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Reviews
Shin Hokuto no Ken (2003)
Less violent, More bloody
New Fist of the North star is another entry in the series. It is hard to say when it takes place, but it doesn't matter. The series delivers the same action just cleaner and not silhouetted or blurred. All the deaths are shown in full gory detail. However, few of Kenshiro's head explosions are here.
The story this time around follows Kenshiro trying to save a village from a tyrannical ruler. After defeating him, he goes to get medicine for an ill child the ruler used to control the citizens. The son of the ruler comes and takes over while Ken is gone. Kenshiro returns and must defeat the son. Kenshiro defeats him the same way he beat Raoh and Kaoh from the series. Fight a little then talk a little, etc. Bad guy then kills himself after coming to a realization. Even worse, the cause of the realization comes from nowhere, and it isn't even good enough to justify suicide. Basically, the story is bad, but everyone is here for the violence.
Two changes that I like are the animation and theme music. The animation is lot cleaner due to the time. The theme music, done by Japanese superstar Gackt, is now more rock, not that terrible 80s pop stuff.
In the end, I give this a 6/10 for what little violence there is. I only recommend this series to Fist of the North Star fans. Other people should just watch the movie or original series.
Hokuto no Ken 2 (1987)
More of the same
Hokuto no Ken 2 is a sequel series to Hokuto no Ken. Although, it is sometimes included with the first as episodes 110 - 152. Sadly, this and half of the first were not officially available outside of Asia. The only way to get them was through imports. Now you can get Toei Animation's official release of the whole series from IGN's Direct2Drive site and on crunchyroll.com. Anyways, the series is basically the same with a different, and weaker, plot that takes place after the first.
Taking place years after the first, Kenshiro returns to fight the Heavenly Emperor and his generals who practice an art called Gento Koken. After defeating the emperor, Lin is captured and taken the land of Shura, a land of assassins. Ken follows and must fight against the three leaders of the land, including Raoh's brother Kaoh. to get her back. The story goes on to reveal more details about Kenshiro's past, such as him actually being from Shura, but those details are dumb and make the story kind of bad. Besides, nobody is watching for the story, only Ken.
The action in Hokuto no Ken 2 is the same. Ken goes around fighting numerous enemies, defeating many with only a finger. The fights kick just as much ass as before. Though, towards the end, Ken obtains some lame and ridiculous powers.
One other problem is the ending. It suffers from the same problem as the first series did. Ken and Kaoh fight for a while, then talk, etc.; till Kaoh comes to a realization and kills himself.
Overall, if you have come this far in the series, you are probably going to continue. In fact, you probably got it with the first series. Most likely, anyone who is reading this has seen the first series, and wants to know about this one. I say watch it. It delivers exactly what drew people to the first: kickass fights and kenshiro being a badass, just with a weaker plot. Plus, you can get it with great subtitles.
Ninja Phantom Heroes (1987)
I got the same version as rhobotdog
My version also called "Ninja Empire" features the same cast and crew as rhobotdog's version. I believe this version is actually "Ninja Phantom Heroes." This film matches the cast and crew given in the credits. So if you get a movie called "Ninja Empire" and the credits say a Bruce Lambert(Another name Godfrey Ho goes by)film and stars Joff Houston, John Wilford, Christine Wells, Glen Carson, George Dickson, Allen Leung, Dennis Shek, Dinny Yip, and Bob Cheng. Then your actually watching "Ninja Phantom Heroes." Also the comment for "Ninja Phantom Heroes" talks about a US Ammunition Dump and a white and cameo ninja which appeared in the version I got.
Anyway, it doesn't matter much because Godfrey Ho's ninja films are all the same. Some cheesy ninja action edited into footage from canceled and terrible movies that have no relation to anything else in the move with a terrible script dubbed over it to try and make it coherent, but it ultimately fails.
Steel (1997)
Another failure from Shaq
Steel is a superhero movie starring Shaq as the hero. Shaq plays a weapons expert who quits and becomes a construction worker after his friend is hurt in an accident caused by the main bad guy. After seeing another friend hurt by one of his weapons which were used in a robbery, he becomes a superhero. Intentional or not, Steel is actually very similar to a DC Comics character who was a black construction worker who fights crime after being saved by Superman. He also fights in a suit of armor similar to Shaq's. Even so, the movie never pays tribute.
