El puño de la estrella del norte (1986) Online

As a fan of Manga films i have seen a fair few and if i was to have a top 10, Fist of the North Star would come a close second. It is not Uncommon for the Manga industry to make ultra violent films. In fact, most Manga films will have a dark theme or two somewhere in it. I find that there is a certain proportion of Manga that is gory, sadistic or just plain wrong for the sake of it. Eg, Urotsokodoji 1, 2 & 3. Fist of the north star could easily have become one of these had it not been executed with such style and class. This is definitely a defining moment for the anime generation. If you like that style and haven't seen this film yet then you need to stop what you are doing, get some cash and buy it right now.

A Billion out of ten

Fun big-screen adaptation of the classic manga and anime series. Much more graphic violence than the TV series could get away with. Most of the popular characters are there with the notable exceptions of Toki and Mamiya. However, Streamline Pictures' dub destroyed any remnants of story in this movie. It makes no sense at all; it never even bothers to explain what the Hokuto Shin Ken style is all about. Even if you don't speak Japanese, rent that version instead. It will still make more sense than Macek's dub.

I've just got through watching the first 36 episodes of the TV series of Fist Of The North Star on DVD and until a couple of days ago i thought the TV series came after the movie. The movie comes after the TV series. I have to admit that even though the series has more info and detail about the fighting styles etc i think that the movie is slightly better. It has better animation, better voice acting (in English) and is less repetitive. I watched the movie just over ten years ago and was quite literally blown away by it. It has action, adventure, comedy, gore, thrills, spills and for those people disgusted by the sex scenes in Urotsukidoji you'll be happy to know that FOTNS is sex free.

FOTNS is obviously to some extent based on Mad Max but a heck of a lot better. Only thing that bugs me (just like the series) is that the gore scenes are usually blurred or we see peoples shadows exploding. Kind of annoying. Also there seems that there are a few gaps in it which makes me wonder if there has been a scene or two edited out or cut down (atleast in the UK version).

I'll quickly give a brief summary of the story. It's about a guy called Ken who must get his girlfriend back from his former best friend Shin who beat up Ken, kidnapped his girlfriend and left him for dead. Ken walks through the barren wasteland (it's set after a nuclear war) and kills bad guys with his style of fighting. If he punches anybody they explode shortly after. In the meantime his eldest brother Raoh has amassed an army and is trying to conquer the world. There are also a couple of sub plots. One has this guy called Rei (or Ray?) looking for his sister and is also looking for the guy responsible for kidnapping her.

All this leads to an explosive finale. Fist Of The North Star along with Urotsukidoji is my favourite Japanese anime movie of all time. A definite must see but avoid the American live action film. That sucked the big one for sure. This great anime gets a perfect 10/10 from me.

I love violence on screen. This movie satisfied that to the extreme. This is the most violent movie possibly EVER released. A lot of people hate this film because it is a blood fest with "no point", but you have to understand, the point of the movie is to MAKE FUN of the whole thing. Now, I'm also a big fan of comedy, and this movie satisfied the comedy WITH the violence! It's genius, because so few people see this. Add to that, an intricate story line that follows through and makes sense. The movie is all about going from big, powerful guys and gruesome death scenes to more and more and more gruesome death scenes and more powerful guys. The writing is excellent (and funny!). Like I said about comedy, the death scenes are made to make you laugh, the writing and speech are designed almost so that you can predict what's going to happen before it does! Then the speech becomes like a punch line. e.g. "A fight to the death, then!" "You're already dead." and "Hey. These belong to you?" You have to watch this movie to know what I mean, of course. Heh heh. the music is good, and the English dubbing is awesome. The voices are perfect. The drawing style is great, too. The huge muscles small heads approach (trust me, it is VERY realistic) is hilarious, yet cool looking. Rent it at Blockbuster video under the animation section or action / kung fu. One gripe: the ending (the last like 2 minutes) sucks. Corny love / regrowth stereotype there.

I have to add, the funniest moment in any movie EVER in the world is in this movie. It is the scene where Shin kills his own trusted commander. PLEASE watch this movie so you can agree with me. The punch line effect of the writing and the animation is so subtle, so superb. I was laughing for hours (slight exaggeration. Slight.) The only thing wrong with this movie is that it is under infinity hours long.

