Samurai Cop (1991) User Reviews (80)

"I have a neighbor next door."

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 16 February 2017]

After I finished watching Samurai Cop, I sat in silent disbelief for a few moments not really knowing what to think. I decided that I had either just watched one of the absolutely worst movies ever made or I had watched a piece of satirical brilliance that my puny mind couldn't fully comprehend. After doing a little research, I realize that my first notion was correct - it's bad. However, as bad as Samurai Cop is, that doesn't change the fact that I was entertained. If you do an internet search for a movie that's "so bad, it's good" (God, do I hate that phrase), a picture of Samurai Cop should immediately pop-up on your screen. It is the embodiment of what a "so bad, it's good" movie is.

So just how bad is Samurai Cop? Everything about the movie shows a level indescribable incompetence. Technically, the movie is a train wreck. The direction is horrible, there is a complete lack of continuity, my 5 year-old could have done better with the sound editing and effects, lighting is literally non-existent, and visual effects are incredibly poor. Artistically, the movie isn't any better. Sets, costuming, music, and make-up are all bargain basement. As for the acting - when Robert Z'Dar stands head-and- shoulders above the other actors talent-wise, that speaks volumes about the quality of the acting. I won't go into the full backstory of how the movie was made, but it does explain a lot and is worth reading for a laugh or two.

I haven't even mentioned the plot because it really doesn't matter. It has something to do with a Japanese gang that controls the drug trade in Los Angeles and the police that are trying to put them out of business. In reality, the plot is about a gang of bad guys and the cops that routinely shoot them. That's about it. With a name like Samurai Cop, I expected to see some martial arts type action with a lot of hand-to-hand fighting. But alas, this Samurai Cop and his trigger happy partner are much more at home shooting the baddies. The one or two actual fight scenes are (as you probably could guess by now) poorly choreographed messes.

As bad as it all is, the whole thing is just so funny it's hard not to find entertainment in what you're watching. For example, there a scene where Samurai Cop and his trigger happy partner go visit a burn victim to get some information. This man is wrapped head-to- toe in bleeding bandages. What does our hero do? Standing about four feet from the hospital bed, he hits up the nurse with some of the most inappropriate, cringe-worthy dialogue ever heard. It's literally laugh-out-loud funny. Another example of incompetent brilliance occurs when Robert Z'Dar's character, Yamashita (yes, Robert Z'Dar plays a character named Yamashita), throws a grenade that we inexplicably and hysterically hear explode twice. One grenade - two explosions. Funny stuff. And just when you think the movie has hit a low point and can't get any more absurd, somehow it does. Samurai Cop keeps giving.

Realistically, Samurai Cop is a complete disaster of a movie. If you rated it as a serious action film, you'd have to give it a 1/10. However, it is unintentionally one of the funnier movies I've seen in awhile. As a comedy piece, I'd rate it an 8/10. Averaging the two ratings together and rounding up, I'm giving Samurai Cop an overall 5/10. If you're into "bad" movies, this one is not to be missed.

Bad but entertaining

[kluseba · 5/10 · 5 August 2017]

Samurai Cop is a movie that is bad on so many levels that it's difficult to know where to begin. First of all, the acting performances are below average and lead actor Mathew Karedas seems to only have one facial expression. The plot is everything but clever, extremely predictable and could be described as almost childish. The dialogues are thin, unconvincing and often performed in poor English because the script was written by Iranian director Amir Shervan who didn't have much experience. The female characters in this movie are all stupidly obsessed with sex and the male characters try to look cool on purpose which makes them look like complete idiots. The camera techniques are often terrible because characters who are talking are sometimes out of frame or picture. Technicians are sometimes visible in the reflections of sunglasses or as shadows in a small room. There are numerous continuity mistakes with people wearing sunglasses in one cut and not wearing them in the next cut four seconds later, hospital rooms being filled with people that have mysteriously vanished five seconds later and people being asked to come from New York City to Los Angeles who are suddenly present a few minutes later as if they had taken a rocket ride. The locations of this film are also boring and mostly consist of exchangeable alleys, random intersections and cheap restaurants. The worst part about the movie is that the director forgot to shoot some important scenes and asked the different actors to come together again to finish the film about four months after it had already been finished. The problem here is that our static lead actor Mathew Karedas cut his long hair after the movie had been completed and had to wear a wig to avoid continuity errors. The problem is that this wig looks extremely fake and is even pulled off his head in a fight Scene if you watch closely which is the cherry on the cake of this goofy b-movie.

You might wonder why this film still deserved a generous five out of ten points. The answer is quite obvious. This film is so bad that it's almost good again. It's quite amusing to catch all the obvious mistakes. The film is unpredictable in its goofy weirdness. A nice drinking game invented by two German comedians specifically for this movie consists of drinking a shot of alcohol each time the main character's wig is visible.

To be fair though, it's a quite entertaining movie with a lot of car chases and fight scenes with bare hands, pistols, swords and improvised weapons. The movie also includes several soft porn scenes and a shallow love story that gives us a break from all the action. I was never bored by this movie because of its vivid flow. Most action movies these days either bore with complicated background stories, endless dialogues and take themselves way too serious or are filled with exchangeable CGI effects and enormous plot holes in unnecessary sequels. From that point of view, Samurai Cop is almost refreshingly grounded and unpretentious.

