JIM KELLY IN 'THE TATTOO CONNECTON' AJKA 'BLACK BELT JONES 2'

Groovy title sequence YEAR of RELEASE: 1978

Not a sequel to BLACK BELT JONES despite the misleading alternative title, which HOT POTATO was supposed to be and failed: Instead, THE TATTOO CONNECTION is a Tao-liang Tan vehicle with ENTER THE DRAGON afro icon Jim Kelly on the side...

But with his usual confident bravado he steals, and eventually owns, this thoroughly entertaining Chinese-imported Kung Fu flick centering on the recovery of a stolen diamond and the mobster thugs who want it, and who they use in the process: Enter "Master of Kicks" Tan, who kicks ass for fifteen-minutes before Kelly, a CIA agent named Lucas, is called in from America. Tan works for the villainous Sin Cheng along with Bolo Yeung and some other badly dubbed goons, but eventually our flash-legged hero, with the aid of beautiful wife Nami Misaki, joins Kelly's Lucas in a glorious fight on a freighter ship in a movie that, through time and lack of restoration, looks awful and grainy (awfully grainy) and yet, overall, TATTOO CONNECTION (officially titled "E yu tou hei sha xing" and also known as HONG KONG CONNECTION, ) is surprisingly good stuff with lots of quick zooms, and not too much exposition dialogue since you always know where the character are going, and why.