Bullet Points: My Samurai

I was completely oblivious to the existence of 1992’s My Samurai until it was announced as one of the titles announced last year as part of the MVD Rewind Collection.

Now there have been plenty of titles in the MVD Rewind Collection that I’ve immediately pre-ordered like Angel Town, Black Eagle, Double Impact and Showdown. But after researching My Samurai, I couldn’t justify pulling the trigger on a movie I never heard of.

But you throw My Samurai up on a free streaming service like Tubi and I am all in…

• Taekwondo Kid: Peter McCrea (John Kallo) plays the reluctant and rebellious student of Taekwondo instructor Young Park (Julian Lee). Peter’s father, James McCrea (Terry O’Quinn, Blind Fury) signed Peter up for the classes to make a man out of him… but all it has done at this point is added to Peter’s resentment of his father. Since his mother passed, Peter’s dad has not been the most attentive father, more often than not putting his work before his home life. Prime example, James has to go to Los Angeles for an important business trip, so he calls his assistant Deborah Martin (Lynne Hart) and instructs her to pick up Peter from school, take him to his Taekwondo class and stay with Peter until he gets back from his trip.

• Dirty Dealers: Things aren’t exactly hunky dory for the villainous side of the equation in My Samurai either. Gary Sinton, a member of Mr. Tszing’s criminal empire is looking to branch out and do his own thing. Gary tries to convince Venkman, a dirty cop on Tszing’s payroll, to join him on this venture. Venkman instead rats out Gary the traitor to Mr. Tszing (Mako, P.O.W. the Escape)… which leads to Gary having to face the music and Tszing’s arsenal of goons, each with their own unique fighting style.

• Wrong Place, Wrong Time: We cut back to Peter at his Taekwondo class, Sensei Park is doing his best to get through to the frustrated young man…. but Peter ends up storming out of the studio and goes outside to cool off and clear his head. And that’s when it happens… Peter walks by just as Tszing’s goons and dirty cop Venkman are dumping Gary’s corpse in a trash dumpster. Peter doesn’t think much of it and as far as he knows they were just throwing out some trash… but the bad guys don’t know that so Venkman runs after Peter and catches up with the teenager in the lobby of Park’s Taekwondo school, where he pulls a gun on Peter, Sensei Park and Deborah with intentions of killing all three of them… but Park leaps into action and it is Venkman who ends up dead. Deborah calls the police, but that call is interrupted when Tszing’s goons come looking for Venkman. Park once again steps up and fends off the goons and the trio of Park, Peter and Deborah soon find themselves on the run from Tszing’s goons and the dirty cops on Tszing’s payroll.

• White Knight: Our heroes then find themselves hiding out in a seedy motel after being blackmailed by a hooker. After their motel stay leads to another skirmish with Tszing’s fighters, Park, Peter and Deborah are wandering the streets in what appears to be the less than desirable part of town… it is in fact the turf of a wig wearing gang known as Birds of Paradise. Fortunately for our heroes, Reverend George (Bubba Smith, Drifting School) intervenes on their behalf, giving them safe haven in his mission. The Reverend reaches out to James McCrea and is able to reunite James and Peter. Happy ending time? Not quite… we still have to deal with the drama of Park being shot and a father/son trip to a cabin in the woods that serves as the backdrop for the movie’s finale.

My Samurai felt like it found a copy of Ng See-yuen’s Seasonal Films playbook, but didn’t have the talent needed to execute the plays. There was definite potential but everything felt off… most notably the performance of John Kallo (My Samurai was John’s first and last acting gig) and the fight scenes. I don’t know much about Julian Lee and his martial arts background but the fight scenes were clunky and uninspired.

My Samurai is a “one and done” for me. But I do wonder if I had I seen this film back during its initial release if My Samurai would hold a special place in my heart.

There is most definitely a special place in my heart for Bonus Bullet Points…

• Prophetic: With only $37 to their name and needing to change their appearance so they don’t match the description on the APB, young Peter is tasked with going to a thrift store and getting a change of clothes for himself, Deborah and Young. The outfit Peter selects for Deborah, makes he look like a “working girl”. Lynne Hart’s only other acting role after playing Deborah was playing Hooker #3 in a Perry Mason TV Movie.
• Mile High: My Samurai was shot in Denver, Colorado
• Misnomer: The title of the movie makes little sense when you consider that Samurai were a part of Japanese culture and Young Park is Korean.
• Most Hated: With dirty cops, career criminals and gang members running amok in My Samurai, the most hated character is easily Deborah’s fiance, Rick the lawyer. Rick is the first person Deborah reaches out to for help and he refuses, fearing he’ll be disbarred if he is caught aiding and abetting three fugitives. Spoiler Alert: Deborah and Rick do not live happily ever after.