First of all I have to admit I'm a fan of 'Fist of the North Star', what can I say, maybe this movie is not the ultimate in classic, dramatic anime.. but come on, we all need to unwind sometimes.

Those people who often dub this movie as total garbage should realise that Streamline Pictures totally edited most.. ( To be fair, about 80% ) .. of the dialogue and story. This was common back in the day that anime was first coming around over in the West, as Streamline obviously thought.. "Wow, this is too complex for idiots. We should make the dialogue totally different and cliché, and market this as a big violent massacre!" .. which in some situations, you get the picture of this. Streamline Pictures have a reputation of this to be honest.

'Fist of the North Star' or 'Hokuto no Ken' was originally a manga/anime series, it basically chronicled the journey of Kenshiro, or Ken, deep into the dead, barren wastelands of the bleak future, the year 200X in which the world has been devastated by Nuclear War and the world has finally given into pure corruption. The strongest take control, and the weak are picked off like animals, if you didn't actually know, 'Fist of the North Star' was inspired by 'Mad Max' more specifically 'The Road Warrior/Mad Max 2'.

Of course, 'FOTNS' only uses minor elements from the classic movie, the difference between Max and Kenshiro is that Kenshiro is virtually indestructible. He is the practitioner of a sacred Martial Art known as Hokuto Shinken, the fighting skill uses pressure points of the human body, striking these points in a certain method has different effects. Strike a certain combination, you can cure disease or blindness, strike another series however, you can tear a human body apart.

One of the most well-known moves of the Martial Art is Kenshiro's 'One Hundred Crack Fist', in which he performs a combination of lighting fast punches whilst yelling the famous scream inspired by Bruce Lee.. 'A-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!' To which the victim explodes within seconds. Truly impressive!

This movie is a bad condensation of the entire first series of the anime, it leaves out a lot of the more major characters such as Toki ( Ken's -other- brother who is infused with nuclear radiation. )and Mamiya. For instance, in this movie, and the anime, Shin is established as the major villain, however, Shin is the first real main character to die in the manga. ( He is killed by Kenshiro in the first volume. )

The running order of the plot dramatically changes, Ken fights Jagi -before- Shin, and Raoh is still alive after the final battle, at the end of the movie. While I understand that the whole world of 'FOTNS' could not be put into a movie, this was a little odd. It seemed like a rushed version of the story, which shows at certain points.

The animation was rather good, but the age of the piece does show, the animation is eighties style anime, rather similar to the classic anime movie 'Vampire Hunter D'. However, the art was rather nice, brilliant for the time it was made and the effort put into it all shows off well.

Very graphic violence, and bloody, unrelenting animation. This movie has exploding heads, and bodies ripping apart, this is -NOT- a movie for children. Ironic because the Japanese used to publish 'FOTNS' in Shonen Jump Magazine, a manga comic that a lot of young people have grown up with in Japan. People who hate the sight of blood will probably find themselves physically throwing up.

I've not managed to catch the Japanese version yet, but I had the bad luck of the Streamline Dub. As I mentioned, the entire story and dialogue were changed to make it more appealing to Western audiences.. for instance, the scene in which Rei attacks Jagi's men in the small town and drives a saw into someone's skull..

Rei: 'Silly me, what a foolish mistake..'

Random Thug: 'I've got a splittin' head-ache!'

-Rei drives it further into his skull, killing him.-

Random Thug: 'Uwahhhh ~!'

Rei: 'Better, now?'

What can I say other than stupid? Cliché, stupid dialogue that would not look out of place coming from a lame action movie. Which is basically what Streamline Pictures turned this classic movie into. I liked certain voices, to say the least, Ken, Shin, Rei, Raoh, and the maniacal Jagi were done rather well. Also the Leader of the Fang Clan, dubbed by none other than James Avery! Best known for his voice of Shredder from the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' cartoons, and Phillip Banks from 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'.

Glad to see that the familiar, famous catchphrase of 'You're already dead!' remained in this movie. Another classic one-liner involves the huge, obese fat warrior known as Heart exploding into a lot of human matter to the tune of Kenshiro's.. 'Say your prayers, Lard-Ass!'

Heart has a lot of guts.. literally.

Worthy of a night in, or a gathering with some friends, you could also make the Streamline dub into a drinking game, taking a slug each time you laugh at the nonsensical, cheesy dialogue!

