#amir shervan

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Samurai Cop (1991)

[theactioneer]

Killing American Style (Amir Shervan, 1990)

[l-ultimo-squalo]

Samurai Cop (1991) Dir. Amir Shervan

[mudwerks]

Samurai Cop (1991) dir. Amir Shervan

[adamwatchesmovies]

Samurai Cop (1991)

In terms of movies that are so bad they're good, Samurai Cop has it all. The razor-thin plot is little more than an excuse to string together car chases, overly violent fights, ridiculous characters, equally bewildering dialogue, gratuitous sex scenes, laughable performances, unconvincing wigs, badly dubbed extras, befuddling editing choices and the kind of mistakes only a director drunken on their own power could make. It constantly surprises you despite a story devoid of any imagination.

To combat the Japanese gang that’s taken over Los Angeles' cocaine trade, “samurai” policeman Joe Marshall (Mathew Karedas) joins the force. With his partner Frank Washington (Mark Frazer), the two make a break in the case when Joe catches the eye of Jennifer (Janis Farley), a woman whom crime lord Fuj Fujiyama (Cranston Komuro) is attempting to romance.

You might’ve seen one of the film’s best scenes on YouTube at some point: the one where Joe talks to a flirty hospital nurse whose pickup lines you’d expect to hear coming from a drunken frat boy. Trust me, that’s just the beginning. This movie feels like it was conceived by a horny, bloodthirsty 13-year-old and written by aliens. While on a bust, Joe will say something to fellow officer Peggy (Melissa Moore) and you’ll think “That’s a weird line; you could probably take that one the wrong way without trying much…” only to realize the innuendo wasn’t accidental at all! You shouldn’t be surprised when it happens over and over, but you will be.

Eventually, you’ll realize this movie was shot most of the way, only for the production to run out of money and shooting to resume months later (it explains why Matthew Maredas has to wear a wig in his first scene). It's obvious, but you're taken aback. You’re not used to seeing movies this earnest made this badly. Samurai Cop has recurring jokes, the kind of recurring jokes that anyone with any kind of good sense would’ve thrown away and then burned out of shame. When writer/director Amir Shervan shoots a man emerging from a burning vehicle, he doesn’t think to ask the stunt guy to scream or act like he's in pain. All he sees is a man COVERED IN FLAMES, exactly as he’d envisioned it, which means it's a flawless take.

The plot of Samurai Cop is so basic it would’ve been as dull as a butter knife if it weren’t for the constant blunders. In one scene, the actors are clearly done delivering their lines and are waiting for the director to yell “CUT!” After he did, the editor (either Ruben Zadurian or Amir Shervan once more) didn’t go ahead and eliminate those extra few seconds of nothing; they kept them in. You’re as dumb-struck as the performers, wondering if there’s something you’re supposed to do to make this ordeal end… and then it does, so you breathe a sigh of relief. If Samurai Cop pulled that stunt on you, there's no telling what's next. Will it be two goons dubbed over by what has to be the director, using the same voice, in a row? How about someone going from 0 to 100 in one second, or some pointless nudity? You don’t know but every time, your response will be “Oh, well of course!”

The glory that is Samurai Cop cannot be contained in a few hundred words, and it can’t be summarized in a “best of video” either. If you have friends who don't understand why you like watching bad movies, show them this one. They'll be howling in no time. (September 1, 2021)

[shortmeteor]

The only movie I've seen where you get a glimpse of the clapboard in the actual released final cut is "Young Rebels."

[schlock-luster-video]

On September 5, 2016, Samurai Cop was screened at the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival.

Here's a new drawing of Matt Hannon to celebrate!

[junkfoodcinemas]

JUNKFOODCINEMAS PRESENTS SO BAD IT'S GOOD JUNK: PART 1

The Room (2003) dir. Tommy Wiseau

Troll 2 (1990) dir. Claudio Fragasso

Batman & Robin (1997) dir. Joel Schumacher

Samurai Cop (1991) dir. Amir Shervan

Fateful Findings (2013) dir. Neil Breen

Miami Connection (1987) dir. Y. K. Kim, Park Woo Sang

Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010) dir. James Nguyen

Tammy and the T-Rex (1994) dir. Stewart Raffill

Mac and Me (1988) dir. Stewart Raffill

Super Mario Bros. (1993) dir. Rocky Morton, Annabel Jankel

[stenka-razin]

