Fist of the North Star (1995)

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nTitle: Fist of the North Star (1995)

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nDirector: Tony Randel

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nCast: Gary Daniels, Malcolm McDowell, Melvin Van Peebles, ClintnHoward, Chris Penn, Downtown Julie Brown, Dante Basco

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nReview:

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nWas 1995 the year of the post apocalyptic movie and nobodyntold me? Let’s see…Tank Girl, Waterworld, 12 Monkeys and Fist of the North Starnwere all filmed that same year! Not only that, but Malcolm McDowell starred inntwo of these, Tank Girl and the film I’ll be reviewing today, Fist of the NorthnStar, just don’t expect a mind blowing performance from McDowell on this film. Henjust cameos on this one. Now this here film is based on a Japanese anime seriesnwhich I have never seen, so I wont be judging this film based on if it’s a goodnadaptation of said series or not, I’m going to be judging  Fist of the North Star on it’s own merits. Nownhow was it?

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nFist of the North Star tells the tale of Kenshiro, the chosennone who carries the knowledge and the power of the ancient martial art known asn‘Fist of the North Star’. Kenshiro wanders the post apocalyptic wastelandnlooking for ‘Lord Shin’ the dictator who’s destroyed his school, killed hisnmaster and stole his woman; so revenge is certainly in the cards. The real problemnis that Kenshiro doesn’t want to accept his fate, he doesn’t want to be ThenFist of the North Star, he doesn’t want to save the people, he doesn’t want tonbe the hero. Will he accept his status as ‘the chosen one’? Along the way,nKenshiro befriends a blind girl known as Lynn and her brother Bat. Kenshiro’snmission is to rescue his beloved Julia from the clutches of Lord Shin, andnrelease the people from Shin’s oppressive rule while at it.

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nIn the world of post apocalyptic films, there are the reallynexpensive ones like The Postman (1997), Waterworld (1995) and The Terminatornand Mad Max movies, and then there’s the other half, which really composes thenvast majority of these films, the low budget half. I was listening to the filmsnaudio commentary with director Tony Randel and on it he mentions that the filmsnbudget was something around the vicinity of 2.5 million dollars; but on thenIMDB page it says 7 million dollars, so I don’t know who to trust, butnultimately be it 2.5 or 7, were talking about a low budget film here, the kindnthat really ha s to stretch those dollars! I’d say that the film looks prettyndecent for such a low budget film. Director Tony Randel decided to shoot thenfilm in soundstages, and not on the dessert. I guess that was a stylistic choice,nhe probably wanted to give the film a purposely campy look (achieved) while atnthe same time working in a more controlled environment. As a result, the filmnlooks like those old Kung Fu movies with the fake sky backgrounds, not a badnlook if you do it right. I think they did a good job with this film on thatnregard.

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nAs a post apocalyptic film I’d say that Fist of the NorthnStar works very well. The world created for this film looks old and filled withnthe remains of a previous civilization. We have people running from acid rain,npeople fighting over canned goods, little kids trying to survive amongst thenchaos and a new yet oppressive form of government which is a recurring theme innmost post apocalyptic films; someone is always trying to regain control overnthe world, someone is always hungry for that power and that someone is alwaysnevil incarnate. Following rule #557 of post apocalyptic films, we have a lonernwandering the wastelands; he’s a mysterious figure who wears hooded shrouds andntalks very little. Like Mad Max Rockatanski, this films protagonist is thenreluctant hero. I also liked the look and feel they achieved for the film,nespecially when we take in consideration how little it cost. I’d say theynachieved something of a miracle for the money they had to make it with. Still,na cramped atmosphere is felt through out the whole film. There’s lot’s ofnextreme close ups to hide the fact that they filmed in small sets.

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nThis might be a low budget film, but there are all sorts ofnrecognizable character actors on this film. First off we have Clint Howard whonalways manages to put a smile on my face, there’s just something about the waynthe dude looks that’s hilarious to me. On this one he doesn’t say much, but hensure shoots a lot of people! We also get Chris Penn as ‘Jackal’, one of thosencharacters that does everything for the lead villain, basically, Penn plays thenlead henchman. His character wears these restraints on his head that stops it fromnexploding. Dante Basco a.k.a. ‘Rufio’ from Steven Spielberg’s Hook (1991) playsnBat, a sort of comedic sidekick for Kenshiro. Downtown Julie Brown and MelvinnVan Peebles play the leaders of a small community of survivors of thenapocalypse. We also get an actor called Tracey Walter whom some of you mightnremember as Conan’s comedic sidekick in Conan The Destroyer (1984), remember? Thencrazy little guy who swallowed diamonds? That’s the guy. So the film isnpeppered with actors who thrive on playing smaller roles and that you’venprobably seen in other movies.

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nBut of course, the real star of the show is Gary Daniels asnKenshiro. Gary Daniels has a background in kickboxing, Taekwondo and othernmartial arts. He participated in various tournaments, at times beingndisqualified because his style was deemed too aggressive. He then took a stabnat acting, where he has remained. He’s one of these actors whose career thrivesnon straight to dvd features like Bloodfist IV: Die Trying (1992) and AmericannStreetfighter (1992). Every now and again a theatrical release comes his waynlike his appearances in The Expendables (2010) and Tekken (2010). In Fist ofnthe North Star he displays some cool martial arts moves; you kind of get thenidea that this guy could definitely kick Van Damme’s ass any day of the week,nblind folded. He comes off as a likable hero on this film; he even heals littlenblind girls with his powers! Speaking of muscular oiled up dudes, this film isnfilled to the brim with them.

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nUltimately, Fist of the North Star is a film with loads ofnideas and an epic storyline that was obviously held back a bit by its limitednbudget. But it has style and attitude to spare. It’s a comic book of a movienloaded with everything from zombies to kung fu masters with the power to make yournhead explode by touching you in the right places of the body. The kung funfighting in the film isn’t all that spectacular when compared to today’s films,nbut it isn’t bad either. I’ve also heard that the movie isn’t as gory as thenanime, but still, there’s some blood spraying on the film, we’re talking aboutncharacters that can impale you with their own fingers! This film didn’t please fansnof the anime, to them this film is a travesty, but it’s also a film that manynlike, and those that liked it never heard of the anime, I know cause I’m one ofnthose. I dug the movie for what it ultimately achieved with so little andnbecause it’s an entertaining post apocalyptic flick. Kudos go out to directornTony Randel, the guy behind Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) and  Amytiville 1992: It’s About Time (1992) fornpulling off a better film than they had any right to, you can tell they did asnmuch as they could with what they had. I am now interested in checking out thenanime movie, which I will undoubtedly do, so expect a review for it in the nearnfuture.

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nRating: 3 ½ out of 5  

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