Kuruizaki sanda rodo (1980)

Kuruizaki sanda rodo: Directed by Gakuryû Ishii. With Tatsuo Yamada, Masamitsu Ohike, Kôji Nanjô, Nenji Kobayashi. When the leader of the once-notorious biker gang of Tokyo falls in love with a barmaid and quickly loses his rebellious ideals, the rest of the gang feels betrayed. Especially the reputedly troubled kid Ken revolts against his former friend.

“u0026quot;Crazy Thunder Roadu0026quot; is quite a rarity for avid cult-cinema purchasers to come across! Sogo Ishii directed it (easily one of the influential Asian directors of the previous century) and, if Iu0026#39;m not mistaken, itu0026#39;s the ONLY Japanese film revolving on crazy bikers and violent gang wars. The basic premise of this film is extremely reminiscent to Walter Hillu0026#39;s classic u0026quot;The Warriorsu0026quot;, but the elaboration is in Ishiiu0026#39;s very own personalized style, meaning an overload of hectic camera-work and editing, loads of boisterous punk music and demented characters that could have come straight out of a comic book franchise. When the leader of the once-notorious biker gang of Tokyo falls in love with a barmaid and quickly loses his rebellious ideals, the rest of the gang feels betrayed. Especially the reputedly troubled kid Ken revolts against his former friend and encourages the other members to join him in forming an entirely new and much u0026quot;meaneru0026quot; gang. The hostile attitude of the new gang causes the other gangs to declare war, and since Ken nearly isnu0026#39;t powerful enough to defend himself against the others, he needs to revert to the old leader for help. u0026quot;Crazy Thunder Roadu0026quot; is a bizarrely compelling film with a lot of action and a unique atmosphere. Even more than his leather jacket-wearing biker characters, Sogo Ishii shamelessly revolts against society by depicting the big city suburbs as manic u0026amp; ominous places where only scum lives. The film is incredibly fast-paced and chaotic; so donu0026#39;t be surprised when sometimes the continuity isnu0026#39;t perfect or major plot holes appear in the storyline. At one point, an executed gang member even comes back to life and joins his pals again. Especially bearing in mind u0026quot;Crazy Thunder Roadu0026quot; was the graduation film-school project of 20-year-old student, itu0026#39;s an impressive effort to say the least.”