Bullet Points: Karate Cop (1991)

Frequenting the video store multiple times a week and renting action movies was not an uncommon occurrence for me in the 1990’s. Watching and reviewing action movies from the 1990’s in the present day is also not an uncommon occurrence for me.

So between my own life experience and my work here at Bulletproof Action you could probably understand how I could assume that this point in my life I have seen every actor or actress who attempted to be a direct to video action star in the Golden Era of Direct to Video action.

Then one day I stumbled upon a movie titled Karate Cop starring Ron Marchini and my assumption made an ass out of me.

I had less than zero knowledge of who Ron Marchini was before watching Karate Cop so I did some research. I learned that Ron Marchini is a competitive martial artist from way back. He actually competed against Chuck Norris in 1964. In fact Chuck’s first karate championship came at the expense of Marchini.

Like many martial artists, Marchini would dabble in movies. Marchini’s first film was 1974’s Murder in the Orient. He followed that up with Death Machines in 1976, but then Marchini would not be seen in another movie until Dragon’s Quest in 1983.

Dragon’s Quest would be the first in a steady stream of movies starring Ron Marchini in the 1980’s and into the 1990’s including 1991’s Karate Cop…

• The Premise: John Travis (Ron Marchini) is the last cop on Earth in a dystopian future, so it is extremely fortunate when Rachel (Carrie Chambers) runs into John as she is being pursued by Snaker (Michael Bristow) and members of his gang. After John saves the damsel in distress, Rachel wants to repay him so she offers John a warm meal back at her place. But Rachel has ulterior motives after seeing how well John handled himself in the fight. Rachel wants to hire John to retrieve a special crystal that can power a transport machine that will allow Rachel and the army of children that live with her known as The Freebies out of the shithole they find themselves stuck in. John is reluctant to accept the challenge at first, but when Snaker shows up with his boss Lincoln (D.W. Landingham) and they capture and kill one of The Freebies… that seals the deal for John, so he hops on his motorcycle and he is off to find the crystal before Lincoln and his minions get their grubby hands on it.

• The Pacing: Karate Cop seems to be on fast forward from start to finish. I’m not sure if it was a sign that they were making the plot up as they went along or that they realized that the movie was not very good so they kept things moving in hopes the audience would not notice how bad things really were. John’s quest for the crystal lasted all of 10 minutes. In any other movie that would probably be the entire second act but not Karate Cop. In any other movie an object of such amazing power would also have been heavily guarded but not Karate Cop. There were but a scant few on guard detail, which would explain how John was able to retrieve it so easily I suppose.

• The Budget: After Travis gets out of the building that was housing the crystal, he realizes his motorcycle has been stolen. He wanders over to the nearest town, Jackass Junction, and finds a local watering hole known as Dad’s. The bar is filled with the type of unsavory characters you would expect to find in a movie about a dystopian future and in a town called Jackass Junction. The proprietor of the establishment, Dad, is played by David Carradine. Carradine’s performance here outclassed everyone by a country mile… not exactly high praise, but praise none the less. I don’t know this for sure so I’m going to assume (I’ll never learn) that David Carradine’s fee for participating in this one scene of the movie was the biggest part of the budget. It was money well spent in my opinion. So John Travis gets into the obligatory bar fight (which he easily wins) and gets his motorcycle back and heads back to Rachel. But while John was retrieving the crystal, Rachel was busy being kidnapped by the evil Lincoln. Lincoln wants to trade Rachel for the crystal, but then alters the deal when he forces John to face his champion. Lincoln’s champion does not have an actual name, he is simply credited as “Lincoln’s champion” (because it would have been difficult to give him an actual name I guess). Lincoln’s champion looks like a poor man’s Shredder and was portrayed by Michael M. Foley. You may remember Foley from movies like Pushed to the Limit, Desert Kickboxer or as Tracer on WMAC Masters.

If you are looking for a quality action movie, I’d avoid Karate Cop. If you are looking for a bad action movie that you can laugh at and not hate yourself for watching, I’d highly recommend Karate Cop.

As for Ron Marchini, after watching Karate Cop I know why I never heard of him before and I know why he had to wear a hat through out most of the movie (nice bald spot!) Other than David Carradine there was only one other performance that really stood out for me and that was Michael Bristow’s work as Snaker. Bristow delivered Snaker’s lines like a less refined Cobra Commander while wearing a Richard Lynch mask. That’s a face you aren’t going to forget…

Speaking of unforgettable, there is no way I would forget to include some Bonus Bullet Points…

• The Continuing Story: Karate Cop was actually the second time Marchini portrayed John Travis. The first came a year earlier in Omega Cop. Omega Cop also starred Adam West and Troy Donahue.
• AKA: Given the fact that Karate Cop was a sequel to Omega Cop, the working title for the film was Omega Cop II: The Challenge… The movie was released as Dragon Cop in France.
• The Name Game Part One: Martial Law II: Undercover starring Jeff Wincott and Cynthia Rothrock was released under the title Karate Cop in the United Kingdom.
• Safety First: I like the fact that despite putting himself in harm’s way multiple times during the course of Karate Cop’s 90 minute runtime, that John Travis still uses the hand rail when going up and down the stairs.
• Disturbing Quote: “I wonder if the rest of him is as big and ugly.”
• Wrasslin’ Tonight: Lincoln’s bleached blonde hair with dark beard made him look like a pro wrestler from the south in the 1980’s… Eric Embry anyone?
• The Name Game Part Two: 1991’s Karate Cop should not be confused with 1974’s Karate Cop featuring an early movie appearance by Chuck Norris, the man who whipped Ron Marchini’s ass.