After being left for dead, the man is rescued by two Japanese soldiers, living on a remote island, who teach him the ways of the samurai. Upon returning to the USA, he quickly exacts a bloody revenge on his tormentors and reunite with his wife and son. An American Vietnam soldier on his way home is left for dead and is saved by a pair of Japanese stragglers from WWII, who train him in the way of the samurai. American soldier Doug Russell (a solid and likable performance by James Iglehart) gets betrayed and left for dead by his two buddies while stationed in the Philippines. After washing up on a remote island and being taught in the ways of the samurai by a Japanese soldier, Russell returns to America to exact a harsh revenge on the two guys who double crossed him.<br/><br/>Director Cirio H. Santiago, working from a tight and involving script by Howard R. Cohen, keeps the engrossing and enjoyable story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains a tough gritty tone throughout, stages the exciting action set pieces with skill and aplomb, delivers a few nice dollops of bloody gore, and caps everything off with a genuinely startling surprise bummer ending. Leon Isaac Kennedy as slick operator McGee and Carmen Argenziano as hard-nosed cynic Morelli make for perfectly hateful and ruthless villains, the ravishing Jayne Kennedy adds some real class as Russell's loyal singer wife Maria, and the ubiquitous Vic Diaz pops up in a nifty cameo as an oily Chinese hood. The get-down funky score by Jaime Mendoza-Nava and Eddie Villaneuva hits the right-on groovy spot. A worthwhile exploitation item. Leon Isaac Kennedy is Doug Russell, an American who steals a shipment of gold in the Phillippines with two Vietnam War buddies, who cut his throat and throw him overboard. Russell washes ashore an island inhabited by two Japanese soldiers stranded there since World War II. They nurse him back to health and he is taught martial arts and the art of the samurai. Back in the States, his treacherous pals, Marelli and Maghee, use their loot and viciousness to muscle their way into Los Angels mafia turf. Maghee sets his sights on Russell's wife, Maria (Leon's real-life spouse at the time Jayne Kennedy), a lounge singer who can't get a gig because Maghee has her blackballed all over LA in his scheme to make her come crawling to him. Russell, samurai sword in hand, hitches a ride on a boat back to America and begins his search for his wife and son; he learns that Marelli and Maghee are the top men in town and he begins slaughtering their cohorts, working his way up the hoodlum food chain. Plenty of action and yucks, including a "touching" montage when Russell is reunited with his wife and son. FIGHTING MAD, not to be confused with the Peter Fonda revenge flick of the same name, is entertaining in a MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 kind of way.
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