Soul Brothers of Kung Fu

There's only one 'soul brother' in this feature, released on video in the United States as part of the 'Mack Video' series. Anyone picking this up looking for black action thrills is going to be disappointed, as token African-American actor Carl Scott is really only a supporting character, and is burdened with a horrendous dubbing job by what sounds like a white Australian voice actor. Beyond the false advertising, however, this is actually an above average genre flick, featuring wall to wall, well choreographed action sequences and some unique training techniques, including a light up mannequin and what look to be bear traps! Additionally, the video is letterboxed and was decently mastered, and the film features a bit more sex and nudity than you might expect. On the other hand, this print features the usual bad dubbing as well as numerous bizarre jump cuts. Like many films of its type and era, Soul Brothers of Kung Fu also shamelessly cribs musical cues, featuring generous (and undoubtedly uncleared) segments of Bill Conti's Rocky themes, plus Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die, Silver Connection's disco classic Fly Robin Fly, and what sounds like Santo and Johnny's version of Happy Birthday!