Samurai Cop
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''Samurai Cop'' is a 1991 American
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
written, coproduced and directed by Amir Shervan and starring
Robert Z'Dar Robert James Zdarsky (June 3, 1950 – March 30, 2015), better known by his stage name Robert Z'Dar, was an American character actor and film producer, best known for his role as officer Matt Cordell in the cult horror film ''Maniac Cop'' (1988) ...
, Matt Hannon and Mark Frazer. It has attained a
cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
.


Plot

When a renegade Japanese gang known as the Katana take control of the
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
trade in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, the
LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
transfer in a "samurai" policeman from the SDPD to help tackle the problem. Joe Marshall has been trained by the masters in Japan and “speaks fluent Japanese”, but dresses like a commoner. An attempted bust meets with failure after a bizarre car chase leads to multiple deaths and the only witness burned and unable to testify. Katana boss Fuj Fujiyama orders the injured Katana member to be executed and his head displayed on a piano to remind all remaining Katana members of their
code of silence A code of silence is a condition in effect when a person opts to withhold what is believed to be vital or important information voluntarily or involuntarily. The code of silence is usually followed because of threat of force or danger to onese ...
. Joe and his partner Frank confront the Katana at the
Carlos'n Charlie's Carlos'n Charlie's is a chain of casual dining Mexican restaurants, primarily located in Mexican and Caribbean tourist destinations. ''Carlos'' is Carlos Anderson, founder of Grupo Anderson's, who died in a 1990 plane crash, and ''Charlie'' is ...
restaurant on
Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...
and attempt to reprimand them into obeying the law. When that fails, Fujiyama's right-hand man Yamashita wages war in the parking lot, executing his own men who fail to subdue Joe and Frank, thus maintaining the code of silence. Joe eventually seduces Fujiyama's girlfriend Jennifer and they become intimate while several of his police comrades are tortured and killed by the Katana gang who are looking for him, and Fujiyama kidnaps Jennifer out of revenge. Unable to contain his anger any longer, commanding officer Captain Rohmer sanctions an assassination of every single Katana gang member. Joe and Frank head to Fujiyama's compound and gun down every living person and a final sword battle between Joe and Yamashita ends the Katanas' reign of terror. At the end, Joe and Jennifer embrace again on the beach.


Cast

* Mathew Karedas as Joe Marshall (credited as Matt Hannon) *
Robert Z'Dar Robert James Zdarsky (June 3, 1950 – March 30, 2015), better known by his stage name Robert Z'Dar, was an American character actor and film producer, best known for his role as officer Matt Cordell in the cult horror film ''Maniac Cop'' (1988) ...
as Yamashita * Mark Frazer as Frank Washington * Cranston Komuro as Fuj Fujiyama * Janis Farley as Jennifer *
Gerald Okamura Gerald Okamura (born 1940) is an American actor, martial artist, and stuntman, known for appearing in numerous action films. He has acted in both mainstream blockbusters like ''Big Trouble in Little China'' and B-movies such as ''Samurai Cop''. ...
as Okamura * Dale Cummings as Captain Rohmer * Melissa Moore as Peggy * Jimmy Williams as Officer Carter


