This "Kommissar X" film abandons the spy genre and enters crime-movie territory: Joe Walker and Captain Rowland cross paths again, this time in Canada, because they are both on the trail of an escaped criminal and his two cohorts, who are looking for 3 million dollars worth of stolen jewels. The film lacks the exotic flavor of its predecessors, but it does have a more coherent plot than most of them, including a neat twist at the end. Brad Harris and Tony Kendall still have good chemistry, and their pseudo-antagonistic relationship is fun to watch. The music score is quirky, and the fight scenes are accompanied by some of the loudest punch sound effects you have ever heard. All in all, this is one of the better entries in the "Kommissar X" series - now I only have one more film ("FBI Operation Pakistan") to find to complete my collection, sadly it's also the most elusive one. **1/2 out of 4.
3 Reviews
Kommissar X number V.
BA_Harrison3 January 2018
After a daring escape, ruthless thief Arthur Hillary (Franco Fantasia) pays a visit to Montreal, home of his identical twin brother Robert (also played by Fantasia), the only person who knows the whereabouts of a cache of stolen jewels worth $3milllion. On Arthur's trail is American cop Capt. Tom Rowland (Brad Harris), and private investigator Jo Walker (Tony Kendall), who is working for the company that insured the jewels.
Euro-crime flick Kill Panther Kill, the fifth in the Kommissar X series, is a fairly unexceptional caper for stars Harris and Kendall, with the pair once again doing their antagonistic partnership routine, and director Gianfranco Parolini delivering the bog standard ingredients: pretty ladies, fist-fights, shootouts, crosses and double crosses, and car chases.
Despite some local colour in the form of the 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal, and two enjoyably daft fight scenes (a silly punch-up against members of judo club and an even more ridiculous gun-fight against some henchmen in a builder's yard), the film is unremarkable nonsense that quickly wears out its welcome.
4.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
Euro-crime flick Kill Panther Kill, the fifth in the Kommissar X series, is a fairly unexceptional caper for stars Harris and Kendall, with the pair once again doing their antagonistic partnership routine, and director Gianfranco Parolini delivering the bog standard ingredients: pretty ladies, fist-fights, shootouts, crosses and double crosses, and car chases.
Despite some local colour in the form of the 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal, and two enjoyably daft fight scenes (a silly punch-up against members of judo club and an even more ridiculous gun-fight against some henchmen in a builder's yard), the film is unremarkable nonsense that quickly wears out its welcome.
4.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
A Mediocre Addition to the Kommissar X Series
Uriah4330 May 2017
This movie begins with two snipers ambushing a police car in Los Angeles carrying a criminal by the name of "Arthur Hillary" (Franco Fantasia) who knows the location of over $3 million in jewels. Upon killing all of the police in the vehicle the three criminals initially head for Calgary to hide out. Since the murders occurred in Los Angeles a police detective named "Captain Tom Rowland" (Brad Harris) is sent to Canada to lend his expertise. Additionally, since the jewels were insured a private detective named "Joe Walker" (Tony Kendall) is assigned by the insurance company to attempt to recover the stolen jewels. Although this doesn't make him too happy Captain Rowland soon comes to appreciate the assistance of his old colleague especially when things begin to get a bit rough. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I don't consider this film to be on the same level with a couple of others in the series due in large part to the lack of focus shown toward the overall plot. Likewise, some of the humor was rather weak and could have used some improvement as well. In any case, while not a terribly bad addition to the series, I don't consider this to be outstanding in any way and I have rated it accordingly. Average.
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