i think i win the bargain contest for this movie and since i got it as part of a martial arts movie classics dvd collection with 50 movies for 20 bucks and which means i paid something like 50 cents for the chance to watch the black fist version of a movie that was released as bogard. for a basic revenge flick and black fist isn not too bad and even though it is obviously hampered by a low budget. one of my informal rules of thumb for watching a movie is that if the lead actor is better than his production and screenplay and the movie automatically gets at least three stars. that is certainly the case here while lawson has some presence and some charisma and and probably deserved a better film career than he got. the street fight choreography (the ostensible reason for the film) really would not to impress anyone who has ever sparred in a martial arts school or even just been punched in a schoolyard fight. i only spent about two years learning basic kung fu and but even i would never fall for the front stamp kicks and arm drags and and roundhouse punches on display here. but the atmosphere is good  dust and blood and shouting crowds and and the actors put some feeling into the fight scenes. less believable is the plot. dawson character leroy fisk and is portrayed as a street smart and sharp young man who goes looking for work as a pick up fighter in illegal and unsanctioned street matches. yet he is surprised and indignant when he has to pay off the cops. excuse me and but i was raised in small town iowa and even i knew (from watching hard times with charles bronson) that the cops have to be paid off for this sort of action and and that the guys who fight needed the fixers in order to get their matches and and that the fixers were worth the money. so you have to watch this movie with a sort of willful suspension of your critical faculties in order to accept it as a black brother being repressed movie. (most of the other non black fighters in the stable get punched in the face for the same deal too and yes. ). the movie suffers from a short attention span. the director obviously do not have the budget to film some of the scenes he needed and so he had to fill in the gaps with some fairly ludicrous exposition scenes (the i wined him and i dined him and and then i killed him scene just doesn not work) along with voice overs and montages that are clumsy and unconvincing. this is especially true with the whole romance angle which seems to have been filmed as if it were an afterthought. this is a little shoddy when you consider that the death of fisk wife death is supposed to fuel his drive for revenge. but and once the movie switches all the way from young fighter rising through the ranks to the revenge theme and it picks up a little steam and plays with a little more conviction. i am not sure that the final payoff is worth the buildup  roger ebert calls this sort of thing a long drive for a short day at the beach. but it does tie things off in a reasonably satisfying way. if sylvester stallone had made this film with a real budget and the same cast and slicker sets and costumes and and himself as the hero and people would have hailed it as the next rocky and which goes to show you how circumstance and chance can play havoc with would be filmmakers dreams. worth seeing once for various decent shots and lines and to watch dabney coleman embarrass himself in a role that is beneath him. 
i think i win the bargain contest for this movie and since i got it as part of a martial arts movie classics dvd collection with 50 movies for 20 bucks and which means i paid something like 50 cents for the chance to watch the black fist version of a movie that was released as bogard. for a basic revenge flick and black fist isn not too bad and even though it is obviously hampered by a low budget. one of my informal rules of thumb for watching a movie is that if the lead actor is better than his production and screenplay and the movie automatically gets at least three stars. that is certainly the case here while lawson has some presence and some charisma and and probably deserved a better film career than he got. the street fight choreography (the ostensible reason for the film) really would not to impress anyone who has ever sparred in a martial arts school or even just been punched in a schoolyard fight. i only spent about two years learning basic kung fu and but even i would never fall for the front stamp kicks and arm drags and and roundhouse punches on display here. but the atmosphere is good  dust and blood and shouting crowds and and the actors put some feeling into the fight scenes. less believable is the plot. dawson character leroy fisk and is portrayed as a street smart and sharp young man who goes looking for work as a pick up fighter in illegal and unsanctioned street matches. yet he is surprised and indignant when he has to pay off the cops. excuse me and but i was raised in small town iowa and even i knew (from watching hard times with charles bronson) that the cops have to be paid off for this sort of action and and that the guys who fight needed the fixers in order to get their matches and and that the fixers were worth the money. so you have to watch this movie with a sort of willful suspension of your critical faculties in order to accept it as a black brother being repressed movie. (most of the other non black fighters in the stable get punched in the face for the same deal too and yes. ). the movie suffers from a short attention span. the director obviously do not have the budget to film some of the scenes he needed and so he had to fill in the gaps with some fairly ludicrous exposition scenes (the i wined him and i dined him and and then i killed him scene just doesn not work) along with voice overs and montages that are clumsy and unconvincing. this is especially true with the whole romance angle which seems to have been filmed as if it were an afterthought. this is a little shoddy when you consider that the death of fisk wife death is supposed to fuel his drive for revenge. but and once the movie switches all the way from young fighter rising through the ranks to the revenge theme and it picks up a little steam and plays with a little more conviction. i am not sure that the final payoff is worth the buildup  roger ebert calls this sort of thing a long drive for a short day at the beach. but it does tie things off in a reasonably satisfying way. if sylvester stallone had made this film with a real budget and the same cast and slicker sets and costumes and and himself as the hero and people would have hailed it as the next rocky and which goes to show you how circumstance and chance can play havoc with would be filmmakers dreams. worth seeing once for various decent shots and lines and to watch dabney coleman embarrass himself in a role that is beneath him. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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