Fans of old-school action b-movies could be very well entertained by Samurai Cop and can give this film a shot if they are open to have some fun. My advice would be to invite some friends over while watching this film. Despite its numerous obvious flaws, Samurai Cop is still overall an average movie and not among the worst films I have ever watched like so many other people claim.

So bad it's genius!

[chaos-rampant · 3 April 2009]

Second viewing of this trash epic confirms that my initial 10/10 was anything but unwarranted. You know you're getting awfully close to the absolute nadir of b-movie cinema, to that horrifying point of no return beyond all shame and therefore beyond reproach, when your name is Amir Shervan and you go on to follow up your cheapo Lethal Weapon cash-in called 'Hollywood Cop' with a cash-in on Maniac Cop by casting Robert Z'dar in a movie called 'Samurai Cop', a no-budget action crime flick where Z'dar is neither samurai nor cop (not even a maniac for that matter), where even protagonist Matt Hannon, actor in the broadest sense of the term, looks more like a poolboy instead of a samurai. Of course when you make an entire movie for no other reason than to cash-in on the larger-than-frame persona of an actor who made a career playing such refined characters as Igor, Mongoose, Brutis, Cobra Khan, Bongo and of course let's not forget the aptly descriptive Face (!) in Tango and Cash, it's not so much a question of good or bad, but whether it's going to be "this makes even Battlefield Earth seem watchable" bad or "break out the beers - Lady Terminator" bad.

Thankfully you don't need to get any further than the opening 15 minutes to know the answer to the above question; a staggeringly amazing prologue of b-movie awesomeness which, among other things, serves to introduce the Katana Gang, which counts within its ranks a red-haired chick whose entire contribution to the gang is announcing the entrance of the boss ("The boss is here"), the samurai cop and his mandatory black sidekick indulging in a little sex talk with the blonde helicopter operator bimbette in the middle of a drug bust, sped-up chases followed by amazing dialogue ("shoot", "faster", "shoot", "go faster") and a sex scene with underwear on (hey, it's low budget) between blonde bimbette and lovable hunk Matt Hannon.

What else do you need? Have you ever wondered what the real samurai code is (a real samurai always gets his weapon from his Katana Gang henchman)? Did you always want to know what is the mandatory hairstyle all Katana Gang henchmen ought to keep at all times (a mullet)? Did you always complain to anyone who'd listen that cinema doesn't have enough gay Costa rican waiters cracking jokes about suicide? Were you always itching to see security guards calling for security? The Katana Gang red-haired chick enriching world culture with the line "I'm going to change the trash" (!!)? Everyone in the movie getting sliced up while Matt Hannon is too busy canoodling another bimbo in a pool? Nurses randomly asking Matt Hannon if he wants to have sex with them, then belittling him for his circumcised penis? Matt Hannon pondering on whether he should make the arrest during or after the suspect has finished having sex, finally making his mind only to be stopped by a sliding door (!!!)? A beach house transforming into a house in the suburbs between takes? Well, here's your chance.

Yes, just break out the beers. I've seen quite a few no-budget schlockfests in my time but Samurai Cop stands tall among such venerable classics as Werewolf, Timechasers and American Commando - Angel's Blood Mission 2 as one of the most triumphant displays of unintentionally hilarious genius. See this if you're cool.

Disastrously hilarious

[mahedi305 · 2/10 · 28 April 2017]

It is so bad that I couldn't stop laughing the whole time while watching this. Acting was brutal, dialogue seems Cheesy, and a bit both racist and sexist. Story was filled with plot-holes and inconsistency. Most funniest scenes were the action sequences. I just kept LMAO when the action sequences were playing. Editing and cutting was awful. A single fight scene was taken in 3 different locations. On another scene, wig came off of the main character, and it was clearly visible. Color correction was bad. Screen was getting tinted with blue, purple and pink randomly. All the woman in this film seems like acting in a porn movie. They couldn't hold on to their pants for 5 minutes, after meeting with the main protagonist!!!! In every romantic scene, It felt like watching an Adult movie! Jokes were terrible and funny in the wrong way. Every film maker should watch this film to learn 'how a film shouldn't be made, ever'!

So horrible it's funny.

[Bryan_Roderick · 1/10 · 2 May 2016]

Samurai Cop

This film is ridiculous.

I mean in one scene a Chinese guy gets shot in the stomach groans, then a cut to him punching and elbowing some guy without any problems. Scene ends by a quick transition to our main characters saying "Let's go catch us some bad guys." They drive a few feet then stop and say "Let's call the helicopter."

This is only 5 minutes into the film and I'm already questioning whether or not this was a good idea. By the way the helicopter was shot at an angle so you couldn't tell if it was actually flying or not. It totally wasn't flying at all.

The car chase scenes were easily sped up to make it seem like they were traveling faster than they were. The ADR (dubbing) in the film is one of the worst I've ever seen. The director didn't feel like changing the shot of the main character at all, which led for more hilarious ducking to supposedly dodge getting shot at. At the end of the chase scene a guy catches fire for...unknown reasons. Seriously no cars were on fire. He just stopped the car and walked out on fire.

