I'm not defending this film... I've just watched it for the first time ever and it's cheap 80s crap at best...
I find the casual racism comment to be a reach. There are multiple black fighters - one of whom practices monkey kung fu, one of the many styles on view here.
I take issue with the quality of the film being so cheap. Terrible dialogue, terrible acting, terrible plot... Imagine Enter The Dragon meets Karate Kid by way of The Last Dragon.
It's cheap 80s fodder. If you go looking to be offended by a 35 year old film, you will be.
@ovation Why a black guy who finds inspiration on monkeys to develop a fight style is something racist? chinese people do the same thing but its not racist in that case huh? what would you thing if it's a caucasian guy that does the monkey style instead of the black guy? this is just a western sense of pseudo-morality that only annoy other western people, ignoring how is the lifestyle of other ethnic groups. Stop whitening everything please.
Hey @orionwarrior … this is an American-made film; if they were trying to be respectful of other ethnic groups as you claim in your self righteous defense, they would've cast a chinese man on that role, since as you admit yourself, it's a feature of chinese martial arts. I might've given the benefit of the doubt if all the other black characters weren't handled in a stereotypical way as I also pointed out, but knowing the history of american culture in regards to black people and prejudice, not entirely surprising.
Shout by OvationBlockedParent2023-02-26T00:02:29Z
As iconic as this movie is, I find the casual racism intolerable —the one black fighter whose entire "style" is acting like a monkey gets the longest sequence; the only one who acts like a normal person is only shown when he gets defeated… and even Forrest Whittaker is presented as a clown. It's an unpopular opinion, but all the action sequences and memorable scenes, they're hardly redeeming. Some may enjoy it (which is fine); but for me, it takes me completely out.