The Tattoo Connection (1978)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Excellent but underrated film

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Things get off to a cracking start in this when a Chinese guy walks casually over to a jeep full of thugs and after giving them some haughty lip (comprising some truly priceless dialogue!), gives them a fine ass whooping! So sets the standard for this ostensibly unrelated sequel to the original Robert Clouse directed blaxploitation classic. The awesomely cool Jim Kelly appears here as an ex CIA operative named Lucas who's mission is to retrieve a priceless diamond that has been stolen by an underworld gang.Yep, as you can probably guess, plenty of kung fu action, prolific nudity and some gems of dialogue inevitably ensue as our ultra cool hero pursues his objective.Whilst an enjoyable enough affair in its own right, it has to be said that this sadly not a patch on the original film. Nonetheless, Kelly is on good form (although sadly dubbed!) and there's enough action to keep ones attention throughout. Best of all though, there are a plethora of unintentionally hilarious scenes on offer all backed by some super groovy seventies music! How much cooler can you get?! Hell, it's enough to make one yearn to don seventies fashion, grow an afro, take to the streets and administer a major ass kicking to societies vermin!

Tattoo Connection is a cheap exploitation film featuring several veterans of kung fu cinema's glory days. Overall the film is horrible, filled with gratuitous nudity and bad acting, but there are a few nice fight sequences from the veteran cast.The bright spot of the film is Dorian Tan (Tao-liang Tan). Tan stared in such films as "The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious" and John Woo's "Hand of Death," and also tutored kung fu star John Liu (Secret Rivals, Incredible Kung Fu Mission)in the martial arts. Tan gives an excellent physical performance in the film, featuring his trademark Taekwondo high kicks.Tan plays a very unbelievable villain because there is something about him that always looks honorable and righteous. Jim Kelly (Enter the Dragon, Black Belt Jones) the international middleweight karate champ, proves again that he is a terrible actor but a decent martial artist. He gives perhaps one of the strongest martial arts performances of his career in this film.Sing Chen veteran of such films as Sammo Hung's "Iron Fisted Monk" and "New Fist of Fury" plays the villain. Sing Chen is famous for his muscular build and impressive martial arts skills. At the film's climax he faces down with both Dorian Tan and Jim Kelly in a nicely choreographed fight sequence before he meets his demise. Bolo Yeung plays a henchman and has a few funny scenes. Also making appearances in the film are Lee Hoi Sang (Magnificent Butcher, Shaolin Master Killer), Sham Chin-bo (Master of the Flying Guillotine, Secret Rivals 2), and a young Wong Yat-fei (Shaolin Soccer).Dorian Tan would go on to make more films with director Lee Tso Nam including "Challenge of Death" and "The Leg Fighters." Kelly would go on to pursue a career in pro tennis. This film features many veterans of the kung fu movie world but unfortunately they put together a film that is average at best. The weak plot, ridiculous nude scenes and politically incorrect statements weaken this film quite a bit but the above average fight scenes (especially the ones featuring Tan) make Tattoo Connection one of the best of the blaxsploitation/martial arts films.Martial Arts Rating: 7/10 Over All Rating: 5/10

A friend of mine picked up this "gem" from one of those $2 DVD bins at the local supermarket. I was somewhat interested in seeing it, after all I did enjoy "Enter the Dragon" and wanted to see some more of Jim Kelly and Bolo Yeung. This flick falls short of the mark, but I can't quite put my finger on why. The dubbing is bad, the camera work is poor, and the script is extremely predictable (all of these things I expect from a cheesy kung fu movie), but there seems to be something missing from this piece of celluloid. It may be that between the ass beatings, utterly pointless nudity, and wah-a-chicka music there's not much substance. The plot is that there's a diamond heist in Hong Kong by a gang (they all have the same tattoo, hence the title). Lucas (Jim Kelly) is called in by the insurance company to track down the diamond. Lucas seems to keep finding that his leads are killed off before he can get all the information that he needs. The other aspect of the story revolves around one of the gang members and his internal struggle with his loyalty to his boss and escaping the gangster life with his girlfriend. Still the whole thing seemed to be thrown together kind of haphazardly. There are some good lines, decent kung fu action, and naked girls, but it still seems to lack something. The times between the action are really boring.

Jim Kelly stars in this action packed kung fu extravaganza of a movie. In a time when kung fu cinema was more abundant in Hong Kong than rice, The Tattoo Connection was just another export of the time. The cinema in Hong Kong at the time did not even touch Hollywood, in terms of actual film quality, with a ten foot pole. However, the kung fu movies from Hong Kong had a big leg up over the States in terms of fight choreography. Under the fight choreography of Bruce Liang, The Tattoo Connection shone out like a bright beacon of Hong Kong cinema. Punch for kick, the fight sequences in this movie were absolutely awesome. Back when the genre of kung fu movies was an accepted category, there were two basic kinds: those taking place in the 70's and 80's, and those taking place in feudal Japan and China. Every movie, regardless of when it took place has the same basic stereotypes and formulas. The bad guy boss, and his henchmen, the bad guy turned good, the hero, and the two faced 'good guy'. This movie was no exception, it filled all of these categories, however the main bad guy does not have any odd deformities like so many of them did (but he did wear sunglasses). However, unlike every other kung fu movie, this was not a revenge story. Most kung fu movies the protagonist is seeking revenge on the bad guy boss for something that happened during his childhood. This story stands alone in a very unique way, the protagonist (Jim Kelly, Enter The Dragon, The Black Samurai) is a hired man, seeking the return of some stolen diamonds for an American insurance company. From a technical aspect, the movie does not offer much. There are bright colours, usually lacking in Kung Fu movies, and the uses of extreme close ups are way overdone. The sound in the movie was, well, less than par is a nice way of putting it. It was poorly dubbed, and Jim Kelly's character's voice is dubbed by another man, not the same, compared to the cool and calm voice of Enter The Dragon ('When it comes I wouldn't have to worry about it… I'll be busy lookin' good'). They did, however, manage to get the timing of the dubbing relatively well but, the fact that the people selected to dub the movie, save Kelly's dubber, all had British accents did not help the believability of the movie, although the story was not too believable either. On the box it says something along the lines of, watch Jim Kelly get sucked into a world of hookers and prostitutes because of a stolen diamond. Although, during the movie, Kelly is seeking it out, going to strip clubs and inviting the dancers back to his hotel room. Well, what can you expect from a 70s action, kung fu, drama, blaxploytation movie? The music, however, was totally cool, the wet funky theme music brought the movie to a level of cool unequaled by any other Hong Kong cinema production.It is still no Shaft theme, but cool none the less. Sound effects in kung fu movies are usually limited to the whacks and thunks of punching and kicking. This movie, along with every other kung fu flick, could not get the timing down. There would be a foonk with no punch thrown, and a whap with no kick, and the same the other way, a kick and punch with no sound. Overall though, much like another huge Chinese export, the sound quality was grainy, and I found myself straining to hear what was being said in some instances. The true great quality of this movie is the level of 'coolness' emanating from the movie. It really achieved a 'wow, I want to be as cool as him' feel, which few other movies can broadcast. Aside from the cheesy antics, and less than perfect acting, this is one gem of Hong Kong cinema that should be on everybody's too watch list. 'That's why they call me the six million dollar man.'