JIM KELLY, FRED WILLIAMSON & JIM BROWN 'THREE THE HARD WAY'

Title: THREE THE HARD WAY Year: 1974 Rating: ****

By the time three multicolored motorcycles are cruising down downtown Chicago that are soon to be revealed carrying sadistic multiracial hotties, THREE THE HARD WAY has gone from a somewhat awkward, clunky and extremely uncomfortable prologue into an enjoyably entertaining action-packed mainline...

Initially involving the imprisonment and torture of random black men leading to the titular collection of THREE popular athletic black actors, eventually fighting a myriad of racist militants who created a potion that will, in a kind of Jame Bond supervillain fashion, wipe out only their race...

Jim Kelly, Fred Williamson and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

Enter fast-talking businessman Fred Williamson, record producer Jim Brown (whose band The Impressions compose various soulful/funky tracks) and karate-studio mogul Jim Kelly, blending crime-genre gunfights, wrecked car explosions, free-flowing foot-chases from urban streets to car washes to mazy sewer systems and — after Jim Kelly shows up thirty-minutes in — plenty of martial arts action... 

Although the chases eventually become somewhat tedious, and the trio aren't alone long enough to be individually fleshed-out, they make a solid collective as the general 1970's blaxploitation theme... of whites dominating blacks violently reversed with resilient brawn over deranged brains.. is successfully epitomized with universal high-octane action over pretentious race-baiting melodrama.

Fred Williamson in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly with Fred Williamson and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

From THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Brown and Fred Williamson in Three the Hard Way with Irene Tsu, Marie O'Henry and Pamala Serpe

Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Fred Williamson and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

Fred Williamson in THREE THE HARD WAY

Fred Williamson and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

Villain Jay Robinson in THREE THE HARD WAY

Token cop Alex Rocco and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

Corbin Bernsen and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY

Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

Fred Williamson in THREE THE HARD WAY

Fred Williamson and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

Fred Williamson and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

Fred Williamson and Jim Brown in THREE THE HARD WAY

From the credits of THREE THE HARD WAY

From the credits of THREE THE HARD WAY

From the credits of THREE THE HARD WAY

From the credits of THREE THE HARD WAY

Poster for THREE THE HARD WAY

Motorcycle Girls in Chicago for THREE THE HARD WAY

Motorcycle Girls in Chicago for THREE THE HARD WAY

Motorcycle Girls in Chicago for THREE THE HARD WAY

Motorcycle Girls in Chicago for THREE THE HARD WAY

Motorcycle Girls in Chicago for THREE THE HARD WAY

Pamala Serpe with Irene Tsu (Hot Potato), Marie O'Henry in THREE THE HARD WAY

Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly in THREE THE HARD WAY