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AKA: 世紀末救世主伝説 北斗の拳 (Seikimatsu Kyuuseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken), Hokuto no Ken the Movie, End of Century Savior Legend Fist of the North Star
Genre: Fighting / martial arts
Length: Movie, 110 minutes
Distributor: Currently licensed by Discotek Media.
Content Rating: R (extreme violence, brief nudity)
Related Series: Two TV series, two more "FOTNS Regenesis" series, Legends of the Dark King, Legends of the True Savior, FOTNS Strawberry Flavor, DD Hokuto no Ken (comedic adaptation), upcoming reboot
Also Recommended: Fist of the North Star TV, MD Geist, Violence Jack (not really recommendations, so much as similar titles)
Notes: Based on the manga by Hara Tetsuo, available from Raijin Comics.
Rating:

Fist of the North Star the Movie

Synopsis

In a wasteland full of death and violence, one man stands up for what he believes in. Ken has friends in Bat and Lynne, victims of a brutal assault by an unknown group of bandits (there will be many, many unknown murderers throughout this movie). Ken gives them "The Seeds of Life" and tells Lynne to grow them. Well, Bat and Lynne disappear for the next forty minutes of this anime while Ken takes his sense of justice to find his true love Yuria, who was stolen by Ken's rival, Shin. As Ken goes through the wastelands of the now barren Earth, he meets many murderers, and without a sweat kills them all with his absolutely ridiculous martial arts techniques. Will he ever find his love? Will his love even be alive?


Review

Fist of the North Star has a rather infamous reputation in Japan. It has been known to push the boundaries of what can be shown on TV. Violence, violence, and more violence, and it never stops. When it came to the big screen, that reputation did not change one bit. Actually, it further pushed those boundaries with its first appearance on the big screen.

This plot is nothing more than a poor excuse for many cookie-cutter villains to sporadically come up out of nowhere to challenge Ken and kill a few of the cliched "innocent civilians". Of course, Ken throws them out like yesterday's garbage in seconds using his absolutely hysterical martial arts technique:

AHHHHH!!!KIBA!KIBA!KIBA!KIBA!KIBA!KIBA!KIBA!!!..... (stops)
5....4.....3.....2....1... KA-BOOM, the enemy's head explodes. Wait, we're not done yet.

5....4....3....2....1....SQUISH!!!, his limp and already dead body then explodes, tossing all of his internal organs and blood all over the next few frames (which last about five minutes).

The hilarious and corny fight scenes erase any type of drama that was created by the plot, and more than half of this anime consists of those cheesy scenes. It seems as if Fist of the North Star tries to be serious, but the violence is so over-the-top that you just can't help but laugh.

As the movie goes on, enemies seem to grow larger. I swear Ken must be eight feet tall, and that's nothing compared to his villains! One of his foes has to be at least fifteen feet tall and weigh about fifty tons!! Then there are the instances where one moment, an enemy is ten feet tall and fat, and then as he falls to the ground, his thigh becomes bigger than Ken is! Disproportionate bodies truly show the insipid character designs in 'Fist'.

Where there are awful character designs, there is also bad animation as well. The creator's idea of martial arts is to have Ken swing his hands around at the speed of light while spikes of light fly from his hands. Then, we get a look at the villain, as he (there's never a female villain) gives a stunned look, talks for about five minutes, and then his head explodes.

Add on corny 80s music and some horrible dubbing, and Fist of the North Star is nothing more than a gore-fest.

While unintentionally funny, Fist of the North Star is a hunk of garbage that should be neatly placed next to MD Geist in the trash compactor.Robert Nelson

Recommended Audience: As mentioned before, Fist of North Star is one very, very graphic movie. Blood is splattered everywhere on the screen in this obvious red paint sale.



Version(s) Viewed: VHS, English dubbed
Review Status: Full (1/1)
Fist of the North Star the Movie © 1986 Toei
 
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