#250: Samurai Cop

Release Date: November 30th, 1991

Format: Streaming (Tubi) Written by: Amir Shervan Directed by: Amir Shervan 3 Stars

I’ve been nursing a cold for the last 24 hours. What better medicine than a little Samurai Cop on a Friday night?

If you’re unfamiliar with Samurai Cop, it was one of those dirty little feeder fish that followed in the wake of the whale that was Lethal Weapon. The late eighties and early nineties were full of these straight-to-video, cheaply made copycat flicks that attempted to cash in on the success of Hollywood genre movies, such as Alien, Mad Max, Conan the Barbarian, and the aforementioned Lethal Weapon, which all featured a trademark hero, yes, but most importantly, sets and costumes that were easy and cheap to replicate. 

The interesting thing about Samurai Cop is that it existed as just another one of those dirty little feeder fish for decades, but with the rise of high-speed internet and online video sharing in the early ‘10s, it turned out Samurai Cop wasn’t a feeder fish at all. 

It was a 1,000lb tuna that just wasn’t getting enough food.    

Word began to get out about Samurai Cop, and schlock fans around the world seemed to all wonder the same thing, “Have we found the greatest ‘bad’ movie…ever?”  

I say “bad” lovingly of course. 

It’s easy to love Samurai Cop, even though Iranian writer/director Amir Shervan seems to hit every bad movie trope possible. In his Samurai Cop you’ll find inane dialogue, terrible lighting, and atrocious dubbing. But the rest is pretty good! 

I’m just joking. 

It’s all bad. You’ll also find silly wigs, gratuitous nudity, bizarre anti-humor, terrible stunts, and about the most ridiculous looking characters you’ve ever seen.     

It’s kind of endearing. Bad, yes, but endearing. I’d rather watch this than a lot of the middle-of-the-road, patronizing Hollywood slop that you’ll find at any given time in theaters.

I would get into Samurai Cop’s plot, about two detectives battling Japanese and Chinese gangs in Los Angeles, but it doesn’t really matter. Just see Samurai Cop. It will be worth it. 

Unfortunately Shervan passed away in 2006 before he could witness the film’s rebirth with cinephiles and fans of trash cinema around the world.