Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

willhaskew It's a fairly simple story with a single premise, a heroic martial artist searching for the ultimate technique and or enlightenment. In this case, it's Harlem Goju Ryu practitioner "Bruce" Leroy Green, Jr. Leroy is a Bruce Lee fanatic who loves Enter the Dragon and Fists of Fury, hence the nickname given to him at the beginning of the movie. When he's informed by his sensei that he's learned all that there is to be taught, he asks he's not surrounded by the sublime glow of the "final level." His sensei sends him on a journey to find a wise reclusive master named Sumdumgoy. While seeking the final level, he runs afoul of Sho'nuff, the self-proclaimed Shogun of Harlem and avowed kung fu master, and Eddie Arcadian, a showbiz wannabe and wealthy owner of a successful chain of video game arcades who wants to break into pop music by turning his Cyndi Lauper-lookalike girlfriend Angela Viracco into a pop star. Arcadian hopes to achieve his dream by having Angela's video for her single played on 7th Heaven, a video countdown hosted by beautiful female veejay Laura Charles. Leroy foils Arcadian's initial attempts to kidnap Laura, igniting a strong attraction between the two. It also sets up a final confrontation with Sho'nuff and Arcadian, when the latter enlists the Shogun of Harlem's help to gain revenge on Leroy.This was executive produced by Motown founder Berry Gordy, directed by Krush Groove director Michael Schultz and the soundtrack itself is a lot of fun. It features "The Glow" by Motown artist/producer Willie Hutch of the 5th Dimension and "Rhythm of the Night" by DeBarge along with appearances by Smoky Robinson and Stevie Wonder. Taimak does a decent job here considering he had virtually no acting experience before this movie, he seems just a little innocent and altruistic enough to play the role of a humble martial artist. Vanity plays...well herself, enough said. She's okay. Prolific character actor Julis J. Carry's performance as Sho'nuff truly makes this film memorable. He's a larger than life, martial artist-wannabe and bully who also happens to steal every scene he's in. It's something that should be considered essential hip-hop cinema, with even rapper Busta Rhymes dressing like Sho'nuff and quoting the film for his "Dangerous" music video.

utgard14 Ah...Bruce Leroy and Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem. Classic '80s greatness. An unforgettable movie for anybody who's seen it. Memorable lines, colorful characters, and cool music. Taimak (who?) has his one big role here. He has an easygoing and likable screen presence. It's somewhat surprising he didn't get another good leading role. '80s goddess Vanity plays the love interest ("You sure look like a master to me"). Great support from Chris Murney as the villain Arkadian, Faith Prince as his girlfriend, Leo O'Brian as Leroy's brother, and Ernie Reyes, Jr. as Tai, the littlest kick-ass. The rest of the cast is fun, as well. But the true star of the show is Julius Carry in the role he was born to play -- Sho'nuff. Carry steals every scene he's in with a wonderfully comic performance as the blowhard kung-fu villain ("Playtime's over, boy"). He's so cheesy but so much fun! It's really a great movie, not just for children of the '80s, but for everybody. It's a fantastic martial arts flick with humor, comedy, romance, and awesome music.

smokecombs This movie is cheesy, it's very "kiddy-like", but it's also fairly innocent (a lead character who is a true hero, not the current anti-hero) and it also happens to be great. They rarely make movies like this anymore and if they do they don't get rented or watched because there isn't T and A or a bunch of foul language etc..Bruce Leroy and "ShoNuff" are classic immortal characters. They both went on to do some more acting but it's kind of a pity they didn't get more mainstream lead roles or make a sequel to this movie. The action sequences in this movie were great for there time and for their target audience of probably a slightly younger aged person. The buildup to the final fight is one of the great things about the movie. The training and the fact that the lead character, Bruce Leroy is a huge Bruce Lee fan and trains constantly and watches old Kung Fu to make him better really add to the movie. It isn't the best martial arts action ever but something about it just meshes perfectly with the story and the overall feel of the movie. I would rate the overall action scenes combined with a great final fighting scene as a 8 of 10.The acting for the movie is pretty decent for all the fairly young kids that are acting. The lead villain, ShoNuff is fantastically over the top in this movie. It hurts my eyes just trying to squint like he did for 30 seconds to give him that look that he did the entire movie. The acting was far better than a lot of younger actors I've seen in movies and TV (such as Power Rangers) in this genre. The lead female in the movie was adequate in her acting, and the hero, Bruce Leroy was just slightly good, but there are lots of supporting actors that add a comic element to this movie, sometimes it's ridiculous but it's still hilarious. Bruce Leroy's little brother cracks me up. As for the lead actress, Vanity (AKA Denise Katrina Matthews) she was adequate in her role as far as acting but she is one of the most gorgeous women I've seen. I mean she has rare classic beauty and it's a shame she didn't get more roles, or at least that I've seen her in.The story is really good. Maybe not so much the story but just how the overall acting went perfectly with the story and the action and for the audience the movie targeted. I was around 11 or 12 when the movie came out and maybe I'm having a little nostalgia but I can still watch this movie to day and enjoy the heck out of it. Really fun, cute story with a hilarious over the top villain.Action 8Acting for its genre 8Acting for all genres 6Story 9Overall I gave this a 10 In closing, I may have an overall ranking that is too high, but I think that right now the 6.2 is too low and want to help bring it up. This movie is an action movie with violence yet it has an innocence about it, yet it's still fun and thrilling. The ending fight scene and the classic lines at the end and just how it all carries out in the movie still almost gives me goose bumps, it's like Superman taking on General Zodd and those guys, just an epic battle. I think it may be sort of a cult classic but I think I could recommend this to anyone and not feel guilty about it. If more movies were made like this today with today's technology then we could maybe let our kids see what good viewing really was. I say just buy this movie if you find it for a good deal anywhere. If you haven't saw it buy it for you and your kids, it's a great family movie to watch with kids who like stuff like power rangers and things, probably from 8 to 12 years old or so, and all adults.Worth a rental: For dang sure! Buy it full price: I would Buy it on DVD for under $10: ShoNUFF!!

rexbgood This is a movie I LOVED as a kid. I probably watched my VHS copy twenty or thirty times and have very fond memories. However, it's one of those movies that when you watch it as an adult, you wonder "what the hell did I like about this"? Vanity is still super-hot in this, but everything else is worse than I remember. IMDb says $10m budget, so the film loses a lot of points for that. It's a B-movie with a studio budget and that's unforgivable. At a million bucks, I'd give the film a 7 or 8 our out of ten. The gags aren't funny, the writing is silly in parts and the characters are over the top (by design, I would suspect), but maybe the teen set was the only audience really targeted and they probably would still have fun with it.