Product Details

• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• VHS Release Date: August 15, 1995
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 6303521401
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #478,615 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars 5th Crying Freeman anime volume is quite provocative, April 9, 2003

By 

Brian Camp (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crying Freeman 5:Abduction in Chinato [VHS] (VHS Tape)

CRYING FREEMAN 5: ABDUCTION IN CHINATOWN is the fifth anime volume and offers some of the best animation and design in the series since the first volume, PORTRAIT OF A KILLER. The story is not as strong, however, as some of the others in the series and greatly simplifies the graphic novel of the same title. It focuses on the efforts of Freeman, a Japanese potter-turned-Chinese assassin, to investigate and destroy the notorious Kidnappers' Organization, which targets other criminal syndicates, including Freeman's group, the 108 Dragons.

The Kidnappers' Organization is a mercenary army staffed almost entirely by ex-Green Berets and their equivalents from around the world. Its soldiers are commanded by one Larry Buck, a beefy ex-Green Beret who is designed and drawn to resemble actor Ernest Borgnine (celebrated by action fans for his roles in such films as THE DIRTY DOZEN and THE WILD BUNCH). Freeman is a prisoner of the K.O. for much of the piece, but concludes the action with a one-on-one battle with Buck in the courtyard of a ruined fort, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers cheering for their boss.

The other interesting new character in this volume is Nina Heaven, a voluptuous blonde adorned with snake tattoos winding around her frequently nude body. She's the ostensible head of the K.O., but her obsession with Freeman is so profound that she can't achieve satisfaction with anyone other than him.

The series' usual mix of explicit sex and bloody violence is certainly evident here, particularly in scenes of Freeman's nude female assistants, all armed to the teeth (sometimes literally!), going into action. However, the emphasis on Nina Heaven's compulsive attraction to Freeman undercuts the action scenes somewhat as frequent cutaways to a nude Nina during the final battle, for instance, prove distracting rather than titillating. The final confrontation between Freeman and Nina is quite startling and disturbing, yet strangely beautiful and oddly touching.