As a superhero movie, there isn't much going for it. The movie is cheesy and stupid. It feels like a kids movie that doesn't want to be one. The action isn't good enough to be enjoyable. The only redeeming quality is seeing Shaq make fun of his own shooting ability. The best part is when he tries to shoot something into a trash can and misses. Then he turns to the camera and says "Never could make the free throws." I recommend this movie to no one, even if you want to see Shaq make fun of himself. If you want to see him make fun of himself, then see Scary Movie 4 which is a whole lot better.
Hokuto no Ken (1984)
One of the best action animes.
A while back I bought the Chinese box set of Fist of the North Star which came with all of Fist of the North Star, Fist of the North Star 2, New Fist of the North Star, and the Fist of the North Star movie. While there is an American Version and a few European Versions, they end half way through Fist of the North Star which is about as far as the movie goes.
The series is about the successor of an ancient martial art called Hokuto Shin Ken (Fist of the North Star) named Kenshiro, or Ken for short. There is only one successor each generation. It takes place in a post apocalyptic future where martial arts is the most powerful weapon. The two most powerful arts are Hokuto Shin Ken and Nanto Divine Ken as my version calls it. Nanto is really multiple styles but they are all the same since they allow a person to chop someone to pieces. There are six Nanto masters and each has their own star. Hokuto is an art that allows someone to damage/kill or heal someone by hitting a point on their body. Each art has their own constellation. Hokuto - Big Dipper, Nanto - Gemini. Kenshiro goes around saving the world from evil consisting of going after his two brothers and three of the Nanto masters and their armies. Each army captain has their own way of fighting which makes each episode different and the number of soldiers bloody. Also, Kenshiro is looking for his girlfriend Yuria who was stolen by the Nanto master Shin. Along the journey Kenshiro is joined by his brother Toki after rescuing him from his brother Rao who calls himself Kenou or Boxing King. He is also joined by two Nanto masters Rei, who is looking for his sister who was taken by Ken's brother Jagi, and Shu. Both of them and Toki die along the way. Other characters that join Ken are two kids Rin and Batto who don't do much. That's about as much as I can say for story since its so long and full of details. The series is also divided into four parts.
What makes this show great is the fighting. Ken normally goes up against a group of people that think they are tough and then get killed in one hit. Which is funny and badass, but makes for quick fights. Another great part is comedy/badassness. Ken hits someone, and they think its nothing. Ken says they are already dead. Then they die. Other parts are when he'll hit them and tell them they have a few seconds to live. Then a counter will pop up. Or when he tells them they are not worthy of knowing his name. Then there is when he does a rapid fire kick or punch and goes wa da da da da da da etc. Eventually you might find yourself doing it with him. One great part was when a bad guy thought he knew Hokuto. He went up to Ken and hit him. Ken stood there said he was dead in a few seconds. The bad guy counted off then died. It isn't limited to Ken everyone else kills just as quick. There has never been a character as awesome as Ken and their probably never will.
There are a few problems though. One is the repetitive nature. Some flashbacks mainly the one with Yuria being taken are played too much, and there are also too many recap episodes especially in part four of the series. In fact, the last episode is a recap of the whole thing. Another problem is the ending. The final battle with Rao wasn't that impressive. Ken and Rao fought then talked, etc, until Rao came to some realization and kills himself instead of Ken killing him. But it is better than the American and European versions that just cut off halfway.
Who would I recommend this for? This is for older teenagers and adults who like action. Since the styles cause people to explode or get cut into pieces, the violence is very graphic and there is a lot of it, but they don't show much blood because they usually make the death just a silhouette that still looks like the person but less colorful. This was probably done to avoid censorship. If you don't like action rent the American Version. If you like action though, then I say go for the import since you can see all of the series, but they do not have the best English translation since it is subtitled by the Chinese. Note: My import came with everything I said at the beginning, some imported versions do not, but you still have to get an import to see all of the series and Fist of the North Star 2. If you don't think you can handle the subtitles for any reason then go get the American Version. Another note: In the version I got no subtitles were on the last disc for New Fist of the North Star; although, New Fist of the North Star isn't very good to begin with.
