Samurai Cop is a 1991 American direct-to-video action film written, coproduced and directed by Amir Shervan and starring Robert Z'Dar, Matt Hannon and Mark Frazer. It has attained a cult following.
Plot
When a renegade Japanese gang known as the Katana take control of the cocaine trade in Los Angeles, the LAPD transfer in a "samurai" policeman from the SDPD to help tackle the problem. Joe Marshall has been trained by the masters in Japan and “speaks fluent Japanese”, but dresses like a commoner.
An attempted bust meets with failure after a bizarre car chase leads to multiple deaths and the only witness burned and unable to testify. Katana boss Fuj Fujiyama orders the injured Katana member to be executed and his head displayed on a piano to remind all remaining Katana members of their code of silence. Joe and his partner Frank confront the Katana at the Carlos'n Charlie's restaurant on Sunset Boulevard and attempt to reprimand them into obeying the law. When that fails, Fujiyama's right-hand man Yamashita wages war in the parking lot, executing his own men who fail to subdue Joe and Frank, thus maintaining the code of silence.
Joe eventually seduces Fujiyama's girlfriend Jennifer and they become intimate while several of his police comrades are tortured and killed by the Katana gang who are looking for him, and Fujiyama kidnaps Jennifer out of revenge. Unable to contain his anger any longer, commanding officer Captain Rohmer sanctions an assassination of every single Katana gang member. Joe and Frank head to Fujiyama's compound and gun down every living person and a final sword battle between Joe and Yamashita ends the Katanas' reign of terror. At the end, Joe and Jennifer embrace again on the beach.
Cast
Mathew Karedas as Joe Marshall (credited as Matt Hannon) Robert Z'Dar as Yamashita Mark Frazer as Frank Washington Cranston Komuro as Fuj Fujiyama Janis Farley as Jennifer Gerald Okamura as Okamura Dale Cummings as Captain Rohmer Melissa Moore as Peggy Jimmy Williams as Officer Carter
Production
The film moved swiftly into production, within a week of Amir Shervan and ex-Sylvester Stallone bodyguard Matt Hannon's first meeting. Upon walking into Shervan's office for the first time, Matt Hannon was told that he was perfect and was immediately handed the full script to the film. Despite the film being titled Samurai Cop, Hannon had no experience with weapons training, and all of his formal practice would be classified as MMA. As a result of Hannon's lack of experience and Shervan's inability to direct, all of the combat scenes were choreographed by martial arts expert Gerald Okamura, or were planned out by the actors themselves, sometimes only fifteen minutes before the scene in question was filmed.
Filming took place over several months, starting in June 1990. When actor Hannon had considered shooting to be finished, he had his hair cut short, only to be told that further shooting was to be done. Director Shervan obtained a lady's wig for the actor, which can be seen in several close up shots throughout the film. Lead actor Hannon stated that he and several other actors became frustrated with the dialogue in the film, while also expressing frustration at the lack of multiple takes. Hannon admitted to intentionally ruining takes due to his frustration, assuming that Shervan would not put them in the film, but these takes ended up in the film. A reflective Hannon was able to laugh at this, stating "so shame on me" in a 2014 interview with Red Letter Media. The shooting schedule was also poorly planned as Hannon and Mark Frazer both assumed the film was finished before Shervan called them in for reshoots in early 1991.