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Reviews
Hokuto no Ken (1984)
A gem of classic anime (and some ranting)
While watching the series, I was doing some reading about what other people thought about the show. I found (not particularly here though) that there is some dislike and some misconceptions about the show. So I thought I'd try to clear them up.
The first thing to understand is that the show is over 20 years old. It was made during the rein of shows like Macross, and the evils of Dragonball. The animation quality, while still fairly high, is now seen as just crappy. The villains emit light whenever Ken kicks the crap out of them, and the plot is thin and drawn out. The truth of the matter is that 20 years ago, censorship wouldn't allow the showing of blood on TV, and Fist of the North Star is about as bloody as they come. The animation is poor-er because it is over 2 decades old.
The plot seems thin, or non-existent, but it is actually quite good. Keeping in mind the time when it was made, most anime tended to have lighter themes (like Macross). While the plot does seem to drag at times, it is there, and the progression of story does not stop for half a season at a time like Dragonball does.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the show was about 150 episodes. Manga Ent only released some 30 of them, and so there are many of the show's plot lines that are missing. At the end of the Manga releases, *SPOILER* we learn that Ken's brother Jagi turned Shin to evil, and that Jagi was posing as Ken to tarnish his decent name. We also learn that Raoh (also know as Kenoh), another of Ken's brothers, has hidden Ken's only good brother (Jagi and Raoh are dicks), and is going around being really, really evil, and each are trying to take the title of the Fist of the North Star *END SPOILER*. After this point, I have no idea what happens for the other possible half of the series. As you can see, there was a very lengthy and fairly rich plot, and the release of only some 30 episodes doesn't begin to crack the surface of the show.
Now that I've cleared up some of the questions, I will go on to my generic review of the show. Very cool. Lots of stupid violence. There really is no word to describe the ridiculous amount of violence in the show, and it is amazing that it was able to get on TV, even with the toned down stuff. But the show actually has a pretty good plot (if you watch all of it).
Points of amusement include the fact that all major villains are 9+ feet tall, and have mohawks; and how when the world gets nuke, everyone seems to become an asshole. Ken's gigantic eyebrows are also entertaining.
As far as other viewing goes, if it is Fist of the North Star, it's good. The manga is undoubtedly great, and the Fist of Blue Sky manga is pretty cool (details Ken's uncle, who "Fisted" in China, fighting crime bosses for the good of the nation). The anime movie is pretty good, from what I recall, and retells the early show's plot. Even the live action movie, for as terrible and painful as it was, was actually pretty good. Other than a few beefs (like Shin gas peddling Ken) and the horrid special effects and stage fighting, the movie does tell the Shin-Yulia plot fairly well. Just don't watch the Korean adaptation (where all of the actors look nothing like the characters, and the opening seems to focus on their new camera filter than on the actual opening). Or if you do, try to enjoy it for what it is.
Fist of the North Star (1995)
I feel that I have to write a positive review for this
I'll start with quoting other reviews I've done. You have to enjoy this movie for what it is. It had horrible stage fighting, crappy special effects, and probably had plot holes that you could drive a bus through, but it actually was fairly entertaining.
My only real beefs with the movie include:
1) Shin is the Fist of the South star, and has mastered several forms of Nanto Seiken. Why, in his early fight with Ken, does he feel the need to Gas peddle him. Also, why does Ken occasionally gas peddle people.
2) Rufio.
3) When the actor formally know as Rufio (or Bat/Bart if you want to get technical) is pretty brutally killed, he not only makes a cheesy death speak like in Hook, but Ken says something to the effect of "because of you, the village is saved." Rufio didn't do anything. He just stood off with Bondage-face and got stabbed to death.
4) Bondage-face (whoes name eludes my at the moment) was way cooler in the anime. There, his name is Jagi, and *POSSIBLE SPOILER* he turns Shin to evil, tarnishes Ken's decent name, and trash talks him a few times during their battle. And he wears a cool mask. *END SPOILER*. In this movie, he is one of Shin's random minions, and has a really lame death (the death is the same as the anime, but the fight with Julia was just dumb).
5) Ken doesn't scream when he punches people. It's probably for the better though, for if he had screamed, it would have just made the movie worse.
As I said, the movie is pretty good for what it is. Also, it must be noted that it is a B-movie, and thus will never be good.
One thing of note though, is that the makers seemed to keep some of the shots from the anime (like when Ken and Shin jump kick each other). While these shots didn't remain intact, it is worth noting that they are there.
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
The Highlander 2 of horror movies
Yet another movie I have watched recently that was just terrible. The usually bad acting comments stand. I'm going to throw in a brief *SPOILER* for a minute (nothing really important though).
Regan is really a super hero with the power to heal mental illnesses and kill bugs. Merrin was secretly searching for these people because they had the power to save the world and stop evil forever. Regan uses a telepathy machine with her shrink to remember dreams that she isn't having about the possession, and later uses it to help Father Lamont spend 2 hours of screen time acting poorly and confusing the audience.
I remembered hearing that in the theaters during The Exorcist, people had been running up and down the aisles. I suspect that people did this in Exorcist 2, but in anger and confusion rather than terror.
I just watched Exorcist: The Beginning (good movie, see it), and I was so mortified that Exorcist 2 had nothing to do with the original or the new prequel. This was literally the Highlander 2 of Horror movies.
My closing comment: Thank god I work in a video store, and didn't have to waste my money renting this travesty.
The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
Piece .... of ... Garbage
For the good of all that is holy in this world, DO NOT watch this piece of crap. Period.
It was a depressing waste of an hour and a half. It has also tarnished the good name of Star Wars. At first, I thought that this couldn't have possibly been as bad as everyone said it was. OOOHHH boy was I wrong. As stated by our good friend Bothan2001 (good review btw), I could have also gone a few hundred years without seeing this.
Just plain terrible. I don't know what else I can say about it. Bad. I truly hope that somebody in the production staff was fired for this. As also stated by Bothan, Phantom Menace nothing, this takes the cake.
Truly and fully evil. I feel sorry for the cast, as they have to live with what they have done.