Fight for Your Life

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Fight for Your Life
Fight For Your Life.jpg
DVD cover.
Directed by Robert A. Endelson
Written by Straw Weisman
Starring William Sanderson
Robert Judd
Catherine Peppers
Lela Small
Yvonne Ross
Music by Jeff Slevin
Cinematography Lloyd Freidus
Edited by Robert A. Endelson
Distributed by William Mishkin Motion Pictures
Release dates
<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • November 1977 (1977-11) (New York City)
Running time
82 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Fight for Your Life is a 1977 action film starring William Sanderson (of Blade Runner fame) and Robert Judd.

Synopsis

Sanderson plays Kane, a hate-fuelled redneck who absconds from jail with his sidekicks (an Asian and a Mexican). They hole up in the secluded house of a black minister and his family, where harsh epithets are exchanged and the minister is forced to take action to defend his family.[1]

Cast

  • William Sanderson - as Jessie Lee Kane
  • Robert Judd - as Ted Turner
  • Catherine Peppers - as Mrs. Turner
  • Lela Small - as Grandma Turner
  • Yvonne Ross - as Corrie Turner
  • Reggie Rock Bythewood - as Floyd Turner (as Reginald Bythewood)
  • Ramon Saunders - as Val Turner
  • Queenie Endelson - as Dog
  • Daniel Faraldo - Chino
  • Peter Yoshida - Ling
  • Bonnie Martin - Karen
  • David Cargill - Lt. Reilly
  • Richard A. Rubin - Captain Hamilton
  • David Dewlow - Joey
  • Pepe Hern - Navarro

Critical reception

Fight for Your Life has received a negative response from critics. TV Guide called it "a vile low-budget film that couldn't have found a receptive audience even during the height of tough blaxploitation pictures."[2] Allmovie called it an "outrageous sleazefest" and "amazingly racist".[3]

Censorship

Fight For Your Life was denied a British theatrical release in 1981,[4] but a video release the following year allowed the public brief access to the film before it wound up on the video nasties list and was outlawed. It is notable for being the only 'video nasty' to appear on the list due to language, specifically the racism displayed by Sanderson's character.

Availability

Briefly available in the United Kingdom on the independent video label Vision On, released circa 1982, but outlawed with the advent of the Video Recordings Act (1984), Fight For Your Life was denied a British cinema release when it was rejected by the BBFC in October 1981. Fight For Your Life was issued in the U.S. by Blue Underground as a remastered DVD.

The original film negative, having been stored by the film rights holder in a New Jersey basement, was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.[5]

See also

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/fight-your-life-1970
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links