What can I say about this movie that hasn't been said a thousand times before.

It was based on a Manga series that became a TV series, that spanned 107 episodes.  The TV series was originally released in 1986 and the film was released in 1988. It was released in the UK on the Manga label.  It was the first Anime product that they ever released.

In the movie you follow the journey of Ken, as he seeks out his girlfriend that is captured and taken away by his best friend Shin.

At the beginning of the film, it shows a beautiful scenery, with lots of pleasant images.  Then all of a sudden, world war three occurs and turns the earth into a desolate place. Only the strong can survive.  I felt that this was a representation of the nature of man, to destroy and to make others suffer for their own pleasure.  The planet surface is destroyed and little remains that is habitable.

We follow Ken and Yuria, as mentioned earlier.  Shin attacks Ken and beats him up. He takes Yuria away and kens martial arts brother throws him over a cliff, thinking him to be nearly dead.   Later in the movie he returns at the call of a little girl.

Kens other brother  who watches as he gets his arse handed to him is called Raoh and he goes back to Ryoken the master, to point out that Ken is dead and that he is the true Fist of the North Star.  This is where one of the most memorable lines are spoken. “Power without perception, is spiritually useless and therefore of no true value.  You perceive nothing.”  Raoh is a true master and kills his teacher.

Back to the little girl who calls out to Ken.  He comes along and kicks some butt.  I'll leave it there and you can watch the movie yourself.

Spoiler Warning

If you don't want to know how the movie ends, I would advise you not to reads this.

Personally; I found this movie to be really good and yet deep at the same time.

Here are a few examples:

The little girl and the boy represents the future and the past.  Ryoken clearly is reincarnated as the little girl.  She is able to stop the fight between Ken and Raoh, because Raoh recognised that Ryoken was within the little girl and thus, the circle of life was completed.

When Ken is walking through what looks like a forest at the end of the movie, it becomes clear that it is an illusion and his search for Yuria will take some time.  Whist watching this scene, I started to wonder if it was trying to tell me, that I could create the world with my mind but, that the world was still just and illusion that I had created.  Was it trying to tell me that everything that I hoped for was an illusion and would lead to disappointment?

Yet; even though this world he saw was an illusion and probably would lead to disappointment, he still kept looking for the one he loved and I started to feel that the film was trying to tell me that my dreams too were worth fighting for.

As Martin Luther King Junior once said, “I may not get to the promise land,” but that wont stop me from trying and just as the struggle for mankind in the film shows; that no matter how bad things appear to be, there will always be hope.

I appreciated the nuances of the film and the fact that the love triangle could have easily fitted into a Shakespeare play without any problems.  The main protagonist were clear cut and yet were ambiguous as well.  It reminded me of the X-Men series, where the main protagonist just had different philosophical opinions.

Perhaps it is a mirror of ourselves.  The fact that we are capable of destroying everything that we hold dear in an instance and we also have the power to do good as well.  Perhaps it is a warning of what is yet to come should we allow the powerful to go uncontrolled.

I did find it disheartening that Ryoken was able to reincarnate.  I know that what ever I do in life will eventually be forgotten and I will become a distant memory of someone or something, that may has existed in the past.  I can almost hear the distant sound of the specks of sand that slowly trickle through the egg timer of life and I know that the end is near.

Who will remember me when I dead?

Who will remember the things I've said?

Who remember all the things I've done?

Who will remember what I've become?

Who will remember the happiness I've brought?

Who will remember the things I've taught?

Who will remember me?

Just like W B Yeats; I being poor, spread my dreams like a cloth beneath your feet. Tread carefully, because you tread on my dreams.

IT IS LIFE!