"The Sensei" is best described as HBO financing "The Karate Kid" meets a "very special episode" of "Blossom." Directed, written, and starring Diana Lee Inosanto (the daughter of one of two men authorized by Bruce Lee to teach Jeet Kune Do), "The Sensei" sets out to tackle some very serious issues, but does so in one of the most amateurish and at times, (unfortunately) unintentionally hilarious fashion. If it weren't for the film's good intentions, I would say this is a movie just waiting for a RiffTrax release, but despite all its shortcomings, I did appreciate what it tried to do.

Opening in a seedy parking garage, a Minister (Keith David, in a five minute cameo, despite front cover billing) and friend are attacked by a group of racist thugs. Out of nowhere a young man comes to their aid, swiftly dispatching the group with some so-so martial arts. The man, McClain Evans (Michael O'Laskey II) then tells the tale of his sensei to the Minister as the cops clean up the mess. McClain's life as a gay teen in a very intolerant, right wing 1980s Colorado town (the movie lays it on thick from the get go), is a nightmare. Treated with contempt by most of the town, he suffers embarrassment when he goes to church and a brutal physical assault in the high school gym locker room. Enter, Karen O'Neil (Inosanto), a free spirited woman, who has suffered her own form of discrimination. O'Neil is a very competent martial artist, who was never bestowed the deserved rank of "black belt" by a dojo run by sexist old men. O'Neil hears of McClain's misfortune and defies everyone by teaching the young man self-defense.

"The Sensei" may sound like a simple premise, but Inosanto bombards the audience with dense side plots and themes that they either never gets a chance to digest or are left scratching their heads at the sloppy execution. The acting across the board is passable, with the film's main protagonist being one of the weakest links, delivering a very amateurish performance with very little believability. To compound matters, Inosanto's script is clunky, providing unintentional chuckles. The film addresses serious issues, but when a character's ignorance is highlighted by them referring to AIDS as "that AIDS thing," one feels insulted by both the unpolished dialogue and the extent Inosanto beats the audience over the head with her message.

To her credit, she obviously poured her heart into the script and makes a valiant effort to tackle issues like AIDS, homosexuality, sexism, and tolerance. However, it's far too grand of a scope for a rookie effort. A plot twist that leads to O'Neil's own chance at a flashback comes off as completely contrived and melodramatic beyond belief, cementing the film's tone as being one step removed from a "Blossom" episode. Furthermore, I would suspect kids are the film's target audience, but perhaps in an effort to make things seem "real and gritty," the script is filled with moderate amount of profanity, rendering the movie only appropriate for high schoolers, who would likely roll their eyes or openly mock the end result.

The film does manage to wrap up all the loose ends, although a few are handled quite unrealistically. "The Sensei" isn't terrible; it aspires to greatness, but ends up hitting the mark of quality on par with an average, made-for-TV movie. If anything it's a victim of over ambition coupled with marketing that made it seem like something it wasn't; the film has only a couple of action scenes, despite the cover art building it to something more. Inosanto is never exploitive in using action and does so to dramatically further the story, although like the script, these scenes wind up looking second rate, due to less than stellar camera work. At the end of the day, I got "The Sensei's" message even if it got crammed down my throat at times and appreciated it's great effort.

The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is absolutely awful. Firstly, the image looks compressed, making me wonder if this was supposed to be a 1.85:1 transfer that was somehow botched. Detail is almost non-existent, with medium and long shots lost under a haze of digital noise, aliasing, and light artifacting. Color levels are visibly warm, while contrast is a disaster. A pivotal scene midway through the film is hard to follow due to low lighting and the above-mentioned video problems. This is a transfer that wouldn't have passed during the early days of DVD and even fails to measure up alongside some public domain, dollar releases.

The Audio

The English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track feels a lot like a trumped up stereo track, with a front heavy delivery that is remarkably clear. Dialogue is mixed well alongside the film's score, although the effects, most notably during the film's few fight scenes are slightly muted.

The Extras

The film's lone extra a nearly 20-miniute making of featurette, appropriately titled "The Making of 'The Sensei.'" It confirms all suspicions that the movie was a labor of love from Inosanto as well as all involved parties. It's a solid mix of interview and behind the scenes footage and shows that despite the final product, everyone put a good effort into realizing the script on screen.

Final Thoughts

A very so-so movie isn't helped much by an abysmal technical presentation. I would normally recommend this type of end product to someone wanting to have a laugh, but honestly "The Sensei" doesn't deserve to be mocked. That being said, there are plenty of movies out there which cover the same issues and do so with much more skill and precision than this. The heart put into this production just isn't enough for me to completely overlook all the flaws and recommend this in good faith. If you ever run across the movie on cable though and are still intrigued, go for it. Otherwise, Skip It.