User reviews

Pop (Scatman Crothers) is a womanizing, gambling caricature, but he has a piece of property the Mob wants. He and his friends, win the first battle, but the Mob and their henchmen are persistent.

Jim Kelly Enter the Dragon, Three the Hard Way) is Black Belt Jones, and the action sequences certainly make up for the lack of acting ability.

Ah, but it is Florida Seminole Gloria Hendry (Across 110th Street, Black Caesar, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off) that attracts me to the film, and she doesn't disappoint.

Malik Carter (Cobra, Pervert!) as Pinky, the tool for the Mob was hilarious. he is the quintessential caricature of blaxploitation.

Jim Kelly may not be in the class of Bruce Lee, but he does show some impressive martial-arts moves; his co-star, Gloria Hendry, more than holds her own. This flick is half blaxploitation actioner and half Bond movie; in both fields, you could do much worse. The plot is minimal, to say the least, and the silly sound effects used to "enhance" the various kicks and punches do date the film, but it's still very fast-paced, playful and thoroughly enjoyable. (**1/2)

When you have a 70's kung-fu flick full of polyester suits and afro's, along with such choice dialogue as "Ouch! You shot me!", "I'm Gonna turn you into fudge", or "Tuna who?", you know you're in for the time of your life!

Definitely to be watched with a group of friends, this is a one-of-a-kind gem among all movies. The action is often so badly choreagraphed and timed that it's F'N good!

Plot is the same as any basic old-school chop-socky... martial arts school fights from being taken over, master is killed, and main character must avenge the master. Think "Chinese Connection" (Bruce Lee), but 70's ghetto style!

The sound track itself is a reason enough to see BLACK BELT JONES! Jim Kelly ROCKS!

i think this film belongs to the genre of 70's blaxploitation/martial arts/action.regardless,i really enjoyed it.i thought it was a real blast.there's plenty of martial arts action.there's also a lot of funny scenes,some i'm sure are intentional,and some that might not be.the acting wasn't that bad,in my opinion.it wasn't Oscar Worthy or anything,but i don't think it was supposed to be.the music was kinda cheesy but it grew on me after awhile.this was actually the first movie i've seen of this genre.i picked it as part of a four pack of movies of the same genre.i'll definitely be checking out the other three very soon.The other three titles are "Black Samson","Hot Potato",and "Three the Hard Way".for me,Black Belt Jones is a 7/10

Although he has a lucrative business dealing in counterfeit dollars, a Mafia godfather by the name of "Don Steffano" (Andre Philippe) decides that he wants to purchase some land where a huge civic center is about to be built so that he can make a hefty profit. The problem is that on this land is a karate school run by a man named "Papa Byrd" (Scatman Crothers) who has no interest in selling it to anybody. So Don Steffano gives the task of obtaining this parcel of land to a black mobster named "Pinky" (Malik Carter) who doesn't dare to cross him. Unfortunately, Pinky goes a bit too far one night and accidentally kills Papa Byrd and this results in the karate school going directly to Papa Byrd's daughter "Sydney" (Gloria Hendry) who not only wants to keep the school but also wants to find out who killed her father. And one of the few people who can help her do both is a student of Papa Byrd named "Black Belt Jones" (Jim Kelly). Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I was slightly disappointed in this movie for a couple of reasons. First, although I didn't mind the fact that this martial arts movie also doubled as a Blaxploitation film, I thought the romantic scene between Sydney and Black Belt Jones was rather clumsy and the fight scene at the very end was much too long and boring. Likewise, most of the humor throughout the movie needed some serious improvement as well. Having said all of that I suppose this movie was still somewhat entertaining and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This has got to be one of the most funky and hilarious movies of all time. The sheer amount of celery used is phenomenal. I especially enjoy Pinky's rhyme about bread, his groin, and coins. Some of the acting is poor and lack luster, notably BB's girlfriend. However, this adds a kind of camp or kitsch making the movie that much more enjoyable. Jim Kelley is by far one of the coolest brothers ever. This is definitely Blaxploitation at its finest.

