A nihilistic tale of warring biker gangs and ultra-nationalist militias. When the leader of the once-notorious biker gang of Tokyo falls in love with a barmaid and quickly loses his rebellious ideals, the rest of the gang feels betrayed. Especially the reputedly troubled kid Ken revolts against his former friend. ~~ Shot on 16 mm, “Crazy Thunder Road” was actually Ishii’s film school graduation project, but distributors Toei liked it enough that they enlarged it to 35 mm for theatrical release. This was the version that got used for the video and DVD editions of the film, but when the original 16-mm print was unearthed recently, a crowd-funding effort raised the cash to have it digitally remastered. The new edition of “Crazy Thunder Road” was released on Blu-ray. Edit Translation
- English
- magyar / magyar nyelv
- dansk
- Norsk
- Native Title: 狂い咲きサンダーロード
- Also Known As:
- Screenwriter & Director: Ishii Gakuryu
- Genres: Action
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Reviews
Crazy Biker Road
Often hailed as Japan's Mad Max, Crazy Thunder Road becomes all the more impressive the more you learn about its production. Being a graduation project by director Gakuryû Ishii, it may be a narrative mess but the highly experimental style and limitless rockabilly energy produced a movie that radiates of pure aggression. There's a rough and ready charm to the effects and Kinji Fukasaku-influenced action, often drawing comparisons to Fukasaku's own anti-establishment protagonists with added grunge, grim and neon lights. The soundtrack is honestly my favourite part of the film, using songs by Japanese bands of the time in a near musical sense, it's combined with frantic editing and heightened emotions that immerse you completely within its context. Fast-paced, quick-witted and brilliantly stylised Crazy Thunder Road points toward a new style of genre filmmaking even if that direction is somewhat confused in execution.
