Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.
Harry Griswald is a NYPD cop who is possessed with the spirit of a great Kabuki master. This has made him 'the chosen one' to do battle with 'the evil one'. He is also out to do good deeds and fight crime in the name of the law. The only problem is that a number of corrupt people in the community and their henchmen want him dead so that they can gain power when 'the evil one' come to take over the world. Sgt. Kabukiman must use his special superpowers to outsmart and out-fight the bad guys.
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- Cast:
- Bill Weeden , Brick Bronsky , Joe Fleishaker , Rick Collins
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Reviews
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
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.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. starts as New York police detective Harry Griswold (Rick Gianasi) decides to go to a Japanese theatre but has his night ruined when a bunch of machine gun wielding thugs burst in & begin shooting up the place, the owner of the theatre manages to breathe his dying Kabukiman spirit into Harry who over the next few days experiences some strange transformations. He suddenly becomes Kabukiman a Japanese superhero who fights crime & evil, speaking of evil an ancient Japanese legend states that every 1000 years 'the evil one' will take form on earth & well generally be evil & this is the year so Kabukiman is charged with the task of stooping him.Directed by the 'brains' behind Troma Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman this is actually far better than I expected considering their general output. The script by Kaufman, Andrew Osborne & Jeffrey W. Sass is a clear homage to the superhero genre with some mildly amusing scenes that rip-off the likes of Batman, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man & Superman. Not everything works but at least it tries without having to resort to the stupid, childish gross out humour & violence most Troma films rely on & in fact this is surprisingly restrained & light hearted compared to a lot of Troma's output, whether this is a good or bad thing I'll let you decide but I thought it made watching it a lot easier. Everything about Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. seems just that bit better than the usual Troma film which obviously helps, it isn't going to win any awards but as trashy entertainment that makes you smile on occasion it's not too bad.Director's Herz & Kaufman do OK, while still not up to Hollywood standards this has a greater level of technical competence than any other Troma film I can remember. As already mentioned this is surprisingly tame, apparently available in two versions of differing strength I'm not sure which one I saw but as far as gore goes there's some people shot in the head, some is attacked by a Tiger & eaten plus there's a silly blue demon monster thing at the end.This probably had a slightly bigger budget than the usual Troma & it show's, apparently this didn't get distributed in the States until 1996 some 5 years after it was initially made. Again while the acting isn't going to win any awards it's much better than in most Troma films.Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. isn't too bad a film & one if watched in the right mood provides a few decent laughs although you have to be of a certain disposition to enjoy stuff like this. Worth a watch for those twisted souls wanting something a bit different.
I bought this flick after hearing, good, bad, and something in the middle. I thought it was pretty fun and had a few hilarious scenes. Kabukiman is one of my favorite superheros now, he is better than superman, batman, spiderman, and so on. JUst not as good as the Toxic Avenger. The main problem with this film is it lacks the gore and nudity Troma is famously known for, but it works for this movie for the most part. It is more of a "family" troma flick if that is possible. It still has some blood and some nudity (if you watch the UNRATED director's cut) but not as much as say...Terror Firmer. Not near as much. It has a scene of Troma's famous barfing however. Overall a fun film and definitely worth a watch. Recommended!
It's been a while since I've seen this film but I still remember that it is a good laugh. Really silly with poor acting but that's what Troma is all about. Like all Troma films it's the bad acting and stupid ott stories that make them so good. Okay some of them are just plain bad, but this definitely isn't one. The Kabuki costume looks amazing and I love the way Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD looks. The cartoon style humour is wonderfully done and this film really appeals to my sense of humour. It's even got a kick ass title song to go with it.I was over the moon when I found out there might be a sequel coming out soon. I know sequels are rarely as good as or better than the the first film and often much worse but I really hope I get to see this sequel. It's just a shame Troma films are never shown in cinemas over here. Long live Troma.A 7/10 for this film. Tempted to give it 8. Maybe I'll change my rating later on if I see the film again.
If you like Troma's kind of silly, off beat, absurd humor then I'm quite sure you'll really enjoy a whole lot of scenes in this flick as well. There are lots of cartoonish, hilarious characters all of which have been acted out with confidence and conviction.The story... well there's this American cop in NY who finds out he can get supernatural powers by changing into the Kabukiman, a kind of Japanese Samurai dude with lots of makeup. Our hero uses his new found powers to beat the crap out of some local small time crooks in various entertaining ways, but it turns out he really owns his powers to the fact that he was chosen to fight the Evil One, who is about to take over the world. He is reluctant to accept this responsibility at first, but a Japanese chick kicks some sense into him and then goes on to teach him how to use his new found skills properly.>