At the end of it all I would recommend this movie to people who aren't too serious about what they watch, fans of violent anime, and to a lesser extent, fans of martial arts movies. This is not to be taken seriously, although I might add that it is rather well respected in Japan, and still remains to this day. ( There is a series set during World War II known as 'Fist of the Blue Sky', or 'Southen no Ken', and I hear that a new anime series is also in production. )

Hollywood should snap this thing up and make it into a live-action movie, when I say live-action, I mean better and higher budget than the piece of crud 'Fist of the North Star' movie, starring Gary Daniels.

A classic anime that could've been a -lot- better.

In the post-apocalyptic future, the Earth went through a nuclear holocaust that devastated nearly all the cities and towns in the world and a few people want to bring it back to life and some mutants that oppose against them, A warrior named Kenshiro has been murdered by his former friend Shin who has stolen his girlfriend Julia but brought back to life as Ken possesses special martial arts powers to make enemies explode. He seeks revenge on Shin especially his two brothers Jagi and Raoh to make them pay and get Julia back so he can help heal the world.

Bone-crunching and ultra-violent Sci-fi action martial arts epic from Toyoo Ashida ("Vampire Hunter D") is a big assault on the senses in stylish animation. There is a ton of extreme violence throughout the movie like exploding heads, people shredded apart and that kind of thing. This isn't for the weak stomached or for kids, it's a battering ram of a movie that hits you to the core and is one anime's best movies.

Listen for James Avery (The guy from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Shredder from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles") as the voice of barbarian Fang Also recommended: "Ninja Scroll", "Wizards", "Akira", "Ghost in The Shell 1 & 2", "The Professional: Golgo 13", "Mad Max Trilogy", "Day of the Dead", "Total Recall", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Starship Troopers", "300", "Braveheart", "The Toxic Avenger", "Battle Royale", "Street Trash", "Escape 2000", "Terminator Trilogy", "Robocop", "Fire & Ice", "Rock & Rule", "Heavy Metal", "Dead Alive (a.k.a. Braindead)", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "The Running Man", "Rats: The Night of Terror", "1990: The Bronx Warriors", "2019: After the Fall of New York", "Ichi The Killer", "Versus", "Rock & Rule", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "Vampire Hunter D", "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust", "Commando", "Saving Private Ryan", "Doom", "Barefoot Gen", "Kill Bill Vol. 1", "Grindhouse", "Sin City".

Hmmmm Fist of the North Star is a tough one. I love the film, because it is essentially an amalgam of popular action films. Ken is essentially a suped up Mad Max/Bruce Lee character, in a Mad Max environment, with the ability to explode heads like a Scanner. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as seeing a Japanese take on films that are essentially foreign makes for an interesting experience. Contrary to popular belief, there is a plot, albeit a fairly straightforward one, but I think that it was definitely sidelined in favour of the graphic violence. This violence is usually the biggest problem for non-fans, as they can't see the humour behind it. The main purpose of Fist of the North Star, in my opinion, is to question the nature of violence on television, as when seen in animation, the most horrific scenes of gore can appear quite funny. Otherwise it's good fun, and Kenshiro is one of the all time Anime greats, a rebel in a world gone wrong. I love Fist of the North star, but it definitely needs to be seen with a pinch of salt.

Mankind has finally destroyed itself and those that have survived find themselves on a barren, dead planet. All men are afraid and this leads to tribalism where strength and power over others is all, leading in turn to cruelty and violence. With this as a backdrop, powerful Fist of the North Star Kenshirô, is left for dead when his equally powerful friend Shin defeats him and takes his lover Julia for himself. Kenshirô somehow survives this and returns to seek justice, aided by fighter Rei, whose sister has been kidnapped by Kenshirô's brother Jagi (who was the one who poisoned Shin against Kenshirô in the first place). Meanwhile Raoh's rebuffed claim to be the rightful Fist has left him bitter and hungry for power with his army and individual powers seeing him grow in strength and power, creating a world of repression that is at odds with the hope manifested in two young children who find themselves under the care of Kenshirô and Rei.

Somehow or other I managed to watch and comment on the live action remark of his famous film/series. That version was pretty poor so I decided to go back to the source material and see how that comes across. Everything opens well, with a visual depiction of a nuclear holocaust that has a real sense of scale and suffering about it and I hoped that it would use this backdrop well. Sadly it doesn't really manage it and, while there are plenty of things to appreciate about the film, it never manages to get away from a key problem – one that you may already have a feel for from my plot summary.