I give the show an 8/10 for its high amount of action, good story, and the awesomeness of Kenshiro.
****UPDATE****
Toei Animation released an English subtitled version. You can download the episodes as well as Hokuto no Ken 2 from IGN's Direct2Drive or watch it free on FUNimation's site.
Raging Bull (1980)
Should have been called Boring Bull.
Raging Bull is a "boxing" movie about A boxer named Jake La Motta and follows his life from 1941 to 1964. Why do I call it a "boxing" movie, because there is very little boxing in the movie. Sure there a lot of Motta's fights shown, but half of them are less than two minutes and mostly show time spent at the end, beginning, and in the corner. The other half is a few stills of the match combined with the who, when, and where. The grand total is less than 15 minutes. They don't even talk about boxing much or show Motta train. Most of the movie is about Motta's private life. That is not very interesting either. I got no emotion from the story at all. Scorsese also tried to convey that Motta and Sugar Ray Robinson were rivals. Other than them fighting a lot, that never comes across. Other problems include the blood effects and continuity of the blood. The blood squirts out in a very unrealistic fashion. When blood does get on someone, it is gone in the next shot.
Don't watch Raging Bull ever, even if it comes on TV and there is nothing else to do.
Batman Begins (2005)
Grossly Overrated
After hearing all the hype you may be asking yourself if Batman Begins is any good. Well it isn't as good as everyone says. To start with, the story is your basic superhero/action movie plot of bad guy has some powerful weapon and only the good guy can stop him combined with the story of Bruce Wayne before he was batman. At least this version, touches on the part where Bruce trains as a ninja. Though, as I recall Batman's sensei(martial arts instructor) was not a bad guy in the comic. Having a basic story isn't bad per se, since it was done well, but it is not anything special or original. The worst part of Batman Begins was the action scenes if you can call them action scenes. All action scenes boil down to quick close ups of a fist or part of someone's body. The camera also does not center on what is the main focus of the shot. The end result is a choppy sequence that you can't tell what is going on. The only above average part of this film is the special effects. The illusions that the characters see when affected by the fear inducing gas are well done and are truly terrifying.
I recommend this film as a rental to those who like batman or superhero films, but to those looking for a good movie should wait for it to come on TV, or don't see it at all.
M.D. Geist II (1996)
Another decent ultraviolent anime like the original.
Like the first one, MD Geist 2's plot is just an excuse for violence. In this one, the Planet Jerra has been ravaged by the Death Force. Another genetically engineered soldier named MD Krauser has rescued all the survivors and brought them to his fortress. The scientist who created both Krauser and Geist, captures Geist and brings him back to the fortress. Krauser finds out and tries to kill Geist. Geist lives and goes after Krauser. In the end, Geist ends up destroying Krauser, Krauser's fortress, most of the survivors, most of the Death Force, and himself. Also like the first, the dialogue is horrible and it is pretty much just violence. In this one, the violence is even more gruesome including not just people getting disemboweled, but people being eaten alive as well. Also, the animation and the mechanical design are better. So if you liked the first or are looking for an ultraviolent anime give it a try.
M.D. Geist (1986)
A decent short ultraviolent anime
Most people say this movie sucks, but it is actually not that bad. To start out, the plot isn't very good. Basically, MD Geist is about a genetically engineered soldier named MD Geist who was locked away in a space capsule, and has now returned to the planet Jerra. Then, he joins the army in their quest to stop a doomsday weapon called the Death Force, a machine army. In the end, he kills all the other soldiers and starts up the Death Force. Thus, the plot is just an excuse to be violent. Another, bad thing is the dialogue. So don't watch it if you want a story, but if you want action, MD Geist has got it. From start to finish the violence never stops for more than a few minutes. Though, the violence is extremely graphic and contains many scenes where people are killed so that their guts are spilling out. The best part of this anime to me was the mechanical design. Its truly amazing and is even better than many other anime including some of the gundam series.
All in all, if you are looking for something violent and don't care much about story than give MD Geist a try.