Hard man Ricky is incarcerated in a futuristic prison where ultra-violence is his only means of survival in the corrupt, sadistic system. He must battle his way quite literally 'through' the feared 'gang of four', and undergo multiple tortures before facing the governor in one of the goriest climaxes ever seen.
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Ky-D from Hawaii, USA
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Close second to "Dead Alive" as goriest film ever made. Rivers of ridiculously over-exaggerated red will fill your screen and turn your stomach.
Riki was just an innocent (though super-powered, think Mr. Incredible) youth until the day his girlfriend was killed in a botched rape attempt by gangsters. After dealing out his bloody revenge he is carted off to prison where he wishes to serve his sentence as peacefully and undisturbed as he can. However, this pseudo sci-fi Asian prison is any thing but peaceful. Prison film cliches ensue (ie. corrupt guards, an evil warden, an escape attempt).
Technically speaking, the movie isn't very good. The sets lack believability, the dialogue is pretty horrible, and the acting is way over board. The bad guys seem to be bad because they can be...either that or they are just bored, one or the other. Outside of Riki, there is no background attached to any of the characters and none of them are ever developed properly. Additionally, the plentiful fight scenes aren't choreographed very well. Top it all off with some of the cheesiest kung-fu dubs ever recorded and you have a film suffering from lack of talent.
So why the positive score? This is a damn fun movie, that's why. Each and every fight scene ends with a gory display of gruesome blood letting. Heads crushed, stomachs torn open, eyes popped out, faces cut off, one villain even tries to strangle Riki with his own intestines. Amidst the crimson flow, the dumb-as-a-brick story is awash in unintentional humor; the more serious it takes itself the funnier it is. Even the gore itself makes for a joke, it's so over the top it ceases to offend and becomes a sight gag.
Main stream viewers will not get this movie and will simply not like it. Genre fans, however, will find the holy grail of gore flicks.
8/10
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cygnus x-1 from roanoke, va
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this movie ranks up there with Dead Alive a.k.a. Braindead in terms of the audacity of the images being served up. granted the gore effects are cheesy, but the sheer magnitude and energy (not to mention fantastically bad dubbing) make this one of the best b-movies i've ever seen in the martial arts genre, and that's saying a lot. i loved how Ricky got his butt kicked in every scene and then would proceed to win the match with just one punch. the results of this one punch are shown in super-gory detail as it usually involves people being disembowled or graphically disfigured.
anybody who loves the so-bad-they're-great genre of films and has a tolerance for extreme violence and gore should check this movie immediately.
(incidently, the head crushing scene is the same scene that they used to show on the 5-questions segment of the craig kilborn era The Daily Show.)
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fertilecelluloid from Mountains of Madness
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Ngai Kai Lam, the director of the first and best "Erotic Ghost Story", captained this magnificent gore- and fight-fest set in an unconventional Hong Kong prison. It is so gleefully over-the-top that it exists in its own ludicrous stratosphere and is one of the most memorable Hong Kong exploitation films ever made. Siu-Wong Fan is terrific as Riki-oh, a meditative lad who is imprisoned for defending his girlfriend's honor. Possessing almost supernatural strength and fighting prowess, he is forced to fight The Gang of Four, a bunch of crazy, imprisoned superhero types who appear to control the prison's inmates with the approval of the corrupt, one-eyed assistant aarden (Mui Sang Fan), keeper of a massive porno mag collection and owner of a screw-on hook he uses to cart human trash away. The blood-soaked scenes of violence are hilarious and grotesque. Guts are ripped from a man's stomach and used to strangle him. Birds peck out an eyeball. Heads are squashed until they explode. Ricki even knocks down a prison wall with one nasty punch. Originally a Japanese manga (and there's an animated version, too), "The Story of Ricky" has a great, bombastic score, ultra-bloody effects, operatic performances, and a fat Japanese boy, too. It all adds up to top notch entertainment for the whole family.
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gavin6942 from United States
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A man jailed for getting his revenge on those who (indirectly) killed his girlfriend gets sent to the prison of the future. While in prison, he discovers an opium greenhouse (not cleverly hidden) and fights plenty of guards, inmates and the warden.
I gave this film a ten, not because it is a cinematic masterpiece... but because this film stands alone as something that can never be equaled. You will not walk away from this film the same person. Its kiss is like jackhammer; when it is through with you, you are changed.
The violence is excessive to the point of being funny -- walls and body parts exploding. It was hard to tell if this film was supposed to be a comedy or action because while the plot is serious, the action is outrageous. And sometimes you can too easily tell that a body part is a model or that walls are being pulled apart by strings.
The dubbing is really funny, and the use of multiple subtitles (in both British English and American English) is amusing. The film probably deserves a decent transfer and better subtitles, but that might take something away from this film's immense cheese factor. The characters are pretty interesting -- a warden who can transform into the Incredible Hulk and his assistant with one eye and a hook for a hand (who has a wall full of pornographic videos).
If you liked the gore of something like "Terror Firmer", you will find this to be in a similar vein (though, in my opinion, far less offensive). If you do not like blood in your movies, you want to run away from this as quickly as possible. But heck, this is seriously something you cannot go through life without seeing. Highest possible recommendation.
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dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York
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If you hate blood and guts (literally) stop reading now this movie is in no way for you.
On the popcorn scale of fun brain removed films this is on the top rung for laugh out loud enjoyment.
