Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)

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 (as Simon Nam)

Writers:

Tetsuya Saruwatari (manga "Riki-oh"), Masahiko Takajo (manga "Riki-oh")

Stars:

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

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Siu-Wong Fan	...	Riki-Oh Saiga
Mei Sheng Fan	...	Cyclops Dan
Ka-Kui Ho	...	The Warden
Yukari Ôshima	...	Huang Chaun
Kan-Wing Tsang	...	Old Ma
Kwok-Pong Chan	...	Sa (as Chan Kwok-Bong)
Kôichi Sugisaki	...	Taizan
Frankie Chi-Leung Chan	...	Hai (as Chi-leung Chan)
King Chan	...	Ba Chu
Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok	...	Kuang (as Philip Kwok)
Ji Keung Wong	...	Guan Dao
Kwai-Hung Wong	...	Shorty
Kwok-Leung Wong	...	Manabu the Warden's Son
Kai Wing Lam	...	Wildcat Samuel
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Master Zhang Shangui

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:

gore | black comedy | political exploitation | prison | martial arts | 

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Taglines:

The Greatest Hong Kong Martial Arts Action Revenge Gore-Soaked Prision Breakout Love Story Cult Film of 1991 Ever Put on DVD!!! (2010 Media Blasters Remastered DVD Edition)

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Hong Kong movie to receive a "Category III" rating for violence.

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Goofs

The way that Riki's girlfriend jumps off to her death changes before she hits the ground.

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Quotes

Guard: Warden, the prison's menu for tomorrow is ready; Please have a look. We have some beans, some vegetables, and some meat for lunch.
Warden's Son: [begins to eat some of the food]
Warden Cobra: Don't you think it's too much?
[starts to divide the food]
Warden Cobra: Here, we'll half the vegetables and beans, the meat we'll save for dinner.
Warden's Son: [starts to throw a tantrum]
Warden Cobra: Oh, come on, behave yourself! The men won't die from hunger.
Prison Inmate: You eat like a lousy king! Even your dog gets a big steak.
Warden Cobra: [overhears the inmate] Not enough to eat. Right, I'll give you...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The UK DVD from the Hong Kong Legends Label released in 2002 is fully uncut. The cover text "Now totally uncut on DVD for the first time ever" is wrong, though - other DVDs (USA, Germany) were released earlier.

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Connections

Version of Riki-Oh 2: Child of Destruction (1990)

User Reviews

A Freaky Movie

"Riki Oh" is a frightening piece of work. Some of the bizarrest stuff ever put on celluloid to my knowledge. Every single frame is bursting with insanity and confusion. Don't even try to understand it, you might as well try to divide large numbers in your head for an hour and a half.

Riki is a very hunky prisoner in a future where corporations control everything. I know this information because the producers felt it necessary to put this in TWO different captions at the start of the film. Just so we know.

Young Riki gets into a lot of trouble both with the guards and his fellow inmates. This allows him to rip his shirt off a lot and expose his flexed chest (Seriously, the guy takes his shirt about once every thirty seconds. He puts it back on just so he can take it off again.).

Somehow Riki was given supernatural powers that really help in a prison riot. You see Riki can punch through just about anything, be it animal, mineral or vegetable. He punches through walls, desks, pipes, bars, and lots of human bodies. Yes that's correct, he punches through people. Their arms, legs, stomachs, and sometimes heads.

This excessive violence lends the film to excessive gore. We're talking spilled jugs of Kool-Aid excessive. And you get to see it all; although the worst gore is rarely on screen for more than a split second. Still you get to see a guy eat razors, a person explode like a balloon and one guy get put in a huge meat grinder. Yummy!

The copy I saw was dubbed, and that only added to the fun. I recommend this movie, solely for goofing on it. Otherwise, it is a very bad film. Only for those with a good sense of humor. You have been warned.

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Release Date:

9 April 1992 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

Diagonal Pictures, Paragon Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 82 min (cut) 91 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1