Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Wordiezett So much average

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

John Doe This film is not like the 1986 Anime version at all, even though it clams it is a remake. It's quite bad really and nobody's head explodes in this thing. It's not worth watching and the acting is quite bad, If you want a real film, watch the 1986 version instead not this trash.I give Fist of the North Star a 3/10

Pozdnyshev I was a big fan of the original anime, released in 1987. There were absurdly over-the-top, ultraviolent fight scenes. It also had a surprisingly powerful story that touched on obsessive love, egomania, and unjust revenge. So I was thrilled when I found out they made a live-action movie out of it, which I was expecting to have had all the cool stuff taken out of it -- the weird martial arts moves, etc.To my delight, the movie is actually fairly faithful to the anime! I mean come on, the scene with Ken getting impaled on Shin's hand is there. The part where Ken's arms are gushing blood in a high-pressure torrent is there. There's even Jaggy (renamed here as "Jackal") getting the arcane "reroute your blood flow so your head explodes" move done on him. Hell yeah! Quite a lot more than the tepid, oddly irrelevant movie I expected -- something desperately cliché and having little to do with its source material, like "TMNT III." Now I know this movie is dumb, too, but it's somehow dumb in a way that doesn't take itself seriously. Like it's winking at you the whole time saying "look, we both know that no one's gonna pay for a truly accurate Fist of the North Star movie, but this is the closest you're gonna get."

Comeuppance Reviews In a post-apocalyptic world (aren't they all), a sinister organization known as the Southern Cross wants to rule the wastelands. The forces of evil are represented by Lord Shin (Mandylor) and the baddie Jackal (Penn). A lone hero stands up for himself and the rights of others, a man named Kenshiro (Daniels). His "Fist of the North Star" stands in opposition to the Southern Cross. From here on out it's a fairly straightforward battle of good vs. evil with plenty of familiar faces along the way, from Melvin Van Peebles to Lockdown's (1990) Chris DeRose, among many others. Will Kenshiro beat the baddies? Fist of the North Star was originally a Japanese animation, or Manga. Someone apparently thought a Direct-To-Video live-action remake was exactly what the world needed. They even used American and British stars, but didn't change their original Japanese names. Hence credits like "And Malcolm McDowell as Ryuken". You don't see that one every day. So Gary Daniels plays a guy named Kenshiro, etc. But the real problem with this movie is that it is a mishmash of pointless, plot less gobbledygook. You don't really care too much about any of the characters, and, largely because of the closed-in sets, the whole movie has a claustrophobic and stagey vibe which doesn't do anyone any favors.Top fan favorite Gary Daniels appears to be doing his absolute best, but it's like he's trudging through syrup. It's a total post-apocalyptic slog, and without any bright spots, such as Steele Frontier's (1995) Chickenboy. It's ground that's been well-trod in the past. Downtown Julie Brown can't Wubba Wubba her way out of this one. While it's trying to be just like the anime version, with a bunch of wacky, cartoonish effects, the only time the movie really shines is in the straight-up Martial Arts fights. And most of the really good ones don't come until the end of the movie. And by that time, the viewer is saying, in frustration, "Where were these before?!??" This led us to the conclusion that if Isaac Florentine directed this movie, it would have been similar, but a lot better.As we've discussed before on this site, when it comes to movie-watching, there is a definite difference between watching a movie and waiting for a movie to be over. It's an important distinction, and because of the rampant LONE TIGER EFFECT, and the fact that at the end of the day this is just another post-apocalyptic slog, we cannot recommend Fist of the North Star. We still love Gary Daniels and all, but this is not one of his best projects, in our opinion.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

scooterinab I'll start with quoting other reviews I've done. You have to enjoy this movie for what it is. It had horrible stage fighting, crappy special effects, and probably had plot holes that you could drive a bus through, but it actually was fairly entertaining.My only real beefs with the movie include:1) Shin is the Fist of the South star, and has mastered several forms of Nanto Seiken. Why, in his early fight with Ken, does he feel the need to Gas peddle him. Also, why does Ken occasionally gas peddle people.2) Rufio.3) When the actor formally know as Rufio (or Bat/Bart if you want to get technical) is pretty brutally killed, he not only makes a cheesy death speak like in Hook, but Ken says something to the effect of "because of you, the village is saved." Rufio didn't do anything. He just stood off with Bondage-face and got stabbed to death.4) Bondage-face (whoes name eludes my at the moment) was way cooler in the anime. There, his name is Jagi, and *POSSIBLE SPOILER* he turns Shin to evil, tarnishes Ken's decent name, and trash talks him a few times during their battle. And he wears a cool mask. *END SPOILER*. In this movie, he is one of Shin's random minions, and has a really lame death (the death is the same as the anime, but the fight with Julia was just dumb).5) Ken doesn't scream when he punches people. It's probably for the better though, for if he had screamed, it would have just made the movie worse.As I said, the movie is pretty good for what it is. Also, it must be noted that it is a B-movie, and thus will never be good.One thing of note though, is that the makers seemed to keep some of the shots from the anime (like when Ken and Shin jump kick each other). While these shots didn't remain intact, it is worth noting that they are there.