So many scenes are reused as well as voice overs. Oh by the way that car chase immediately cuts to a raunchy scene with the female supporting character that was almost laughably acted. The cop in charge of watching the burn victim seriously had a case of the what- do-I-do-with-my-hands.

I found myself smiling and laughing at how badly the film was written and the acting was almost intentionally horrible. When the burn victim is groaning in pain, I laughed throughout. I counted at least a minute worth of moaning that was not painful sounding at all.

Verdict: I wont spoil the whole movie for you. I could go on and on about how bad the film is. That being said the film is worth watching, even if it's the worst thing I've ever seen. Worse than Pixels. Unlike Pixels, I actually laughed at this film and I don't regret watching it.

This movie is a Samurai flop. Watchable. It's so bad, it's good.

[ironhorse_iv · 4/10 · 16 September 2015]

Samurai Cop has brought dishonor to buddy cop genre, because how badly, made it was. As penance, this action movie has commit seppuku. Director by Amir Shervan, this movie wasn't never released in theaters, and promptly vanished for years, after a failed attempt to find distributors in 1991. It wasn't until 2007 that a mysterious clip from the film was uploaded to Youtube, that most people became aware of this film existence. Still, the film wasn't available until 2010, when a print stored in a vault in Los Angeles was found. From that, a proper DVD was released, shedding some light on the mysterious film. In 2012, rumors of the main actor's demise, became news, but it quickly was proved false, when in 2014, the movie's top star, Matt Hannon miraculously announced that he was still alive amidst the evidence and rumors of his death. Following Matt Hannon's announcement, interest for the movie grew and people finally got to see it, like myself. This action thriller movie tells the story of Officer Joe Marshall (Matt Hannon AKA Matt Karedas) & his partner, the street wise Officer Frank Washington (Mark Frazier) on their journey to take down, a fearsome Japanese crime syndicated known as the Katana. Can 'Samurai Cop' and his buddy stop the evil drug lords from taking control of the streets of Los Angeles or will the Katana gang win out in the end? Watch the movie to find out! Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, this obscure movie has a lot of troubles, during production. First off, director Amir Shervan ran out of money during filming. While, some of the footage was shot during summer 1990, production didn't resume until months later, in 1991. By this point, Matt Hannon had cut his hair which lead to the infamous bad woman wig, being used in half of the reshoots. I like how the wig kept, falling off, during the low budget poorly choreograph sped up fight scenes with the very white, Robert Z'Dar's supposedly Japanese character, Yamashita. It's even funnier, when you find out, that the rest of the Japanese gang is made out of no name, White, Mexican & black guys. Supposedly, Joe Marshall is also supposed to be Japanese, but he looks more like a Chippendale's dancer with shoulder-length women's mullet like hair. I like how the movie states out, that he's fluent in Japanese, but can't pronounce any Japanese words. It's funny how dialogue shots were done with a single take. You can see many of times, the actors messing up their lines or having their lines redub. The movie also spouts out some of the oddly sleaziest & cheesiest exposition lines you've ever heard. The pointless horny nurse scene is infamous for this. The best part of that scene is Mark Frazier's reactions. Amir Shervan also stopped using a boom mic and did all of the secondary character's voices were loop by himself, to save money. It's funny that he badly warped the voices in post-production to try to sound different. His lack of ability to do this correctly means that some of the ADR sounds heavily robotic. It also doesn't help, that the music sounds like 8Bit Nintendo. The absurd doesn't end there. Shervan also could not afford lighting to shoot at night, so the entire film was set during the day. Since, Shervan shot at different times of the day, the movie has this awful yellow tint to it. You can really tell, which ones were the original shots, and which ones were redoes. It's pretty bad that the movie has no establishing shots. Even if they did, the interior and exterior shots don't really look alike. One of the bigger problems of the film, is the editing. The movie is full of awkward jumps cuts. The footage is so short, that it doesn't leave enough room for the editors to do anything, besides that. It's odd, how the movie always cut to nudity or near nudity, after an action piece. While, the women actresses are pretty hot in the film; they are not given much to do, besides sleep with the good guy. The promiscuous helicopter pilot was somewhat offensive. Also the movie tries to be, very serious with its brutality gory nature, but it comes off, laughable due to the cheap effects, and over-the-top acting. Another crime of the film is the misleading poster. Not once, do you get to see, what's the poster is supposedly showing in the film. Very disappointing. Anyways, this Lethal Weapon rip-off, got a Kickstarter sequel, 2015: Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance. I have yet to see it, so I don't know, if it's worth watching. Overall: I could go on and on... and on about this movie, but if I keep going on then I won't leave much for the viewer to see for themselves. This is a true experience of 'it's so bad, it's good'. There is just so much to make fun of. Lots of laughs. Worth checking out just for that.

It's as if a 10th grader wrote an action movie script...but with one treat.

