Death Dimension (1978) User Reviews

A pretty bad film that somehow entertains

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 10 June 2016]

A routine action vehicle for Jim Kelly (ENTER THE DRAGON), directed without any flair whatsoever by Al Adamson, one of the kings of the "exploitation quickies" along with Andy Milligan and Larry Buchanan. This is deeply clichéd stuff which manages to get by through the interesting and funny characters, the upbeat groovy '70s music and the martial arts sequences, which make up for in quantity what they lack in finesse.

Enter Jim Kelly, fresh from his success and short-lived career as a martial artist, as a "mean and moody" cop who likes to wear red shell suits on occasion. Kelly spends most of the film fighting and little time acting, as he repeatedly finds himself attacked by lots of bad guys. These fight scenes are hardly what you would term "well-photographed" but they are very entertainingly done, complete with over-emphasised sound effects.

Now, you would think that a film containing plentiful action (plus a couple of topless women for exploitation purposes) would have to be pretty exciting, right? Wrong. Adamson's tacky and cheap direction is evident at all moments, sucking vitality from the movie; loads of scenes consist of people arguing whilst sitting around in darkened rooms, which is hardly what I would call fun.

Kelly is pretty athletic in the lead role, but gets no chance to act or develop a character. George Lazenby (ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) co-stars as Kelly's chief; Harold Sakata plays the chief villain, the Pig, and his line readings are a hoot; it's a shame that it's impossible to take him seriously! Also around for good measure are a hulking black bodyguard with a nasty scar across his face who likes to break people's arms and necks, a couple of prostitutes who take their clothes off a lot, an incredibly evil-looking tortoise (the scariest tortoise I've ever seen in a film, actually) and lots of dumb criminal henchmen who appear from nowhere.

DEATH DIMENSIONis a bad film, to be sure, but quite an entertaining one, mainly for the interesting cast alone. I forgot to mention the Bruce Lee clone who actually ends up being called "Bruce Lee". Guess they had to throw in as many personalities as they could here. Lots of boredom is countered by lots of action, making a pretty fair movie in the end, which isn't that bad.

Black Belt Jones + 007 + Oddjob = not nearly as much fun as it sounds

[gridoon · 4/10 · 30 May 2007]

Well, the cast of this movie certainly has great cult value: Jim Kelly, George Lazenby, Harold Sakata. The movie itself, however, is not as much fun as it could have been. Kelly still has the moves, but while some of his fighting isn't bad, it is spoiled by the unslick presentation (lighting, framing, etc.). Sakata is, for me and many others, an iconic presence: his Oddjob is arguably the best henchman in the entire Bond series. However, his role here adds nothing to his stature, in fact it probably detracts from it. Lazenby's participation is minor. The film is poorly directed, and obviously drawn-out at the climax. Worth a look for its cast, but don't expect too much. (*1/2)

Enjoy The Novelty Cast

[seveb-25179 · 5/10 · 11 May 2021]

Despite the ratings I found this to be the second best "Jim Kelly" movie I have watched. (And by that I mean one where he is top of the bill, so not the likes of "Enter The Dragon" or "Three The Hard Way"). In other words better than "Black Belt Jones", "Hot Potato" or "Black Samurai".

Why? Mainly because the action is for the most part competently choreographed and shot when compared with the others. The cutting and camera angles make for better movie action viewing.

The second thing which makes this more fun is the novelty cast, which include, George "James Bond" Lazenby, Harold "Odd Job" Sakata, Aldo Ray, the ever reliable Bob Minor and Myron "Bruce" Lee" (Myron? Really?). Lazenby, contrary to his reputation, can act quite adequately, but he can't fight convincingly in this company, which is where the competent use of cutting and camera angles come in. Sakata can't act, but he is the most iconic Bond villain of the Connery era, "Odd Job", so it doesn't really matter. Turns out he can't fight convincingly either and on this occasion the action Director doesn't come to his rescue for some reason, which is disappointing. Aldo Ray's career peaked early, around 1955 when he was in "We're No Angels" with Bogart and Ustinov, and his acting channels all the grumpy frustration that he must have been feeling by this time;- finding himself down among the B movie bottom feeders. Meanwhile Jim himself is in as good form as I've ever seen him.