The genre and the approach of the film suggests that a tight plot with a simple narrative would suit it best. However what we get are lots of characters moving around, causing the film to feel a little slow and complicated. It is not that it is hard to follow per se, just that there seems to be a lot of plot and characters for a film that does so little with all of them other than use them to create a convoluted narrative. It is messy and it doesn't bring much to the film than an impression of clutter and mess that it could easily have done without. Those kids and their entire "subplot" could have been cut from the get-go; although calling their material a "sub-plot" suggests that it is a plot worth following which, other than their roles early on as trigger for one character's return, they do not work in any way of interest.

What it does do well though is create some stylishly cool violence and gore. It won't be to everyone's taste but certainly fans of the genre will love it. Technologically the animation has been superseded so will look a little dated but this is not to say that it is "bad" or even "of its time" because certainly does not feel like something that is over 20 years old. The violence is cool even if it is a little silly as well – but this comes with the territory. I loved the scenes of the aftermath of destruction though, these were mostly creative and impressive in their scale. The voice work was also surprisingly solid – often English dubs are awful but, with the exceptions of Julia and the kids, everyone was pretty good.

Overall though this is a solid piece of anime but not the classic that many claim it to be (a look at the 10* reviews here will show you what I mean). The imagination behind it and the delivery of gore is impressive but it is undermined by the passage of time making it less impressive to modern eyes but also the problem of such an unnecessarily cluttered plot that leads to some overly-sentimental nonsense as the conclusion. Worth a look for genre fans but casual viewers will not see the film that the fans are seeing.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Pros: Beautiful and extremely graphic animation; great character

designs

Cons: The animation looks bad in some parts; the plot needs a little more development; this movie is not for the squeamish(it's EXTREMELY violent)

Plot summary: Near the end of the 20th century, the Earth has been devastated by a nuclear holocaust. The world became a hellish deathtrap where gangs and mutants kill the weak and each other for their neverending lust for power. However, there is one warrior that's trying to put a stop to all that. His name is Ken, and he is the true successor to the Fist of the North Star, a martial arts style so deadly that it destroys body parts from within. His best friend Shin, who is the Fist of the South Star(a martial arts style that attacks externally but is still pretty deadly nonetheless) decides to take Ken's girlfriend, Julia, as his own and has him put to death...or so he thought. Ken returns from the dead, saves and befriends 2 kids from being killed by ruthless thugs, and sets out to stop his enemies and get Julia back.

Review: This is one of my favorite anime movies. I had first saw this on TV one night(heavily edited, of course) a few years back, and I had no idea how violent the movie really was. Then there comes this one day that I decide to check it out from Blockbuster. I'm going to say agian that this movie is not for the squeamish and for children, because it contains extremely graphic violence and brutality. Death is the majority of what this film has to offer, and it's not pretty. Even though this was made in 1986, a whole of effort went into the animation. I give a lot of credit to Toei Animation for going all out to make this movie look beautiful as much as violent. As for the character designs, it seems like the characters in this movie work out at Gold's Gym on a daily basis. I mean, the male characters and this film look like they can benchpress tons while the women look like Amazons! There were parts in the animation where the extremely violent scenes were edited by this "blur" effect, making it hard to see how the person got killed. There were also parts in the film where characters looked like the size of Godzilla without any good explanation. The story itself could have been worked on little better, too. The producers tried to cram the entire manga/TV series into one big 2-hour movie a la Akira, and there was no way it could properly be done. I don't claim to know everything about the Fist of the North Star franchise, but it would have been a little better if they explained more of the Fist of the North Star universe. With all flaws aside, Fist of the North Star is good action anime movie to watch, as long as you can handle the violence.

My last 2 cents: HBO made an live-action, "original movie" version of this a few years back, and from what I've seen of it, it's horrible and nothing like the anime film. At least the original anime film version of this stays true to the series unlike HBO's pile of dog s*** they'd dare call a movie.

My rating: 6 out of 10

Here's a Japanese, Anime, feature film from 1986 that gleefully boasts (with a poker-face) that it's "The Most Violent, Action-Packed, Animated Film Of All Time".

Now, that's certainly quite a bold claim for any action-movie to have to live up to. But, surprisingly enough, Fist Of The North Star (FOTNS, for short) triumphantly delivered the goods on that "Most Violent" claim in aces.