[lemon_magic · 3/10 · 19 July 2017]

What struck me about "Samurai Cop" was not the lead actor's hilarious lack of a performance (he makes me miss the quiet dignity of Miles O'keefe in "Ator The Fighting Eagle"), or the porn queen level moves being presented by all the female actors, or the cheesy synth and drums score, or the "Lethal Weapon"-wanna-be fight choreography (stiff, disjointed, and unconvincing), or the half-shouted dialog that sounded as though it had been dubbed by a "Speak And Spell"..

It was how well Robert Z'Dar came off in this role compared to his parts in bilge like "Future War" and "Soul Taker".

No, I'm not kidding. I have stated elsewhere that I hate Z'Dar as an actor because he uses his acromegaly as a special effect to get cast in bit parts in terrible Sci-Fi movies. (Nothing against him personally, of course. So I guess I actually hate his casting directors.) But here...someone had the bright idea of putting a beard on him and doing something different with his make-up, and as a result, his face no longer hijacks every scene he is in. He almost looks...normal...well, like a big, muscular, physically impressive guy with a strong jaw (of course). And somehow his performance is the best I've ever seen from him. (He's completely miscast as a Japanese "hit man", of course, but that's just this movie for you.)

As for the rest of it...Pure craptastic direct-to-video aping of the action classics, with 10% of their budget and 5% of their talent. Worth seeing just to be amazed at how bad everything is. Except for Z'Dar, who also sucks, but in a way that lets you see how he could possibly deliver a good performance at some point in his life.

Greatest Terrible movie EVER!!!

[ill_bite_your_nose_off · 10/10 · 28 November 2005]

Writing this comment is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. The magnitude of this movie cannot be defined. It has it all: Japanese/Mexican Crime Lord with Mullet? Check. Guy who dies 4 different times because they didn't know enough people who wanted to be in this movie? Check. Random nurse scene with even more random clips of black partner's facial responses to nurse's comments about size of samurai cop's "sword"? Yes, that too is in it. Basically, if you ever saw a terrifically bad movie, and liked it, you will bow down to the awesome power of Amir Shervan's cinematic genius.

Smaurai Cop spares no expense. It gives you what you really want: Boobs, Racial Comments, Excessive Groping of Handgun by a Lacky, Fight scene with obvious continuity issues, Pimp Van in fast motion chase scene, Disturbingly Effeminate Waiter, 4 different samurai wigs, Matt Hannon acting, and too many other priceless moments to recount.

I am not sure how Amir got Robert Z'Dar and Gerald Okamura on this film (considering their "star power"), but thank God he did. This movie does not get the credit it deserves. It is one of cinema's greatest gems and should be recognized as such. Please, if you have watched this movie, and loved it, comment now!

Entertaining garbage.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 26 June 2014]

Joe Marshall (goofy beefcake actor Matt Hannon) is a detective trained in the ways of the samurai, and together with his affable partner Frank Washington (Mark Frazer), he goes after the many goons and thugs working for big time Japanese mobster Mr. Fujiyama.

That's about it for plot in this knowingly cheesy, sloppy, and silly martial arts action movie mess, written and directed by Amir Shervan. Obviously he knew exactly what kind of movie he was making, and just had fun with it. Often, "Samurai Cop" offers plenty of bad movie charm, as it clunks along from one inept sequence to another. The acting is hilariously, endearingly dumb across the board, with Hannon as one majorly wooden hero. Frazer has many great facial reactions. The ladies present are delicious eye candy: Melissa Moore as horny cop Peggy, Jannis Farley as leading lady Jennifer, and Krista Lane as a henchwoman. Robert Z'Dar is great fun as Yamashita, the primary henchman.

Marshall dispenses with inept bad guys left, right and centre; ultimately, the movie isn't always terribly funny, and gets a little tiresome, but it's still amusing enough to make it pleasant if not uproarious fare. It could have used some better pacing, but still delivers enough laughs for those B cinema enthusiasts looking to have a night of bad movies and beers.

Six out of 10.

Art Transcending, Awe Inspiring Masterpiece

[mantasj09 · 5/10 · 7 February 2021]

There are good films and there are bad films; and then there are bad films so bad they are actually good... and then there is 'Samurai Cop'. A film in a class of its own, standing tall like a giant, so high above other trashy cinema masterpieces that a regular movie watcher brain cannot even process all the nonsensical visual drivel he has just seen. The quality of this 'masterpiece' surpasses any expectations you might have about cheap-piece-of-juck-90s-'action'-nonsence and enters the realm of surreal. The fact that someone actually bothered to piece together this absurdity into a feature-length film is just mind blowing.

Words might fail while trying to adequately describe this phantasmagorical piece of cinematic perfection. You could write a lengthy article criticizing a terrible acting, editing or utterly ridiculous dialogues. Or the fact that the story is so much saturated with every cliche of 90s action cinema that it cannot be considered as an independent script but rather as an amalgamation of a dozen scrips borrowed from other films. Severe objectification of women and excessive voyeuristic nudity serving no purpose whatsoever might just leave you entirely speechless. And lets not dwell too much on the fact that the main character, supposedly expert in Japanese martial arts, couldn't even throw a decent round house kick, while ridiculous hand gestures he performs during various fights, make American Ninja look like a documentary quality depiction of Ninjutsu. Shot inconsistency, the main character switching from a wig to a real haircut multiple times throughout the film is just an icing on a cake.