Well here's a movie for you! Black Belt Jones is a must for aficionados of martial arts films, blaxpoitation films, and cult films in general. It boasts probably the funniest opening fight scene that I've ever seen (unintentional or not? it's difficult to tell in this film; I have an acute feeling that everyone was just joking around and having a lot of fun), in which Jim Kelly aka Black Belt Jones (one of the greatest character names in cinema history, to be sure) ends the thing by shooting a bullet into a man's ass. It also boasts maybe the only fight scene where Scatman Crothers kicks some butt. And a scene where Jim Kelly kicks about a dozen guys out of train windows. And a set piece where everyone battles it out in a car wash with bubbly soap covering the scenery. The guy who plays Sidney also played the young black kid in The Omega Man, the one whom Charlton Heston tried to save. It also contains more abuse to the testicles than any film I've ever seen - none of the good guys have any qualms in the least about attacking the male package. If you see it with a bunch of guys, expect loud groaning all through the film. However much camp value there is, it does grow old during the course of the film. It's still a funny and distracting film. 7/10

I found out about this movie by title alone through a strange series of overheard conversation and jokes. I had no idea it would be this great! Black Belt Jones stars Jim Kelly who's best known for his role in Enter the Dragon aside Bruce Lee, but don't expect the same kind of film. The entire movie is just about perfect if you like cheesy 70's action movies, kung fu movies, or just a good laugh. I really can't tell if the director intended for this movie to be funny or not, but it had me on the floor laughing. It's really not funny in a bad, MST3K way, but actually in a respectable manner. I don't think anyone could watch even the opening credits to this movie without laughing. Jim Kelly can actually pull off some nice fighting moves, but while doing so, emits some of the funniest vocalizations I've ever heard. Imagine a deeper voiced Bruce Lee crossed with Larry from The Three Stooges. The plot of the movie is simple and never gets in the way of the enjoyment of the film and such great lines as "You won't be back for more! If you want some more, then come on back!" And if you like this movie, especially Jim Kelly's fighting, I'd suggest watching Three the Hard Way which, while not as amusing of a film, has some great Jim Kelly fight scenes in the same style as Black Belt Jones. Rent both films for a great Jim Kelly double-feature!

How can you not love Black Belt Jones. Jim Kelly is an icon of the 1970's, most notably for his work in bruce's Lee's Enter The Dragon. He is great in this B-grade, self aware Blaxploitation film. It is kelly, sticking up for his friends trying to save a Karate school from being pushed out by the Mob as part of a redevelopment project. It is hokey. It is funny. It is way too politically incorrect to be made today. It is low budget but it is fun. The fight scenes and action and campy music all make the time pass quickly. The characters are all intentionally steriotypical. I Loved it for what it is.

"Black Belt Jones" is a rather poor blaxsploitation film, but it does have a couple things going for it. First, the action is very good--even if the celery-cracking is a bit over the top and Kelly's vocalizations sound like Curly Howard is playing the lead! Second, the film never takes itself too seriously. Because of these factors, it's worth a look if you like the genre or want a good laugh.

The plot is a VERY generic and familiar one with Black Belt Jones working for some unnamed government agency out to bring down the mob. It never gets any deeper than that, folks! And you wonder why a group of mobsters are interested in taking over a martial arts studio....but it's funny. The funniest part is when the owner of the studio, Scatman Crothers, kicks mob butt! Think about it, Crothers is elderly AND sporting one of the cheesiest toupees in movie history and he's pretending to be a kung fu genius!! But he's not the only silly guy in the film. ALL the bad guys have one thing in common--when covertly attacked they NEVER call out for help or yell! There also is the GREAT foreplay scene at the 66 minute mark--as Jones and his lady love do the weirdest stuff en route to some nookie! The sum total effect of all this cheese is a fun picture that you like but you also can't take at all seriously--even if Kelly was very good with his kicking and punching.

Very silly but actually a bit endearing as well.

There's no way on earth I'm gonna argue that 'Black Belt Jones' is a great movie, even a very good one, but no matter how silly and cheesy it gets it's a hell of a ride and lots of fun! Let's face it this is b-grade exploitation fare deliberately designed to cash in on both the mid-70s blaxploitation boom and the success of Bruce Lee's martial arts classic 'Enter The Dragon'. Dragon's director Robert Clouse (who also made the hugely enjoyable post-apocalyptic potboiler 'The Ultimate Warrior') took karate champion Jim Kelly, who co-starred with Lee and John Saxon in that film, and tried to start a spin-off franchise with him. The big problem was that Kelly certainly had the fighting chops but his acting was only so-so and he was one of the least charismatic of all the blaxploitation leading men. Just compare him to Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree or Ron O'Neal and you'll see what I mean. Anyway, for one movie at least it didn't really matter. Kelly stars as Black Belt Jones who returns to the inner city karate school where he got his start after the death of his mentor Pop Byrd (the wonderful Scatman Crothers, who yes, kicks some butt before he is killed, a sight you'll never forget!). Jones teams up with Pop's estranged daughter Sydney (Gloria Hendry of 'Black Caesar' and 'Savage Sisters'), also a fighter, and his peeps to avenge Pop's death. The rest of the cast includes Eric Laneuville ('The Omega Man'), Earl Brown (Whisper from 'Live And Let Die'), and even Isaac the bartender from 'The Love Boat' as a Black Panther! This is a silly movie, but still loads of fun, with some very entertaining fight sequences, and some laughs, intentional and unintentional. 'Black Belt Jones' is mandatory viewing for all 1970s trash buffs.