And, it's like this - If you don't take FOTNS's story at all seriously, and don't expect riveting dialogue, and can accept its "old school" animation, then, believe me, this film's super-gory, over-the-top violence will surely please.

With its story being something along the lines of a testosterone-charged "Mad Max" tale, FOTNS is violence & destruction for its own sake. Here big, ugly, overly-muscular dudes with bad teeth, bad hair, and bad attitude defiantly challenge each other to one blood-splattered, head-exploding brawl after another.

FOTNS is certainly not going to satisfy everyone, but, hey, regardless of that fact, I still enjoyed it enough to give it a 6-star rating. (Although the unwelcome "cute-little-kids" angle that was introduced into the story did tend to grate on my nerves)

"Fist of the North Star" is a violent Action-Anime from 1986, directed by Toyoo Ashida who also made "Vampire Hunter D". The film generally is a remake of the TV-series bearing the same title.

Basic plot: Basically the same as the TV-series. In 199X a nuclear holocaust wipes out nearly all of the Earth's humanity. Now there are no sights of any living plants. With almost no food and water to to be found, several people are even forced to fight and kill each other in order to survive.

The film's martial art-hero Kenshiro gets attacked by his former friend Shin, and witness his fiancée Yuria get kidnapped. Skipping a year forward, Kenshiro is wandering in the desert and rescues two car-driving children from some bandits, and allies himself with Rei, an another martial artist. Will Kenshiro get to save humanity from the stronger villains, and eventually save Yuria from Shin?

This is just a great anime I just want to recommend to anime fans. Great 80s animation. Lots of extreme violence throughout the movie as people are getting killed by merciless thugs, heads and bodies are exploding, blood splatters everywhere. Despite some of the scenes being blurred, you can see what is going on. Definitely not for children.

Basically, this film is a remake of the popular TV-series which began airing on Japanese TV year 1984. This film is also featured in the Malay DVD box I got on Christmas 2013 as bought on eBay, as presented in the Japanese version together with the full TV-series and five other movies.

Long live the 80s- and 90s ultra-violent anime from Japan! Too bad Japan almost don't make anime like this anymore. Several other violent/gory anime movies/OVAs to be mentioned include "Akira", "Genocyber", "The Professional: Golgo 13", "Urotsukidoji", "Wild 7: Biker Knights" and the three "Violence Jack" OVAs.

My overall rating: Full 10/10

This review has been updated: 09.02.14

They just don't make anime like this anymore. Its got major action,a love story, and comedy rolled into 1. Not just any action, slam bang, in your face, oh my god, i love this sruff kind of action. 2 movies that will never have equals this and Ninja Scroll, the original. I highly recommend you watch this movie if you've never seen it. I have a copy in Japanese and cant understand a word of it but i love it just the same and cant watch it enough. Sometimes words alone cannot describe the feel or tone of a movie. Sometimes you just have to see it from your own perspective. Another good thing about this movie is there is no real objectionable content like Ninja scroll. YOu can watch it with your kids and not have to hide your head.

"Muscle Bound Maniacs duking it out in a Post Apocalyptic wasteland" sort of sums up this classic anime movie nicely. Like many of the main adult male characters, this movie is all rippling sinews and blood soaked brawn with little to no "brain". Quite possibly this was one of those anime that, for a while, made "anime" synonymous with bloody mindless violence.

Set in a post apocalyptic wasteland on earth where powerful tribes of fighters vie for supremacy at the expense of the dying human populace, "Fist of the North Star" Kenshiro(or Ken for short) is defeated in battle by his old friend Shin who then claims Ken's girlfriend Julia as his prize. With Ken out of the way, his brother Raoh stakes his claim as the new "Fist of the North Star" and proceeds to amass a legion to conquer the world. Surprisingly Ken survives and after years of wandering aimlessly, decides to embark on his quest to rescue Julia and get revenge on those who betrayed him. Along the way he meets other fighters, some out for justice, others for their own selfish ends. He also encounters Bat and Linn, two children whom he rescues from a gang of thugs.

The story a lot better than what it is presented in the movie. There are just too many characters and subplots flying around. Events literally jump from one point to the next. One moment, the story is revolving around Ken, the next Ken is totally out of the picture and we are treated to a "side quest" of a character named Rei trying to rescue his sister from Jagi who was impersonating Kenshiro at the time. And then, we come back to Ken but he has apparently traveled halfway across the world in a few minutes to some other village.

