Defender

A neighbourhood called "Jackson Heights" of Los Angeles (in reality the Pico-Union District in L.A.s Rampart Area) is to be razed in order for an extensive high-rise commercial complex to be constructed in its place, developed by Alexander Winters (Stuart Whitman in a hammy turn) who employs multi-cultural (?) street gangs to terrorize inhabitants into moving off, only to have a residents group hire ex-policeman and private investigator Jack Manning (Steve Railsback) as its choice to lead the locals in vigilante activity to enable them to remain in their homes, fighting back against the evil developer and his minions, including the corrupt chief of police along with numerous feral-appearing individuals who utilize martial arts as a way of life, apparently. An irrational and cliche-filled script seemingly targets an audience of subnormal 12 year old boys and is devoid of character development and logic but is laden indeed with predictable dialogue, and action that engages an abundance of stunt men who fill lengthy tiresome scenes with their whirling about and pounding upon each other (any one of the blows as depicted would immediately terminate any actual conflict), while Manning singlehandedly, although generally drunk or sleep-deprived, masters large numbers of foes during the course of a mind-numbing film that could not conceivably be tolerated by anyone with even embryonic intelligence.