User Reviews

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in 1945 (starting exactly like previous Fong vehicle Murder in the Orient, 1974), a group of American soldiers invade the home of Japanese general Matsuda. The soldiers proceed to rape and murder his wife, and eventually kill him as well. A massacre ensues. Sadly, their young son witnessed all the horror. Then we are told it is March 27, 1978 in San Francisco. The boy from that terrible day in the forties is now a grown man, and he has been obsessed with getting revenge on the soldiers that did this to his mom and dad. He has plenty of haunting memories from that time. When Matsuda (Fong) sees that the 33rd reunion of the 75th Rangers is occurring in Manila, Matsuda goes as well, where he attempts to pick the soldiers off one by one who killed his family, making it, for them, The Last Reunion.

The Last Reunion, as it was originally and perhaps more appropriately known (but undoubtedly retitled because it was not exploitative enough), is a fairly serious drive-in style drama, but with a structure not unlike a slasher film. A lone man is picking people off one by one, yes, but here the characters and scenarios have a little more substance and flesh to them than usual.

Among the group of soldiers, the mainstay Cameron Mitchell portrays Lt. Sam Hacker, the most sympathetic of the bunch. As we will see later in Rage to Kill (1987), he gets a chance to dance. The other sympathetic soldier is Frank Washington, played by Stack Pierce. They primarily have to deal with the belligerent, angry, annoying and unlikable Steadman (Hal Bokar). Bokar does a great job because you hate him so much. Famous, respected actor Philip Baker Hall shows up as Sills, the guilt-ridden alcoholic in a pretty early, mustachioed role. In fact, all the men seem to want to do is get hammered, but Matsuda puts a serious wrinkle in their plans.

I know it's an oversimplification, but one thing I personally found distasteful in this film was that the bad guys are American Soldiers. They are portrayed not as heroes, but as amoral rapists and murderers. Not cool. Even after their atrocity, one of the soldiers says "Sorry, Kid", as if they ran over his bike with their car or something. But on a much, much lighter note, when Matsuda decides he is going to get revenge (and later as well, during the "film set" scene), rather than say something that explains his feelings, or explains something, he simply screams "Bushidoooooooo!!! Bushidooooooo!!!!" Man that's funny. You have to see it. Fong really comes alive.

A highlight of the movie are its many musical acts, especially an outfit called the D'Hi Octave Band. They are a Filipino, female-fronted disco act that has matching outfits. They even play at a club called "Disco". Their scene is a film highlight, and fits in perfectly with the seventies feel of the movie.

By today's standards a bit slow, Revenge of the Bushido Blade is a quality production of its kind that is well worth watching.

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Played on one drive-in in Seattle (with ads saying "More action that Shogun"), this is a pretty good movie. In 1944 in the Pacific, a group of American soldiers raided a Japanese fort killing all the soldiers and killing a little kid's dad and raping his mom (who they both speak terrible Japanese) before killing her. The boys hides and lives through the ordeal, only to become a successful businessman in 1976 (Played by Leo Fong). He is bend on revenge as he kills the soldiers one by one. (Philip Baker Hall has a great decapitation scene). Familar character actors Stack Pierce and Cameron Mitchell play the other soldiers (and later stars in other Fong's films). Not bad.

The only thing this movie really has going for it is you can follow the plot. Whether or not you've seen the poster of this movie which I seriously question if this movie had a theatrical release considering who is the top billed actors in this. Which both of them the only reason I know them is from other "so bad it's good movies". The other thing this has going for it is a diverse amount of shots around what I imagine is exclusively the Philippines. Besides that this movie is just boring.

Hardly anything happens in this, You could clean your house, work out or cook a 3 course meal for your family and even if you only have short glances at this movie I guarantee you won't miss a thing. There is so little action in this movie is one huge complaint I have with this. Sure it's Leo Fong and not some legit tough guy of that era but for the most part it's just following a bunch of army soldiers around as they are all reuniting in the Philippines. I was constantly checking to see how much more of this film I had to endure like a child eagerly waiting to open up his or her Christmas presents. The ending is terrible and I wonder if this was just an excuse for a bunch of friends to have a free vacation as I can't imagine anyone legitimately enjoying this movie. Perhaps this plot could have worked if they had a different... everything. Even caterer. Skip this unless you need help going to sleep.