Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)
"Lik Wong" (original title)

A young man with superhuman strength is incarcerated at a prison run by corrupt officials and seeks to use his martial arts to clean up the system.

Director:

Ngai Choi Lam

Writers:

Tetsuya Saruwatari (manga "Riki-oh"), Ngai Choi Lam (screenplay)

Stars:

Siu-Wong Fan, Mei Sheng Fan, Ka-Kui Ho

Cast

Credited cast:
Siu-Wong Fan	...	Riki-Oh Saiga
Mei Sheng Fan	...	Assistant Warden (as Faan Mooi Saang)
Ka-Kui Ho	...	Warden Sugiyama
Yukari Ôshima	...	Yomi - Huang Chaun
Chi-Leung Chan	...	Narumi - Hai
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Master Zhang Shan-Gui
Gloria Yip	...	Keiko - Riki's Girlfriend
Philip Kwok	...	Lin Hung
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yiu-Sing Cheung	...	Prisoner
Suet Lam
Daan Bob Chit Long
Gregory Marshall Smith	...	P.A. System announcer (voice)
Kôichi Sugisaki	...	Kitamakura
Ji Keung Wong
Cheng Chuen Yam	...	Wildcat

Storyline

The story is set in the year of 2001 in a prison owned by a major company. A new prisoner sees his friends being harassed and killed by the guards and seeks his revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | martial arts | torture | corpse | x ray | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and for some drug content

Details

Country:

Hong Kong Japan

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin English

Release Date:

5 October 1991 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

Company Credits

Production Co:

Diagonal Pictures, Golden Harvest Company, Paragon Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 88 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the English dub, the prison gang leaders are called the "Gang of Four." In Cantonese, they are the "Four Heavenly Kings".

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Goofs

When Ricky punches down the prison wall, the wires pulling the chunks of debris are clearly visible.

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Quotes

Zorro: I was promised seven bags of rice to turn you into mince meat and put you in a pie.

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Connections

Referenced in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

User Reviews

Greatest Film of Its Kind

A man jailed for getting his revenge on those who (indirectly) killed his girlfriend gets sent to the prison of the future. While in prison, he discovers an opium greenhouse (not cleverly hidden) and fights plenty of guards, inmates and the warden.

I gave this film a ten, not because it is a cinematic masterpiece... but because this film stands alone as something that can never be equaled. You will not walk away from this film the same person. Its kiss is like jackhammer; when it is through with you, you are changed.

The violence is excessive to the point of being funny -- walls and body parts exploding. It was hard to tell if this film was supposed to be a comedy or action because while the plot is serious, the action is outrageous. And sometimes you can too easily tell that a body part is a model or that walls are being pulled apart by strings.

The dubbing is really funny, and the use of multiple subtitles (in both British English and American English) is amusing. The film probably deserves a decent transfer and better subtitles, but that might take something away from this film's immense cheese factor. The characters are pretty interesting -- a warden who can transform into the Incredible Hulk and his assistant with one eye and a hook for a hand (who has a wall full of pornographic videos).

If you liked the gore of something like "Terror Firmer", you will find this to be in a similar vein (though, in my opinion, far less offensive). If you do not like blood in your movies, you want to run away from this as quickly as possible. But heck, this is seriously something you cannot go through life without seeing. Highest possible recommendation.