Fist of the North Star (1995 live-action film)
| Fist of the North Star | |
|---|---|
 Movie promo poster | |
| Directed by | Tony Randel |
| Produced by | Mark Yellen, Akihiro Komine |
| Written by | Peter Atkins, Tony Randel |
| Starring |
Gary Daniels Costas Mandylor Chris Penn |
| Music by | Christopher L. Stone |
| Cinematography | Jacques Haitkin |
| Editing by | Sonny Baskin |
| Studio | First Look Studios |
| Release date(s) | April 22, 1995 |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | Error creating thumbnail: /bin/bash: line 1: convert: command not found United States |
| Language | English |
- Fist of the North Star
- An American-produced live-action movie version of Hokuto no Ken was released in 1995, directed by Tony Randel based on a script by Peter Atkins and Wynne McLaughlin. The movie, loosely based on the Shin storyline of the manga, stars Gary Daniels as Kenshiro, Costas Mandylor as Shin and Japanese actress Isako Washio as Yuria, with Malcolm McDowell as Ryuken and Chris Penn as "Jackal" (actually a renamed Jagi). It also featured a cameo by professional wrestler Big Van Vader as Goliath. The movie saw a direct-to-video release in Japan and America. The Japanese dubbed version used the original voice actors from the 1980s anime series.
Cast
- Gary Daniels as Kenshiro
- Malcom McDowell as Ryuken
- Costas Mandylor as Shin
- Dante Basco as Bat
- Nalona Herron as Lynn
- Chris Penn as Jackal
- Isako Washio as Julia
- Downtown Julie Brown as Charlie
- Melvin Van Peebles as Asher
- Clint Howard as Stalin
- Paulo Tocha as Stone
- Tracey Walter as Paul McCarthy
- Big Van Vader as Goliath
- Bill Nagel as Miner
- Andre Rosey Brown as Sandman
- Rowena Guinness as Jill McCarthy
- Michael Charles Friedman as Neuter
- Nils Allen Stewart as Zeed
- Tony Halme as Kemp
- David "Shark" Fralick as Man at Palace
- George Kee Cheung as Neville
- Michael Franco as AWOL Crossman A
- David Loo as AWOL Crossman B
- Susan French as Old Woman
- Chris DeRose as Oswald
- Darryl Chan as Novack
- Marisa Coughlan as Jenny
- Kate Geer as Mother
- Kevin Arbouet as Rao
Reception
The movie had mixed reviews from fans and critics. Dave Foster of DVD Times panned the movie as a poor adaptation and commented that Kenshiro's pressure point techniques "look rather tame" in comparison to the way depicted in the manga and anime series.[1] A reviewer from eFilmCritic remarked that Kenshiro's defeat at the hands of Shin "comes off as standard" and "unbelievably goofy" compared to the 1986 animated movie version. However, Video World gave a much more positive review, calling it "First rate." It has since been firmly established as a cult film in the west, and remains the film for which Gary Daniels is best known.
- ↑ Dave Foster. "DVD Times - Fist of the North Star". Retrieved on 2007-07-30.