If anything, Hotuko no Ken's lame excuse for a plot serves merely as a glue to tie one fight scene to another. Sure the fights are visceral and extremely violent; heads are imploded, guts are spilled, limbs are flayed and blood spurts in fountains. But none of the fights actually have any sense of danger or peril for the main characters. Kenshiro comes across as this uber powerful fighter with "god-mode" turned on, being able to cause anyone to explode in a shower of blood and limbs with a punch or two. Other than that, he is as likable as rock with all the personality and charisma of a horse.

Halfway through the movie, the characters become even more bizarre and the violence gets so over-the-top that it actually looks funny. The blatant ham fisted acting does not help matters at all. It just makes an already absurd film sound even more absurd.

Beautiful animation and highly detailed art is not enough to save Hotuko no Ken from its bizarre nature. Its lead characters are boring, plot is unnecessarily convoluted, dialog is cheesy and its violence is excessive. There was a poor attempt at a love triangle story that was marred by terrible execution. All in all, this movie scores for its animation and attention to detail. Its portrayal of a world gone to hell is hauntingly effective too and one of the more original settings of a post apocalyptic earth. However Beyond those few points of praise, Hotuko no Ken's lack of depth in the elements that do matter is its main downfall.

When a nuclear winter descends on the entire planet, the last survivors of humanity forage the globe in search of food, fuel and fisticuffs, not necessarily in that order. In fact, any yearning for the first two items on the list only seems to exist so these last men standing have a reason to throw down. With a grand total of three body types in play (child, inconceivably muscular and, in just one instance, morbidly obese) there's clearly a distinct appearance that's best suited for surviving an apocalypse, and on the surface it would appear that we're walking into a series of evenly-matched competitions. But that's when the Dragon Ball Z-styled aural superpowers kick in, and the mass of limbs begin their lazy, bloody, individual arcs through the sky. There's very little substance to this story - really, it's just a nonstop barrage of enemies against differing backdrops a'la the fighting games of the mid '90s - so it's good news that the battles are at least viscerally entertaining. Gorier than Mortal Kombat with the blood set to high, it's amusing at best if not terribly consequential.

For it. 's time it is one of the beste animes. You can not compare it' s artwork (1986) to now days. For me it is nostalgic but I loved the series more.

Oh my goodness! It is ridiculous to see so many bad review from people who CLEARLY haven't seen the movie all thr way through, or are confusing the 1986 movie for a newer version. Either this is my all time favorite movie, I made an mind account just to write this review.

This movie can be a little gory at timea but its to prove many valuable points. This movie tells of a long story of yin and yang and the struggle for meaning, balance, and purpose. If you wrote a bad review for this movie put your big boy pants on and watch it all the way until the end. And you'll see a touching story of hope, peace, understanding that will bring a grown man tears.

'Way over-rated! This movie and series is just cheap and mediocre. The animation is stiff, the violence gratuitous, and the script non-existent. A lot of the action is old-school consisting of camera pans across a static drawing - please! The story-line (if there is one) is impossible to follow and the dialog is just plain silly! Anime is limitless in its possibilities; so it is a shame to see it wasted on something like this pap.

Don't squander your time on this when there is so much better anime to choose from.

If you want action and/or violence as well as an excellent story and powerful animation, check out "Hellsing" or "AD Police" or particularly "Now and Then, Here and There."

Maybe it was because I saw the English dubbed version, but this was the worst anime I've seen. It was unnecessarily violent, pointless and stupid. It lacked everything I look for in an anime movie. The characters were shallow, it had no subtlety whatsoever, the art and animation were pathetic. Do not waste your time with this movie. If you're looking for good anime watch The Venus Wars or Grave Of The Fireflies. -- FoolsRun

The Storyline Is pretty simple, or is it? Depends How you want to look at it. I think to this day that this anime/manga series is one of the best thought of and created.