Somehow all the critique you could master up about 'Samurai Cop' doesn't seem to make it justice. The overall result is so much worse than the sum of its negative parts that your brains just cannot rationally explain or perceive it. One thing couldn't be denied though, the film is entertaining as hell. And that's, after all, the main point of action cinema - to entertain. In that regard 'Samurai Cop' is truly a film in the class of its own.

A must for trashy film completest!

[udar55 · 10/10 · 16 April 2005]

Written and directed by one Amir Shervan, SAMURAI COP is the kind of cinema I live for. An action picture so wrong headed and mixed up that it is hard to believe anyone kept a straight face while making (or screening) it. It is a movie so bad that B-movie queen Melissa Moore leaves it off her resume to leave room for more respectable titles such as Hard to Die, Evil Spawn and The Invisible Maniac. Heck, she even thought Vampire Cop was worthy enough to put on there.

Lead Matt Hannon, apparently a onetime bodyguard for Stallone, gives an incredibly one-dimensional performance, mostly relying on his hair to convey his emotions. The problem is apparently Hannon cut his hair halfway through shooting and is forced to wear the funniest dime-store woman's wig ever during huge chunks of the film. The sheer fact that he fails to ever show a single emotion (outside of his hair) is a monumental achievement in itself. The fact that no one on set even bothered to mention this to him is even better. I guess the producers felt his tanned and chiseled body (along with the aforementioned hair) would do all the talking. But you know you have a problem when the male star's swimsuit is skimpier than his female co-star's.

Of course, his co-stars help him along by maintaining the same level of stiffness. Only Matt Frazer shows some form of life, hamming it up incredibly as Samurai's partner Frank. You can tell that director Shervan walked out of LETHAL WEAPON 2 (1989) that summer with visions of SAMURAI COP dancing in his head. Although the back and forth banter displayed here between partners consists of jokes about Frank's butt (when Samurai isn't making sexual innuendo jokes that is). Robert Z'Dar, sporting a beard and referred to as a Japanese hit-man (!), is relatively subdued when compared to his work in the same year's TANGO & CASH (has anyone tagged both ends of the film-making spectrum like that in one year?). The previously mentioned Moore and single named co-star Cameron (adult film performer Alexis Firestone) provide the requisite nudity. Interesting to see Cameron adopt a more porn sounding name for her mainstream debut. Not to be outdone, Shervan also allows B-movie vets Z'Dar and Okamura to show some skin, something I'm sure their fans have never demanded.

Laughably inept, although not without charm

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 31 May 2016]

SAMURAI COP is another hilariously inept action B-movie from the guy who brought us Killing American Style. I think Amir Shervan's earlier film has the edge in terms of out-and-out cheese and comedy, but SAMURAI COP comes a close second. The title's a misnomer, brought about because there are a couple of samurai swords in the film; otherwise this is the usual cops and robbers stuff as upstanding heroes battle gun-toting criminal gang members.

This film is so much like Killing American Style it feels like they were shot back to back: the movies share cast members and look and feel exactly the same in terms of staging, fight scenes, etc. The staging is staggeringly inept, with most scenes shot in single takes, and the acting is quite horrible. The main actor, Mathew Karedas, has a long hair style that swaps from being real to a woman's wig and back again as the story goes on (the story is that he had his hair cut short halfway through the production so had to wear a wig for the rest of the filming).

SAMURAI COP is a film that nobody can take seriously, so the best thing to do is to sit back and laugh at it. In this respect it becomes something of a gem, an example of so-bad-it's-good entertainment. As with Killing American Style, Robert Z'Dar plays in support as the chief villain. Others must have enjoyed this movie, because a sequel followed in 2014 (!).

So bad it's good? No, just BAD

[sc_mackinnon · 1/10 · 6 September 2021]

Where to begin?? This celluloid suppository never should have seen the light of day!

Sexist, bad script, bad concept, bad acting and obnoxious characters-- it's painful to watch.

The ONLY way I could watch this was with Rifftrax. I needed the laughs to get through this garbage.

"Just remember, it's not racist if it's incoherent.

"I Will Bring You His Head, And I Will Place It On Your Piano!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 15 December 2018]

In SAMURAI COP, Asian gang members start yelling at each other, right away! One of them, named Yamashita (Robert Z'Dar), begins killing other gangsters, apparently due to his awesomely enormous beard.

Enter police officer Joe Marshall (Matt Hannon), who starts off wearing my mom's old 1970's wig, before miraculously sprouting hair of his own! A cocaine deal "goes down", leading to a chase, with the cops driving the MYSTERY MACHINE from Scooby Doo! Bad guys are slaughtered like the nameless extras they are, followed by imitation sex between Marshall and his cop / Barbie girlfriend.

Meanwhile, the Asian gangsters scream at each other again, making Yamashita appear sedate by contrast. Marshall and his partner, Frank Washington (Mark Frazer) question a bloody guy in a sheet, while near-mannequins chatter mindless dialogue. Yamashita executes sheet man. Can Marshall catch Yamashita, before the streets run reddish with dayglo blood?

