- editor rating
-
2.5
- user rating
- flags
-
- Violence
- Not For Children
- Profanity
- genres
- sub-genres
- category
- Feature
- directed by
- released
- 1975
- run time
- 82 min.
- produced by
- Simitar Entertainment
(1975)
2.5
Mark Deming
The opening and closing credits to Force: IV (also known as Force Four and available on video as Black Force) proudly point out the belt rankings of all the martial artists who appear in the film, with most of the major players a multiple-degree black belt while even a good share of the extras rank reasonably high on the scale. It's a shame the folks behind the camera weren't as skillful at their trade as the people on screen; Force: IV is a lamentably executed action picture, with poorly staged fight scenes, pointlessly overlong montages, clumsy dialogue, choppy editing and wooden acting throughout. While the cast clearly knows their stuff when it comes to martial arts, the fight scenes are shot and edited with no eye towards excitement, and the cast seems more interested in displaying the fine points of technique than doing something that's going to look good on screen. Nearly everyone appearing in this film was obviously cast for their black belts and not their thespian abilities -- though the script doesn't give the cast much to work with, no one is especially good with dialogue and many seem uncomfortable when they're not inflicting a karate chop. The picture looks cheap and slapdash throughout, with too much reliance of shaky handheld camerawork. And any elite security and investigation team that cracks a case by literally asking anyone they see on the street about a robbery seems a bit short on innovative detective methods. Force: IV often looks like a glorified home movie whipped up by members of a karate club with a few grand to spare, and while it might have made a nice calling card for the folks involved, it's not likely to impress anyone else.
Black Force on AllMovie
Black Force (1975)
