Audience reviews
18 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
theo1763
Fist of the North Star: The Movie is the type of movie that sticks with you, not just due to its story but due to watching it. For me, it was one of the initial two anime I ever rented out in the 1990s, the other being Akira. And then the excessive gore and violence were foreign to me. Even today, the brutality of Kenshiro's universe has a profound effect as his martial art Hokuto Shinken executes over-the-top but stunning-looking finishing techniques. The film takes some of the most significant plotlines from the manga, like Shin's kidnapping of Yuria, Jagi's hostility, and the final battle with Raoh. The plot is minimal and mostly a means to the action, but it does enough for what the movie is trying to achieve.
The characters, though, do feel somewhat two-dimensional. Kenshiro himself…
Read at the sourcePageplant
After watching "Hokuto no Ken" and "Hokuto no Ken 2", I decided to watch this movie which tries to cram the story covered in multiple manga issues and series episodes into a hour and fifty minutes long movie. If you watched the series, this movie is downgrade in almost every way except in animation, which is good and the first battle with Raoh, which is more impressive in this version.
In almost every other way, this is a bad product. Gone is the iconic music (though there are two notable tracks in the movie), character development is almost completely butchered and Kenshiro is like some sort of demigod who is unstoppable all the way until the final fight with Raoh. The movie features more violence, but only manages to be more grotesque instead of cool. Stylistic depiction of violence was…
Read at the sourceZakir_knight
this is really good movie... but just lack of "omae wa mou shinderu " line...
this movie can short my time from watching all episode to understand what Hokuto no ken all about...
after watching this movie you can jump to movie the remake...(raoh verse ) ...
i enjoy the story...
the fight is cool..
the chatacter is cool too..
if you never watch hokuto no ken.. this can be a good first try... but remember.. some scene in this movie is different with manga/ anime series
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Read at the sourcegiffica
Epic story that leans on aesthetic vibes more than writing. Lots of extreme violence, intended to satisfy manga fans, like myself. The addition of Toyoo Ashida's writing (Dr Slump) really gave the movie an identity separate from the manga, but one that clashes with the vibe of the world, ultimately detracting from true desolation and brutality of the manga. Feels like a lost Dragonball film at times, and leads into the flashy combat later seen in Z and other 90s hypergore OVAs. The soundtrack's influence on not only video games like Final Fantasy, but also J-Rock through Gackt is another critical lineage under explored.
Read at the sourceHambrababy
With a popular manga and successful airing television adaptation, Toei Animation decided to produce a movie for Fist of the North Star in 1986. Unlike many of their other summer anime and tokusatsu movies, which were just slightly extended episodes, this was going to be a feature length movie to serve as a partial gateway for people into the series. It’s often held as a pinnacle of 80’s battle shonen, but now that the genre has grown so much over the past few decades, how does the movie hold up?
The basic story is that nuclear war has destroyed the world, leaving a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated by biker punks, huge muscle men, and high-powered martial artist warlords. Kenshiro trained under his master along with his adoptive brothers learning Hokuto Shinken, a deadly martial art th…
Read at the sourceThe_Triumphant
Well, I guess that was better than attempting to binge watch the whole series. Strangely though, I WANT MORE.
Highlights:
- Cool, post apocalyptic setting that is beautifully hand-drawn and full of character
- Exciting action that captures the style of the series well
- Very likable cast of characters; especially the main character, Kenshiro
Criticisms:
- Plot elements do not flow very well at times
- It was apparent that details from the series were cut in order to fit the movie - The ending is non-conclusive and leaves the viewer with questions
Final thoughts - Yes, this is worth watching, but I was hoping for a more condensed alternative to the series. I don't think this is supplementary due to the lack of many details. I still enjoyed it quite a bit! This may be a great starting…
Read at the sourceHanchSlanger
"It's too late. Your body will disappear from this world in 10 seconds"
Fist of the North Star has slowly become one of my favorite intellectual properties over the last few months after revisiting it recently. Every day that passes, I think about the deep themes of hope in a desolate wasteland, and the struggles that Kenshiro had to face.