Its set in 199X, a nuclear holocaust has struck. Everything is gone. Only vast wastelands are visible. Law is meaningless, only violence rules, and is also the key to survival. This is where our Vagabond Hero Kenshiro (Ken for short) Makes his appearance. He is 64th successor to the sacred martial arts "Hokuto Shinken" which translates to Great dipper God fist, or, Fist Of The North Star. He's the man who fights violence with more violence to uphold peace in the savage world of destruction. He, along with many other characters know a distinct sacred martial arts. Including Rei, who knows "Nanto Suichouken" (South Dipper Waterbird Fist) And Shin who knows "Nanto Seiken" (South Dipper Lone Eagle Fist). There's Also Jagi and Roah, Who are Ken's Brothers, Who Know Hokuto Shinken too. Now, On with the story. Basically, Shin Takes away Kenshiro's fiancé to be, Julia. He uses a torture technique of Nanto Seiken and Pokes seven holes into Kens chest to make the Big dipper constellation (Its a bad Omen in Japanese and Chinese Legends) And leaves him for dead, But ken manages to pull through, and will now do anything to get her back. This, Is the basic storyline for the movie (and the series), but as things develop, the storyline unfolds and progresses. And more things need to be taken care of by Kenshiro. What i love about this film is the artwork by Tetsuo Hara. It may be a cartoon, but the characters look like people and not like the usual Manga/anime we see today. And everyones involvement in the story is just as vital as anyone else's. I praise him for his work *bows down* The point of this film is to sum up the first 50 (out of 155) or so episodes (Eventhough only 36 were aired over in the UK) of the TV series and make it a 112 minute movie. It has some fillers from the series cut out, and have added extra bits which don't usually happen in the series so that it doesn't confuse newcomers. If you haven't seen ANY of the series then it doesn't matter. This film can be watched as a stand alone thing, Which is also what i like about it. I give this epic film a mighty 10/10! If you like this film make sure to read what you can of the manga! 47 volumes (Yipes!), 1-18 have been translated ^__^

This movie has terrible animation. Hypermasculine monsters (I can't call it men), moreover with somehow curiously effeminate features (!), disproportionate bodies, unrealistic movements, ridiculous costumes, ... OK, I could stand that as it is kind of peculiarity of certain style of anime.

It is pointlessly and absurdly violent. Be it so, some (not only Japanese) films are gory, but at least with meaning or certain style.

But everything in this movie is meaningless. It is a copy of every cliché and caricature you have seen in the action movies of whatever decade, but... you know, Rambo, Terminator, or anything with JCVD had at least a bit of a plot and motivation in it - but this movie is based on "what kids see in those action movies, if they have no mental capacity to understand it yet". Flashing, flexing, rough voices, arrogant heroism, violence for violence (absolute power, ruling the world, conquering all) with terribly bad dialogue lines.

To be clear - action movies, fighting movies or dystopia - are relevant genres with its rules and can be interesting and even excellent. This one is worse than if someone has shot a "bad movie" on purpose. You can't even laugh at it.

Watching Fist of the North Star proves to be an anime experience like no other. Surprising, as it may seem, the perspicuous rough-and-tumble attitude made this film an instant classic in its genre. Being mostly an expressive testosterone-infused bloodbath, Fist of the North Star presents its own thought-provoking nature with utterly graphic scenes of animated violence. And still, it's able to draw one's attention with the engaging and fast-paced storyline about a post-apocalyptic universe, where people have given up their faith in humanity and exterminate each other in a grizzly fashion. Note: this is a review of the version released in the United States, with English dubbing, and with the original ending from the first official release.

After the opening credits fade away the movie attacks with a heavy thump. Literally in the blink of an eye, even before we get acquainted with the main characters, bones start to crack and blood starts to spill all over the screen. As it's soon revealed, those two men fighting in the middle of a vast dessert are former friends, who are now deadly enemies both seriously in love with one beautiful girl. The only problem is that Julia (voiced by Melodee Spivack) is engaged to Ken (John Vickery), who, after this short combat, is very close to death. In order to save her fiancé she agrees to go with the evil Shin (Michael McConnohie), leaving semiconscious Ken in the lurch. And if this wasn't enough, a few minutes later two mysterious strangers grab his lifeless body and throw it into a deep hole. A year passes and all the previous events gradually begin to connect, just to unravel the actual meaning behind the whole blood-soaked intrigue. While saving two youngsters from the vicious hands of slow-witted bullies Ken shows his – this time bearded – face once again. Chock-full of revenge thoughts, he embarks on a dangerous journey not only to save his woman, but also to discover the sense of his existence in this chaotic, stolid world full of thugs. Paradoxically, apart from Shin, the people who stand on his way to happiness are his two brothers Jagi (Dan Woren) and Raoh (Wally Burr). Following various traces Ken slowly claims his vengeance through the indelicate art of kick-and-punch, which – for the viewers' sick amusement – always results in spectacular head explosions.