The plot premise is ridiculous but barely explored, used merely as a "McGuffen" to set the ball rolling, the plot structure is routine but serviceable and the dialogue banal, but in the World of Jim Kelly movies that is all par for the course.

More than one dimension, possibly two dimensions, but not three.

Did I hear someone say.......Carrots?

[shoddyhorror · 15 July 2003]

Life. It is a strange merry-go-round. Events and situations can change a man. A near death experience, the birth of your first child, a new found skill. For me, it was this movie. Suffering manic depression from the loss of my job and recent death of my beloved wife, I stumbled into the video store whacked up on Prozac. "Help me!" I said to the confused Video Store Clerk. "Only one thing can help you now" the teenaged Messiah said, as he slipped me a copy of the 1978 Masterpiece "Death Dimension". I liken this movie to having your first beer when your fifteen, cold, refreshing but with an underlying tone of naughtiness, with a bit of pizzazz thrown in. What can I say.... Myron "Bruce" Lee? You are a God. You make Jet Li and Chuck Norris look like a couple of half-baked sissies who couldn't rip wet toilet paper in half. Thank god Christopher Walken shunned the role of Captain Gallagher or our pupils would not have been treated to the precision like pistol whippings of Georgie Laze. Wrapping up this cultural melting pot of actors is the Giant of Afro-American cinema, Jim Kelly. He rips on to the screen like a young Fred Astaire, and dances his way in to our hearts. Not since "Casablanca" has A black-Kung Fu teaching cop, Australian detective and Taiwan-born sidekick so deliciously melded together to form an acute crime-fighting team hell-bent on stopping a Korean obese man from instigating the destruction of the world. Death Dimension? More like `Out of this world' Dimension, this movie deserves to be placed along side other classics such as `Gone with the Wind', `Ben Hur' and `Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol'. Wow, Al Adamson, you've blown us all away again, if you don't stop this soon I'll never get to wash my soiled underpants. 5 thumbs up.

Aside from some adequate martial arts, a totally sleep-inducing film

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 9 September 2009]

Considering the film stars Jim Kelly (from ENTER THE DRAGON), Harold "Odd Job" Sakata and George Lazenby (the one-time James Bond), you'd think that this would be a much better film. Instead, it just slowly slogs its way to the ending--the very, very bad ending. In fact, I couldn't wait for this listless film to end.

Well, folks, this should NOT really come as a surprise if you consider who is responsible for this film. It's from the "master" of schlock, Al Adamson--one of the most pathetically bad film makers of all time. In fact, for Adamson this IS a very good film--and that's what makes his career all the more sad. If you don't believe me that this is one of his better films, just try watching Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN, HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS, HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS and FIVE BLOODY GRAVES! Ugghh...to quote Colonel Kurtz, "the horror".

This film begins with a lady scientist (is there any other type?) escaping from Odd Job, I mean Sakata, who is working on a freeze bomb. Considering that she has the formula on her, the baddies are all out to get her...fast. To combat them, instead of sending out the Marines, police or FBI, two lone guys are sent to combat this organization of evil (I guess the budget wouldn't allow more). Kelly and a nobody nicknamed "Myron" Bruce Lee go in search of evil and somehow blunder into it by the end of the film. But considering how dull all this is, you really could care less and just want the whole thing to end. And, when it does end, it ends in one of the silliest scenes. Kelly apparently is a HORRIBLE shot with a handgun--missing at least 20,308 times during the last 10 minutes of the film. Yet, once the boss baddie gets on a plane and flies away to freedom, Kelly hits the plane and it miraculously blows up--even though he's hundreds of yards away and it's only a snub-nosed .38 caliber gun! Naturally, I hated the film. Unfortunately, this isn't one of the more unintentionally funny Adamson films, nor is his other teaming with Kelly (BLACK SAMURAI). See it if you are an Adamson completist, but otherwise don't bother.

Oh, and a final thought. In the scenes with the "lucious prostitutes", this may sound catty but they seem to be about the ugliest professionals in film history. Where did they get these women? Prison?!