Black-belt Jones (Jim Kelly) takes on the mob and some treacherous brotha's when his karate alma mater and his former sensi Pop Boyd (Scatman Crothers) are threatened. Made just after the massive success of 'Enter the Dragon', Kelly seems to be almost parodying his former co-star Bruce Lee's characteristic martial mannerisms (notably the odd little chirps and hoots while dealing destruction), and the semi-comic villains, ridiculous sound-effects (blows sound the same no matter where, or with what, you strike a person), and over-the-top fight-choreography are straight out of the silly low-budget kung-foolery that was popular in the early 1970s. The script is quite humorous (although now would be considered offensive in some quarters for (ill-)liberal sprinklings of the 'N-word') and there are some really funny scenes (the best IMO is the scene where Black-belt performs a few classic fighting moves leading up to pushing an elevator button). Tall, lean and topped by a bulbous afro, Kelly is fun to watch as he flattens, and reflattens, a score or two of inept henchmen and, Sidney (Black-belt's main squeeze, played by Gloria Hendry, a 'sacrificial-lamb Bond-girl in the previous years 'Live in Let Die') is a kick-ass ass-kicker herself. Scatman Crothers makes the most of his limited screen time and his banter with his much larger main-squeeze Lucy (Ester Sutherland) is priceless ("I'm gonna slap the black off you!"). The whole cast is perfect for the film and the athletic stunts, however improbable, are well done and fun to watch. A pleasant surprise, 'Black-belt Jones' was much more entertaining than expected and I suspect that unlike most of its ilk, I was laughing with the film, not at it. Light-weight, retro fun.

Black Belt Jones (Jim Kelly) is kicking criminals and working with the government. The Mafia is buying up land where the City is planning to build a new civic center. They recruit black thug drug-dealer Pinky. The karate school run by Pop Byrd (Scatman Crothers) is holding out. His daughter Sydney (Gloria Hendry) is secretly the owner.

This is a sorta spinoff from Enter the Dragon in which Jim Kelly has a supporting role. In this one, Jim Kelly is the lead and he's trying to be the black Bruce Lee. It's Blaxploitation. The fighting is fine. The acting is alright. Jim Kelly is a functional lead. Nothing is standing out. It's mostly fine.

I love this movie. It has everything from a bad romantic story to great fighting scenes and even a scene where for no apparent reason "Black Belt" smashes a man's guitar. My favorite thing about this movie is that Black Belt Jones' job is to watch women jump on a trampoline, for which he seems to receive a hefty sum of money,judging by the size of his house. This movie has the worst phone acting I have ever had the opportunity to see. If you want to see great fighting scenes and pretty bad acting then see this film.

How had I never seen this chapter of jim kelley martial arts blaxploitation films?? The cheesy sound effects and funky music. This one even has scatman crothers! The usual silly plot of having to fight the bad guys using only his martial arts skills. When a group of local politicians tries to do a land grab on a karate business, BB and friends must stop them any way they can. So much violence and swearing. The N word every few minutes. Definitely not for the young ones! Someone gets bumped off right in the first few minutes. The cars, the hairdo's. The wide ties of the 1970s. Keep your eyes peeled for marla gibbs (the jeffersons!) and ted lange (love boat!) ! It's pretty good, for its time. Some funny stuff, looking back now, assuming a lot of this was done tongue in cheek. Directed by robert clouse. Story by fred weintraub and alexandra rose, who also made hot potato together.

