Hmmmm Fist of the North Star is a tough one. I love the film, because it is essentially an amalgam of popular action films. Ken is essentially a suped up Mad Max/Bruce Lee character, in a Mad Max environment, with the ability to explode heads like a Scanner. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as seeing a Japanese take on films that are essentially foreign makes for an interesting experience. Contrary to popular belief, there is a plot, albeit a fairly straightforward one, but I think that it was definitely sidelined in favour of the graphic violence. This violence is usually the biggest problem for non-fans, as they can't see the humour behind it. The main purpose of Fist of the North Star, in my opinion, is to question the nature of violence on television, as when seen in animation, the most horrific scenes of gore can appear quite funny. Otherwise it's good fun, and Kenshiro is one of the all time Anime greats, a rebel in a world gone wrong. I love Fist of the North star, but it definitely needs to be seen with a pinch of salt.

Here's a Japanese, Anime, feature film from 1986 that gleefully boasts (with a poker-face) that it's "The Most Violent, Action-Packed, Animated Film Of All Time".

Now, that's certainly quite a bold claim for any action-movie to have to live up to. But, surprisingly enough, Fist Of The North Star (FOTNS, for short) triumphantly delivered the goods on that "Most Violent" claim in aces.

And, it's like this - If you don't take FOTNS's story at all seriously, and don't expect riveting dialogue, and can accept its "old school" animation, then, believe me, this film's super-gory, over-the-top violence will surely please.

With its story being something along the lines of a testosterone-charged "Mad Max" tale, FOTNS is violence & destruction for its own sake. Here big, ugly, overly-muscular dudes with bad teeth, bad hair, and bad attitude defiantly challenge each other to one blood-splattered, head-exploding brawl after another.

FOTNS is certainly not going to satisfy everyone, but, hey, regardless of that fact, I still enjoyed it enough to give it a 6-star rating. (Although the unwelcome "cute-little-kids" angle that was introduced into the story did tend to grate on my nerves)

This is the most brainless anime I've seen this side of Urotsukidoji:Legend of The Overfiend. Skulls and brain fly as Kenshiro thwacks his way through a Mad Max-esque world, looking for his beloved wife/bird. Considering 90% of the male populace all wish they could do kung-fu, it's hard to see how they could not like this film. Stupidly proportioned bad guys pop as Ken kicks, punches and jabs them all into oblivion. It's a little disturbing to be honest, and perhaps pessimistic of human nature. But I don't care. Ken makes the finest combat noise in the world (Yeeeeyadadadada!) and everyone else sports amusingly gruff "thug" voices. The artwork is rough around the edges, but at least it's not as bad as the T.V series. A bit of a Japanese institution, I'm lead to believe, Fist Of The North Star is top-drawer stuff, and can easily sit next to all those copies of "Enter the Dragon" and "Monkey".