Black Belt Jones: Robert Clouse

Robert Clouse's Black Belt Jones may be confusing, unfocused, and a wee bit homophobic, but I would highly recommend watching it. The reason? It ends with an absolutely fantastic martial arts scene that holds its own against many other better, more highly-budgeted action films. The last sequence is an all-out brawl between the eponymous hero, Black Belt Jones, his partner Sydney, and a whole host of black and Italian gangsters who have been trying to extort the deed of their karate school away from them as part of a city-wide land-grab scheme. But here's the catch: it takes place in a car wash. By the mid-point of the fight, the soap suds are up to everyone's waists. There's also a genuinely funny running gag where Sydney throws the incapacitated bodies of their defeated opponents into a garbage truck. Amazingly, watching the truck lift turn on and dump the unconscious cronies into its hold never gets old. It also helps that Jim Kelly manages to bring a lot of life and charisma into Jones' character. So, yes, Black Belt Jones is generally underwhelming. But the last fight scene is more than worth the price of admission.

5/10