The late, great Jim Kelly's spiritual successor to Enter the Dragon (reuniting w/director Robert Clouse) from 1974. Kelly is a punching/kicking agent who is being recruited by the government to investigate some shenanigans the mob is cooking up (a new civic center is being constructed & the cosa nostra owns much of the land except for a lone lot). Enter Scatman Crothers' kung fu dojo which the mob wants so much they send in a local crime lord, Malik Carter, who Crothers, a gambling junkie who he owes money to, to come collecting (inflating the IOU to favor him). What the mob & Carter don't know is that Kelly is good friends w/Crothers & other members of the school, which include Eric Laneuville (who I remember from St. Elsewhere & is still a prolific TV director), prompting Kelly & his fists/feet to say otherwise. It's always great to see Kelly in his prime kicking ass w/a wistful sadness since Kelly should've been a bigger star than he was but this film moves in fits & starts w/a lot of kung fu fighting but not much energy or creativity put into the fight sequences w/an ending that has a fighting horde amid soap suds (?) doesn't inspire much excitement. Also starring actors of the period like Gloria Hendry, playing Kelly's love interest & Earl Jolly Brown, both from Live & Let Die, playing one of Carter's thugs w/brief cameos from Ted Lange (from the Love Boat) as a revolutionary & Marla Gibbs (from The Jeffersons) as a neighbor from the hood.

(1974) Black Belt Jones MARTIAL ARTS ACTION

It centers on someone getting whacked for an incriminating photo of the don, Don Steffano (Andre Philippe). At the same time, after Black Belt Jones (Jim Kelly) beat up some thugs who were after the secretary, he is called up to the secretary's right hand man, Roberts (Nate Esformes) tried to recruit him to recover that photo. And at first, he refuses and then leaves, but as soon as mafiaso, Don Steffano becomes involved. Becoming to be embolden to wanting to own a particular building owned by Papa Byrd (Scatman Crothers) used as a karate school, by attempting to use deceptive tactics, by convincing dope seller and owner of a club 'the Pick Pocket', Pinky (Malik Carter) to get him this building. And Don's two goons, instructed him to either get him this building that is used as a karate school or pay up the 250,000 they figured he owned them. And of course, Pinky and his men clash with the Popa Byrd and his students. But as soon as Pinky accidentally kills Papa, his daughter Sydney Byrd is called, as she too knows a little bit of karate as well. Ending the movie with fights coming from Kelly going against the mob and Pinky's men, in a parking lot full of garbage trucks full of bubbles through a car wash, with Sydney pushing the lever.

Made one year after Bruce Lee's death, and upon watching this, I was kinda hoping it would not stick solely to just unconvincing martial art fights often shown on many poorly dubbed "chop socky" movies. I was quite disappointed that was all there was, considering the fact it was directed by Robert Clouse, that is all he appears to have does, unlike other blaxploitation movies that does not just have fights but gunfights and car chases. I was quite amused with the amount of nicknames chanted, that was common during that era, besides "Pinky" and "Poppa" there's also Peacock, Dollar, Eye Casper, Big Tuna and Tappy.

"Black Belt Jones" is one of the most fun movies to come out of the 1970s. It's a rousing and funny mixture of martial arts action and blaxploitation as the cool-as-can-be title character (Jim Kelly) takes on all comers. BBJ works at a karate school run by cheerful Papa Byrd (Scatman Crothers, as wonderful as he's ever been). The Mafia wants the property, and one night they go too far and murder Papa. His long estranged daughter Sydney (Gloria Hendry) comes home to join BBJ and help him fight the good fight.

Film director Robert Clouse, who'd worked with Kelly on the martial arts classic "Enter the Dragon", doesn't try to reinvent the wheel here. He just serves up a lot of nifty combat (choreographed by Robert Wall) and other assorted set pieces, while combining all of it with a great deal of comedy. There's no graphic violence to offend some viewers, just a lot of good thrills and laughs. The movie is rated R mostly for profanity. The unqualified highlight is undeniably the amazing final battle because it's set at a car wash and many of the combatants end up covered in suds.

The characters are all very damn entertaining, too. Kelly is not a great actor but he is a great action hero. Sexy Miss Hendry is a feisty leading lady, and holds her own all the way through. You have to love her reaction when it's suggested that she "do the dishes". Eric Laneuville, Alan Weeks, Andre Philippe, Vincent Barbi, Mel Novak, and Nate Esformes are fine in support, but the show is largely stolen by Malik Carter as aggressive bad guy Pinky. At one point, he launches into a priceless rhyming routine about his love of money. Crothers is such a hoot as the rascally Papa. You haven't lived until you've seen him with that rug on his head, and watched him attempt to bust out karate moves. Marla Gibbs, Henry Kingi, and Ted Lange have uncredited bits.

A lively, invigorating diversion, underscored by superior music by Luchi De Jesus.

Now let's all go to McDonald's!

Eight out of 10.