Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Beanbioca
As Good As It Gets
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Leofwine_draca
Having taken a break from his poorly-made horror films of the late 1960s, Filipino director Eddie Romero here treats us to one of those popular '70s exploitation movies, which depict multi-national women as ass-kicking heroines. This cheaply-shot, competently-made movie is a lot of fun for fans of such genre films. I would, however, only recommend this to people who are acutely aware of the many flaws of the Filipino exploitation movie; namely their lack of effects, their sometimes poor pacing, and of course bad acting everywhere you look. But fear not, as SAVAGE SISTERS is actually one of Romero's better movies and contains a wealth of action and incident to keep things moving nicely along.The plot is pretty lightweight and consists of the basic "hunt for stolen gold" storyline overused so much over the years, with all the expected double-crossing, gender humour, and guys acting badly in silly costumes you would expect. Heck, they even throw in a prison scenario to appease W.I.P. fans. SAVAGE SISTERS is a pretty sexy film but tends to tease rather than bombard the viewer with explicit shots, exemplified by the unfinished strip-tease in a bar (a scene that goes on forever but gets nowhere!). It is a violent film but not very gory at all, aside from a couple of cheaply amusing effects shots.The leading cast members are attractive enough girls but good performances are few and far between. The only semi-professional turn comes from Gloria Hendry, who excels in her clichéd role of the sassy, dominating woman who doesn't take nonsense from any man! Romero regular John Ashley lurks around the scenery as W.P. Billingsley (?!) but instead of being the hero as usual he's instead a swarthy, sweating anti-hero for a change with a fine line in sexism and double-crossing. All of the usual Filipino character actors can be spotted fleshing out minor roles here, particularly the omnipotent Vic Diaz who really seems to be enjoying himself as a one-eyed bandit. Even cult favourite Sid Haig shows his face beneath a bushy beard as an overacting terrorist. With lots of action, gun battles, explosions, and car chases, SAVAGE SISTERS can hardly be called high art but it is pretty entertaining for what its worth.
MartinHafer
In the early to mid-1970s, a lot of films were made by American film companies working in the Philippines. Why? Because it was CHEAP! President Marcos gave these cheapo filmmakers lots of incentives to come to his country--even if most of the movies they made were pure schlock! So, when I saw this film was made in the Philippines and was directed by Eddie Romero (famous for schlocky Filipino productions), I thought I needed to see it. After all, the films are usually pretty funny--albeit unintentionally so! One thing you should know about the movie, however, is that despite the DVD title "Ebony, Ivory and Jade", it isn't exactly a blacksploitation film. The title "Savage Sisters" seems much more appropriate.A group of female American athletes are taken prisoner and held for ransom. Some of his associates are idealistic rebels--but they don't know that their leader has no intention of honoring any of him promises. He plans on taking the random money and either killing the ladies or selling them into slavery.Now you'd think this would be a great recipe for schlock film, but you would be wrong. Because it's a PG-rated film* and appears to be less sensationalistic than most films of this genre, it has to rely more on acting--and that's a problem since no one in the film appears to be able to act. In addition, the music is among the worst I've ever heard in a film--so very repetitive that you are about ready to plunge an ice pick into your ears to make it stop! Overall, a rather stupid and poorly made film without even exploitation value. So, essentially, you are left with nothing.*Although IMDb lists this as rated R, the DVD says PG and it has no nudity or extreme violence.
Wizard-8
You have to give credit to this Filipino actioner for at least trying something different, and that's with making the movie more or less a comedy. However, the comedy is so lazy, so uninspired, and so utterly unfunny that sitting through the movie is more painful than had it kept the comedy out! (Also, the comedy sometimes has a mean-streak in it, giving some scenes a bitter taste.)It's not that the movie is just bad with its comedy, it's also badly made. The "action" is poorly choreographed, and the mayhem has the intensity of seeing a group of people running by you. As well, there is some unbelievably slipshod editing; characters suddenly appear (or disappear) with no explanation as to how they got there or where they went. Added with a prologue that suspiciously looks like it was filmed and added in at the last minute, there seems to have been some problems during the shooting, or that they were frantically trying to save the movie in the editing room.Oh yeah, don't let the "R" rating fool you. The rating seems to be more for several utterances of the "ultimate" four-letter words. The action isn't graphic, the sex happens off-screen or just out of camera range, and I don't think there's one instance of actual nudity by the ladies. You have to ask yourself why if they were headed for an "R" rating with the language, why they didn't use the opportunity to spice things up.
hooahh71
I have been a fan of the Eddie Romero-John Ashely potboilers since they first aired on WNEW-TV and Wor-TV in NEW York during the late 70's. I was akid then, and far less descriminating. But now I can appreciate their films for the hip,knowing, winking humor, and technical expertise. One of the last in the cycle, SAVAGE SISTERS is an easy-going entry with all involved having a pretty good time playing dress-up. The always reliable Sid Haig is fun as a middle-eastern terrorist - in the south Pacific!!!