An absolute bore

[Wizard-8 · 1/10 · 26 May 1999]

While this looks better than a lot of other Al Adamson movies, nothing else good can be said about this. This is an incredibly boring movie. Ridiculously padded, fight scenes so lame they aren't even funny, dull direction, etc. Even fans of Kelly will be hard pressed to get through this. No wonder they had to give this movie so many alternate names - they had to keep fooling people, when each new title soon became box-office poison after word-of-mouth spread around!

Exploitation mess.

[michaelRokeefe · 2/10 · 23 March 2010]

Poorly written and directed; you get the impression this flick was done on a budget that relied on a bounced check. Probably in its day, this film that was also released as DEATH FACTOR, was just perfect for the screens of discount priced theaters. Exploiting the rash of "black" movies and also those relying on martial arts to lure viewers. Karate expert Jim Kelly stars as Lt. Ash, who is involved with the investigation of a re-known scientist being murdered after creating a "freeze bomb". The top suspect is The Pig(Harold 'Odd Job' Sakata), a widely known whore-monger. The cast also features: George Lazenby, Aldo Ray, Terry Moore and Myron Bruce Lee.

Not one of Jim Kelly's finest moments.......

[HaemovoreRex · 5/10 · 12 February 2007]

'……but does provide some mild entertainment nonetheless' would be the best way to describe this Al Adamson directed flick. In it a scientist implants a micro film containing the blueprints to a 'freeze bomb' into his trusted (and very attractive!) female assistants forehead to prevent it falling into the hands of the charmingly named 'The Pig' (Harold Sakata), a crime boss who intends to sell the potential weapon to the highest bidder.

Needless to say, the Pig and his cronies are none too pleased when the assistant does a bunk with the said info and thus sets about hunting for her. Step forward the one and only Jim Kelly (equipped with his usual array of cool seventies fashions including some of his trademark track suits!) who intends to put a stop to Pig's nefarious ambitions.

Will our super cool cop save the day? Well you'll just have to watch it to find out. Suffice to say, he performs a fair bit of ass whooping throughout the film including a funky nunchaku sequence.

As said previously, this is far from the best of Kelly's cinematic exploits, however for a quick dose of some hearty, groovy chop socky action, then you could do a lot worse than to give this a whirl.

Bad, but that doesn't mean I won't watch it

[dworldeater · 4/10 · 21 June 2021]

Death Dimension aka The Black Eliminator is one of two films that Jim Kelly made with infamous schockmeister Al Adamson. Both of these movies are really bad, this is the worst of the two. Black Samurai was the better of the two, it was just as poorly made as this. However, it was more over the top and entertaining. This has a lame plot that has Jim Kelly go after a villain named "The Pig" and has to save a woman from getting killed by a freeze bomb. The only reason to watch this movie is Jim Kelly, who really deserved better. There are a few decent karate fights and Jim Kelly still is a cool hero. I would have rather Jim Kelly fired his agent to get him better projects, but doing crap like this you can't really blame the guy for his exit from the film industry to pursue a career in tennis.

Sleazy, but fun martial arts film

[Falconeer · 6/10 · 5 August 2014]

There is something about this Z grade martial arts flick that might make you want to take a shower after you watch it. A seedy, sleazy feel pervades every frame, and if you know about the LA scene of the 70's, and what was going on at the time, it feels even sleazier. Iconic martial arts master, and the "King of Cool," Jim Kelly made a handful of these movies, after his appearance in the very successful "Enter the Dragon," starring Bruce Lee. A lot of fans were disappointed that Kelly's ultra-cool character is killed off so early into that film, because we wanted more of this guy. And movies like "Death Dimension" give Jim Kelly a chance to show his stuff. Among these films, all of which are memorable and great in their own way, "Death Dimension" stands out as one of the cheapest of the lot. Filmed in the Nevada desert, and the glitzy Reno casino strip, on a very small budget, the movie still manages to be atmospheric and entertaining. Featuring a cast of cheap looking women who look like they were borrowed from a hardcore porn movie, as well as some truly mean looking men. There is an evil Haitian thug with a scarred face that will make your skin crawl. He likes to beat women and slice people's throats with his razor-like pinky ring. And the king pin scumbag is just called "The Pig," and he is truly a pig, in his skin tight polyester shirts bursting under the strain of his sweaty, big body. when Jim Kelly is on screen though, everything comes together, and we are reminded just why we are watching. Kelly's martial arts skills are finely tuned and hyper-energetic; the man is truly incredible to watch. Here he is partnered with Myron Lee, a Chinese undercover agent, and the two work very well off each other, kind of like the pairing of Conan and Subotai in "Conan the Barbaian." Some highlights include scenes of Jim Kelly walking around the neon-saturated Reno strip at night. The man is just so cool in everything he does. As far as the plot goes, well it concerns some evil bastards trying to get their hands on a machine that can freeze the weather in a concentrated area. It sounds a bit like the plot from "Black Samurai," another Kelly film that is actually better than this film. Anyway we don't watch these films for their brilliant story lines, do we? I recommend this movie for fans of exploit cinema and martial arts movies of the 1970's. It's good, sleazy fun.

