout this production, he does a pretty good job as Blade with his fantastic martial arts moves, good looks, and hot body in what would have been his debut role. As an on-screen fighter, I personally think he gives his Hollywood counterparts (such as Van Damme, Don Wilson, Segal, Gruner etc) a run for their money. And while his acting could have been a bit better, I'd like to have seen more of Edward Stazak as an action hero - but it seems that he would star in only 3 productions over a few years. While he and Trenchard-Smith would follow this with a sequel called Strike Of The Panther, Stazak's final show would be in his self produced action-drama Black Neon – a film that is considered pretty damn rare by many, if not lost in all reality. A third film in the series, known as Escape Of The Panther, was planned to go into production soon after, but was actually never made. Seventies television actor John Stanton stars as William Anderson, the father of Blade's murdered partner and returned for the sequel – which was actually shot the same year. A popular character actor, Stanton had starred alongside Bryan Brown in the historical-drama Tai-Pan only a couple of years earlier, and would appear in the popular Hollywood horror, Darkness Falls, after the turn-of-the-century. Still going strong today, Stanton delivers a pretty fun performance even if he does take it all a little more seriously than most. The pair are joined by a fun cast including Michael Carman, Paris Jefferson, Linda Megier, and James Richards as the dastardly Jim Baxter.

 

While Day Of The Panther will offer many unintentional laughs to most people that view it (if not all), the film does present itself as an other-world version of a Richard Norton/Cynthia Rothrock flick – similar in ways to the underrated Rage & Honor movies and others – as Jason Blade and Linda pair up to take on the baddies. I also feel that is worth pointing out that Trenchard-Smith was brought in after filming had started to rescue a somewhat, troubled production. Claiming it to be one of the toughest jobs he's ever done, director Brian jumped straight into the action as he recast, altered, and made many script changes along the way to deliver an action-packed adventure with no less than 8 full fight scenes to keep martial-arts movie fans happy. Day Of The Panther is most certainly worth checking out, but just try not to take everything too seriously, soak up the fight scenes, and enjoy!

 

Overall: While many will cringe over its acting and cheesy lines, there's no denying that Day Of The Panther offers up some fantastic martial arts action that entertains!