The scene opens with Linda (Linda Megier) and Jason Blade (Edward John Stazak) being initiated into the ancient and secret Order of the Panthers, a crime fighting martial arts thing. Blonde Linda does undercover surveillance in Hong Kong...then off to Australia. On of the two don't make it past 20 minutes (the one that has a stunt double which looks like a man in a blonde wig) and Jason has to avenge her death. We know who kill Linda...at least we think we do as we see a guy throw a knife in her general direction. Guns are rarely used...hey! It's a martial arts film. Jason works carrying suitcases filled with flour and blank paper for the guy who tossed the knife. Bad guys get to wear cool Halloween masks. No sense letting someone you are trying to kill, see your face.It was pretty boring stuff. I watched it on a 50 film unit and it could have used restoration. Cliché, formula, and poorly acted.Guide: Brief sex. No swearing or nudity.

Jason Blade (Stazak), William Anderson (Stanton) and his daughter Linda (Megier) are members of a secret warrior clan known as Panthers. Anderson is a member of the Hong Kong Special Branch of Australian law enforcement. While in HK, he, his daughter, and his protégé Blade found the time to go through the rigorous martial arts training of the secretive Panther clan. Back in Perth, Western Australia, it seems there is a new bad guy causing all sorts of trouble - the dastardly Damien Zukor (Carman). He's into racketeering, drugs and any number of nefarious activities, and the ultra-wealthy Zukor has cops and politicians in his back pocket, allowing him to continuously expand his criminal empire, with the help of an army of rubber pig-masked goons brandishing machetes. But he didn't count on one thing: JASON BLADE. After the murder of Linda by the super-evil number two man to Zukor, Baxter (Richards), Blade decides to go undercover as a thug and infiltrate Zukor's organization from the inside. Gaining access to Zukor's world proves complicated, especially when a team of law enforcement officials that disapprove of his rogue ways is constantly tailing him, and he manages a romantic relationship with Anderson's niece Gemma (Jefferson). Will Jason Blade be the new action hero of the 80's? Fan-favorite director, Brian Trenchard-Smith here delivers the fun and the silly martial arts/stunt filled goods. Edward John Stazak sadly falls into the camp with Jay Roberts, Jr. and Matt Hannon and never made any other movies (unless you count the made-at-the-same-time sequel, Fists Of Blood (1988). Obviously the filmmakers hope you like the name "Jason Blade" because you hear it many, many times throughout the course of the film. Sinister, Peter Cushing-like bad guy Zukor even gets off a witty, perhaps unintentional one-liner when, impressed with Blade's intelligence (?), he tells him, "You're sharp, Blade".Blade is a stylish man of the 80's, but in the slick department, it's hard to beat Baxter, a man who looks like a cross between David Hasselhoff and Ricky Gervais dipped in a rich, thick coating of eighties. And let's not forget that this movie came out around the time of the then-current exercise/aerobics boom. There are plenty of scenes in Blade's gym, including a show-stopping moment involving Gemma. Let's just say that woman was born to dance.80's fashions aside, what's also good about movies of this time were that you could actually see all the stunts and all the martial arts moves. It might not be the best kung-fu movie ever committed to celluloid but at least there's no CGI garbage or annoying, eye-irritating "quick cuts". Actual effort was put forth to make it all come together and the result is quite entertaining.Naturally, there's an extended, knock-down drag-out fight at the end between Blade and Baxter. Baxter's main strength as a fighter seems to be his ability to withstand seemingly-endless kicks and punches to the face (although what you see here pales in comparison to what he endures in the follow-up). Harking back to the good old days of cinema good and evil, Blade wears white pants and Baxter black as they gleefully punch away the running time.Featuring the memorable song "Take me Back" by Colin Setches, and released on Celebrity Video in the U.S. (as was its sequel), dare you enter the glorious world of Jason Blade? For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

When his partner is killed by an Australian crime syndicate, a studly undercover agent goes vigilante to avenge her death while the Australian authorities try to keep him on a leash so that they can nab the syndicate's ringleader."Day of the Panther" is a Van Damme rip off that looks like it was filmed on someone's video camera, but it does have its merits, chiefly among them that it's never boring. It's a hoot to see the 1980s revived in all their pastel splendor, and there's enough unintentional hilarity to keep lovers of bad movies watching.The fight scenes are choreographed competently if unmemorably and will most likely satisfy your craving for some martial arts sleight of hand. Unfortunately, if you're looking for a little skin, you won't find it in this movie, unless you count that of our hero, who spends much of his screen time shirtless. The rest of us have to make do with a couple of aerobic dance numbers performed by the female lead, one of them, a seductive dance done in a gym while our hero works out and looks on, a real howler.Grade: B-

Very bland Australian action flick that really goes nowhere fast as Edward John Stazak's lifeless performance as high-kicking Jason Blade leaves little to distinguish it from other 80's kung-fu flicks. When Blade's partner is chased by thugs in goofy masks and eventually killed by a crimelord's second-hand man, Baxter, he flies back to Australia to seek revenge. Blade, his blonde female partner and her father were all trained Shaolin Monk style by the Panther sect of the Chinese Triad. Funny, I thought the Triads were bad guys too. Anyway Blade teams up with his departed partner's dad and his spandex wearing niece Gemma to take down Perth's underworld boss Damien Zukor whose biggest crime is his atrocious wardrobe. Two idiot detectives tail Blade and act as comic relief assuming you think stupid comments and terrible policework is amusing. Eventually Blade gains the trust of Zukor and goes undercover as one of his enforcers. From there it follows the same connect-the-dots formula that makes this a real snoozefest. There's little doubt that Mr. Stazak is a very capable martial artist which is clear during one of his many spins kicks however I'm not a twelve year old so it gets old real quick. The real mystery is the fact that this was immediately followed by the sequel "Strike of the Panther". Who exactly was demanding this? Another problem I had was the lack of boomerangs, marsupials, mates, or any other Australian stereotypes that we Yanks like so much. This panther doesn't pounce. It sleepwalks instead.