By: Michael Yagi
Review of 'Electric Dragon 80000V'
Genre: Punk Action
Director: Sogo I****i
Year: 2000
For those who haven't experienced the world of hardcore drugs, I
imagine this is the kind of experience they would have hit after hit.
This movie not only blew me away after viewing it, I was craving for
way more. I don't know what possessed Sogo I****i to make this film,
but it's a gift that's under appreciated. Sure it's loud and
nonsensical, but I****i uses this element and changes it into some kind
of sick guilty pleasure. Although only lasting fifty-five minutes, it
was a perfect funbox of....well, I can't even describe it, it's just
something you can't miss out on.
The story is really irrelevant as you'll be mesmerized by the content,
but I'll take a stab at it. The intro starts with a boy climbing up a
pylon in an attempt at a dare I guess. He consequently gets hit by a
bolt of lightning, survives and is super charged with 20 millions
volts of electricity (these people seemed to have leapt the
evolutionary ladder?). This is the schizophrenic baddy and is dubbed
'The Thunderbolt Buddha', played by Masato**** Nagase. The protagonist
is the ultra cool, guitar playing, lizard collecting 'Dragon Eye',
played by a favorite of mine, Tadanobu Asano (also seen in Zatoichi).
He had a troubled childhood and as a result was given shock therapy
from boyhood. Logically, he builds a tolerance for electricity of up
to a measly 80,000 volts. After dealing with the pros and being cured
of his psychotic nature, he self administers the same therapy with his
homemade electrocution bed. But wait! 'The Thunderbolt Buddha' is just
a mean bastard and tries to pick a fight with this guy by destroying
his guitar and killing his lizards. And oh man does 'Dragon Eye' get
pissed, to the point of almost masturbating with his broken guitar in
an orgasm of fury, one of the coolest scenes in fact. The rest is
history as the two men have an electricity charged fist flying
showdown.
This film combines an awesome soundtrack played by the band, 'Mach
1.67' and crisp sound effects. The visuals are a super charged punk
inspired feast, mixed with the black and white psychotic nature
reminiscent of the film Pi and the excitement of the most thrilling
hardcore punk fest multiplied a hundred fold. It has some hilarious
scenes and quotes that makes fun of itself and is also full of
tributes to other characters, like Bruce Lee, Iron Man, Jim Morrison
and more. Despite what you may think of the synopsis, it's a high
charged original piece of art. Essential!
8/8- Gives you a violent rush that makes you wanting more after each
hit. Non stop rock!
(c) 2004 Eight Trees CineMANIA
http://www3.sympatico.ca/myagi/index.htm
==========
X-RAMR-ID: 37916
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1285579
X-RT-TitleID: 10002219
X-RT-SourceID: 1569
X-RT-AuthorID: 10641
X-RT-RatingText: 8/8
|
