Fist of the North Star

Rating:
Summary: Anyone who calls themself an anime fan.....
Review: As you have probably seen, there are many reviews with completely different opinions on this movie. The reason that there are people who hate this and people who love it is simple: You'll love it if you appreciate anime style in general. Everything is pulled off with style. The translation may be messed up and some plotholes are left, but what are you going to do? There is no subtitled version, but at least the English voices aren't completely atrocious. The original soundtrack is left in, as well. The graphics are starting to show its age, but that didn't bother me. The overall execution of the movie is what drew me in.

Rating:
Summary: screw good story, WE WANT CHEESE!
Review: hear ye hear ye! fans of Ranxerox and Peter Jackson films, you have found your cartoon! serious anime nerds, go drool at some lame comic convention. here is something to do, light up a huge bowl and sit back and enjoy the movie. while there are way way more insanely perverted and violent overpriced anime films out there this one has a special place in my heart. its so damn cheesy!

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: This is properly the best Animation avaiable, the Storie line is great! If you are a Fan of Japanese Animation,this is A MUST HAVE!!!!It really is an Epic Assault on the Senses

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Summary: The sad statement about the inferiority of gaijin.
Review: Although Carl Macek often gets credited with a lot for this film, he was not the writer of this atrocious non-translation. He was so deluded about it that he told me and a friend of mine that it was a straight translation. Not even the title is a translation. Hokuto no Ken means Fist of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). "Fist of the North Star" was a translation error from the initial article in the C/FO (the original international anime fan club) magazine. I was never a huge fan of the television series that preceded this film (and the Japanese, Hong Kong, and American live action versions), but I respected the work. When I spoke with a representative from Toei at the NATPE convention, I could tell it was one of their flagship titles. They got an award for the television series for doing an adaption that was very true to the original comic book series by "Bronson" and Tetsuo Hara. The television series is now offered in dubbed and subtitled form. This film version, however, is perhaps the worst translation and one of the worst dubs of all time. They replaced Ken's low, soft monotone with a revoltingly peppy American DJ-style voice. None of the principles behind Hokutoo Shin Ken are retained. In a scene where Ken growls the name "Jagi" and smashes a statue of him in the original, the cheese dub has him saying, "It's a good likeness, but it's not The Fist of the North Star." It was embarrassing to see in the theatre. Crowds of college students got the cheeseball kung fu movie they were looking for, apparently, and howled with laughter. In one scene Ken tells Lynn "This might hurt a little..." leaving the audience to think the worst. The film had to top the television series in Japan, which was already way over the top when it comes to violence, so this film already had super-powered scenes far beyond belief. The addition of ridiculous dialog didn't help matters at all. This could indeed be the worst dub of all time.

Rating:
Summary: A violent spectacle!!
Review: I can think of nothing bad to say about this film. The story was great, the animation was brilliant, the action sequences were spine tingling and the violence was enough to make Oliver Stone quiver with delight. Even the dubbing was impressive. A manga masterpiece!

Rating:
Summary: Yay, it's over!
Review: I just got done watching it. I want my two hours back! Sure, the animation and the violence was cool (at least, until it became repetitous), but the story and dialogue made it ever-increasingly tortuous to watch as the movie ran it's course.

Rating:
Summary: BEST ANIME EVER
Review: Nuf said. This movie is one of THE classic anime. The characters in this movie are very deep, from the tortured soul of kenshiro fighting for good, and his brother Raoh, the ruthless conqueror. If you haven't seen it, the 20 bucks is WELL worth it.

Rating:
Summary: You either love it, or...you hate it.
Review: Frankly,I loved it. The blood, sweat and tears made it good. The plot and moralistic views made it great. My favorite character is Ray. He fought Ken's brother Raoh to the death. Even though Ray knew he would die. He tried his best to save the one thing that meant the most to his friend... Julia. I only have two inqiries, the first is, will it be possible for Ray to come back? The second, are the books better?(if thats posible)

Rating:
Summary: MAD MAX + MORTAL KOMBAT =This Mind blowing masterpiece...
Review: Oooookay... Many people don't like this Anine. You are all wrong... Yes, teh Dubbing was Awful. I'll give you that. Those of you that say the animation sucked, Pick up a copy of the Manga. The art is Identical, and this is before anime like 'AKIRA' broke the boundry of Computer animation and cell drawn. For those of you who say there is no story, read the Japanese Script. If you don't appreciate how the film is put together, or the extreme violence (That is NOT the only thing in the film) Don't burn teh tape as 'Mr. Psycho' up there did. Pass it on to somone who does. And if you hate the Dubbing (AsI do), pikc up a Japanese copy ajnd get the Un-Cut, Non 'Carl Macek' script. Oy... I can'y wait 'till he passes on... Hokuto No Ken Kiler... Anyway, the story is rather interesting, The animation a VERY old school design (simmilar to Vampire Hunter D... same Director), and the violence endless. If you enjoy films like 'Ninja Scroll', or 'Vampire Hunter D', you'll love Fist of the North Star. And for those of you who watch DBZ and Pokemon (Although I do, admittedly...) Fact is all Kenshiro (Ken in the dub) has to do is Hokuto Haykaretsu Ken ('Rappid Punching' in teh dub), and Lil' Pikachu or Vegetta would explode. 'Kay?

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful introduction to anime!
Review: My boyfriend showed me this movie and I was blown away! The violence was impossible (like Ginsu-ing a gang of bullies with bare hands), but that was ok, because it was couched in mysticism, which is supposed to make the impossible possible. (I read a lot into this movie.) We've showed it to our friends (twenty and thirtysomethings) and they found it very visually stimulating. We watched this with my nephew and pointed out that the although the hero kicked mucho butt, he did it defending others (poignant, cheesy moments)and he tried to reason with his enemies before kicking their butts. The plot is basic, the dialogue hilariously cliched, but there are some basic philosophic messages to be learned, if you can get past snickering and sneering. Children 9 and up should watch this with a mature, openminded adult willing to discuss it with them afterwards.