Rating: 
Summary: great film, bad transfer
Review: I love this movie, but when i stuck in my dvd I was a little disappointed.The colors had all been washed out. I dont know what they did in the digital reamastering process, but i don't dig it. still a great movie though.
Rating: 
Summary: Best movie during a one night stand!
Review: I saw the movie several times... the first time I didn't actualy see it... i was too busy making love to a very nice girl...
Rating: 
Summary: Another poor DVD from Manga Ent.
Review: I will not go into detail about the film itself - other people have done that. Instead I am going to discuss the EXTREEMLY POOR job MANGA ENT. has done in bringing it to DVD. I recently bought the Japanese DVD of TETSUO 2 and it has got audio commentary by the director, a making-of-documentary and a photo gallery. None of the above are on this DVD which is a shame because TETSUO is cult cinema and a special edition treatment (especially a subtitled audio commentary track a la WINGS OF HONNEAMISE) would have been most welcome. The only good thing I can say about this disc is that MANGA at least offers the original Japanese version with subtitles as opposed to their DVD of the two DEVILMAN OVAs which you have to watch dubbed or not at all (the latter is recommended).
Rating:
Summary: The NEW FLESH!
Review: Pretentious film aficionados as well as Film junkies, snotty film students, lovers of blood, guts, and exploding cybernetic human hybrids will find this amazing. As well as social/cultural analysts. The film is too good for Hollywood's studio paid critics (i.e. Ebert and Un-Siskel). This film crosses into the post-modern ideology that suggests a possibility of humanity's acceptance of technology into their own bodies and flesh. With current society relying on plastic surgery and physical augmentation this is a wake up to the broadcasted cable zombies of today! TV is watching you, more than you watch it! divowr@excite.com
Rating:
Summary: DEUS EX MACHINA
Review: Primero esta pelicula no es para todo el mundo, pero si eres amante del manga y de BLADE RUNNER, seguro que esta pelicula te llamara la antencion, a pesar de que es demasiado rapida, puedes apreciar la antigua angustia del hombre en contra de un mundo cada dia mas impersonal, temas que se dejan ver en peliculas como El Club de la Pelea, La naranja Metalica y Brasil, esta ves con un nuevo toque, el de la industrializacion, la transformacion del hombre en maquina, carne y metal, acertada direccion y puro entrenimiento Ciberpunk y algo de tecno, que mas se puede pedir.
Rating:
Summary: DEHUMANIZATION and MECHANIZATION
Review: TETSUO II BODY HAMMER was to me, very similar to PI. It seemed to be more an exploration of textures and shapes than an attempt at linear storytelling. If you look at the reviews for the film PI you'll notice they contain similar complaints as the reviews for TETSUO II BODY HAMMER. Neither film was meant to be linear. This seems to have disappointed a great portion of the viewers. For them, the film is unfulfilling due to its apparent lack of coherence. When in fact, the point of the movie is exactly that, a study of disorientation created by technology and civilization. It is a psychological effect that the writer/director is aiming for. The viewer either will allow him that privilege or deny it to him. The viewer is always in control. There are psychological boundaries that the viewer will or will not allow himself to cross. This determines what mental "buttons" the viewer will allow the film to push. I enjoyed the cleverness of some of the special effects, and of course the colors and textures. These are the kind of films that are created for a very specialized audience. Not everyone is going to consider them worthy of note but that's ok. Those who do, will enjoy watching them over and over, and delight in the psychological effect of the ride. In case you're interested in other films that go for THAT psychological effect check out: PARIS FRANCE with Peter Outerbridge and Leslie Hope, A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS, DROWNING BY NUMBERS, & PROSPERO'S BOOKS by Peter Greenaway, POISON by Todd Haynes, DR. STRANGELOVE by Stanley Kubrick.
Rating: 
Summary: Tetsuo for the common folk?
Review: Tetsuo II is the proto-type of a truly disappointing 2nd edition of a great movie. The original Ironman has such great visuals, great music, and hyperkinetic elements, it is a completely unique movie experience. Not one that necessarily makes a lot of sense from a story point-of-view, but even that adds to the experience. But for some reason, Shinya Tsukamoto decided to tone down all the visual and music elements, and gives us a story in Body Hammer that is more straightforward. Is this a Tetsuo he thought might be more watchable by the standard movie goer? Big mistake!! The disappointment really sets in with the visuals: Ironman showed completely unique, detailed, and laboriously wacky visuals. Body Hammer looks like an Asian not-ready-for-class-B movie. The color is poor, and the special effects stink. The music is not up to Ironman's, either. The story does come together toward the end, and this is the only redeeming part of this movie. It is worth seeing only in making Tetsuo (Ironman) another new experience to watch again by filling in some holes in that story.
