Fist of the North Star (1995)

User Rating:

3.6/10   

Director:

Tony Randel

Writers (WGA):

Buronson (characters from the graphic novels "Hokuto No Ken") &
Tetsuo Hara (characters from the graphic novels "Hokuto No Ken") ...

Release Date:

April 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

A Legendary Warrior Battles Against The Forces Of Evil.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Japanese TV Series | Bloody Body Of Child | Martial Arts | Child Murder | Remake Of Japanese Film

Cast

Gary Daniels	...	Kenshirô
Malcolm McDowell	...	Ryuken
Costas Mandylor	...	Lord Shin
Downtown Julie Brown	...	Charlie
Dante Basco	...	Bat
Nalona Herron	...	Lynn
Melvin Van Peebles	...	Asher
Kevin Arbouet	...	Rao
William L. Nagle	...	Miner
Clint Howard	...	Stalin
Andre Rosey Brown	...	Sandman
Paulo Tocha	...	Stone
Chris Penn	...	Jackal
Tracey Walter	...	Paul McCarthy
Rowena Guinness	...	Jill McCarthy

Also Known As:

Hokuto no Ken

MPAA:

Rated R for continuous brutal and gory violence, and for brief language.

Runtime:

103 min | UK:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Philippines:PG-13 | Australia:R | Germany:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R | Iceland:(Banned) | Norway:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

First Look International

Trivia:

The Japanese dubbed version used the original voice actors from the 1980s anime series.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the final battle between Kenshiro and Shin towards the ending you can see a hole in Kenshiro's pants between the legs presumably due to the high kicks.

Quotes:

Kenshirô: You're already dead.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Hokuto no ken (1986)

Soundtrack:

A Thousand Lies

Watchable, disposable

FIST OF THE NORTH STAR

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Ultra-Stereo

Low-budget Americanization of the Japanese manga 'Hokuto no Ken' - already the subject of an earlier anime feature and TV series - in which a mystical warrior (British-born martial arts expert Gary Daniels) defends the survivors of an unspecified global holocaust from an evil warlord (Costas Mandylor) who intends to rebuild the planet in his own image. Photographed by A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET's Jacques Haitkin through layers of murk designed to conceal a multitude of budgetary deficiencies, and 'distinguished' by flashy editing and gymnastic camera-work designed to conceal the lack of a comprehensible plot, Tony Randel's unconvincing future noir trades the visionary outlook of the original graphic novel for the same lumbering, humorless approach which typified this particular subgenre before US producers *finally* learned how to imitate their Asian counterparts. Though brutal in places, particularly during the final confrontation between Daniels and Mandylor, the film actually *downplays* the gory carnage of its source material, which will disappoint those expecting a more faithful adaptation.

A popular figure in this kind of DTV potboiler, Daniels was clearly hired for his fighting skills rather than his acting, and he's upstaged throughout by many of his co-stars (including Chris Penn, Melvin Van Peebles and Malcolm McDowell). Thankfully, Randel makes a virtue of Daniels' handsome face and muscular torso, and there's an unmistakable whiff of homoerotic tension in the aggressive relationship between Daniels and his equally handsome nemesis.