“Fist of the North Star” is the 1995 live-action remake of the 1986 anime of the same name. It seems to have got some pretty bad reviews but I don’t really get why. For a Hollywood remake of an anime movie, this seems to follow the source material pretty closely and is entertaining to watch. It’s not quite as visually striking as the original film but it’s close enough.

Gary Daniels (“Rage”, “The Expendables”) stars as martial arts warrior Kenshiro as he battles the forces of evil in a post-apocalyptic world. He must try to protect the innocent people and rescue his girlfriend from the villainous Shin (Costas Mandylor “Saw IV”, “Virtuosity”). However, he will need to master his fighting skills if he is to stand any chance of being successful.

Daniels displays some seriously impressive moves as Kenshiro. He’s not the best actor but he doesn’t need to be in a movie as whacky as this. Malcolm McDowell (“A Clockwork Orange”), Clint Howard (“Apollo 13”), Chris Penn (“Reservoir Dogs”, “Rush Hour”), Tracey Walter (“Batman”) and Dante Basco (“Hook”) all have roles in here. Many of the characters look like they are straight out of a “Mad Max” movie. The special effects on the characters when their heads explode after Kenshiro uses his special fighting techniques on them are really good.

I thought this movie had some entertaining fight sequences, some great effects throughout and it did a good job of following the source material. I don’t really know what people expected from it. I think the original is probably better as you just can’t top the crazy gore of the anime. Also, this is another movie that shows us that Gary Daniels deserves more recognition as an action star because he’s a very competent martial artist. If you like sci-fi/action then check out both versions of “Fist of the North Star”.