Fist of the North Star - Leave Anime and Manga Alone
Director: Tony RandelCast: Gary Daniels, Malcolm McDowell, Costas Mandylor, Chris Penn
Few things have never changed over the years, and one of them is the Hollywood adaptations of Anime and Manga properties. Fist of the North Star came out at a time when anime culture was not a household thing, and since it was a direct-to-video project, it lacked everything it deserved.
The film was impressive to start with if we leave the whitewashing part alone, the post-apocalyptic set up was good, the prosthetic effects were not bad, the production wasn't that cheap and Gary Daniels was in his prime. However, the story was really bad, the acting was terrible and the action wasn’t that kickass. Fans of the series have highly criticized this version of the classic manga story.
The film does have an impressive cast with Daniels in the lead as Kenshiro, Malcolm McDowell in a rather cameo role as Ryuken, Costas Mandylor as the bad guy Shin, Chris Penn as the Shin's right-hand man Jackel and the only feature film role by former WWF superstar Vader. But despite all the heavy lifting, none of the characters looked convincing.
The only good thing about the film was a fight scene in the hallway where Daniel aka Kenshiro fights a dozen of bad guys, which was pretty impressive. But the final showdown between Kenshiro and Shin wasn’t really the battle I expected. It wasn’t lame though.
I wanted to watch this film for a long time, since its one of those cult B-movies of the 90’s, plus I have never seen the anime version neither read the manga novels, so it was less painful. If you haven't seen this one, then the choice is on you.
Note: B or not to B is series of articles based on the B Action movies of the 80’s and 90’s. I am a big fan of these movies because they have a certain flavor not everyone can cherish. Many may cite them as sheer work of misdirected minds, but to me, they are a source of real inspiration. These movies never had the budget to back them but still, the action and stunts were no less than any big studio. This is my tribute to some of the unsung films of the past.
Soumit 'The Top' Nath
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