I love this movie so much

Good movie but grossly overrated

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

If you ever want to see a film production embarrass themselves royally, check out Fist Of The North Star, a misguided,thoroughly awkward live action version of some obscure Japanese manga series. It's one of those ones that painfully doesn't translate into the realm of live action though, like that bizarre Super Mario movie they made. Full of notable character actors, packed with steampunk-esque special effects, it could have worked with a different story, but the theatrical intensity and specific vibe of oriental pop culture just doesn't come to life well on the North American big screen. It's also at war with itself tonally: there's a light, PG Power Rangers feel in some places, but many scenes have graphic violence that pushes a hard R rating into the deep end, which makes for a jarring experience. Gary Daniels stars as Kenshiro, a lone warrior out to get Lord Shin (Costas Mandylor under one mess of a mullet), a brutal warlord who murdered his father, briefly played by Malcolm McDowell. McDowell pulls a classic McDowell move, showing up in the flesh for about thirty seconds before disappearing and lazily lending his iconic voice to a talking skeleton version of his character later in the movie. Don't ask me to remember more of the plot than that because it would involve a rewatch, and ain't nobody got time for that. Chris Penn is fun as Jackal, an angry vagabond with a giant potato head and the psychotic temper to match. Watch for Dante 'Rufio' Basco, Downtown Julie Brown, Clint Howard, Mario Van Peebles and more in equally ridiculous getups. The sole thing I can recommend here is the production design, lifted straight from some striking post apocalyptic video game, it makes somewhat of an impression. The rest lands with a colossal thud and just sits there, doing not much of anything.

Harshly slammed by unforgiving critics on its release, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR is actually a reasonably entertaining adaptation of the popular Japanese graphic novels and anime from the 1980s, which gets by on a low budget and has plenty to offer in look, sound and feel. The comic-book level of the film works through some nicely-portrayed settings which depict a post-apocalyptic society. Despite such ruined, burnt-out settings being widely familiar through such films as the MAD MAX series and dozens of others, they make for an effective backdrop for the violent action which this film offers, complementing a fast-moving action-based story which never lets up from the very beginning.Our heroic lead is portrayed by British-born martial artist Gary Daniels, here performing well in a role which may be his best ever – although judging by the rest of his filmography, that's not really saying much. Daniels is excellent as the exiled Kenshiro, with years of hard training having paid off to give him a sculpted, imposing physique. Not too sure why a Brit was chosen to play a Japanese man, but the gamble pays off and Daniels is one of the best things the film has to offer. Unfortunately his pretty-boy adversary, Costas Mandylor, isn't much of an opponent and his evilness tends to be lacking at crucial points. Better attention is given to lower-list scumbags like the ubiquitous Clint Howard as gun-toting bike rider Stalin (who disappears halfway through the film) and Chris Penn, who has a ball as the extremely weird and aggressive henchman, Jackal.The rest of the supporting cast isn't given much of a look in (aside from an annoying Japanese teenage character who is thankfully bumped off before too long) but there are a surprising amount of familiar faces here – Melvin Van Peebles as an old-timer, MTV presenter Downtown Julie Brown as a fierce fighter, and genre pro Malcolm McDowell making one of his cameo appearances, a presence that always lifts the level of a film. The dialogue is pretty monosyllabic and hardly enlightening, but thankfully the film does work on the action-orientated level at which it attempts – and with gusto.For the few who don't know, the original characters of Kenshiro and Shin were blessed with super-normal abilities which allowed them to easily break apart mere mortal opponents. Such powers here take the form of bone-breaking punches and kicks, and a special move that Daniels performs which makes the heads of his opponents bubble and swell before exploding in a grisly fashion. His opponent, Shin, instead prefers to perforate the chests of his enemies by literally sticking his fingers into them, leading to much blood spray and carnage.Yes, you guessed it, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR is an exceptionally violent movie, but like the (superior) STORY OF RICKY, the violence is portrayed in a rubbery, comic-book style so it never seems shocking or disturbing. The martial arts work is great, especially from Daniels, although the cameraman does use bad angles sometimes which make it clear that the kicks and punches aren't connecting. This flaw is eased by some splendidly meaty sound effects work to enhance the battles, and as a whole the kung fu doesn't disappoint. Not a great movie, but not a bad one either. Pretty good fun in all respects, actually.

As with any movie adaptation based upon any much cherished cartoon (or for those choosing to be pernickety in this instance, anime) and/or comic book, one thing is guaranteed and that is a subsequent sharp divide between those fans who will embrace the new envisioning and those of a more purist persuasion who will generally loath it. Certainly, as a huge fan of the original animated series (and the subsequent animated movie) that this is inspired by I am initially sad to report that this isn't an entirely faithful adaption of its source material......in fact, quite far from it.......bad news there then. Having said this however, what we do have is an entirely admirable and indeed commendable attempt nonetheless for a great number of reasons.For a start, production values are absolutely top notch with some truly wonderful set designs, some great (and joyously gory!) special fx and a tremendous musical score. The combination of aforementioned aspects lends the film a truly epic feel - far, far greater than one could conceivably imagine given the relatively small budget this was made with. So to must I commend the casting; Gary Daniels especially has never looked better (and his moves have never looked finer) in the role of Kenshiro (even if perhaps he is far too softly spoken in the role). Costas Mandaylor gives a suitably cold performance as Shin and despite no former martial arts training looks rather good (thanks to the wonderful fight choreography of Winston Omega). Christopher Penn to is clearly having a ball with his character and hogs all the best lines in the film including such gems as, 'It's not easy being sleazy.'As said previously, this is anything but a faithful adaptation of the anime yet if one can overlook this fact and judge it on its own merits then it is a hugely entertaining effort with much going for it. My advice....give it a chance and you may well be (as I was) very pleasantly surprised.

Fist of the North Star is one of your typical, small budget action flicks which seem to appear from no where without any specific reason. I actually liked it during the first couple of minutes during the time, when the main character, Kenshiro (Gary Daniels) hadn't opened his mouth yet, but after he spoke and revealed, that besides the looks he hadn't slightest bit of acting talent I quickly stopped liking it.My favourite scene of the film is when a Finnish ex-WWF wrestler and a (yes sad but true) member of parliament Tony Halme gets the smirk kicked out of his face. Literally. Small scene, I know, but I found it hilarious.FOTNS is total waste of Malcolm McDowell's abilities, and as such as it is, it can only be seen as a curiosity for his fans. Maybe the fans of original graphical novel will get something else out of this film.