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Fist of the North Star - A Fan's Critique   by storm walton

Viewing television programs and movies are an integral part of our society today. These can give us an idea on where our culture is in many various ways. They show us our failings in a serious way sometime and at other times in a humorous satirical way. Television programs and movies can also let us take a look on what our future may hold for us if we keep doing what we are doing.

Most television programs and films are totally make-believe, but they still can show our deepest aspirations and fears. Some are quality productions while others fall short of being good. One such movie is "Fist of the North Star". Many versions of this type of manga have been made, and made into anime series; this includes a movie with live action starring Gary Daniels, who is a martial artist who went into acting.

The story starts off in Earth in a post-apocalyptic stage due to a nuclear war, happening in the later part of its 20 century, destroying the earth and turning its oceans to deserts. The world has no law and is in chaos. On the bright side though there is hope because of Kenshiro, a martial artist. This martial artist goes throughout the world to guard the innocent from murderous gangs, tyrannical rulers, and thugs. He is accompanied by the young girl, Lin, and the boy, Bat. From this point the anime series and the manga become different from the films, especially the version done with live action.

A movie production company from America in 1995 won the rights to adapt the story to film, and Tony Randel directed it. There were a few actors in the movie that were well known, Malcolm McDowell played Ryuken, Gary Daniels was Kenshiro, and Costas Mandylor played Shin. The movie had Dante Brasco playing sarcastic Bat. The movie did not get critical acclaim, happened to be based on a script that was created show the Saga of Shin of the manga. Critics mostly agreed the quality of the movie lacked because of the obvious small budget; this was most evident in the fight scenes and head explosions that were less than great. The pressure-point attacks by Kenshiro that were so captivating in the animated version, lacked excitement and were like children mimicking the attacks, which failed badly.

Also the script was badly defined. Most of the movie was just confusion because no clear development of the characters was done and the introductions for the main characters lacked info. The performance by Gary Daniels was right in line with any B-rated actor. The easiest noticed complaint with Kenshiro that is extremely noticeable it the English accent. In spite Keshiro's attacks being poorly displayed, the scenes with the martial arts in them were not horrible. Lord Shin and Kenshiro's fight scene lacked spark for many.

Many of the movie watchers voiced the noticeable problems of the fight scenes, like the way Kenshiro ruptured along with his skin during the Shin's attacks. The poor definition of the abdomen and arms for Kenshiro in the violent blood flow proved the particular actor had on a bad-quality prosthetic costume. But, the way Kenshiro came back was quite a sight to behold. Nalona Herron was probably the best actor in the movie, with her portrayal of Lynn, who was a little blind girl. In the end this movie was deemed good enough to watch one time at least, while the movies and the television productions of the animated series, put in the pantheon for the Japanese animation along with touted among the top Japanese animation.

About the Author

Storm Walton is a fan and expert on the fist of the north star series,So
if you would like to purchase the television series or read more articles,Then please go to:

http://www.fistofthenorthstar.net
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This entry was posted on Sunday, May 18th, 2008 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.