Those people who've read the manga or watched the anime series of the same name won't be surprised by anything that happens throughout the whole film. The only shock might come from the extensive brutality that beams from the screen. As for those who don't know the story – at first, it might be hard to follow the events without being a little confused. Fortunately, due to the film's well-balanced plot everything begins to make sense after a short period of time, giving the viewer a great amount of proper fun.

The picture's rather simple, even obscure, animation leaves a lot to be desired. In comparison with the TV series, the theatrical version doesn't really upgrade the raw visual style. Also, when it comes to character development the movie fails miserably. Every individual is mindlessly implanted into the storyline, leading to a contest of poor one-dimensional encounters. What's more, the cheesy English dubbing gives the characters a nerve-racking attitude, only worsening the final effect. That's why it's better to restrain from evaluating their personalities and focus on many thrilling, gore-ific action sequences instead. Surely, this aspect of Fist of the North Star won't disappoint anyone.

It begins with a philosophical wiev on Ying and Yang. Two powers that are the basis of conflicts, metaphysics and all basis that are in existence of the favor of the other. Told by the wise man who have trained hes powerful sons who will step up to guidance in this new world. After a Nuclear War (the images is by the most disturbing in a animated feature ever produced) hes thoughts are questioned and chaos will prevail. Ken wants to settle down with hes wife. Unknowing that he will be forced to be on hes quest as a savior in this new world order. Where it is back to Nature-standards, where us, the now weak species are brutalized by the Nuclear waste formed big Mutants. Its extremest to extremely violent but in the same time assured as nothing you ever seen before. The dark humor is groundbreaking and shamefully entertainment. The story is told through all the point-characters with a important background for each. The opening is a beautiful contrast to all the horrible cruelty, tough-notch punishment and harrowing images done in the purest perfection. The masters voice of wisdom in the beginning can be heard later on as a voice blowing in the sky to a feeling of religious proportions. The movie in all its bloodshed reminds us in a pure way that there is always hope.

As a fan of violence/bad gore/action, post-apocalyptic stuff and even bad kung-fu I can say this movie was hair-pullingly, eye-meltingly, painfully tedious banal CRAP. My knowlege of anime is minimal so I won't pose - but this sucked. Perhaps some pioneering shots and some laughable outfits/blood/character-size-ratios... but nothing is redeeming about this movie. The story was WELL below anime-par. The characters were so lame . I couldn't even finish this one. the 2 kids in dune buggy w/ flower. . . they hurt my brain they were so annoying. The gore in this movie was

so-so; more killing/slashing than real blood N guts and it doesn't carry the movie. The background was badly-drawn sky scrapers in the nuclear-nevada-like desert. That was it. I liked Akira, G.I.T.S., Ninja Scroll, Grave of Fireflies, Princess Mononokke, even Project A-KO and Warriors of the Wind. This movie was suprisingly bad Japanese animation.

2/10

This movie rocks. I have seen a fair share of anime, but I'm not as hard core as some of the purists who don't like this movie. Regardless, this is the best anime film I've seen. The animated action is tremendous. I did see the dubbed version, and I'm sure it is better with subtitles. Nevertheless, there are some classic lines in this movie that had me rolling.

"Death is something to be savored like fine wine... but if you are so impatient I must kill you now, so be it" excuse the inexact quotation;

This movie is all about bad ass fighters. You see one character and you think, wow that dude can kick some ass... he is bad ass. Then a new character comes along... no wait a minute THIS guy is bad ass... then another character... my mistake, THIS guy is bad ass. The heirarchy of power in this movie seems to have no limit. I think this film is much more artistic and creative than much of the pure porno anime that makes up the genre. If I want to watch porn I prefer real life to animation. This movie explores the full potential of drawings in motion.

"You are already dead!"

I rented this anime with good expectations, which were about to be crushed by confusing, pointless and stupid. Besides it was too violent, i usually like violent movies, but this one was spoiled with all the blood and gore. There wasn't even any nudity to contrast the never ending bloodletting, so that made this movie pretty boring. I can't say the animation was bad, but the fighting scenes lacked the style and expertise of the much better anime, Street Fighter. Rent that one instead.