Extremely Disappointing Considering the Actors Involved

[Uriah43 · 3/10 · 21 July 2022]

This film begins with a scientist by the name of "Dr. Mason" (T. E. Foreman) implanting a microdot containing top-secret information related to some environmental research into the forehead of his attractive assistant "Felicia" (Patch McKenzie). Immediately afterward he is then summoned by a ruthless man named "Santo 'the Pig' Massino" (Harold Sakata) who has essentially been holding both Dr. Mason and Felicia as hostages and forcing them into misusing their knowledge of the environment to construct a devasting weapon known as a freeze bomb. Fortunately, while Dr. Mason is reporting to Santo, Felicia has taken the opportunity to escape from the fortified compound without being detected. Not only that, but anticipating Santo's wrath, Dr. Mason also injects some poison into his body so that Santo has no ability to retrieve the valuable information he possesses as well. Needless to say, this infuriates Santo who immediately sends his Haitian hitman "Tatoupa" (Bob Minor) to find Felicia and bring her back at all costs. Meanwhile, upon learning of the death of one of their agents investigating Santo's operation, "Captain Gallagher" (George Lazenby) sends "Lt. Detective I. J. Ash" (Jim Kelly) to find Felicia before Santo and his men manage to catch up to her. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film certainly had some potential as it contained a fairly decent plot and several good actors to carry it to fruition. What it didn't have, however, was capable direction as most of the action scenes looked poorly stages and extremely cheap. Not only that, but the scenes involving Jim Kelly's martial arts abilities could have used serious improvement as well. That being said, considering the actors involved, I was rather disappointed with this movie and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

"Hey! Black Turkey!"

[Bezenby · 9/10 · 9 October 2013]

Afro-tastic! When Odd Jobb from Goldfinger forces a scientist to create a freeze bomb to sell to the arms community, the scientist implants the instructions for the bomb into the head of his assistant, sends her off, then kills himself. Odd Job is miffed at this turn of events and sends his cronies off to track her down. Meanwhile, Big Jim Kelly is investigating the murder of a cop (by Odd Job's right hand man) and sets out to find the killer and the assistant, but Odd Job's men are out to get him too. What's a brother to do?

Get out them lightening fast fists and beat them turkeys, that's what! Jim visits one of Odd Job's brothels for no reason, but after that he's kicking heads in left and right and centre, sometimes with the help of a sidekick. You get fights on boats, car chases, punch ups, a gunfight between a cable car and a helicopter, Odd Job threatening a woman with a turtle (I mean he's brandishing a turtle at a woman rather than threatening a woman in possession of a turtle), loads of hookers and Aldo Ray (Psychic Killer, Haunts) shouting at the top of his voice.

What more do you want? George Lazenby? Well, he's here too! Throw in a very funky soundtrack, non-stop action and that's pure entertainment. Sure, it's all done on the cheap and some of the fights are a bit hokey (especially between Kelly and Odd Job, but that ain't Big Jim's fault), but this is pure seventies gold.

The freeze frame of Kelly's triumphant flying kick at the end seals the deal. RIP big man – you'll be missed.

Its utter nonsense but the action is good and it moves fast enough never to bore you

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 5 January 2010]

This is one of the films that best shows how silly some exploitation films of the 1970's could be and still be entertaining.

