The sweet Reiko Oshida stars in this hugely enjoyable pinky violence film. None of the usual madness and psychedelia of Ishii and the likes is here to be found, instead the film is loaded with humour, music, ultra cool 70’s fashion and positive girl gang energy. The ending is fantastic and makes the film a must for all action fanatics.
- dvd / Panik House
Reiko and Miki meet for God only know how manieth time in this super slick and stylish crime thriller. The soundtrack is mostly excellent (also featuring a nice but less than memorable theme song by Reiko Ike) and some of the dresses Reiko wears are incredible. This is probably the best she has ever looked. Shinzo Hotta has a tasty role as one of the villains. Several other familar faces can be spotted as well, including girls from Seiju gakuen, Deliquent Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess and the Sasori films.
- dvd / Panik House
old comments apply pretty much
[quote=“Hung Fist”]
Lazy opening scene but the rest is pure gold. Filled with genuine HK movie essence. Action is nice, the soundtrack is excellent, the girls are cute, special effects are great (there isn’t much of them, this isn’t a trick fest like some other films in the genre), a few words of japanese is spoken, Billy Chow kicks ass and Lam Ching Ying proves he is the coolest guy on planet earth. One of the best HK movies of the early 90’s.
The late Kinji Fukasaku shows the younger generation of film makers how to do things right and delivers the most instense car chase film of the past 15 years. The incredible street fight / car chase sequence near the end is like William Friedkin meets Michael Mann’s Heat and double the length. Several other shorter chase sequences throughout the movie are impressive as well. On the downside the hyper active Keiko Oginome gets irritating at times but Sonny Chiba’s great supporting role evens things.
Norifumi Suzuki goes enjoyably against most biker gang traditions. Miki Sugimoto (who also sings in the movie) stars, Reiko Ike supports and Ema Ryoko loses her shirt in fight once again. Lots of good humoured girl gang fun plus the second coolest nude scene of all time (Miki at the beach, only beaten by Michael Caine in Get Carter). Suzuki’s usual humorous wrath for the authorities is also clearly displayed.
- dvd / Panik House
What do you get when you combine all girls’ high school and pinky violence? Lots of lesbian sex in the school bathroom that’s for sure. But Norifumi Suzuki’s Lynch Law Classroom is much more than just skin. The opening scene with the girls punishing the poor deliquent by draing her blood out should give you some taste of what’s to come. Some scenes are genuinely disturbing but humour and superb soundtrack lighten the overall tone. The main cast is the same as in Sukeban gerira, Miki in the lead, Ema (with the usual shirt malfunction problems) as the villain and Reiko in a supporting role.
- dvd / Panik House
This a weird bird in the Truck Yaro series. Repeated themes is a series trademark however this seventh film comes with more than a few surprises. Bunta has no rivalry driver, Kinya doesn’t forget his kids’ names (cause his family doesn’t even appear in the film) and there is no topless bath house girls. But the girls that are in the film, Ako Nakamura (cute) and Mieko Harada (cuter), are among my favourite female stars in the series. Totsugeki Ichiban-boshi is another great instalment in the great series.
- dvd / Toei
More changes in the sight as the eight film doesn’t have the usual opening and closing themes (sung by Sugawara and Aikawa) at all. Damn. Jonathan’s (Aikawa) family is back though, as so is the rivalry driver (the excellent Toshio Kurosawa). But the bath house girls are still missing. Ako Nakamura was supposed to be somewhere in the film but to tell the truth I couldn’t spot her. The driving finale was one of my favourites in the series so far, and some of the landscapes are stunning.
- dvd / Toei
Etsuko Shihomi is back and kicking just as much ass as she did in the first film. The action is great although zoom is over used. Near the end there’s one wonderful surreal scene that reminded me of the colourful visuals of some pinky violence films of the time. The main villain is played by the great Hideo Murota, although the fighting part is left mostly to Masashi Ishibashi who seems to appear in just about every other Sonny Chiba/ Etsuko Shihomi film ever made. It’s not a problem though, the guy is awesome every single time.
- dvd / Toei
The third part isn’t quite as good as the first two but still a lot of fun. The main villain is less impressive than before and the film is missing the especially memorable scenes but the action is well shot and the cast is pretty nice. Masashi Ishibashi (for the third time) and Yasukaki Kurata (for the second time) return in different roles, and the lovely Michi Love appears in one fight scene in the beginning. The story is rather non-existent but the coolness factor remains high most of the time.
