Day of the Panther (1988)

DAY OF THE PANTHER
1988, Brian Trenchard-Smith

Brian Trenchard-Smith, director of such classic and well-loved Australian films as BMX Bandits, The Man from Hong Kong, Turkey Shoot and of course this column’s namesake, Dead End Drive-In, brings us this classic piece of Aussie chop socky from the 1980s. And what can I say but “wow”. From the pixelated title credits that would look cheap if they were slapped on the start of a porn film, to the tough-guy instrumental playing over them, I was entranced. I actually wasn’t expecting to be watching an Australian film when I popped in my budget DVD of Day of the Panther. I was just excited because the blurb claimed it was about some awesome martial arts guy called Jason Blade who comes to Australia to clean up a drug ring and I am a sucker for American movies about my home country. Yes, I assumed it was American. So when the title sequence ended and narration began in a grating, yet all-too familiar, accent, I twigged and realised I was watching an Australian film. An Australian action film. And one I’d never heard of. Excitement city. Day of the Panther follows infallible martial arts man and undercover special agent or whatever, Jason Blade, as he comes to Perth from Hong Kong to investigate the drug ring I mentioned earlier. His partner from Hong Kong, Linda has arrived in Perth a bit earlier than Blade and goes out on her own to fight some baddies dressed in bizarre, yet frightening masks.


Linda ends up getting herself killed. So Blade steps in to avenge her and finish off closing the case. Just look how distraught our hero is about the untimely demise of his partner in a classic display of acting, worthy of like a hundred Oscars:


Blade manages to infiltrate the crime gang responsible for Linda’s death, becoming an enforcer for them and then proceeds to do a bunch of martial arts and stuff. Blade’s fast promotion to enforcer upsets the crime boss’s jealous right hand man, Baxter, and that basically makes up the bulk of the storyline. Baxter is a total badass. He wears cool sunglasses and suits and is probably the best guy at martial arts in Australia, you know, except for Jason Blade. Baxter also really knows how to make an entrance at a party.


This movie has probably the most mind-boggling scenes of male/female flirting I have ever seen. At least in an Australian film. And that is saying something. I mean we have this awe-inspiring display of wooing at the gym between Blade and his mate’s daughter:


And then later on we have this very natural moment of dialogue/flirting between our on-screen lovers:


But I think the moment that I knew this was the most amazing film I have seen from Australia this week, was this gripping piece of realism at its rawest. Just watch as this poor man is thrown over a cliff and an off-camera crew member reaches into shot to lend a helping hand.


Anyway silliness aside, Day of the Panther was a fun movie to watch, featuring some incredibly jarring performances from its leads and some adequately choreographed action sequences. Clearly it was not Trenchard-Smith’s finest hour, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a whole hell of a lot of fun and still far more watch-able than all the arthouse cultural cringe cinema that comes out of Film Australia’s Australiana machine. Upon watching I became proud to live in a country that could release a movie like Day of the Panther and even prouder when, as the end credits rolled came the message “Jason Blade will return in Strike of the Panther.” Hell yeah!