View source for Fist of the North Star (1995 film)

{{Short description|1995 film by Tony Randel}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Fist of the North Star
| image          = Fist of the North Star (live-action movie poster).jpg
 
| caption        = 
| director       = [[Tony Randel]]
| producer       = {{ubl|Mark Yellen|Akihiro Komine}}
| screenplay     = {{ubl|Peter Atkins|Tony Randel}}
| based_on       = {{Based on|''[[Fist of the North Star]]''|[[Buronson]]|[[Tetsuo Hara]]}}
| narrator       = 
| starring       = {{ubl|[[Gary Daniels]]|[[Costas Mandylor]]|[[Chris Penn]]|[[Isako Washio]]|[[Melvin Van Peebles]]|[[Downtown Julie Brown]]|[[Big Van Vader|Leon "Vader" White]]|[[Malcolm McDowell]]}}
| music          = Christopher L. Stone
| cinematography = [[Jacques Haitkin]]
| editing        = Sonny Baskin
| distributor    = [[First Look Studios|Overseas Filmgroup]]
| released       = {{Film date|1995|04|21|Japan|1996|02|2|US}}
| runtime        = 103 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $5 million<ref name="FotNSProd">{{cite magazine |last1=Biodrowski|first1=Steve| last2=Beeler|first2=Michael P.|date=Summer 1995|title= Ultra-Asian Action Heroes|url= https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Imagi-Movies%20Vol%202%20No%204%28Summer%201995%29/page/n12/mode/1up?view=theater&q=Kenshiro|url-status= |magazine=Imagi-Movies |location= |publisher= Fourth Castle Micromedia|access-date=February 27, 2023}}</ref>
| gross          = 
}}

'''''Fist of the North Star''''' is a 1995 American [[Science fiction film|science fiction]] [[Martial Arts Film|martial arts film]] based on the [[Fist of the North Star|Japanese manga of the same name]] by [[Buronson]] and [[Tetsuo Hara]]. The film was directed by [[Tony Randel]], who also co-wrote the script with Peter Atkins, and stars [[Gary Daniels]], [[Costas Mandylor]], [[Chris Penn]], [[Isako Washio]] and [[Malcolm McDowell]]. A [[Japanese language|Japanese]] [[dubbing (filmmaking)|dub]] of the film was produced by [[Toei Video]] which featured the cast of the 1980s anime television series reprising their roles. The film was released [[direct-to-video]].

The film, which loosely adapts the first story arc of the original manga, centers on [[Kenshiro|Ken]] (Daniels), the lone master of the "[[Hokuto Shinken|North Star]]" martial art school, who wanders the post-apocalyptic Earth in search of his nemesis Lord Shin, the man who killed his master and kidnapped his fiancee. Meanwhile, Shin rules as dictator of the city of Southern Cross with his personal army known as the Crossmen, who are given orders to hunt down Kenshiro.

==Plot==
In the aftermath of [[World War III]], the world has plunged into anarchy and chaos. Water is scarce and what is left of the human race scrounges for survival. Two opposing martial arts schools, North Star and Southern Cross, both devoted to bringing order to the world, were previously thrown into disarray after Southern Cross adept Shin turned against his masters and summarily executed North Star master Ryuken, leaving his son Kenshiro as the sole heir to the North Star. Shin then sought Kenshiro himself, defeated him and left him for dead after carving his chest with seven scars in the shape of the [[Big Dipper]]. Shin also abducted Kenshiro's fiancee and their shared love interest Julia, segregating her in his tower. Since then, Shin rules the land with an iron fist through a militia called the Crossmen, led by Jackal, a ruthless henchman whose bulging head is held in leather bandages after Kenshiro disfigured him in an earlier fight.

Back in the current time, Kenshiro, who survived Shin's aggression, wanders the wasteland aimlessly. After killing a gang led by bandit Zeed, who attacked the homestead that had given him shelter for the night, Kenshiro continues on towards the town of Paradise Valley, home to one of the few remaining sources of pure water. There, he meets orphan siblings Bat and Lynn. After using a pressure point technique to restore Lynn's sight, which she lost after watching her parents murdered by Crossmen, Kenshiro departs, ignoring Lynn's plea to remain and protect them. Bat follows Kenshiro to talk him into joining the organized resistance against the Crossmen's incursions, to no avail.

The Crossmen raid Paradise Valley and occupy it, commandeering the well. Jackal orders Lynn's execution for sedition, but halts it after she threateningly mentions Kenshiro, taking her prisoner instead to extort Kenshiro's whereabouts. As Lynn's screams from afar ring inside Kenshiro's head, Kenshiro turns back: he and Bat infiltrate the occupied town and free Lynn, but Bat is mortally wounded in a fight against Jackal. Kenshiro spares Jackal and sends him back to Shin to announce his arrival.