Every Film I Watched in 2022

The Matrix (1999, dir. Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski) Bidoof’s Big Stand (2022, dir. Shaofu Zhang) Samurai Cop (1991, for. Amir Shervan) The Matrix Resurrections (2021, dir. Lana Wachowski) Citizen Kane (1941, dir. Orson Welles) Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (“鉄男II BODY HAMMER” 1992, dir. Shinya Tsukamoto) The Elephant Man (1980, dir. David Lynch) Grandma’s Boy (2006, dir. Nicholaus Goossen) Always Be My Maybe (2019, dir. Nahnatchka Khan) Game Night (2018, dir. John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein) When We First Met (2018, dir. Ari Sandel) The Kid (1921, dir. Charlie Chaplin, 1972 rerelease) Menace II Society (1993, dir. Albert Hughes & Allen Hughes) Duck Soup (1933, dir. Leo McCarey) 30 Minutes or Less (2011, dir. Ruben Fleischer) Chimes at Midnight (1965, dir. Orson Welles) Money Plane (2020, dir. Andrew Lawrence) Man with a Movie Camera (“Человек с киноаппаратом” 1929, dir. Dziga Vertov, Cinematic Orchestra soundtrack) Godzilla (1998, dir. Roland Emmerich) City Lights (1931, dir. Charlie Chaplin) Krull (1983, dir. Peter Yates) Klute (1971, dir. Alan J. Paluka) The Lawnmower Man (1992, dir. Brett Leonard) Area 51: The Alien Interview (1997, dir. Jeff Broadstreet) Ratty (2020, dir. John Angus Stewart) Heavy Metal (1981, dir. Gerald Potterton) The Northman (2022, dir. Robert Eggers) Autumn Sonata (“Höstsonaten” 1978, dir. Ingmar Bergman) Battles Without Honor and Humanity (“仁義なき戦い” 1973, dir. Kinji Fukasuka) Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (“仁義なき戦い 広島死闘篇” 1973, dir. Kinji Fukasuka) Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War (“仁義なき戦い 代理戦争” 1973, dir. Kinji Fukusaku) Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics (“仁義なき戦い 頂上作戦” 1974, dir. Kinji Fukusaku) Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode (“仁義なき戦い 完結篇” 1974, dir. Kinji Fukusaku) Logan’s Run (1976, dir. Michael Anderson) The Vietnam War (2017, dir. Ken Burns & Lynn Novick) The Devil Wears Prada (2006, dir. David Frankel) Best in Show (2000, dir. Christopher Guest) Shaolin and Wu Tang (“少林與武當” 1983, dir. Gordon Liu, dub) Shin Godzilla (“シン・ゴジラ” 2016, dir. Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi) The Legend of the Suram Fortress (“ამბავი სურამის ციხისა” 1985, dir. Sergei Parajanov) The Six Directions of Boxing (“六合八法” 1980, dir. Hsu Tien-Yung, dub) Shaolin vs Lama (“少林鬥喇嘛” 1983, dir. Lee Tso-Nam, dub) Inside the Mind of a Cat (2022, dir. Andy Mitchell) Prey (2022, dir. Dan Trachtenberg) Marathon Man (1976, dir. John Schlesinger) Final Destination (2000, dir. James Wong) Final Destination 2 (2003, dir. David R. Ellis) Final Destination 3 (2005, dir. James Wong) The Final Destination (2009, dir. David R. Ellis) Final Destination 5 (2011, dir. Steven Quayle) Mulan (1998, dir. Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook) No Time to Die (2021, dir. Cory Joji Fukunaga) The Munsters (2022, dir. Rob Zombie) House of 1000 Corpses (2003, dir. Rob Zombie) One Night in Miami… (2020, dir. Regina King) Magnificent Obsession (1954, dir. Douglas Sirk) The Knight Before Christmas (2019, dir. Monika Mitchell) Halloween (1978, dir. John Carpenter) Noel Next Door (2022, dir. Max McGuire) Ice Sculpture Christmas (2015, dir. David Mackay) Alexander Nevsky (1938, dir. Sergei Eisenstein) Love Hard (2021, dir. Hernán Jiménez) Falling for Christmas (2022, dir. Janeen Damien) A Christmas Prince (2017, dir. Alex Zamm) Holidate (2020, dir. John Whitesell) Cyborg (1989, dir. Albert Pyun) Full Metal Jacket (1987, dir. Stanley Kubrick) Star Trek Generations (1994, dir. David Carson) Christmas Vacation (1989, dir. Jeremiah S. Chechik) Star Trek: First Contact (1996, dir. Jonathan Frakes) Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001, dir. Sharon Maguire) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990, dir. Steve Barron) Waterworld (1995, dir. Kevin Reynolds) Elf (2003, dir. Jon Favreau) Feliz NaviDAD (2020, dir. Melissa Joan Hart) Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977, dir. Jim Henson)

[bens-things]

Samurai Cop (1991) dir. Amir Shervan

When the local mob gets an American samurai so do the cops.  Incredibly low budget in a very charming way.  Not well made in any sense of the word though.

[doodleforever]

Samurai Cop taught me it’s okay to be different.

[hystpod]

superior production still

[theactioneer]

Killing American Style (Amir Shervan, 1990)

[vhs-ninja]

[damnablehumbuggery]

In 1988, auteur Amir Shervan introduced the world to the Death Sit-up and Gun Wave Fatality.

More tomfoolery at https://damnablehumbuggery.com

[thegirlwhorunsforthetrain]

Samurai Cop (1991)

Joe Marshall (Mathew Karedas, credited as Matt Hannon) and Frank Washington (Mark Frazer) are two tenacious police detectives who seek at all costs to stop the Katana, a renegade Yakuza gang composed of violent and sadistic killers who want to lead the drug trade in Los Angeles.

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