Customer Reviews

Golgo 13: Kowloon Assignment

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm a fan of the Golgo 13 character, but I will give this movie an objective review.

First thing is the compulsory "this is not the anime" statement. Let's get that part out of the way. This is a 70's live-action film starring Sonny Chiba.

The film is old, and is only as good as the celluloid source reel it was taken from.

Sonny plays the enigmatic hitman Golgo 13. He pulls the look off very well. His portrayal of the character is distinctively different from that of the anime. In this live-action film, Golgo 13 solves problems intelligently and displays a distinctly higher intelligence than in the anime. This is especially noticable in the last part of the movie.

Overall I would give this movie a low 3 for all it's flaws (poor quality, sub-par plot), but it's worth having a watch if you're a big Golgo 13 fan. It would be a rental if you could actually find a place that carries it which would be pretty unlikely. But if you're a big fan of all things Golgo 13 then it's a movie you should check out if for no other reason than having seen it.

Listen up fanboys! Yeah, this isn't what you're expecting... if you've never heard of Sonny Chiba. The guy earns this movie at least a star in and of himself. The fact that he's portraying Duke gets it another star. And I'm kickin' in another star just to couterbalance the fanboy's rant. There's more out there than anime, and when you're done watching this flick (and you should, you uncultured otaku) grab "Street Fighter" (the Sonny C. flick, not that Van Damm thing) and the rest of the series. Watch some real people acting for a change! (hiding my copies of La Blue Girl...)

The digital transfer is good but the source film seems to be badly scratched. Sonny Chiba is awesome as Golgo, he actually looks like the character. But the movie is laughable...zero plot, shaky camera work, awful sound effects. Be prepared to fast forward through the Non-Sonny Chiba footages.

Those of you thinking you were going to find the Animated Golgo 13: The Professional, beware. This is a live movie, NOT animation. I was very disappointed to take it home and pop it in only to find a 1970's live movie, and i'd hate for someone else to make the same mistake.

Now Sonny Chiba is good in this but the movie is just horrible. I mean it could have been worse, but not much. The finale is just retarded.

I had heard that the animated movie was really good, well I am here to tell you as a big time movie fan who likes kung fu and suspense films the most, this movie is bad.

Picture quality is pretty bad but does have an original language soundtrack! The subtitles are unreadable but it still makes the movie more enjoyable. I would give this a low 3 ratign if the pictrue was better. But it is widescreened so we can see those very few actual martial arts scene in all of it's original glory.