The Blaxpoitation film was at the top of its game here in this tense, action packed thriller starring not one, but three of the genre’s finest stars: Fred Williamson, Jim Kelly and Jim Brown. A White Supremacist and his lunatic followers plan on dumping a lethal toxin only harmful to Blacks in the water supplies of Detroit, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. in an effort to racially cleanse the cities. It’s up to our trio of soul brothers to save the day and millions of lives while taking it to the maniac in a flurry of vehicular mayhem.

"Three the Hard Way" is regarded as one of the finest examples of the Blaxploitation movement with a simple yet defined plot and clearly drawn “us against them” battle lines. The white power group, aided by an evil scientist’s poison, couldn’t be more broadly drawn yet completely work as a group totally committed to their hate and their cause. They are believable in a cartoonish way that somehow solidifies their threat as they attempt to use genocide to win over their way of life. Williamson, Kelly and Brown excel as our heroes, as they punch, kung-fu chop and just lay waste to the bad guys in order to save their people.

Williamson, who started the righteous take no nonsense from any sucka character in films like “The Legend of Nigger Charley” and “Hammer”, just shines here as does Jim Kelly coming off of such films as “Enter the Dragon” and “Black Belt Jones” and who would go onto star in “Black Samurai” three years later. They are joined by power hitter and ex-Football pro Jim Brown who achieved previous acting successes in “The Dirty Dozen,” “Ice Station Zebra” and the superb “…tick…tick…tick.” On the down side though, Williamson’s screen time could be longer as whenever he’s shown he just blows the audience away. Kelly wasn’t known for his acting abilities, he was more known for his judo chops, and he twists and mangles almost every line he has. These are small points, which do not take away from the overall enjoyment of the whole movie.

Feather (the leader of the fascists and played by Jay Robinson), the mad scientist, and Feather’s growling Ilsa- like assistant are just so evil as soon as they are introduced that you know an ass kicking is in their future but they never turn into broadly painted caricatures or parodies. The film is almost like a World War II war movie, with the bad guys as expendable as the Nazis and our soul trio beating them down in various amazing action set pieces.

The pace of the movie is fast and relentless, never letting up once the action starts. This was one of the four of director Gordon Parks Jr.’s movies before his life was cut short in a tragic plane crash in 1979. Parks is better known as the director of the classic “Super Fly” and was the son of Gordon Parks, director of “Shaft” among other movies. Parks direction here is tight and crisp with action scenes flowing nicely. Along with colorful, off the wall characters and an excellent score by The Impressions, Three the Hard Way is a true Blaxploitation classic and just great fun to watch.

Unfortunately this gem is not available on DVD except as a bootleg DVD-R. It is a VHS rip with nice color yet a lack of sharpness. The sound has a muffled quality which takes away from the music cues and gives voices a bassy, sometimes distorted quality. Not the best way to experience this movie but considering even VHS copies are so hard to find, it can be tolerated. I highly recommend this movie. Do yourself a favor and see this by any means necessary.