Il ritorno di Kenshiro

(Attention: Following comments may contain information about any part of the story")

"Fist of the north star" was originally released in eastern Asia (1987). A strong anime movie and soon to come as series. This perfectionated piece of work was one of the most complete and solid art I have ever had a chance to study. All Characters followed their own way on the same path towards a goal I call love. There was honor, love, bravery and ignorance. Revenge, hunger and determination. All of them disclosed in their most pure way.

Every word was perfect and the result of generations of toil and thinking. That it was painted was not an obstacle but very helpful because you cannot find actors that can represent these solid characters in real.

1995. Hollywood released a film version of "Fist of the north star" with real actors. This movie claims that it is based on the anime. The real facts are that this movie is disappointing and awakes fury and anger in every pure heart. Many characters are changed hiding behind the original "names" and some Zealous keycharacters are even removed. At this stage of censor (which I can't comprehend the reasons of) , main characters are shown as cowards and violators against the Jin and jang principles which the anime is based upon. This entire violated story has become a family affair with jelousy, superficial se*ual desires which in this case are against Asian, and even American standards.

The Scenography is bad and the actors are extremely weak. Love is displayed as something that has come out of a baywatch story.

This movie is not recommended before the study of the original anime work.

For an ignorant person, I guess that wouldn't make any difference.

Satisfying only in an uncut video version, this outlandish martial arts costume piece relies strictly on lots of spraying blood, loud screaming and tensed muscles to makes it's inevitable point. Gary Daniels' sleek physique makes the best impression, along with Chris Penn's exploding head.

FIST OF THE NORTH STAR

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Ultra-Stereo

Low-budget Americanization of the Japanese manga 'Hokuto no Ken' - already the subject of an earlier anime feature and TV series - in which a mystical warrior (British-born martial arts expert Gary Daniels) defends the survivors of an unspecified global holocaust from an evil warlord (Costas Mandylor) who intends to rebuild the planet in his own image. Photographed by A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET's Jacques Haitkin through layers of murk designed to conceal a multitude of budgetary deficiencies, and 'distinguished' by flashy editing and gymnastic camera-work designed to conceal the lack of a comprehensible plot, Tony Randel's unconvincing future noir trades the visionary outlook of the original graphic novel for the same lumbering, humorless approach which typified this particular subgenre before US producers *finally* learned how to imitate their Asian counterparts. Though brutal in places, particularly during the final confrontation between Daniels and Mandylor, the film actually *downplays* the gory carnage of its source material, which will disappoint those expecting a more faithful adaptation.

A popular figure in this kind of DTV potboiler, Daniels was clearly hired for his fighting skills rather than his acting, and he's upstaged throughout by many of his co-stars (including Chris Penn, Melvin Van Peebles and Malcolm McDowell). Thankfully, Randel makes a virtue of Daniels' handsome face and muscular torso, and there's an unmistakable whiff of homoerotic tension in the aggressive relationship between Daniels and his equally handsome nemesis.

I literally grew up reading Fist of the North Star as a kid and to tell the truth, I was upset that they even tried to make a real movie out of it. I would like to answer some of the quetions from previous messages. Someone mentioned there aren't many martial art moves in the movie. Well... In original manga, every fight ends in 1-2 moves since either Ken is WAY TOO strong or the opponent is stronger. And yes, characters have Japanese names, but in manga, they DO look like white people.

Overall, the movie itself is not something to watch and the ONLY reason why I even bothered to hunt down this rare movie was because I was the biggest Fist of North Star manga fan about 15 years ago.

I love the anime version. I knew this one would be a train wreck, but had to check it out. The fights bored me to tears. The guy playing Kenshiro looked too much like Kevin Nealon in a bad wig for me to take seriously. The fact that Downtown Julie Brown was the best actor in the mess should be enough to warn you away. Kenshiro's head-exploding move looked like something out of hot shots part deux. A for effort, but they just weren't up the task.