The plot has a scientist making a freeze bomb for a gangster who intends to sell it the highest bidder. The scientist implants a microchip into the brow of his comely assistant and sends her off to get the information to the proper authorities. The scientist then burns his notes and commits suicide to prevent the weapon from getting into the wrong hands. In police headquarters Jim Kelly is assigned to find the assistant and to get the goods on the bad guy. Of course Jim Kelly is barely on the case when people begin to take a run at him. From there the film progresses in a series of very good action sequences punctuated by dialog scenes that drive the plot into a completely nonsensical direction.

In all honesty the film makes no sense what so ever but you won't mind because the film moves along at a good clip. The film's nonsensical plotting also assures that you're going to continue watching simply to see where its all going. Where its heading is toward a truly unbelievable ending that had me scan back and playing it a second time (thankfully its just as funny the second time.) Kelly, co star of Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon and well known in some circles as the star of Black Belt Jones is one of the few American stars who consistently made good martial arts action films. He's one actor who could both act well in the dramatic scenes and look like his fights were more than staged fights (Kelly always looks like he could hold his own in real life). I think the reason that this film works at all is simply because he is such a good actor that he sells the utter nonsense happening around him.

Is this a great film? No, actually it's probably not even a good one, but its an enjoyable one that's worth a bowl of popcorn and a soda.

Crazy

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 9 December 2023]

Also known as Death Dimensions, Freeze Bomb, Icy Death, The Kill Factor and Black Eliminator, this Al Adamson movie has the kind of cast that gets me so excited, as well as Gary Graver shooting it all.

Dr. Mason (T. E. Foreman) has created a weather control device. As smart as he is, he's dumb enough to miss the clues that he's working for a crime boss known as Santo "The Pig" Massino (Harold Sakata). Instead of saving the world, The Pig plans on blackmailing the world. Dr. Mason deals with this by killing himself. And if you were him, how would you protect the plans? Would you send them to another scientist? A reporter? No, you would save them on a microchip and seal them in the forehead of your assistant Felicia's (Patch Mackenzie) forehead.

Felicia is on the run and soon, the bad guys have to battle Detective Ash (Jim Kelly) and Captain Gallagher (George Lazenby).

Does Harold Sakata's voice sound familiar? It should. It's actually James Hong. Think about that during the scene where he uses a snapping turtle to threaten a woman's breasts.

There's also a little bit of Hollywood's past here, as Terry Moore from Mighty Joe Young and Aldo Ray are in the cast.

Cheezy Poofs!!!

[jlabine · 1 August 2000]

I think anyone studying film making should be required to watch this film, and learn how NOT to make a film! This is just plain stupid!! I can see why the "Goldfinger" director had OddJob mute. Because Sakata's line readings are so bad, they might as well have dubbed in his voice. Why was poor George Lazenby cast to play in such trashy films? Was he really that bad in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"? Did the director of this film think that by casting two Bondian actors in this film that he would be raising the production value of such a horrible script? The action scenes are so tame and unexciting, that you can't believe why Jim Kelly would allow this to be vehicle in his career after the success of "Enter The Dragon". The only one aspect of this film worth viewing (with the exception of the Bondian actors) is the soundtrack. Not that it's completely brilliant, but it definately has a Rare Groove edge to it (if that's your bag), but I doubt a Soundtrack album ever accompanied this "drive-in" "B-" movie. Oh, and Jim Kelly has a cool red jump suit to wear. But that's about it. If the opening scene (with a woman getting stitched up in a nauseating slow pace) doesn't get you to turn the video off, the action will slowly put you to sleep. Only interesting if you were ever curious to see what George Lazenby got up to after his turn at James Bond.

Al Adamson strikes again.

[mhorg2018 · 1/10 · 7 June 2022]

Holy cr*p! If I'd been paying attention to the opening titles, I'd have turned this turkey right off. Al Adamson is so bad, he makes hack supreme, rip-off artist Larry Buchanon look GOOD. This film totally wastes Jim Kelly (even though the poster highlights him. Great way to bring the suckers in). Adamson can't direct, can't write, can't edit. Ed Wood was a better movie maker than this guy. The best thing I ever saw him in was the documentary about his gruesome murder! Really, this turkey belongs in a flock with the rest of his oeuvre. Tubi markets this as a blaxploitation movie. Hey, Tubi! Having two black guys in a movie, doesn't make it a blaxploitation film. This is more like a crapsploitation movie!

