Hokuto no Ken (1986)
Genre: Animation / Fantasy
Duration: 110 minuten
Alternative titles: Fist of the North Star / 北斗の拳
Country:
Japan
Directed by: Toyoo Ashida
Stars: Akira Kamiya, Yuriko Yamamoto and Kenji Utsumi
IMDb score:
7,1 (7.828)
Releasedate: 8 March 1986
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Hokuto no Ken plot
"Power without perception is spiritually useless, and therefore of no true value."
After an atomic war, a large part of the earth has been destroyed and nothing grows anymore. Kenshiro (Kayima) fights against injustice, but is betrayed to a woman by his best friend Shin. He is left for dead in a ravine. Kenshiro's brother, Raoh (Utsumi), takes over the title Fist Of The North Star from him, but he is only looking for power. Kenshiro comes back stronger than ever, but can he stand up to his big brother?
Actors and actresses
Kenshirô
Yuria (Julia)
Ken-Ô (Raoh)
Jagi
Shin
Rei
Rin (Lynn)
Bat (Bart) (as Mie Suzuki)
Airi
Ryûken
Reviews & comments
Lennert
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- 2412 messages
- 1400 votes
Dragonball Z in its most extreme form. Fist Of The North Star is over the top violence and blood with a minimal story, but it looks oh so easy. Personally, I think that the live-action film has looked quite closely at the story. Raoh may not be in it, but the story with Shin was interesting enough to work out, while it was very easily covered up here.
The use of color is very bright and certainly not my favorite style, but that should not spoil the fun. It's also nice that, unlike other Japanese animes from this time, the film doesn't have to focus on female nudity and misogyny, but just works great in the gory violence. Obviously all looks too fake, but the exploding limbs thing works so well that none of this matters. Top pulp.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Onderhond
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- 87623 messages
- 12891 votes
heh.
One of those films that I have wanted to watch for a very long time, although it was not the case that I wanted to scour half the country (or internet) for it. I was especially curious what would remain of this film after all this time.
The result is actually quite difficult to judge. The drawing style is really ugly (but you had that with Ashida), the film is way too serious and at times really just drab melo-dramatic.
But on the other hand, the animation still looks pretty smooth and the film is still ridiculously over-the-top 25 years after release. Especially the latter was not too bad, I thought it was a lot more "nicer" in my mind, but the film even managed to surprise me now and then. Monsters of characters, blood and guts everywhere .. really enjoy it.
It makes the film's serious nature even funny, a very strange combination of eco-moral and hypergore wrapped in an overepic story. I actually quite enjoyed this film, in the end definitely expected better, although you shouldn't expect a masterpiece.
3.0*
Edit: and does that Ken actually look a lot like Bruce Lee, or am I the only one who sees the resemblance?
Translated from Dutch · View original
Filmkriebel
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- 10013 messages
- 4679 votes
Brutal and gross. Hokuto no Ken quite lives up to its reputation as one of the most brutal animes ever as far as I'm concerned. At the time, they aired a censored TV series of it that was harshly criticized by parent associations. The film is completely uncensored, with exploding bodies and sickening violence everywhere. Much is super-ridiculous here: over-muscled men knocking down skyscrapers with a punch or enemies that look five meters tall. The exaggeration is indispensable and it must be strong against very strong against even stronger. Who has the biggest dick? Mmh, ok, might be Kenshiro.
Yet this post-apocalyptic "Mad Max-meets-martial arts" world has a raw energy that lingers, partly due to the tragedy of Kenshiro trying to free his lover from the clutches of his enemy Shin . Another flaw in this film are sometimes the images of vague quality that are edited between the more pure ones, so that you are watching an anime of a TV series that is pasted together into a film.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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