Hokuto no Ken Movie (Fist of the North Star: The Movie)

Following a cataclysmic nuclear war, the world teeters on the brink of complete destruction. Civilization is polarized into a degenerate society where opposing packs of marauding scavengers prey on helpless, homeless nomads. For those who are lucky enough to survive the constant brutality and danger, it is a bleak existence. Life an death blur into abstractions. The only hope left for mankind is to find a hero worthy of becoming the next "Fist of the North Star" - an enlightened warrior - who is capable of leading those with the will to survive out of this barrenness into a new world. But in this savage no-man's land of shifting loyalties and power-hungry demi-gods, heroes are in short supply.

(Source: AniDB)

Edit

Background

No background information has been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding background information here.

Episode Videos

Episode 1

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Hokuto no Ken
Alternative version:	Hokuto no Ken

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kenshirou

Main

Kamiya, Akira
Japanese

Raou

Supporting

Utsumi, Kenji
Japanese

Rei

Supporting

Shiozawa, Kaneto
Japanese

Jagi

Supporting

Otsuka, Chikao
Japanese

Shin

Supporting

Furukawa, Toshio
Japanese

Bat

Supporting

Ichiryuusai, Teiyuu
Japanese

Yuria

Supporting

Yamamoto, Yuriko
Japanese

Lin

Supporting

Suzuki, Tomiko
Japanese

Ryuuken

Supporting

Chiba, Junji
Japanese

Heart

Supporting

Takiguchi, Junpei
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Macek, Carl

Producer, Screenplay, ADR Director

Ashida, Toyoo

Director

Wyner, Tom

Script, ADR Director

Kodomo Band

Theme Song Performance

Edit

Opening Theme

No opening themes have been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding an opening theme here.

Edit

Ending Theme

"Purple Eyes" by Kodomo Band (movie, edited without vocals)

Reviews

Jun 28, 2015

lawlmartz

Recommended

"To survive in this era, what else can we use but violence?"

Preface:

Kids these days talk about Jojo like it's the manliest, baddest ass, GARest thing there's ever been. Don't get me wrong, Jojo is a lot of fun- but there's always that one that came before, and boy does Fist of the North Star kick some ass.

Warning: not for weak, weenie men.

You want a 30 foot tall guy getting kicked through TWO mountains?
You want brutal, bloody violence, countless decapitations, man openers, vertical splits, exploding heads, dismemberments, disembowelments, and more?!
Ken even karate chop drops a skyscraper on his head and his face just plows through ...

Open

Gift

Mar 28, 2015

literaturenerd

Mixed Feelings

Overview:

I had to dump my girlfriend because she watched "Fist of the North Star: The Movie" and instantly became a man!

The movie adaptation of Hokuto no Ken attempts to cram over 100 episodes of anime or just over 200 chapters of manga into a 2 hour run time. As you probably guessed, a LOT of character development and world building gets left out and this is a somewhat flawed adaptation of the original because it was so rushed. What it does have is some of the most batshit insane, manly action scenes in the history of anime! This movie absolutely DEFINED anime for a ... generation of American otaku and is the epitome of GAR that /a/tards worship to this day. Is it a deep, literary masterpiece? Not exactly. Is it skull crushing awesome! Fuck YA!

The plot is that a nuclear war has occurred and the world has become wasteland that is ruled by absurdly ripped, balls out badasses who kill people with their bare hands while doing cheesy impersonations of Bruce Lee. The plot essentially combines a testosterone drenched martial arts B-movie with Mad Max. Occasional attempts are actually made at heavy handed symbolism and depth, but in the movie that is kind of undermined by some absolutely ridiculous shit occurring 2 minutes later. One scene will try REALLY hard to compare Kenshiro to Jesus while wandering around with his long hair, cloak, and Christ beard healing sick children....then 45 seconds later he punches a 30 foot tall, grotesquely fat thug causing him to explode approximately 80 gallons of blood. This movie is best described as a "flawed masterpiece". It is FAR from perfect, but it is entertaining as hell. Fist of the North Star is so manly that it even makes a rather effeminate looking dude who kills people with his long fingernails look manly!

Everything in this movie is hyperbole upon hyperbole taken up to 11!
It not only defined anime in its time, but summed up the entire 1980s decade in terms of popular action cinema. Hokuto no Ken didn't alienate Western viewers by being oddly or uniquely Japanese. It is such an obvious imitation of big dumb American and Australian action movies from the 1980s that it could have been an American cartoon. However, Americans would never have thought to make a cartoon so absurdly violent and allow small children to watch it. This was before the age of 24/7 media coverage where parents are terrified about mass shootings. This was before those little girls were murdered by an Otaku serial killer who cast a profoundly negative light on violent anime and the people that enjoy them. This movie is a historical relic because it ONLY could have been made at that exact point in history. It is like Japan's Rocky 4. Hell, the last scene even contains a metaphor for Mutual Assured Destruction theory because everyone was so worried about nuclear war at the time this was made.

I honestly have a complex Love/hate relation with macho GAR anime. I loved them when I was younger, but I can't stand the loud mouth 12 year olds online today talking out their asses and praising shitty anime just because they think its manly. Once again 4chan is the fucking cancer of the anime reviewing world. However, I could never dislike the Hokuto no Ken movie no matter how flawed it is. This movie is simply too much fun, too awesome, and too historically important for me to truly dislike. If you absolutely HAVE to see a GAR anime, then go watch this one!

Open

Gift

Dec 9, 2017

Darklight5827

Not Recommended

Actually the movie was pretty bad.

Scenes, characters and sufficient content of the original material were omitted. Which, by the way, is compressible, but it would have been pretty good if you had a completely new story or adapted a specific saga and did not compress the whole story.

The end on the other hand was quite disappointing the way in which the conflict was resolved.

The film had alternative endings of which I do not have no idea (and I think most of them do not either), for which I am analyzing the standard version

In other aspect the film felt very slow and contradictorily very fast, to ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

50 anime that differ greatly from their source material

by Hatul

50 Entries · 66 Restacks

Anime's Video Nasties: An Introduction to 80s and 90s Hyperviolence

by LoveLikeBlood

16 Entries · 39 Restacks

Lost Media

by Kobota

48 Entries · 189 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

More news

Recent News

North American Anime & Manga Releases for May

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for May Week 1: May 1 - 7 Anime Releases Atom: The Beginning Complete Collection Blu-ray Ayakashi Complete Col...read more

Apr 30, 2018 3:26 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (3 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Is it just me or does the blood and gore in the 1986 Fist of the north star movie look extremely graphic? EmperorDemonGava - May 17, 2012	2 replies	by SAT_KUMAR »» Aug 11, 2023 7:39 PM
Poll: Fist of the North Star 1986 Uncensored VHS in U.S? yugiboy12 - Dec 9, 2013	6 replies	by abystoma2 »» Sep 4, 2021 1:58 PM
Poll: Hokuto no Ken Movie Episode 1 Discussion Fronzel - Nov 24, 2012	13 replies	by Fronzel »» Jun 5, 2021 8:39 PM
Fist of the North Star the movie 30th anniversary Egon1982 - Dec 26, 2016	3 replies	by Shocked »» Dec 28, 2016 5:45 PM

Hokuto no Ken Movie

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Kenshirou

Raou

Rei

Jagi

Shin

Bat

Yuria

Lin

Ryuuken

Heart

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Hokuto no Ken Movie

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-