This is the first movie that Fred Williamson would make as Jesse Crowder. He named the character for someone he knew in high school and looked up to, as he wasn't to be messed with. After playing the role in this, No Way Back, Blind Rage and The Last Fight, the real Crowder threatened to sue. Williamson's lawyer showed him some phone books and asked him which Crowder he was.

In this film, NYC district attorney Riley (Art Meier) hires our hero to transport mob accountant Finley (Bernard Kuby) to Los Angeles while Crowder both battles killers and sleeps with every woman he meets. I am not even kidding, I have no idea how he's learned how to fight like he has as all he does is get horizontal.

This is an hour long, has no budget, scenes seem to stretch on forever unless there's a fight or lovemaking and who cares? Fred is incredible and it has a vibe based on his swagger. If you like him, you'll like it. He has that kind of magnetic cool that few action heroes do today.

One of four movies directed by Williamson in 1976, this was originally released by Atlas Films and re-released by 21st Century.

In the first of his "Jesse Crowder" series, producer / executive producer / director / star Fred "The Hammer" Williamson plays Jesse, ex-cop assigned to transport a nebbish accountant (Bernie Kuby, "The Karate Kid") from L. A. to N. Y. The accountant is due to testify against his former employer, a mobster, but Jesse has to accomplish the journey in a mere 48 hours.

Although hardly anything one could consider to be a "good" film (it looks like it was filmed on the ultra-cheap, for one thing), "Death Journey" is passably amusing nonsense. Even the action is rather incompetent, although there is absolutely no shortage of expendable bad guys for Jesse to beat up or shoot dead.

Even for a movie that, in uncut form, runs a mere 79 minutes, there's quite a bit of padding. In fact, The Hammer doesn't really get down to business for at least 20 minutes. Until then, he practices martial arts and pleases the ladies, but doesn't do much of anything else.

A lack of more familiar character actors to support The Hammer is a debit; a catchy but awfully repetitive music score is another.

It's a pity; if one is a Hammer fan, they will surely *want* to enjoy this more than they probably will. One thought that this viewer had was that you'd think screenwriter-turned-filmmaker George Gallo might have seen this once upon a time, since the premise is pretty close to the later "Midnight Run".

By the way, the poster art is a lie, promising a major action sequence aboard the train that never does happen.

Five out of 10.