CIC UK VHS Synopsis: Lee Cantrell is a young assistant district attorney, skilled in the martial arts. He is deeply versed in Oriental philosophy and daily practices the martial arts with Takeo Chisato, his family's major-domo. Lee discovers that Amory Bryson, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, is systematically destroying neighbourhoods for a private land renovation project. When the courts prove ineffective in stopping Bryson, the young attorney dons Samurai garb, straps on his sword to do battle with the tycoon's goon squads. In the process, he finds Bryson has made a horrific discovery...

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Views: Lee Cantrell is a young district attorney who fights for justice in more ways than one. At night, Lee moonlights as the Samurai – a sword wielding warrior clad in black, complete with a large red headband who takes on the thugs and thieves of his city. When he finds out that a property developing fat-cat is intimidating local families and business owners to claim their land, Lee takes things into his own hands to put a stop to the criminals and bring justice to those that have lost everything! Originally conceived as the pilot for a new television show, Samurai found itself redirected to video when it failed to excite a potential small screen audience. Written by veteran TV writer Jerry Ludwig, who penned many great shows such Murder She Wrote, MacGuyver, Police Story (not the Jackie Chan one), Hawaii Five-O, and Mission: Impossible, Ludwig scripts this one much like that he has penned befor. Playing like a second-rate version of Daredevil – albeit with the ability to see – Samurai didn't exactly make as much of an impression on fans of samurai pop-culture as James Clavell's Shogun did the following year, but it obviously didn't go unnoticed and had some of its plot recycled many years later for the US Jet Li vehicle, Romeo Must Die. To be honest, it's actually not as terrible a TV movie as many would have you believe!

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Directed by Lee Katzin, a television director who has helmed many episodes on shows such as Branded, The Rat Patrol, Young Riders, Police Story, and Mission: Impossible (who no doubt crossed paths with Jerry Ludwig along the way), it's clear the man knew what he was doing and delivers a pilot that plays like many classic shows of the 80s such as Cagney & Lacey, The Equalizer, and Knight Rider, to some degree. Between them both, the pair manage to provide a crime-fighting adventure that could have been so much more but instead, opted to focus more on the dramatic side of things leaving this television pilot somewhat lackluster when it came to action. But you can understand why – Samurai wasn't exactly packed with authentic martial artists! And although he certainly wasn't as miscast as David Carradine in the Kung Fu series, English-born actor Joe Penny doesn't do too bad a job as the samurai hero and lawyer. Hawaiian actor James Shigeta stars as Cantrell's master and adoptive father whose introduction was quite interesting, allowing him to break the fourth wall with the audience as he explains his student's history and story. Shigeta made a healthy career as one of the go-to Asian actors of US television, starting from the early 60s right through to his death in 2014 as well as starring in many great films such as Bridge To The Sun, The Yakuza, Die Hard, and Steve Wang's awesome Drive alongside Mark Dacascos. Both star are joined by a host of popular 70s/80s television actors such as Dana Elcar, Ralph Manza, Philip Baker Hall who appeared in the Rush Hour movies, and Geoffrey Lewis who played Frank in Van Damme's Double Impact.

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While I'd hardly say Samurai is a must for martial arts fans – or even falls into the categorical genre of martial arts – it still made for a fun watch, although this probably sits better for those of us that grew up in the 80s with similar kinds of television shows. This was a period when actors actually acted, which can be seen throughout the movie regardless of how silly and far-fetched the script might be. A product of its time, I may have actually gotten hooked on Samurai had it become a series, but hey, no doubt we'll probably see a remake someday soon as Hollywood run dry of fresh ideas and look back for something else to recycle...

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Overall: Not terrible but really not worth tracking down either, Samurai had some potential but lacked the excitement and action that may have saved it!