Maddo buru sâti-fô (1991) (V)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Osamu Dezaki

Writers:

Noriyoshi Inoue (story)
Katsumi Koide (writer)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Freshman | Juvenile Delinquency | Gun | Female Frontal Nudity

Cast

Akio Ôtsuka	...	Sleepie
Gara Takashima	...	Perrin

Also Known As:

Mad Bull 34

Runtime:

195 min (4 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Chile:18 | Spain:18 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R | Australia:R | New Zealand:R18 | UK:18

Company:

Magic Bus

Welcome to New York's worst slum, the 34th precint...

The first episode of this series is a little like TRAINING DAY (please forgive me for making that comparison), as young police recruit Daisaburo Eddie Van (he IS young-only 18, we are told,) is teamed up with muscular police veteran John Esties, who has two nick names-Sleepy and Mad Bull. "Sleepy" is quite reckless, and apparently quite lucky-at the beggining he gets shot at by a drug addict, and dispite the fact that Sleepy is a rather large, bulky target, and that it's close proximity, only his hat is knocked off.

Anyway, Daisaburo soon learns that his new partner has questionable morales, as he spends his free time with a bevy of prostitutes (if he's not killed in the line of duty first, he'll no doubt pick up some fatal disease before too long,) and tends to be quick to shoot without hesitation, like when he shoots and kills a gang of rapists before they can commit their latest crime, although it turns out they had concealed uzis, but how Sleepy knew this is beyond me.

Sleepy and Daisaburo also do some unusual things like dress up as women in order to infiltrate a group of murderor/rapists posing as gun dealers who provide women with pistols, then assault them later-they're they guys mentioned above who Sleepy kills. (Aren't they're female detectives they could get to do this particular job? I mean, Sleepy especially stands out when in drag, using what looks like a surgeon's mask to hide his mustache, which only makes him all the more conspicuous.) One thing I thought about during this thing was how Sleepy wore high heels while dressed as a woman. Unless he does this kind of thing on a regular basis, and especially since he must have at least about 200 pounds of musule, you'd think walking around in those things would be as uncomfertable as hell. At the end of part 1, Daisaburo, unlike Ethan Hawk's character Jake Hoit at the End of T.R., decides that the unconventional methods he mentor employs are nessassary to battle crime, and refuses to help the authorities revoke his partner's licence. (Of corse, this is only part 1, right?)

And all that's just the first episode! In parts 2, 3 and 4, our heroes must deal with a drug dealer who's part cyborge, a Hong Kong assassin ring who's arsenal includes a tank, and a cop killer who has gotten ahold of a futuristic cybernetic suit that looks like a cross between ALIEN and PREDATOR. Oh, and in part 3 we learn that Sleepy has the same ability that so many movie action heros have-the ability to appear at any place at any time, and to be able to adapt instantly any skill. (In this case, becoming a helicopter pilot so he can catch the bad guy.)

My biggest problem with this show is later in episode 3 when Sleepy decides he's no good for a news reporter who's fallen in love with him, so he threatens to rape her. (Yes, you heard right.) It kind of makes it hard to sympathize with the guy who's supposed to be the main hero. If you can forgive that part of the film, however, you'll probably like this.