Three the Hard Way
Three The Hard Way was released in 1974 and is considered one of the classic action movies of the blaxploitation genre. Directed by the acclaimed Gordon Parks Jr., son of Gordon Parks (Shaft 1971) and director of Super Fly (1972), the film stars the three biggest black action stars of the era; Jim Brown (The Dirty Dozen, El Condor, Slaughter) as record producer Jimmy Lait, Fred Williamson (Black Caesar, Bucktown) as entrepreneur Jagger Daniels, and Jim Kelly (Enter the Dragon, Black Samurai, Black Belt Jones, One Down Two to Go) as martial arts master Mister Keyes.
Jimmy Lait and his girlfriend, Wendy, come across Jimmy's friend, House, wounded and dying. Lait learns from House that he had escaped from a secret medical experimentation facility. Later in the hospital, a delirious House tells Lait that there is someone who aims to "kill us all" and that they have a way of doing it. However, Lait has to return to the studio to supervise a recording session with a group he's producing, The Impressions (who also sing the soundtrack for the movie). He leaves Wendy (Sheila Frazier - Super Fly, The Super Cops, Starsky and Hutch) to watch over House in the hospital.
While Wendy talks to Jimmy on the phone outside of the room, two men climb through the window and shoot House in cold blood. Wendy walks back in as this is happening and she's kidnapped by the assassins. After finding out about her kidnapping, Jimmy begins a quest to find the whereabouts of his girlfriend, but encounters many attackers trying to stop him. He soon realizes that the job is too much for one man, so he enlists the help of his friends Jagger Daniels and Mister Keyes (named "Mister" by his mother so people would be forced to show him respect), and the three start a rampage of gun fights, fist fights, and explosions to save their race.
The three action stars soon find out that they must defeat a worldwide plot of black genocide concocted by the evil, and nefarious Monroe Feather (Jay Robinson - Hawaii Five-0, Planet of the Apes, Cheers). Monroe Feather is the leader of a secret neo-nazi, white supremacist organization whose chief scientist Dr. Fortrero, (Richard Angarola), has developed a poison that is lethal and only affects African Americans. The organization plans to deploy the serum into the water systems of Washington D.C., Detroit, and Los Angeles, and kill off the black populations.
The movie continues through action scenes and explosions with the three protagonists easily killing and/or disposing of numerous henchmen of the racist organization. Two of the most memorable scenes are Mister Keyes’ New York City fight scene versus a group of crooked police and the interrogation of a captive white supremacist by the female friends of Jagger Daniels. In the former scene, Keyes is framed by NYPD officers placing cocaine in his car. Keyes is confronted by a street cop and upon realizing the officers intentions he engages in a series of martial art kicks, punches, and chops to foil a series of crooked police and get out of the situation. In this scene Jim Kelly shows off his trademark Bruce Lee-like fighting techniques that made him one of the most famous black martial-artist actors of all time. In the latter scene, the three are unable to make a captured man give up his secrets, so Jagger Daniels makes a call to his three multi-cultural friends (black, white, and Asian): The Countess (Pamela Serpe), The Empress (Irene Tsu), and The Princess (Marie O'Henry). These three feminine dominatrixes arrive in style. They are riding blue, red, and white Japanese racing motorcycles with matching leather suits. The three women are all-business and "hungry" to inflict real damage to their captive in order to make him talk. Daniels shows the women much respect and warns Keyes to stay out of their way or he "might not survive". The half-naked dominatrixes, baring their chests, approach the captive man who is in a room by himself. The man, seemingly unafraid at first, believes he is going to have sex with the three women because of their initial appearance. However, he soon finds out he is in for great amounts of pain and humiliation when the women open up their "equipment bags". After some time the women notify the three heroes that the man is ready to talk and they find him in a corner shaking in the fetal position. After the men hear what the captive has to say, the women return to continue their craft but upon seeing them once more the supremacist lets out a yelp and falls over, dead.
violence, murder