- dvd / Toei
The last part in the series is a sequel only by name. The characters are different and so is the style. Less graphic violence, more humour and romance and also Etsuko in a kimono, giggling like a little girl and of couse kicking a lot of ass. That’s a dream combination. And it gets even better, Michi Love (still lovely) is in the movie too and gets to speak plenty of english. Her brother is played by Ken Wallace who’s excellent as well. And as if that wasn’t enough, we have Masafumi Suzuki as Etsuko’s dad and Claude Gannyon (the american villain from Return of the Street Fighter) as the american drug lord. And finally, the soundtrack is excellent with a great new theme and some very nice tunes throughout the film.
I never considered myself a fan of Miyazaki (Hayao that is, Aoi is a different story…) but now I realize that was only because I had been watching his new films which are a bit so-so. But his early stuff seems awesome. I loved Totoro and this is almost as good. Really a magical experience that will eventually end up to my dvd collection. I simply can’t think of a single negative thing to say about this film. Hopefully the Finnish distibutor will continue releasing these classics theatrically.
Rather effective 80’s Nikkatsu exploitationer. Three maniacs hijack a buss full of high school students. Nowhere near easy to watch but why should it be? Very low budget and limited settings but technically well shot. I love the soundtrack and the early scenes where everything is fine but you know something terrible will happen later. The script comes with a few unexpected turns and the ending is a classic in all its darkness.
Very slick and stylish cop thriller with much less characterization than in The Departed. But it’s not a flaw, just a different choise of style as the film doesn’t even aim at being the in-depth gangster film The Departed was. Unfortunately the flashback scenes in Infernal Affairs are embarrasingly bad, and many scenes featuring female characters are poor as well. The technical execution however is top notch and the script is excellent. Funnily, just like The Departed, this too works really well most of time until a single poor scene comes kills the excitement for a few minutes. Infernal Affairs however has more originality and freshness (naturally) and omits the awful ending of The Departed. Those things ultimately make IA slightly better of the two.
When you have a 1974 action film with Teruo Ishii behind the camera and Shinichi Chiba in front of it, the outcome shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Executioner is by far one of the rudest, trashiest and most over the top karate actioners ever made. The humour is totally off the wall and Chiba is meaner than ever. The supporting cast includes lots of great actors, most notably Yasuaki Kurata, Makoto Sato and and the very young Hiroyuki Sanada.
- dvd / Adness
When the Toei bosses asked Ishii to direct a sequel for The Executioner (agains Ishii’s wishes), he replied by delivering an insane slapstick comedy. The action and the ultra violence is mostly limited to the great finale, and the rest of the movie plays out for laughs. The film requires repeated viewings as your brains may deny ever having witnessed some of the more over-the-top gags… Ishii has taken his madness to a new level.
- dvd / Adness
â€
Wanted some grindhouse girls into my living room so I watched this film again with a friend. Reiko is sweet, kicks ass, and the film is missing a few frames so it’s all good. Otherwise the old commenst apply:
[quote=“Hung Fist”]
The sweet Reiko Oshida stars in this hugely enjoyable pinky violence film. None of the usual madness and psychedelia of Ishii and the likes is here to be found, instead the film is loaded with humour, music, ultra cool 70’s fashion and positive girl gang energy. The ending is fantastic and makes the film a must for all action fanatics.
- dvd / Panik House
[/quote]
Enjoyably incomprehensive storytelling, kick ass soundtrack, great finale and some truly weird scenes you could only find from an 80’s Hong Kong film. For some reason the main characters don’t enter the screen until around 35 min mark, but I though that was pretty cool too. The kid vampire seemed like a bad idea at first but ended up providing some of the film’s best moments. The scene where he makes friends with the little girl is so cute.
I was laughing my ass off when the movie had been playing for approx 12 seconds (not counting the credits). Now, that’s a good start, all thanks to the ever great Richard Ng. There’s some other great scenes too, like the battle in the forest and some tasty cameos. Unfortunately the second half isn’t as good. While not bad, it just feels like something you’ve already seen too many times before. For some reason there isn’t a single gyonsi in the film.