Rating:
Summary: Tetsuo for the common folk?
Review: Tetsuo II is the proto-type of a truly disappointing 2nd edition of a great movie. The original Ironman has such great visuals, great music, and hyperkinetic elements, it is a completely unique movie experience. Not one that necessarily makes a lot of sense from a story point-of-view, but even that adds to the experience. But for some reason, Shinya Tsukamoto decided to tone down all the visual and music elements, and gives us a story in Body Hammer that is more straightforward. Is this a Tetsuo he thought might be more watchable by the standard movie goer? Big mistake!! The disappointment really sets in with the visuals: Ironman showed completely unique, detailed, and laboriously wacky visuals. Body Hammer looks like an Asian not-ready-for-class-B movie. The color is poor, and the special effects stink. The music is not up to Ironman's, either. The story does come together toward the end, and this is the only redeeming part of this movie. It is worth seeing only in making Tetsuo (Ironman) another new experience to watch again by filling in some holes in that story.
Rating:
Summary: Tetsuo for the common folk?
Review: Tetsuo II is the proto-type of a truly disappointing follow-on to a great movie. The original Tetsuo, also known as the Ironman, has such great visuals, great music, and hyperkinetic elements, it is a completely unique movie experience. Not one that necessarily makes a lot of sense from a story point-of-view, but even that adds to the experience. But for some reason, Shinya Tsukamoto decided to tone down all the visual and music elements, and gives us a story in Tetsuo II, Body Hammer, that is more straightforward. Perhaps he thought this might be more watchable Tetsuo for the standard movie goer? Big mistake!! The disappointment really sets in with the visuals: Ironman showed completely unique, detailed, and laboriously wacky visuals. Body Hammer looks like an Asian not-ready-for-class-B movie. The color is poor, and the special effects stink. The music is not up to Ironman's, either. The story does come together toward the end, and this is the only redeeming part of Tetsuo II. It is worth seeing only in making the original Tetsuo (Ironman) a new experience to watch again by filling in some holes in that story.
Rating:
Summary: Not The Ironman, but worth seeing anyway.
Review: Tetsuo II: Bodyhammer (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1992)
After the weirdness that is Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Tsukamoto returned four years later with its followup, Bodyhammer. But looking at it as a sequel makes no sense, and it's not really a remake. What it really is is left up to you to decide, because I have no idea.
Manga Entertainment's website says Tetuso II is Tsukamoto's answer to Bladerunner and Aliens, but it looks more to me like Tsukamoto's answer to Videodrome (this won't surprise anyone who's seen the original film, or Akira, the end of which these films are a loose continuance). While the original film had no plot whatsoever, this one does. Taniguchi (Tomorowo Taguchi, reprising his role as the Iron Man) and his girlfriend/wife/whatever Kana (Nobu Kanaoka, the woman who "turned" the Iron Man in the original's unforgettable chase scene) have a son, Minori (Keinosuke Tomioka). Minori is, for no reason we can discern at the beginning, kidnapped by a gang of skinheads. He's not really the kind to go in, blow stuff up, and get his kid back; he's really your basic 98-pound weakling. That is, until he discovers new meanings of the term "body modification."
While Bodyhammer is a live action flick, it does seem to have more in common with Akira than did its predecessor, especially during Taniguchi's change scenes; it's as if Tsukamoto spent the four years between films studying Akira so he could frame the shots better. There's also an extremely odd soundtrack, much of which sounds lifted from Tsukamoto's short "Drumstruck" and overlaid with a videogame theme song. (Why this was never turned into videogame is beyond me; you'd think Konami would jump at the idea.) Tsukamoto's direction, editing, and cinematography here is more professional than it is in The Iron Man, but it's still got that feel of being shot with a Super 8 by a couple of high school students. (I rush to say this is not a bad thing.)
There really is no basis of comparison between the two Tetsuo films. Each is equally warped, in its own way, and both are compelling viewing for the discerning gorehound. See both, if you can. *** ½
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