More dimwit dialogue is spoken by semi-sentient fungi posing as "actors", while Hannon teeters between his hippie-haired, toilet cleaner-snorting, Clint Westwood persona, and his goggle-eyed, Rambo / hamster with rotting of the brain. Oh yeah, and does he ever score with the ladies!

The "action" in this bust-a-gut symphony of ineptitude is a schlock addicts dream! Every scene is a priceless, irredeemable collection of nonsense! Not even the full frontal, female nudity can detract or distract from the beautiful, cluster-galaxy of rubbish unfolding before us!

Every fight scene is a ballet of buffoonery! Parts that are supposed to induce tension, only produce uncontrollable laugh spasms! The all-too-frequent sex scenes are like watching trees rubbing against each other in a heavy wind!

Thankfully, Marshall's wig returns, becoming a sort of character in itself. Actually the wig, in addition to being the best actor in the film, adds suspense, since we never know just when it might show up next! The Yamashita beard is a close second, taking our attention away from the boom mic shadow, during a crucial scene. The finale pits the wig against the beard, in a knock down, drag out, sword-swinging grimace fest, featuring wet sandbag punches and more grunting than at a corporate pig farm!

Yes! This is cinema!...

An interesting failure

[guskeller · 1/10 · 17 January 2022]

Samurai Cop is an interesting failure. While its intention is a buddy cop knock-off, its popularity comes from its misguided nature. Everything about Samurai Cop is blatantly terrible, but so much so that it's actually hilarious. First, the dialogue is completely bizarre. Illogical plot points are bluntly delivered, character banter is downright weird, and entire conversations are pointless. The acting doesn't help since most of the cast is uncomfortable with their alien characters, struggling to make sense of their roles. Furthermore, scenes aren't sufficiently edited, showing actors out of character because they assumed the scene concluded.

Meanwhile, Samurai Cop is plagued with further technical issues. Dialogue blares out due to faulty mics. Each camera has a different color temperature, so shots in the same scene look unrelated. Action effects are comically unconvincing, and the protagonist often wears a hysterical wig. Plus, the locations are random homes with distracting decors, clearly not set for filming. Lastly, successive shots of characters from different angles just don't match. They were obviously done in different locations. Ultimately, Samurai Cop has so many fundamental flaws, it becomes quite funny. It's a fascinating watch for anyone who is into filmmaking.

Writing: 1/10 Direction: 0/10 Cinematography: 1/10 Acting: 2/10 Editing: 1/10 Sound: 0/10 Score/Soundtrack: 2/10 Production Design: 0/10 Casting: 1/10 Effects: 1/10

Overall Score: 0.9/10.

"It means Japanese sword"

[stephenstephenbyrne · 1/10 · 10 July 2021]

This is one of the all time great bad movies and I adore it with every ounce of my being.

Waste of film

[sixhoos · 1/10 · 30 January 2020]

Junk...pure junk. Watch Riff Traxx version only. Acting so bad it's funny. Could have been better produced by a group of chimps with a video camera.

Stupid Fun

[socrates4 · 5/10 · 19 August 2019]

I cannot in good conscience give this movie high marks. The acting is uneven and over-the-top. There were a lot of decisions that the filmmakers made with this one that make you wonder what the heck they were thinking.

That being said, this movie is pure fun. It's so bad it's good, but the bad parts never make you groan or want to turn it off, which I feel is unique about this film. Even among other so-bad-it-was-good movies, there are always parts that feel utterly unwatchable. But here, the bad bits just make you laugh harder every time. Sure you have to be in the mood for this movie, but when you are it is non-stop entertainment. Recommend for those who love the very corny stuff.

Melissa Moore's "lost" film

[movieman_kev · 9/10 · 11 June 2004]

A womanizing super samurai cop and his black side-kick go after the Yakuza.This film is bad..REALLY bad, it's also pretty damn funny. Matt Hannon stars as the samurai cop who looks more like a gay poolboy in the best movie of his long varied career of one film. Robert Z'dar (Maniac Cop) is the right-hand man of the bad guy. Definately a guilty pleasure movie with it's jaw-droppingly insanely stupid dialog, the horrible "action", the unneeded flamingly gay waiter, and well you just have to see it for yourself.

My bad-movie grade: A

Media Blaster Dvd Extras: Joe Bob Brigg's intro and commentary!!! (which is GREAT); Robert Z'Dar Interview; Stills gallery;Trailers for "Sex Bomb" (which is awful), "Strike Me Deadly", "Blood Shack", and "Mission Kill Fast"

Eye Candy: ALL the main actoresses get topless and one gets fully nude

Samurai Cop is a classic for the ages.

[tarbosh22000 · 7/10 · 22 March 2011]

Attempting to describe Samurai Cop is not easy. It's like director Amir Shervan and everyone else involved made this movie without having ever seen another movie before. Only having HEARD of something called a "movie" and trying to make one themselves, sight unseen, with nothing to compare it to. Thus, Samurai Cop is chock full of non-actors giving hilarious line readings, absurd dubbing, and hacksaw editing consisting of various scenes of strange-looking people attempting to communicate with each other in ways human beings have not yet seen.