Shunya Ito’s original wip landmark film and one of the all time pinky violence classics. The exploitation side is strong but even more care is put for the visuals. The shooting took five times longer than the average Toei production of the time and you can see why. Loaded with memorable images, excellent use of music and even some political attitude. Meiko Kaji is stunning in the lead, and Fumio Watanabe, Shinzo Hotta and Hideo Murota come close to stealing the show.
- dvd / Media Blasters
The second instalment in the Sasori series is, if possible, even better than the terrific original film. Despite the title most of the film takes place outside the prison walls as Ito turns his tale of seven escaped prisoners into a surreal road movie. The visual side is exceptional and the soundtrack is equally impressive. Meiko Kaji, who’s given no more than two lines of dialogue, practically acts the movie through with her eyes. One of the most remarkable exploitation movies ever made.
- dvd / Toei
Shunya Ito once again turns the table upside down and delivers a movie that differs from the previous instalments like day and night. The fellow prisoners, the sadistic warden, the surrealism, even the prison setting are all gone. Despite the outrageous opening Beast Stable is more of a character study than anything else. Ito uses long takes, often without any dialogue or music, and really lets the silent Meiko Kaji shine. The second half is very solid genre cinema but after the unexpectedly impressive and melancholic first half you can’t help but to feel slightly disappointed.
- dvd / Media Blasters
The final film in the series was directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, best know for his work at Nikkatsu. His instalment would be best considered an idividual movie and not much so of a continuation of the series. Except from the ending, there’s no familiar themes or elements, nor are there shiny visuals. Instead Hasebe delivers an impressive crime drama circulating around characters abandoned by the society. The soudtrack is excellent, the scenes between Kaji and Masakazu Tamura often haunting and the muted visual look highly impressive, even if it may disappoint some of the fans.
- dvd / Media Blasters
Although not quite as good as the very best Truck Yaro films, the ninth movie features some of the funniest scenes in the series. Especially some of Sugawara’s facial reactions could be considered the the high points of his acting career… And on the top of that, the movie is so touching I nearly cried at the end. Miyuki Ono stars as the female lead, but the super sweet waitress played by Chieko Matsumoto kept catching my attention. The bath house girls are back too in case someone was missing them.
- dvd / Toei
The final Truck Yaro film did not do as well in the box office as the preceding instalments… but that certainly wasn’t a quality related issue. Although not quite the tear jerker the previous film was, the story and characters are exceptionally strong here. Furusato Tokkyubin is probably one of the best examples of Suzuki’s drama directing skills. The soundtrack is terrific too, and the fights and the car chases are among the best in the series. The lovely female leads are played by the Aiko Morishita and Sayuri Ishikawa (who also sings in the movie).
- dvd / Toei
A young traveler of undefined gender stops in each country for three days and then continues the journey in a fantasy universe (or a possible future). Well done and though provoking anime series that comes with some truly great episodes (Land of Adults, Land of Wizards, A Tale of Mechanical Dolls) and not really any bad ones. The main characters is excellently voiced by Ai Maeda (Aki’s big sis). She also sings the lovely ending theme.
Fukasaku’s 1987 jidai geki piece has the worst start in recent memory. The humor is mostly embarrasing, the story seems dull and the characters less than interesting. After the first 30 minutes Chiba steps in and the movie suddenly turns entertaining. The quality remains satisfactory till the end, where Fukasaku turns the films into an amazing samurai- spaghetti piece with terrific music and action scenes. Worth the effort.
- dvd / Artsmagic
I haven’t seen the original but as a stand alone film Miike’s charming and insane romantic horror-comedy-musical fares better than good. I was quite surprised to see Tetsuro Tamba as the grandfather although he did awesome job. A special mention goes to Kiyoshiro Imawano as Richard who could make me laugh even without doing or saying anything. The musical scenes are great too, I even tried to sing along in the karaoke scene although the japanese text went a bit too fast for me… And kanji and katakana went beyond my understanding, too.
- TV
Real life olympic athletes must fight to save a small village from terrorists. Sounds more fun than it actually is. Certainly Born to Fight is is a nice action and stunt fest, but unfortunately the footage isn’t used to the fullest. The raw footage is often mindblowing but poor editing and pacing in action scenes lessen the impact. The story sounds silly enough but somehow doesn’t feel as sympathetic as Tom Yum Goong or Ong-Bak. The actors and the characters are totally uninteresting, too. Once the action stops, the boredom hits within seconds. Worth one view for entertaining even if slightly disappointing action show with some incredible stunts.