Production

The film moved swiftly into production, within a week of Amir Shervan and ex-
Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
bodyguard Matt Hannon's first meeting. Upon walking into Shervan's office for the first time, Matt Hannon was told that he was perfect and was immediately handed the full script to the film. Despite the film being titled ''Samurai Cop'', Hannon had no experience with weapons training, and all of his formal practice would be classified as
MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...
. As a result of Hannon's lack of experience and Shervan's inability to direct, all of the combat scenes were choreographed by martial arts expert Gerald Okamura, or were planned out by the actors themselves, sometimes only fifteen minutes before the scene in question was filmed. Filming took place over several months, starting in June 1990. When actor Hannon had considered shooting to be finished, he had his hair cut short, only to be told that further shooting was to be done. Director Shervan obtained a lady's wig for the actor, which can be seen in several close up shots throughout the film. Lead actor Hannon stated that he and several other actors became frustrated with the dialogue in the film, while also expressing frustration at the lack of multiple takes. Hannon admitted to intentionally ruining takes due to his frustration, assuming that Shervan would not put them in the film, but these takes ended up in the film. A reflective Hannon was able to laugh at this, stating "so shame on me" in a 2014 interview with
Red Letter Media Red Letter Media, LLC is an American film and video production company operated by independent filmmakers Mike Stoklasa, Jay Bauman, and Rich Evans. It was formed by Stoklasa in 2004 while he was living in the Scottsdale section of Ashburn, Chicag ...
. The shooting schedule was also poorly planned as Hannon and Mark Frazer both assumed the film was finished before Shervan called them in for reshoots in early 1991. Amir Shervan could not afford lighting to shoot at night so the entire film is set during the day. Shervan also only had access to a handful of prop firearms, with the same
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and
Smith & Wesson Model 15 The Smith & Wesson Model 15, initially the Smith & Wesson K-38 Combat Masterpiece, is a six-shot double-action revolver with adjustable open sights produced by Smith & Wesson on the medium-size "K" frame. It is chambered for the .38 Special car ...
revolvers reappearing in the hands of multiple characters, whereas Joe's
Taurus PT92 The Taurus PT92 is a double action/single action, double-stack-magazine fed, short recoil-operated, semi-automatic 9mm pistol manufactured by Taurus in the Beretta factory in São Paulo, Brazil. History In 1974, a large contract for the Bere ...
pistol is exclusive to a single character. Actors also wore their own clothes and drove their own cars. Much of the film was shot without sound and done with single takes. Shervan had to dub voices months after production but could not get many of the bit part actors to return. Choosing to use his own voice, he warped it in post-production to sound different. His lack of ability to do this correctly resulted in ADR with a heavily robotic sound. Both lead actors, Hannon and Frazer, also supplied much of the voice over in the looping process. Hannon has stated in an interview with
Red Letter Media Red Letter Media, LLC is an American film and video production company operated by independent filmmakers Mike Stoklasa, Jay Bauman, and Rich Evans. It was formed by Stoklasa in 2004 while he was living in the Scottsdale section of Ashburn, Chicag ...
that, "Amir did about 80% of the ADR voices." During these ADR sessions, Amir would film much of the necessary pick up shots, all from within the office. This is why many of the inserts of Frazer and Hannon in the film seem to be shot from the same corner of an office, which doesn't match with the rest of the location for any given scene.


Release

Director/Producer Amir Shervan took the film to the American Film Market (AFM) in the hopes of finding a distributor to buy the final product and give it a proper release. The film was never given a proper theatrical release; however, Polish distributor Demel International Corporation released it in Europe on VHS. It was released on DVD by
Media Blasters Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American mar ...
in 2004 and on DVD in 2013 and Blu-ray in 2014 by Cinema Epoch. There were rumors that the initial released cut of ''Samurai Cop'' was a print that had been found in a castle.
Gregory Hatanaka Gregory Hatanaka is an American independent filmmaker and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California. Career Hatanaka is the founder of film distribution and production company Cinema Epoch and Cineridge Entertainment. He first became ...
, the founder of Cinema Epoch, and the one who owns the rights to the initial ''Samurai Cop'' film, claimed that this story was only partially true. The original 35mm print of the film was discovered by an employee of Hatanaka's in a vault that was specifically meant to store reels of film and preserve them. It was assumed that Shervan had stored the print for ''Samurai Cop'' as well as a few of his other films in this vault where they were happened upon by chance.


Reception and legacy

The film gained a following and achieved cult classic status due to its unintentional humor. On March 25, 2016, ''Samurai Cop'' was released as a VOD title by RiffTrax. The RiffTrax edition received a two-day theatrical release in April 2017, provided by
Fathom Events Fathom Events is an entertainment content provider that broadcasts entertainment events in movie theaters throughout the United States, including Metropolitan Opera Live in HD, the performing arts, major sporting events, and music concerts. The ...
.


Sequel

Gregory Hatanaka Gregory Hatanaka is an American independent filmmaker and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California. Career Hatanaka is the founder of film distribution and production company Cinema Epoch and Cineridge Entertainment. He first became ...
, founder of Cinema Epoch, produced and directed a sequel, '' Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance'', which was released in 2015. It was revealed in a ''Vice'' interview that the lead actor of ''Samurai Cop'', Mathew Karedas, (who is credited as Matt Hannon) was believed by many fans of the cult hit to have been dead for two years.


References


External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, samurai_cop
RiffTrax treatment on official YouTube channel
1991 direct-to-video films 1991 action films 1990s buddy cop films 1990s crime action films American buddy cop films American crime action films American direct-to-video films American independent films 1990s English-language films Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles American martial arts films Yakuza films American exploitation films 1991 films Japan in non-Japanese culture 1990s American films Films about organized crime in the United States English-language crime action films English-language thriller films English-language buddy comedy films