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Hokuto no Ken (1986 movie): Difference between revisions
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The film follows the storyline of the manga from [[Kenshiro|Kenshiro's]] defeat at the hands of [[Shin]] to the first battle with [[Raoh]], although certain liberties were taken to tell the story in a condensed form. For example, [[Toki]], the second of the four Hokuto Brothers, is never seen nor mentioned, while Shin and [[Rei]] are the only [[Nanto Seiken]] masters to appear in the film. Although [[Yuria|Yuria's]] Nanto heritage is mentioned through out the movie in the Japanese version, her role as the [[Last Nanto General]] is downplayed. Her fate has also been altered from the original story, wherein this time she is kidnapped by Raoh instead of jumping off Shin's palace to resurface later as the Last Nanto General. She disappears during the final battle and her survival remains ambiguous at the conclusion of the film. [[Mamiya]], Rei's love interest, is never seen, partly because Yuria is the heroine in her place. Raoh serves as the main antagonist, with [[Jagi]] and Shin as the other two major villains. Many other villains from the manga and anime, such as the [[Colonel]] and [[Jackal]], only make cameo appearances as minor henchmen with some of the notable fight scenes involving [[Zeed]], [[Heart]], the [[Kiba Daiō]] and [[Uighur]]. Altogether the order and occurrences of the original story were almost completely rewritten. | The film follows the storyline of the manga from [[Kenshiro|Kenshiro's]] defeat at the hands of [[Shin]] to the first battle with [[Raoh]], although certain liberties were taken to tell the story in a condensed form. For example, [[Toki]], the second of the four Hokuto Brothers, is never seen nor mentioned, while Shin and [[Rei]] are the only [[Nanto Seiken]] masters to appear in the film. Although [[Yuria|Yuria's]] Nanto heritage is mentioned through out the movie in the Japanese version, her role as the [[Last Nanto General]] is downplayed. Her fate has also been altered from the original story, wherein this time she is kidnapped by Raoh instead of jumping off Shin's palace to resurface later as the Last Nanto General. She disappears during the final battle and her survival remains ambiguous at the conclusion of the film. [[Mamiya]], Rei's love interest, is never seen, partly because Yuria is the heroine in her place. Raoh serves as the main antagonist, with [[Jagi]] and Shin as the other two major villains. Many other villains from the manga and anime, such as the [[Colonel]] and [[Jackal]], only make cameo appearances as minor henchmen with some of the notable fight scenes involving [[Zeed]], [[Heart]], the [[Kiba Daiō]] and [[Uighur]]. Altogether the order and occurrences of the original story were almost completely rewritten. | ||
== | ==Alternate versions== | ||
===Endings=== | |||
There were two endings produced for the film. The original ending shown in the theatrical version has Raoh emerging victorious over Kenshiro, but sparing his life, leaving him to protect Lin. An alternate ending was produced that end the fight in a draw, which is the ending featured in all the home video releases of the film in Japan (although, the 1995 film comic adaptation depicts the original ending). All the international cuts feature the original ending. The reason for the change in ending has never been officially revealed, although it is believed that fans were unsatisfied with Kenshiro losing the final fight. | |||
The 2008 Japanese DVD release of the film features the theatrical ending as a bonus feature, but only on the first print run. Because the revised ending was produced on a different film stock, it did not underwent the same remastering treatment that the rest of the movie did (including the original ending), resulting in a drastic drop in visual quality when the scene is played (on the 1:40:45 time mark). | |||
Another change in the ending made in the home video versions was the addition of a black title card with the kanji 完 (''kan'') for "The End" after the closing credits. Reportedly this title card was not present in the a theatrical version was only added on the home video releases after plans for a sequel were abandoned. | |||
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===Censorship=== | |||
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[[File:Uncensored scenes in Fist of the North Star the Movie|425px]] | |||
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Most of the film's violent scenes, particularly those involving close-ups of human decapitations and butchering, were toned down through the use of a discoloration and blurring effect in most versions of the film including the Japanese theatrical release (according to circumstancial accounts). This is evident in one of the preview trailers, which features a shot of Rei slicing the head of one of Fox's henchmen without the blur. No uncensored version of the film was ever released in Japanese home video and it is unknown is an uncensored version was ever shown in theaters. However, the Italian dubbed version, released on VHS in 1993 by Granata Press and re-released in 1996 by Dynamic Italia, was based on a cut that has the following scenes uncensored. | |||
* The scene when Shin engraves the seven wounds on Kenshiro's chest (as well as the later flashback of the same scene when Kenshiro is resting in Lin's village) has no discoloration when Shin is making the wounds with his fingers. There's also no blur in the shot when Shin lifts his bloodied finger next to his face. | |||
* The scene in which one of Zeed's underlings explodes in front of Bat, spilling blood on his face, has no discoloration. | |||
* When Raoh's army is marching into the city of Cassandra, there's short scene in which Galf crushes the head of a villager whose chanting is off-key. In the censored version, it cuts to a shot of Raoh's army just when Galf grabs the villager's head and then cuts back to Galf after the villager's body falls to the ground. This is notable for being the only known scene that was outright edited from the movie rather than being blurred out. | |||
The other scenes of violence in the Italian dub, including the aforementioned head slicing shot with Rei, are still blurred out in the Italian version. A fan-edit was released online which inserts all the known uncensored scenes into the 2008 remastered version. | |||
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===Opening and Ending=== | |||
The 1991 English dubbed version by Streamline Pictures is the only international version which features different credits for the opening and ending animation, as the other versions of the movie retain the original Japanese credits. This suggests that Streamline Pictures had access to clean versions of these animated scenes to create their own credits. Despite this, no clean versions of these sequences were ever released publicly. | |||
==Cast== | ==Cast== | ||