Take A Hard Ride (1975)

Take A Hard Ride (PG)

"Cowboy get up get down"

A unique jaunt into Blaxploitation brings Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly together again in this funky western B-movie follow up to the similarly cast "Three The Hard Way".  The colorful group is trying to escort some gold to Mexico while being chased by bounty hunters and thieves (most notably by genre specialist Lee Van Cleef).  It's a spaghetti western with a side of soul food, but not a great dish of either.  Kelly (Black Belt Jones) in particular is underused as a mute, martial arts trained Indian scout(!), but its to be expected in such a sorely underwritten film.  The awesome potential to mix genres is mostly wasted by being so unsure of which genre to embrace fully, which star to focus on and what lines not to cross.

5.5 Cleef squints out of 10 (MEDIOCRE)