Kenshiro is hands down one of my favorite characters of all time. Not only is he incredibly honorable, but he's badass with a purpose. In a world of equally (and less than equal) opponents, Kenshiro faces everyone with a untouchable geist that is incredibly satisfying to watch. You already know he's going to win these fights (he's the main character, c'mon) but watching him take out lesser enemies in just one hit with extreme power is an absolute treat…
Read at the sourceDarklight5827
Actually the movie was pretty bad.
Scenes, characters and sufficient content of the original material were omitted. Which, by the way, is compressible, but it would have been pretty good if you had a completely new story or adapted a specific saga and did not compress the whole story.
The end on the other hand was quite disappointing the way in which the conflict was resolved.
The film had alternative endings of which I do not have no idea (and I think most of them do not either), for which I am analyzing the standard version
In other aspect the film felt very slow and contradictorily very fast, to the point that you can not endear yourself to the characters.
In technical aspects, the music was too lax, and in comparison to the anime it was bad. except for the musical themes Heart of…
Read at the sourceObjectivity_jk
Obviously nobody is going into Fist of the North Star for any form of artistic subtlety, and I was no exception. First of the North Star's narrative is serviceable like any other movie where super buff dudes make each other explode with their pure ability to throw their meat at one another really really hard. Of course this review can pretty much only critique how well the bodies explode and how awesome the characters look while doing it. So without further ado.
Characters:
Kenshiro is not particularly interesting or eye-catching in anyway, which for the nature of the anime is almost unexpected. But Ken's lack of personality is hilarious when combined with over the top violence, since he never fails to look like he is literally taking out the trash while cleaving through bikers.
Shin i…
Read at the sourceDentonman
Look call me a weenie or whatever but i just cannot recommend this movie, and here is why.
This movie is what's called a recap movie, it hopes to condense the whole series into this 2 hour package, in order to make it easier for people to get into the series, but that's where it ultimately fails. You see, this movie is structured like one of those youtube "best of" video's, it's a constant barrage of event's that feel barely connected, if you haven't seen the series before you will get lost real fucking fast, and that kinda defeat's the purpose of a recap movie. If you are a fan of the series you have no reason to watch this, since you already know what's gonna happen, and if you are not a fan, you will be better off just watching the original series, since you are not gonna understand sh…
Read at the sourceS_Yellow
I remember watching this on VHS from Streamline, and it's with enthusiastic nostalgia I give this a five out of five. The movies is a rather abrupt summation of the series, which is adapted from a long running manga. The story focuses on Ken as he searches post apocalyptic (every anime was post apocalyptic back then) for Julia, his woman, taken by Shin his best friend and the Fist of the South Star. To be honest it's a little dated but has a motion picture budget so it actually looks great. Some of the more graphic deaths are blurred to tone it down, I hate censorship, but this is one time we should be grateful for it. These guys really make a mess. The phrase splatterfest appears on the back in the synopsis. And there’s little more to it than a series of violent and gruesome deaths follow…
Read at the sourceshehrozeameen
I had heard of this movie through three sources:
1) Bo-bobo Bobobobo-bo
2) Anime Abandon
and
3) generally on anime forums
It has been late for me to catch up with this anime, but after watching it, I can understand why people love this anime. It truly is a classic, albeit with flaws and faults. Bear with me a moment on this one.
I will start with what the anime does right: Character, Sound, and Enjoyment. Character:
My God, the drama is overwhelming! My God, the theater is so strong in each and every moment that these actors play their roles! My God, there is so much up front in terms of character development YET the characters treat their audience. They relish in treating their audience, and on that note I appraise the efforts of the actors (especially the English one). I would make…
Read at the sourceBowlingJD
Just to get a basic idea of how the 109 episode show (1984) compared to the obviously condensed movie (1986), the first 12 episodes, or as known today as a season were watched. Those 12 episodes covered only a small section of the “Shin” arc and contain mostly fillers after the initial introduction of the main characters. The main directors and producers from both were different, but still kept the same essence of Fist of the North Star.
