''Death Force'' (also known as ''Vengeance Is Mine'') is a 1978 martial arts

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

directed by Cirio H. Santiago and written by Howard R. Cohen. The film is an international co-production of the Philippines and the United States, and stars

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president ...

actor James Iglehart alongside

Carmen Argenziano Carmen Antimo Argenziano (October 27, 1943February 10, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 73 movies and around 100 television movies or episodes. He was best known for playing Jacob Carter on ''Stargate SG-1''. He had recurring role ...

Leon Isaac Kennedy Leon Isaac Kennedy (born June 1, 1948 or January 1, 1949) (sources differ) is an American actor, disc jockey, film producer and playwright. Kennedy's acting roles include Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone in Jamaa Fanaka's ''Penitentiary'' (1979), '' Pe ...

, and

Jayne Kennedy Jayne Kennedy Overton (née Harrison; born October 27, 1951) is an American television personality, actress, model, corporate spokeswoman, producer, writer, public speaker, philanthropist, and sports broadcaster. Personal life Jayne Kennedy g ...

. Iglehart plays Doug Russell, a veteran of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

turned gold smuggler who is left for dead by his partners and, after being trained to wield a

samurai sword A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

by a Japanese soldier, seeks revenge on those who betrayed him. Iglehart's real son,

James Monroe Iglehart James Monroe Iglehart (born September 4, 1974) He met his wife Dawn in the Mt. Eden High School Mt. Eden High School is a public high school in Hayward, California, United States, founded in 1960. It is part of the Hayward Unified School ...

appears briefly as Jimmy Russell, Doug's infant son.

Cast

* James Iglehart as Doug Russell *

as Morelli *

as McGee *

as Maria Russell * Jose Mari Avellana *

Joonee Gamboa Joonee Gamboa (born Jose Espineli Gamboa Jr.; August 7, 1936) is a Filipino actor. As veteran actor, he appeared in more than 145 movies and television shows. Life and career Gamboa won the Best Supporting Actor in the 1977 Metro Manila Film F ...

as Jimmy Russell * Armando Federico as Rico *

Darnell Garcia Darnell Garcia is a former martial arts champion, author, actor and former DEA agent. At one stage in his martial arts career he was rated 7th in the United States. He had roles in the martial arts films '' Enter the Dragon'', '' Black Belt Jones ...

as Hitman * Vic Diaz as Chinaman

Premise

American soldiers Doug Russell ( James Iglehart), McGee (

) and Morelli (

) serving in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

are selling gold bars on the

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the ...

. Upon their arrival stateside Morelli convinces McGee to betray Russell. Believing that they killed Russell, Morelli and McGee begin taking over the criminal underworld in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. Meanwhile, Russell washes up on a beach of a

Pacific Island Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one ...

. There he is discovered by two surviving Japanese soldiers who have been on the Island since before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The senior officer decides to teach Russell the ways of

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

sword fighting. After healing up and learning all the knowledge to defeat his enemies Russell heads to Los Angeles. He finds his family is gone and his enemies are now in charge of all crime in the city. Russell begins dismantling Morelli and McGee's

crime syndicate Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally tho ...

one member at a time. Once Russell exacts revenge against Morelli and McGee he is reunited with his wife Maria (

) and son Jimmy (

Home media

In September 2013, ''Death Force'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Vinegar Syndrome Cellulose acetate film, or safety film, is used in photography as a base material for photographic emulsions. It was introduced in the early 20th century by film manufacturers and intended as a safe film base replacement for unstable and highly ...

as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with the 1978 film ''Vampire Hookers'', which was also directed by Santiago. In June 2014, ''Death Force'' was released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

in Germany by Subkultur Entertainment.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0076024, title=Death Force 1978 action films 1978 films 1978 martial arts films 1970s exploitation films American action films American martial arts films American exploitation films Films about Filipino Americans Philippine action films Philippine martial arts films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Cirio H. Santiago 1970s American films