Ricky Ho is sent to prison for avenging the death of his girlfriend at the hands of a gang of drug dealers.
He soon discovers that the prison regime is utterly corrupt. Each of the four wings is ruled by a gang leader, enforcers for the warder and his assistant. Worse, the prison greenhouses grow opium poppies…
It's fortunate, then, that Ricky possesses superhuman abilities, not the least of which is his ability to punch holes in anyone and anything that stands in his way…
This Hong Kong adaptation of an ultra-violent Japanese manga exists for one reason: To showcase some of the most ridiculously over-the-top gore ever.
If you want to see one man slice open his own stomach and attempt to strangle another with his intestines then this is the film for you. If not then it isn't. It's as simple as that, though it's also worth mentioning that the splatter is of a cheesy and cartoon-like quality throughout.
Everything else, whether it be cameos from Tetsuro Tanba and Gloria Yip Wan-Yee or the oddball casting of female action star Yukari Oshima cast as a male prison boss is pretty much superfluous bet-hedging by the producers.
Love it or hate it, a non-committal response to Story of Ricky is out of the question.
The film will probably never look better than it does here on this DVD from Hong Kong Legends.
While never a demo disc, the digitally restored, anamorphic and widescreen enhanced PAL transfer is a definite improvement on the old Region 3 NTSC letterbox version, with less artefacting and greater clarity.
Sound wise there appears to be no difference between the old and new discs. Both sport 5.1 tracks that don't really seem to add greatly to the experience. You can watch the film in English dub, with the character names changed, or with subtitles and the character names consistent with the original comic. You don't need me to tell you which is the prefered option.
The commentary track, with Hong Kong stuntman Jude Poyer and critic Miles Wood, is okay, but lacking in that special something to take it from value-added feature to essential listen. Wood focusses more on the who, what and where of the film, its cast and crew, while Poyer provides useful insights into the realities of shooting a film like Story of Ricky, such as the difficulties of doing falls when performers are stripped to the waist and thereby unable to pad up.
Next up is a 25 minute subtitled interview with the film's leading man, Fan Sui-wong. He talks about how he got into the business through hanging around with his father on set, his dedicated training regime, and his memories of making the film.
The package is rounded off by a short sequence of Fan Sui-wong showing his moves and the Hong Kong Legends and original trailers for the film. The latter is especially recommended, as it illustrates how well the film-makers have succeeded in using the comic as storyboard for the film with the resources available to them.
All in all, Story of Ricky is another winner from Hong Kong Legends.
Copyright © K H Brown 2002-2005
Rating:
0.0 / 5
(0 votes)
|
6411 views
|
Previous
|
Next
|
Best prices on The Story of Ricky
|
Print
|
Email page