Another night at the Abandoned Drive-In.

[emm · 6/10 · 26 October 1998]

Those who discovered the title ICY DEATH on the video shelves should understand that this is the same film I'm talking about here. Al Adamson fans will enjoy this cheaply well done actioner, but veteran fans of Jim Kelly (he also starred in another Adamson film, BLACK SAMURAI) will be disappointed that he doesn't have the impact in strength and stamina that made him worthy of attention in BLACK BELT JONES. The action-packed ending was the quickest I've ever seen, perhaps too fast! Hardcore action buffs, beware! DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON is not what you're expecting!

Hilarious

[rickworsfold · 9/10 · 19 December 2006]

Pure comedy. I hired this film from a video store as a kid in the late 80's. Along with brothers and friends we were looking for dodgy 70's films with afro's, car chases, gun fights and most importantly a 'twangy' 70s soundtrack. We were not disappointed. We still talk about this film today. There is one scene where a character called 'The Pig' holds a turtle above a woman's breast and declares 'one bight of your tit and you have to cut head off before he let go'!!! (Said in dodgy Chinese accent - same guy who played Odd Job in Bond movie). If you are looking for laughs, get this film. Terrible plot, awful acting, hilarious fights and an amazing script!! I just want to get my hands on this again!!!

Return to the REAL

[Elbow · 10/10 · 8 December 2002]

Yes, this movie is one of the many children of the Bruce Lee era, but honestly, it is one of the most entertaining.

Everything from the sets to the story reek of cheapness, but it's all good. Jim Kelly has great fighting skill and the mere presence of Bond alumni George Lazenby and Harold Sakata is enough for the film to warrant a look.

The story -- concerning a fiendish plot to "freeze-bomb" the world -- is absurd, but the elements that populate it -- kung-fu, hot chicks, and grunting henchmen -- combined with great locales and a goofy soundtrack, make it a doozy.

If you expect Enter the Dragon, you won't get it with Death Dimension a.k.a Kill Factor, but this movie is still some great fun. Look for the senseless closing frame; it seals the deal.

whoo hooo what a flick

[chinaman-2 · 8/10 · 7 September 1999]

hot dang, this was the movie to watch. i have never seen a movie so poorly done, this was hilarious. from the really cheezy acting to the awful lighting and editing this movie had it all. sure it wasn't supposed to be funny but hey, neither was shaft and yet i still cryed myself laughing. the acting alone was worth watching. from the mob boss cardboard cut out of oddjob, to the unbelivabley repetitive asking of questions (so why is it hatien?)if bad is what you are looking for bad is what you will get, long live the black eliminator. HEE HEE

Entertaining Drive-In Martial Arts

[Michael_Elliott · 20 February 2017]

Death Dimension (1978)

** (out of 4)

A mad scientist known as The Pig creates a bomb that when it explodes it can freeze anything close to it. Detective J. Ash (Jim Kelly) is asked to try and track down the people behind it before it falls into the wrong hands.

Al Adamson was the master at creating ultra-cheap movies for the drive-in circuit. He could make just about any type of genre and more times than not he was able to mix the various genres into one crazy little film. He created some good movies like Dracula VS FRANKENSTEIN as well as countless really awful ones. DEATH DIMENSION is pretty much cheap non-sense that fans of the blaxploitation and martial arts genres should enjoy.

Obviously, if you're walking into an Adamson picture, you shouldn't be expecting high art or a quality picture. Basically what you want to do is just sit back, turn your brain off and just enjoy what's in front of you. Storywise the film is certainly a mess and it rarely makes too much sense but if you're a fan of Kelly and his martial arts style then there are plenty of fights here. The fights certainly aren't going to rival ENTER THE DRAGON but they're fun enough for this type of action picture.

There's obviously nothing ground-breaking here but for a cheap drive-in picture it at least has some energy and some charm.

Very nice movie.

[wkozak221 · 9/10 · 21 November 2021]

This is a very nice movie. Except for the dubbing. The movie is good. The story and cast are above average. I always liked Jim Kelly. He had his own style. Very smooth. I wish he made more films.