By Shin's order, Jackal takes Julia to the tower's basement to hide her from Kenshiro. There, he engages in a [[cat-and-mouse game]] in an attempt to rape and kill Julia. Kenshiro breaks into Shin's tower and confronts him in the throne room. As Kenshiro gains the upper hand in the ensuing showdown, Shin lies about Julia's fate and takes advantage of Kenshiro's shock to overpower him. However, after noticing a bud that has sprouted from a seed he had given Julia long before, Kenshiro regains hope and defeats Shin, killing him. After freeing herself from Jackal by removing his bandages and causing his head to swell and explode, Julia rejoins Kenshiro. The surviving Crossmen bow to Kenshiro and Julia in deference.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Gary Daniels]] as [[Kenshiro]]
* [[Costas Mandylor]] as Lord Shin
* [[Chris Penn]] as 'Jackal'
* [[Isako Washio]] as Julia
* [[Melvin Van Peebles]] as Asher
* [[Downtown Julie Brown]] as Charlotte 'Charlie'
* [[Dante Basco]] as 'Bat'
* [[Tracey Walter]] as Paul McCarthy
* [[Clint Howard]] as 'Stalin'
* [[Big Van Vader]] as 'Goliath'
* Paulo Tocha as 'Stone'
* [[Malcolm McDowell]] as Ryuken
* Nalona Herron as Lynn
* 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, Former North Star Martial Artist
* [[George Kee Cheung]] as Neville
* [[Michael Franco]] as AWOL Crossman 1
* David Loo as AWOL Crossman 2
* [[Susan French]] as Old Woman
* [[Chris DeRose]] as Oswald
* [[Darryl Chan]] as Novack
* [[Marisa Coughlan]] as Jenny
* Kate Geer as Mother
}}

==Production==
The film was a co-production between American company [[First Look Studios]] and Japanese company Ozla Pictures.<ref name= "FotNSProd"/> The film was shot over the course of 30 days at a sound stage in Los Angeles.<ref name= "FotNSProd"/>

==Release==
The film premiered in Japan on April 22, 1995, featured actors from the Japanese dub of the anime voicing over their respective characters.

===Home Media===
The film was released on VHS and Laserdisc in the United States on February 2, 1996. It was released on DVD by First Look Home Entertainment on May 25, 2004. Alongside the dvd release of the film was a making of documentary called "''North Star vs Southern Cross: The Making of Fist of the North Star"'' originally released in Japan, was included on the [[Region 2 DVD|region 2 dvd]] release.

==Reception==
The film was not reviewed by many mainstream critics, and it got mixed reviews from fans and online 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.<ref name=DVDTimes>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedigitalfix.com/film/content/12395/fist-of-the-north-star/|title=Fist of the North Star Review|access-date=July 23, 2019|author=Dave Foster|publisher=The Digital Fix|archive-date=July 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724003558/https://www.thedigitalfix.com/film/content/12395/fist-of-the-north-star/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.

==Cancelled sequels==
In an interview with [[Scott Adkins]] on [[YouTube]], Gary Daniels said that he signed a contract to do three films in the series, and that they likely would've happened if the film got a theatrical release and made more money.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=5wjDCtEaJfxM-kao&v=dq8QNeGkANc&feature=youtu.be |title=The Art of Action - Gary Daniels - Episode 22 |date=2020-10-29 |last=Scott Adkins |access-date=2024-08-14 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{allMovie title|154306|Fist of the North Star}}
*{{IMDb title|113074|Fist of the North Star}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes|fist_of_the_north_star1995}}
*{{anime News Network|movie|3121|Fist of the North Star}}
*[http://www.toei-video.co.jp/data/hs/vcatalog_dvd/item/200411/dstd02283.html ''Fist of the North Star''] at [http://www.toei-video.co.jp/ Toei Video] {{in lang|ja}}

{{Fist of the North Star}}
{{Tony Randel}}

[[Category:1995 films]]
[[Category:1995 direct-to-video films]]
[[Category:1995 martial arts films]]
[[Category:1990s science fiction action films]]
[[Category:American science fiction action films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Tony Randel]]
[[Category:Fist of the North Star films|1995 film]]
[[Category:Live-action films based on manga]]
[[Category:American martial arts films]]
[[Category:Martial arts science fiction films]]
[[Category:American post-apocalyptic films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:1995 science fiction films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction action films]]

[[ja:北斗の拳#実写映画]]