This is probably pointless, but here's the plot: the evil Katana gang is causing all sorts of trouble in the L.A. Area. Chinese and Japanese gangs are at war and there is violence everywhere. Luckily, the LAPD has an ace in the hole: Joe "Samurai" Marshall (Hannon), a long-haired, orange-skinned freak who just learned English a few weeks ago. They called him in from San Diego because of some sort of expertise in Japanese culture, hence his nifty nickname. They team him up with Frank (Frazer), presumably because of his mastery of reaction shots. Peggy (Moore, who apparently has taken this film off her resume) is a female cop helping them out, because Yamashita (the non-Japanese Z'Dar), Fujiyama (Rescober), and Gerald Okamura as...wait for it...OKAMURA are a serious gang to be reckoned with Back at the police station, the angry chief to end all angry chiefs is Captain Roma, the apoplectic but somehow lovable boss.

This movie is absolutely hilarious. The dubbing alone is worth the price of admission. Supposedly found languishing in a vault in Italy and brought to light by Italian cinephiles which led to its eventual DVD release on Media Blasters (complete with a funny Joe Bob Briggs commentary track), Samurai Cop stands alone in its charming, winning, violence-and-nudity-packed ineptitude.

But top honors must go, not to stalwarts Robert Z'Dar and Gerald Okamura, but to American hero Matt Hannon. Not credited with any other movie, and supposedly a one-time bodyguard for Sylvester Stallone, this man is amazing. Perhaps the ultimate meathead, he makes Chip Mayer look like Joe Lara, whatever that means. The fact that "Samurai" Joe Marshall is supposed to be this great womanizer is too funny. He's so unbelievably wooden, he makes the Amazon rainforest look barren. And his quasi-nudity doesn't help matters. (Nor does the quasi-nudity of Z'Dar and Okamura, but it is balanced nicely with some softcore porn-type scenes that pad out the inexplicable 96-minute running time).

Perhaps director Shervan was going for a Lethal Weapon/Miami Vice sort of thing, but the stunning lack of continuity or any sort of pacing make the movie seem like a complete absurdity, almost a surrealist film. Due to its breaking of just about every rule of filmmaking, it seems like a child made it. While watching the movie, you can't help but ask yourself "where did they find these people?" Apparently it was named Samurai Cop to cash in on the whole Z'Dar-Maniac Cop connection - but just ignore the misleading box art. Comparisons could also be made, at least in the buddy cop department, to Action USA, but Frank is no Panama, sadly. Naturally it all ends in the time-honored "final field fight" after Frank and Joe have killed all the mulleted goons around.

An awesome, one-of-a-kind movie that seems like it was made on another planet, Samurai Cop is a classic for the ages.

Possibly the most god awful example of bungled, inept action filmmaking of the 1980s

[mwilson1976 · 2/10 · 17 June 2020]

"You have the right to remain silent. Dead silent." Amir Shervan (director of Killing, American Style) was responsible for this, possibly the most god awful example of bungled, inept action filmmaking of the 1980s, and remains one of the worse films ever made. He's big. He's bad. He's got serious hair issues. He's Samurai Cop! (aka Joe Marshall, played by sun-scorched, lion-maned actor Matt Hannon, a former bodyguard for Sylvester Stallone) and he's out to bring down a Japanese crime syndicate known as the Katana Gang led by the ruthless, mullet-haired Fujiyama (Cranston Kumoro) and his number-one samurai henchman Yamashita (Maniac Cop himself Robert Z'Dar). Filmed over several months, the makers of this micro budget effort couldn't even afford lighting, so they had to shoot the the entire film during the day. The actors also had to wear their own clothes and drive their own cars, with much of it shot without sound and in single takes (that kinda explains the bemused looks on the actors faces). When he couldn't get any of the bit part actors to return post production, the director just dubbed their voices himself and warped it to sound different. It does feature B movie hotties Janis Farley and Melissa Moore stripping off, but that ain't no recommendation. Unbelievably a sequel, Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance, directed by Gregory Hatanaka, founder of Cinema Epoch, was released in 2015 with Hannon (who was rumoured to have died in the early 2000's) reprising his role.

The Godfather of bad movies

[Chance_Boudreaux19 · 10/10 · 6 January 2019]

There isn't enough praise I could lavish upon this masterpiece. It's the quintessential bad movie. I have seen a myriad of terrible movies and while some come close to the excellence of Samurai Cop (Miami Connection, Bolero, Deadly Prey etc.) nothing can ever top it. It's quite sad but I believe that no matter how many bad films I watch, nothing will ever come close to how amazing Samurai Cop is. I have seen all the other Amir Shervan movies he's made in America and whilst all of them exhibit some qualities that made Samurai Cop great, none of them are even half as good. Samurai Cop was the last movie Amir made and it seems that all the other movies were just stepping stones on the way to perfection. And so after making this gem he decided to retire, knowing that he has made a flawless film that he will be remembered for. Rest in peace Amir and thank You for giving us this gift. It will transcend generations and forever be remembered as the Godfather of bad movies.

So bad it's entertaining.

