Pictures Gallery For Fist of the North Star

Fist of the North Star (1995)

Also known as "Hokuto no Ken"
Overall Score: 6 out of 10

Starring: Gary Daniels, Costas Mandylor, Chris Penn, Malcolm McDowell, Isako Washio, Downtown Julie Brown, Dante Basco, Nalena Herron, Melvin Van Peebles, Kevin Arboret, Clint Howard, Paulo Toche, Tracey Walter, Leon 'Vader' White

Director: Tony Randel

Running Time: 88 minutes

US MPAA rating: N/A
UK BBFC rating: 18
Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller

On DVD

On DVD

The moment Mel Gibson donned bike leathers, mumbled a few monosyllables, and reluctantly defended the last vestiges of human hope against hordes of marauding neo-fascist punks, a whole new subgenre was sent hurtling on a collision course with the law of diminishing returns. For ever since 'Mad Max 2' (aka 'The Road Warrior'), we have all been repeatedly doomed to a future which looks like a heavy metal video from the 1980s. The rigid aesthetic of 'post-apocalyptic' movies has, paradoxically, failed to keep up with the times, so that the dystopian wastelands depicted in these films inspire not horror at what is to come so much as nostalgia for what is long past. The cinematic post-apocalypse, you see, harks back to a naff world where the mullet is king, where Kevin Costner can save civilisation with his mutant gills (

DVD Extras: This is a two-disk set with loads of extras. Animated menus; scene selection; optional sdh subtitles (English); promotional material for other Hong Kong Legends/Premier Asia titles; full audio commentary by star Gary Daniels (moderated by cult director Ross Boyask), including his love of Bruce Lee, his disappointment with the action scenes, and his hope that one of the many scripted sequels will get made.

Disk 2 includes: 'North Star versus Southern Cross: the Making of Fist of the North Star' (55min), complete with upbeat synth track and Japanese voice-over full of hilarious insights ("American sets are full of girls, and they are all very beautiful, even when they're dressed in tattered clothes and sleep-deprived"); animated photogallery (mostly Gary Daniels in action poses, sans mullet); trailers (original and UK promotional); half an hour of behind-the-scenes footage (including a deleted torture scene) and four minutes of Daniels' home camera footage on set; 'Art Imitating Life', a 45-minute interview with Gary Daniels about martial arts, his film career, and how 'disgusted' he was with Tony Randel's cut of the fight scenes; 'Warrior in Motion', 4½ minutes of Gary Daniels training. Extras: 9 out of 10

It's Got: A zombie-like corpse (with Malcolm McDowell's voice), a complicated raid on Paradise Valley shot in one fluid take, lovely art deco sets and costumes in Shin's palace, and Chris Penn declaring "It ain't easy bein' sleazy".

It Needs: More outrageous violence (in keeping with the original comics), and the fight sequences to be shot and edited by someone who actually cares about them.

Alternatives: 'Mad Max 2', The Story of Ricky, Ichi the Killer

Summary: If you miss this daft live-action merger of manga and Mad Max, you will be in default of your destiny. Overall Score: 6 out of 10