Review of Hot Potato (1976) by Ryan V — 01 Feb 2016
A Thai warlord (Sam Hiona), looking to prevent American foreign aid from hobbling his dictatorial influence, has kidnapped the daughter of an influential senator. To rescue her, the top brass send in a karate commando (Jim Kelly), his two mercenary buddies (George Memmoli & Geoffrey Binney), and a local navigator/martial arts master (Irene Tsu).
Hot Potato has lots of slapsticky fight scenes and writer/director Oscar Williams makes ample use of Thailand's beautiful landscapes in his location shoots, but this movie suffers from awkward sound editing and pacing issues.
Its main problem, however, is that the movie's many attempts at "humor" come off as tired, labored, draggy, and obnoxious (George Memmoli's Rhino character gets especially grating after a while).
I can definitely see how Hot Potato could've wound up as enjoyable as some of Jim Kelly's other martial arts films, but only the most generous fans of grindhouse cheese will be able to overlook the faults in this movie.
This review of Hot Potato (1976) was written by Ryan V on 01 Feb 2016.
Hot Potato has generally received negative reviews.
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