Score

An extremely derivative gangster/heist movie, Score succeeds by being so deliriously OTT that one can forgive any obvious plagiarism. Stealing liberally from Reservoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers and umpteen John Woo and Yakuza films, director Atsushi Muroga constructs a wild and bloody tale about a jewellery heist that goes seriously wrong when a couple of lowlife drifters attempt to relieve the robbers of their ill-gotten gains.

With wall-to-wall gun battles and some genuinely hyper-kinetic action scenes, this film certainly delivers the goods expected of the genre; everyone gets shot at least a few times and all 'hits' result in a gallon of blood spurting from the wound.

The story may not be anything new, and the acting nothing special, but Score still manages to be extremely entertaining. Hitoshi Ozawa, as lead crim 'Chance', is perfect as a hard-bitten con who is forced into committing one final crime. Sporting a prize-winning mullet, he throws himself whole-heartedly into his role and comes out all guns blazing.

If a slab of mindless violence is what you're after, this film is well worth checking out.

Score tells the story of former Yakuza gangster "Chance" who is hiding in the U.S. until he is tracked down by his former colleagues and forced to do small bank jobs for them. Soon he comes to one last job, a jewel heist and if all goes well he'll be able to sever all ties with the Yakuza and leave for Paris, but Chance has his own plans.

When I watched this movie I was very surprised as how bloody this film actually was but of course being a huge fan of John Woo's gangster epics I just sat back and watched the blood and bullets fly.

The main story and a couple of other plot elements are lifted directly out of a couple of American movies such as Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers, which made a change to Hollywood ripping off Asian cinema.

The action was very well done, clearly influenced by the works of John Woo as I mentioned before.

The cast do very well in this picture, each one brings different personalities to each of their respective characters they play.

If you choose to view this movie don't expect a hard hitting gangster thriller such as the works of 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, this is purely action all the way.

Score isn't anything you haven't seen before but it is a lot of fun, it's like a cross between Reservoir Dogs and John Woo's Hard Boiled. If you're a fan of over the top and bloody action movies then you'll likely enjoy Score, i know i did. The actors chew the scenery, the main protagonist has a mullet (I've never seen a Japanese man own a mullet before), the gun fights are crazy with people pumping multiple rounds in to each other with blood spraying everywhere and all logic goes out of the window. One character gets shot in the stomach, then the shoulder and then a couple of scenes later he's sprinting down a hill like he's chasing a wheel of cheese. Then later on he gets blasted in the arm and chest with a shotgun and then shot in the same shoulder as before with a crossbow and then hit again with a shotgun in the back but he's still alive and able to drive a car!!! I really enjoyed this movie, it reminded me of a time when action movies were made for adults with blood, swearing and adult themes. Nowadays most action movies are PG-13 crap. Highly recommended for fans of violent action movies, you'll have a good time.

A cheap and cheerless heist movie with poor characterisation, lots of underbite style stoic emoting (think Chow Yun Fat in A Better Tomorrow) and some cheesy clichés thrown into an abandoned factory ready for a few poorly executed flying judo rolls a la John Woo. Even the squibs look awful. At no point in the proceedings does it look remotely like America. Three wonky old cars do not a country make.The Mustang even has a wobbly right front wheel. The plot, such as it is, is so derivative and predictable that the ending is like a mercy killing. It couldn't come soon enough. Even the jewellery from the robbery looks like the cheapest junk costume jewellery available. The awful dialogue and hopeless overacting by everyone who gets shot top off a real waste of space and time. Worth watching if you want to know how not to make a cliché-ridden low budget movie.

I've seen a huge amount of movies and I've gotta say Score would be in the top 10 worst ones ever. So bad it's terrible category. If I could give it zero I would! You know from the beginning of a film when the music is awful that it's all down hill from there. The obviously fake plastic jewellery from the heist is priceless, though. Highly not recommended,

Hanzo