[martinpopov · 7/10 · 14 March 2016]

Alright, this movie is pretty horrible. It's horrible in so many aspects, which is honestly all of them, to the point where it's actually pretty entertaining.You can just sit there and laugh, goof after goof after goof, it never gets boring.

Okay,let me explain how horrible it is.

-Cinematography: This movie is ripe with something I like to refer to as forehead shots. There are a lot of scenes in this movie that feature a close up of a character's face. But it isn't a normal close up, rather, 40% of the screen, the distance between the top of a character's head and the top of the screen, will be nothing but empty space, meaning that your eyes will naturally center on a person's shiny polished forehead. Aside from forehead shots, we've got scenes that are filmed in different times of the day and in different places, not natural day to night/place to place transition within the story, but different places for one scene! Imagine this: Main character meets bad guy. Camera switches to bad guy. Daylight. Camera switches to hero. Nighttime and different interior. Overall video quality is poor, as in, old VHS tape poor.The video quality, for a movie that came out in 1991, is sub par.

-Audio: The music sounds like something from the Sega Genesis. Music aside, 50% of the entire audio of the movie, is dubbed in a studio.

I kid you not.

Two guys are going in a car, there is about a 50 meter distance between the camera man and the actors, and when they talk, the audio is perfectly clear. There's also a scene where 3 people have the same identical voice, saying the same identical lines.

"HEY WAIT UP I WANNA TALK YOU!". Just an example.

-Acting: The whole movie feels as if it was shot on one take.

The performance is so bad, so generic and more often than not over the top, to the point where the whole movie, turns into one big blooper. The main character, Samurai cop ( who, although the movie states he is fluent in Japanese, he can't pronounce the most basic of Japanese names even if his life depended on it), you just can't relate to him; he is a hulking mass of polished muscles, that is immune to bullets, who has no character development. In fact, all people have no character development. They are the same throughout the movie.

There are plenty gun fights in the movie, and whenever somebody dies, the death scenes are really, really exaggerated, and if you pause and look at the "wounds" ,there are no bullet wounds, no ripped cloth or anything, it's just ketchup.

The two main characters, Samurai Cop and his buddy, look a lot like the duo from Lethal Weapon, and I mean a lot.

-Story: Well, the story is about two detectives investigating a Japanese crime gang, who for some reason, have only one Japanese member, and that's the main boss. Well, they don't do much investigating. In fact, half of the movie is just filler. As in super long needless sex scene filler. ( For some strange reason, the sex scenes are the ONLY part of the movie where the cinematography is okay.). The plot is so simple, linear, and underdeveloped, to the point where there is no plot at all. The film makers knew it, it'll become obvious within the final 20 minutes of the movie; it's like the director said " You know what? We've got nothing, might as well make them go on a rampage and kill everybody. Because that's what normal people do".

-Other things to consider: It's offensive to women. The vast majority of female characters, and I mean literally the vast majority, are portrayed as sex objects, nothing more.

The poster for the movie, at least the original one, bears heavy similarity to a previous movie poster called Maniac Cop. It's also worth nothing that the two movies shares the same main actor, Robert Z'Dar. I've come to believe that Samurai Cop tried to leech of the popularity of Maniac Cop, which came 3 years earlier.

And that's pretty much it. It's horrible, but it's so horrible, you can laugh at it.

He's a cop and a samurai, he's samurai cop!

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 24 April 2020]

This film is a bit of a ripoff of Lethal Weapon if I had to compare it to something. A completely off the wall version of Lethal Weapon, even more so than actual Lethal Weapon parody Loaded Weapon! At times it almost seems like it is a parody, I mean no police chief would sanction a bloodbath and act like the one here does. The action is a bit confusing at times as the shootouts are the type where you cannot tell where everyone is in relationship to one another and at times they fight with swords as they have to justify that samurai in the title. Still, while not a good film, it was strangely entertaining too.

The story, Joe is a special police officer who was trained in Japan. He is on loan from San Diego to stop a ruthless Japanese guy who runs an organization called the katana, though strangely this right hand man is not Japanese, but rather Robert Z'Dar, who looks pretty cool with a beard. Seriously, dude should have sported one more often. Well, they have multiple clashes with said gang and surprisingly the Japanese mob type guy cannot hire really good assassins, but rather dudes who look like they should be backup dancers in music videos from the 80's; meanwhile, Joe falls for a girl that the Japanese guy likes!

The movie would have been better had we had a less dorky looking hero. Dude looks like he is wearing a wig and we have to witness him in a speedo! His partner just stands around and shoots people before Joe has a chance to fight them and does half hearted quips. Z'Dar though, is taking the role deadly serious and therefore comes out ahead quite nicely. I was actually rooting for him during that last fight!

So, the film is a bit campy and cheesy, but I would definitely put it in the so bad it is good category. I mean, at one point you get to see a guy's arm chopped off so yeah it has its awesome moments! It is also just too insane to be good and the shootouts near the end totally suck because you literally cannot tell who is shooting who. They also really display this fat dude in a t-shirt being killed as he gets shot, tries to aim his gun, gets shot again and then falls so softly. Basically, though, you will not be bored and you will enjoy yourself as you watch this poor Lethal Weapon imitation scamper across the screen!