Furious (1984) by Tim Everitt and Tom Sartori

Director: Tim Everitt, Tom Sartori

Year: 1984

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Kung-Fu/Martial Arts

Plot:

Living in a rural society, a group of martial arts heroes are concerned that a prophet detailing the end of the world is coming soon when a series of storyline issues prove true. Forced to deal with the various interdimensional beings and creatures threatening the universe, they band together with several other like-minded individuals to save the universe and stop their evil plans.

Review:

This was a fairly fun if somewhat problematic kung-fu fantasy. The film’s positives are mainly centered pretty exclusively on the martial arts and action scenes here as the sheer lunacy of what’s going on makes for a never-ending series of setpieces to come about. The extended opening featuring the hunters chasing the lone woman through their desert landscape where the martial arts skills of both the pursuing cavepeople and the lone fighter trying to take them out allows for a highly enjoyable start to this one. Later scenes featuring the group training for their usual round of studies, going through the first battles with the henchmen throughout the city or in nearby forests feature some silly yet still energetic fighting displaying some quite engaging and likable choreography despite the featured silliness. It keeps the film moving well enough that there’s a lot of fun to be had here, especially with the flimsy effects and hilariously bad dubbing to all provide the appropriately goofy old-school fun and charm.

That said, trying to make sense of anything else in this one is an absolutely trying case with there not being much else going for it.  As mentioned, the series of goofy and silly special effects make for a truly cheesy experience here trying to make use of the supernatural powers on display as people are thrown around with reckless abandon, turn into various creatures, or wield unnatural abilities that are accomplished in a low-fi manner which rely more on enthusiasm and charm than technical merit. That’s also the case with the wild storyline that makes very little sense, featuring people from different dimensions and planes of existence fighting each other over the use of various powers to the point of ensuring the villains don’t have the objects needed to control the universe. It’s all head-scratching how anything going on here connects to anything or feels like anything more than just being made up on the spot to have some fun which is a feeling that may or may not win over the audience here.

Overview: ***/5

A charming and generally amusing low-budget martial arts effort, this one comes off incredibly well if you’re fine with the issues on display which have an impact on how the film is received. Those with an appreciation for this kind of genre fare, aren’t bothered by the issues on display, or are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here while most others out there should heed caution.