Jigoku Kôshien

From director Yudia Yamaguchi, the same mind behind the insane Meatball Machine, Yakuza Weapon, and equally insane, Chromartie High The Movie, comes something like you've never seen before. The over-rated, but likeable Tak Sakaguchi stars in this insane, wacky and totally messed up adaptation of a popular manga, where schools (of adults) face each other in deadly games of baseball. With exploding balls, brutal weapons, and opponents that are zombies, the film starts the insanity from the get-go and doesn't let up for its full running time!

Remade in 2011 as Deadball, with Tak back in the same role, this low-budget insanity is filled with ridiculously bad dialogue, over-the-top acting, silly fight scenes, and wild FX that go from looking great to looking so bad its funny. Produced by Versus director, Ryuhei Kitamura, of which Tak was first introduced to the world, Battlefield Baseball offers musical numbers, violence, martial arts, daft plot twists, and insane characters. Its as if Kitamura told Chow Sing Chi, Wong Jing and Jeff Lau that there was a $1000 budget, and to give him some ideas for a sports themed film. Its just plain mental. But alas, I have seen some pages from the original manga, and to be honest, its even more insane.

There's just far too much going on to try and put into words, but I can't deny that it is a lot of fun, incredibly silly, but highly entertaining for the most of its running time!

Not to be taken seriously by any means...

Overall: It makes Shaolin Soccer seem almost like a serious drama. Has to be seen to be believed!