Plot wise, it is extremely simple. Our main protagonist, Kenshiro’s woman has been stolen by Shin, his old martial arts training friend. However, even though the story is for Ken to get his woman back, there is some brilliance in how the show and movie execute it. From town to town, and over-the-top bad guys, Ken trains and hones his assassination craft i…
Read at the sourcelawlmartz
"To survive in this era, what else can we use but violence?"
Preface:
Kids these days talk about Jojo like it's the manliest, baddest ass, GARest thing there's ever been. Don't get me wrong, Jojo is a lot of fun- but there's always that one that came before, and boy does Fist of the North Star kick some ass.
Warning: not for weak, weenie men.
You want a 30 foot tall guy getting kicked through TWO mountains?
You want brutal, bloody violence, countless decapitations, man openers, vertical splits, exploding heads, dismemberments, disembowelments, and more?!
Ken even karate chop drops a skyscraper on his head and his face just plows through it, opening a path for him to walk through, which he follows up by punching a 25 foot tall ridiculously musclebound man once, and his head explodes in…
Read at the sourceLuquillo
The Earth is plundered and becomes an almost completely dead planet. As a result, clean water and food are scarce. Many bandits and would be kings engage in war to wipe out the other. Due to these events, innocent people are caught in the crossfire, and happen to fall victim to tyrants and would be kings.
Kenshiro, the master of a deadly art called "Hokuto No Ken" stands up for the weak. But, he too falls victim to a self proclaimed king when he's beaten in battle, and his woman named Yuria is taken. Now, Ken must recover from his wounds, and seek out the man who defeated him. While Ken seeks to reclaim his woman, his brother The Fist King is attempting to conquer all rival territories.-summary
Another case where the saying classic anime is hurled around without mercy. However, those of…
Read at the sourceliteraturenerd
Overview:
I had to dump my girlfriend because she watched "Fist of the North Star: The Movie" and instantly became a man!
The movie adaptation of Hokuto no Ken attempts to cram over 100 episodes of anime or just over 200 chapters of manga into a 2 hour run time. As you probably guessed, a LOT of character development and world building gets left out and this is a somewhat flawed adaptation of the original because it was so rushed. What it does have is some of the most batshit insane, manly action scenes in the history of anime! This movie absolutely DEFINED anime for a generation of American otaku and is the epitome of GAR that /a/tards worship to this day. Is it a deep, literary masterpiece? Not exactly. Is it skull crushing awesome! Fuck YA!
The plot is that a nuclear war has occurred…
Read at the sourceJazz007
ok.... let me put this into perspective...... this ORIGINALLY came out in 1986. FOR IT'S RELEASE TIME.... you had a great story in a post nuclear world! the only thing close to this WAS Mad Max. you had the bad guys you HAD to hate, but they were such bad guys, you liked them as characters & the roles they played. Kung Fu movies were the only thing that was showin' martial arts back then & here was a 'cartoon' that exploited not only martial arts, but different styles that attacked pressure points only & killed you!!
in '86.... that was highly impressive & revolutionary for an animated story. for you to look at it now, you'd see it as 'corny' with 'over-rated' dialogue. as an enthusiast, your approach to watchin' THIS title... you have to be able to transport yourself back in order to ap…
Read at the sourceanimegorey
This is a condensed version of the series. Hard to condense 109 eps into 1 1/2 hours. Not the best or brightest animation, but a cool story with lot's of violence and cool characters. This anime is a bit corny at times as far as it's over the top style. Fight scenes that seem to always end a different, violent way. Many ways to kill a man when you can cause them to explode with the touch of your finger. Eng dub is not good, but it's actually funny (to me anyway) because it's so bad. Keep in mind that this is corny yet violent in a Road Warrior (movie) kinda way and you won't be disappointed. DVD can be found cheap if you get the eng dub version. If you like this movie, you'll love the 36 ep Manga Ent dub version or the 109 ep subtitled version. I watched all of any Hokuto no Ken I can find…
Read at the source