“Thank God for Black & Decker!”
Go ahead and start laughing now, because with that line one proud member of Force: Five — a supposed elite squad of martial arts experts (a term I use loosely, even if the cast is stacked with legitimate combat sports talent) — locks this film into the hall of fame of late-night action absurdity.
Directed by Robert Clouse, the same filmmaker who gave the world Enter the Dragon, Force: Five feels like an attempt to recreate lightning in a bottle… without the lightning. And definitely without Bruce Lee. Clouse assembles a team of fighters led by kickboxing champion Joe Lewis as Jim Martin, backed by familiar genre names like Richard Norton and Benny Urquidez, and drops them onto a remote island run by cult leader Reverend Rhee, played with stone-faced seriousness by Bong Soo Han.
The mission? Rescue a senator’s daughter. Shut down a brainwashing religious cult. Restore order.
What actually happens? Not much.
For a movie featuring world-class fighters, the action is surprisingly low impact. The kicks barely fly, the punches rarely connect with urgency, and the choreography lacks the snap you’d expect from such seasoned athletes. Outside of a helicopter that “malfunctions” in gloriously unconvincing fashion — swerving wildly over the island like it’s being piloted by someone who just discovered the controls — and a single uncomfortable torture scene, the film mostly drifts from one stiff exchange of dialogue to another.
And that dialogue? Pure gold. Delivered with unwavering sincerity, even when it absolutely shouldn’t be.
Then there’s the bull.
Yes, an angry bull wandering the halls of Reverend Rhee’s island compound — a palace that conveniently stores drugs, weapons, and apparently livestock. It’s never explained. It doesn’t need to be. The sight of a raging animal charging through corridors in what is clearly meant to be a serious martial arts thriller elevates Force: Five from forgettable knockoff to 2 a.m. cable legend. Talk about roast beef, son.
Even the presence of genre faces like Mel Novak and Amanda Wyss (of A Nightmare on Elm Street fame) can’t quite give the movie the pulse it desperately needs. The film plays like an empty vessel of cinematic fury — all premise, very little payoff — banking on star power and the hope that audiences won’t notice the absence of real momentum.
They will.
But here’s the thing: that’s also why it works — in a very specific context. This isn’t prime-time prestige martial arts cinema. This is the kind of movie you discover half-asleep, flipping channels, wondering if you imagined what you just saw. It’s cornball, awkward, and occasionally baffling — yet oddly watchable because of it.
Island-hopping kung-fu thrill seekers might embrace this “lost” oddity for its roster alone. Everyone else will likely give this Enter the Dragon echo a hard pass. Still, as an artifact of early ’80s action ambition and unintentional comedy, Force: Five earns its place in the pantheon of gloriously misguided genre experiments.
With Force: Five, late night television finally found its purpose.
Blu-ray Collector's Edition
Home Video Distributor: MVD Visual
Available on Blu-ray - February 24, 2026
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English
Video: 1080p
Audio: English: LPCM 2.0 Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
A senator’s daughter has fallen under the spell of a deadly religious cult — and only a team of elite martial arts champions can bring her home. Led by kickboxing legend Joe Lewis, a fearless squad of fighters storms a remote island fortress ruled by the sinister Reverend Rhee (Bong Soo Han). But this isn’t just a rescue mission — it’s an all-out war against brainwashed fanatics, ruthless assassins, and a compound packed with weapons, drugs… and one very angry bull.
Directed by Robert Clouse (Enter the Dragon), Force: Five delivers bone-crunching brawls, explosive action, and pure early-’80s martial arts mayhem. Featuring an all-star lineup of combat sports icons including Richard Norton and Benny Urquidez, this cult favorite is a wild island adventure where fists fly, helicopters spin out of control, and danger waits behind every door. When the mission goes wrong, only one thing is certain — it’s going to take more than kicks and karate to survive the fury of Force: Five.
Video
The MVD Rewind Collection disc finally delivers Force: Five in high-definition 1080p for the first time on a widely available home video release, replacing the soft, low-resolution presentations that have circulated for years.
This new AVC-encoded transfer in its original 1.85:1 theatrical ratio brings noticeably sharper image detail and cleaner overall picture than previous DVD iterations, with muted but consistent color and no major print damage or speckles distracting from the experience.
While the film’s inherent production values and somewhat flat cinematography limit how “polished” the transfer can appear, the upgrade to HD gives cult fans a much clearer and more watchable version of this early ’80s martial arts oddity, preserving the flick’s grain structure and improving clarity without significant manipulation.
Audio
The MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray of Force: Five delivers a modest but welcome audio uplift over prior home video incarnations, presenting the soundtrack in English LPCM 2.0 mono that’s cleaner and better balanced than the muddier, hiss-ridden tracks found on older releases. While it doesn’t boast a surround mix — nor would the material truly benefit from one — the restored mono track offers improved dialogue clarity and punchier midrange presence, allowing the film’s exclamations, grunts, and occasional practical impacts to come through with more definition. Background ambience that once seemed distant or buried now sits more naturally in the mix, lending the late-night grindhouse action a bit more life without straying from the original theatrical experience. Optional English subtitles also help mitigate any lingering muffled lines, making this the definitive way to hear Force: Five at home.
Supplements:
While short on extras, the commentary is just a plethora of film history talking about everything from Whale to the actors to Pre-Code history and much more. It more than compliments the film well.
Commentary:
- None
Special Features:
The package also comes with a handful of bonus features such as archival interviews and the original theatrical trailer, along with collectible packaging elements like a mini-poster and limited edition slipcover on first pressings.
- Archival Interview with actor Joe Lewis (SD, ~50 min)
- Archival Interview with Benny Urquidez (SD, ~9 min)
- Archival “Benny Urquidez Fight” featurette (SD, ~7 min)
- Original Theatrical Trailer in HD
- Collectible Mini-Poster
- Limited Edition Slipcover (first pressing only)
- Optional English subtitles for the main feature
- Reversible artwork
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Composite Blu-ray Grade
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MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 96 mins
Director: Robert Clause
Writer: Robert Clouse; Emil Farkas
Cast: Joe Lewis; Bong Soo Han; Sonny Barnes
Genre: Action | Adventure
Tagline: Five Against a Thousand... the Odds are Even
Memorable Movie Quote: "What I need is woman who can think; and fight... and chew gum at the same time."
Theatrical Distributor: American Cinema International
Official Site:
Release Date: July 1981
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: February 24, 2026
Synopsis: A martial-arts expert leads a team of fellow martial artists to rescue a senator's daughter from an island ruled by the evil leader of a fanatical religious cult.
