Charming and brutal

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Jim Brown plays a former Green Beret captain named "Slaughter" who is shocked to hear that his parents have been killed by a car bomb. He then discovers that the reason for this was because his father knew some details about an underworld crime boss named "Mario Felice" (Norman Alfe) and his subordinate, "Dominic Hoffo" (Rip Torn) has taken it upon himself to kill them. Although the information is rather sketchy, Slaughter decides to take matters into his own hands and kills one of the men he thinks was responsible. But this ruins a Department of the Treasury stakeout and as a result the person in charge of it "A. W. Price" (Cameron Mitchell) coerces Slaughter to work for them in exchange for not pressing murder charges against him. Naturally, Slaughter agrees and he is soon headed to South America to hunt for the person who ordered the hit on his parents. Anyway, rather than disclosing the rest of the story I'll just say that this was a basic crime-drama which featured plenty of action but other than a couple of interracial love scenes between Jim Brown and Stella Stevens (as Dominic's mistress named "Ann") there really wasn't anything that remarkable about it. But this was 1972 after all and racial tensions were more predominant back then. In any case, the acting was mediocre (at best) and the movie suffered because of it. That said I rate this movie as average---but nothing more than that.

Take it for what it is...entertainment. Slaughter delivers. Plenty of action, shooting, punching, stabbing, etc. Slaughter takes on the mob and turns them out al dente. Rip Torn is suitably hateful as the Mafia hit man. Stella Stevens is incredibly delicious in and out of her bikini. Slaughter spends the entire film kicking butt on those cheese suckin', mother ------' mafia racists. Great car chases, I might add. I liked it when Slaughter just sped up to the mafia estate in his Mustang, skidded across the courtyard, let the door fly open, and start shooting. One dumb scene at the beginning: Slaughter's dad gets blown up by a car bomb. His car is engulfed in flames while the camera lingers on the inferno. The next scene, we see Slaughter in the ER waiting room. The doctor comes out of surgery and tells Slaughter that his dad didn't make it. Uhhh...I guess the paramedics had to sweep him up in a dustpan to get him to the hospital.

Jim Brown is one cool dude, even when he's making a typical 70s blaxploitation flick.Here, he is an ex-Green Beret home from 'nam going after the mob thugs that killed his father.First, he has to get by their secret weapon, Stella Stevens, girlfriend of #2, Rip Torn, a racist that is just seething at the thought of Stevens between the sheets with Brown. And, boy, do they steam up those sheets! That must have been a shock to 70s audiences.Now, the thugs are not too bright as they try to run Brown down with a Mustang. Don't they know that this former fullback is one of the all time greats in NFL history? Their efforts to catch him in the casino meets with equal disaster as he runs right through them.Of course, you know Slaughter wins in the end because there is a sequel.One interesting aspect for the younger folks is the IBM punch card that figures prominently in the film. They probably have never seen one.

Rip Torn makes for a good heavy, but the action sequences are poorly choreographed (sic?) . I've always liked Jim Brown as an actor, but this is not one of his best. Bad guys get shot on rooftops and they seemingly jump off when hit. All kinds of gunfire come from the mobsters but our "heroes" never get shot.............and on the other hand, our heroes never miss. And what happens to Jim Brown's female friend and Cameron Mitchell towards the end of the movie? It seems the screenwriter forgot about them..........watch it and see what I mean. Good enough for one viewing, especially if you want to see Stella Stevens in a rare nude scene and that's it.