|
|
| Monday, January 21, 2008 01:21 PM |
| On the Viewer: The Story of Ricky |
 by Fëanor |
I actually purchased this movie a long time ago from the kung fu movie cart in the Gallery in Philly, but when I got it home I realized it wasn't the movie I'd thought it was and, disappointed and embarrassed, I put it away and never got around to watching it.
But I'd always wanted to check it out, and see what it was I'd actually bought, so when SuperTarzan had the brilliant idea of having a kung fu/poker night the weekend of MLK Day, I brought it along. After a screening of my copy of The Master of the Flying Guillotine (one of my most prized possessions), we popped it in. And good lord is it glorious.
The Story of Ricky (1991) is based on a manga (a fact which I realized only at the very end of the movie, and which explained A LOT). It's set in the future (all the way in the distant, far-off year of 2001), when prisons are run by private companies and are incredibly corrupt. A young man who happened to be born with superhuman strength finds himself incarcerated in such a prison and fights to clean the place up. Which actually ends up involving covering the place with gore as he literally punches his way through gangs of brutal prisoners and corrupt officials. The thing is ridiculously bloody, violent, and melodramatic, and the story and characters are pretty much completely insane and unbelievable. But that's what makes it so much fun.
The film proceeds in a kind of video game format, with Ricky defeating pretty lame and powerless thugs, then working his way up through the minibosses (each with their own weapons and special moves), until finally he has to fight and defeat the big boss, who even transforms into a giant monster (!) during the climactic battle. All throughout, Ricky has flashbacks which slowly explain the tragic circumstances that led to him being trapped in the prison. This is a film that features people pulling out their own entrails, with which they then attempt to strangle their enemies, as well as innocent scenes of Ricky wearing a sweater vest while playing with remote control airplanes with his girlfriend. It is astounding, jaw-droppingly stupid, and amazingly fantastic. I love it, and am proud to own a copy on DVD. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