The plot has Ricky, a kid with super strength being thrown into prison for killing the man responsible for the girl he loved. This is a corrupt privatized prison of the future where the prisoners are nothing more than cheap labor. Ricky instantly gets under the skin of the wardens, the guards and the leaders of the prison population. Cartoon violence with bloody gory consequences ensue. Body parts go flying as Ricky fights to stay alive and help his fellow prisoners.
This is one of the bloodiest movies I've ever seen. Think Python's Salad Days sketch but for 90 minutes. There is blood and limbs everywhere. The effects run from very good to god awful, with most just okay. None of it is really "real".There's no way you could do this film realistic, assuming the plot allowed it, with out having the audience throwing up all over the place. I'm assuming they are done the way they are for effect, we see the effect of the violence and laugh at the silliness of it all while keeping our lunches.
And as the film spins more and more out of control, with plot holes that are more like stellar voids, you find your self staring and laughing at it all, disbelieving that grown people put this together. Its a 12 year-old's action figure dream come true, but some how it all works on an adult level since the film makers seem to be winking and nodding at those watching it.
High camp? Low brow? There is nothing in this film that seems to be serious except for the way that pretty much everyone plays it dead nuts straight to wonderful tongue through cheek effect.
Not a movie you want to see on a first date (or any date) this is a movie to watch with some loud friends with strong stomachs and a great sense of the absurd. Its not a great film as such and I doubt it was ever intended to be, however on the throw your mind out of the car on the way to the video store scale this film rates at the top.
And I can't stress enough this film lives up to its rep for blood and guts. If you don't like to see them flying in every direction stay away stay away stay away.
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Mr. Pulse from Syracuse, NY
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"Riki Oh" is a frightening piece of work. Some of the bizarrest stuff ever put on celluloid to my knowledge. Every single frame is bursting with insanity and confusion. Don't even try to understand it, you might as well try to divide large numbers in your head for an hour and a half.
Riki is a very hunky prisoner in a future where corporations control everything. I know this information because the producers felt it necessary to put this in TWO different captions at the start of the film. Just so we know.
Young Riki gets into a lot of trouble both with the guards and his fellow inmates. This allows him to rip his shirt off a lot and expose his flexed chest (Seriously, the guy takes his shirt about once every thirty seconds. He puts it back on just so he can take it off again.).
Somehow Riki was given supernatural powers that really help in a prison riot. You see Riki can punch through just about anything, be it animal, mineral or vegetable. He punches through walls, desks, pipes, bars, and lots of human bodies. Yes that's correct, he punches through people. Their arms, legs, stomachs, and sometimes heads.
This excessive violence lends the film to excessive gore. We're talking spilled jugs of Kool-Aid excessive. And you get to see it all; although the worst gore is rarely on screen for more than a split second. Still you get to see a guy eat razors, a person explode like a balloon and one guy get put in a huge meat grinder. Yummy!
The copy I saw was dubbed, and that only added to the fun. I recommend this movie, solely for goofing on it. Otherwise, it is a very bad film. Only for those with a good sense of humor. You have been warned.
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EVOL666 from St. John's Abortion Clinic
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STORY OF RICKY is a really fun, gory mix of kung-fu action, horror and comedy all in one. The deal: Ricky is sent to prison after he kills the guys that murder his girlfriend. Ricky gets on the wrong side of the corrupt prison guards and inmates that run the prison when he champions the causes of the weaker inmates...But little do the enemies know that Ricky is a comic-bookesque beast of a fighter - and he proceeds to prove his skills in several gory (and oftentimes hilarious) fight scenes. The acting is ridiculous, the Fx are mostly cheesy, the English language dub is so horrible it's hilarious (and honestly one of the best parts of the film...), and an ending that is completely retarded, STORY OF RICKY is just plain fun. Plenty of the red stuff to keep the goreheads happy, and anyone who enjoys B-movies should really appreciate this one. definitely recommended 8 1/2 out of 10
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TheMarquisDeSuave from Worcester, MA
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Looking for a serious meditation on the evils of violence in prison? There's probably better (not to mention more realistic and sensitive) portrayals out there. Looks for an over-the-top kung-fu sci-fi masterpiece filled with bucket loads upon bucket loads of cheap gore? Well, this will certainly satisfy you. Being a cult film fanatic, more than once has a cult-classic failed to live up to the hype surrounding it. This one certainly didn't. It is just as lightning-paced and hilarious as everyone says it is. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is the greatest gore flick of all-time. It's certainly my favorite.
The plot is has more holes and cheese than a swiss cheese factory. Ricky is a good kid who landed in prison for graphically killing a pimp drug dealer who caused the death of his girl. Now the year is the near future of 2001 and hes in a maximum security prison. He has the opportunity to be in the "Gang of Four" (those into post-punk will have a good chuckle), an elite group of prisoners who control different areas. However, due to their corruption and the evil Warden and Assistant Warden, he decides to be a Christ-like figure for the other prisoners. He sets out to destroy the prison in an extremely gory but wonderfully entertaining fashion.
Describing the numerous classic sequences in this film would waste IMDb's valuable space offered to me. I'll just say this, the gore is fantastic. Incredibly fake in that "Braindead"-style, but hilarious. It's hard to get offended by the violence in this film, judging from how over the top it is. Also, the characters are great. The "oh-so-touching" death scenes are priceless and the villains are truly comic book. One man's words cannot describe this kind of brilliance. Only your viewing can. (9/10)
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Libretio
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STORY OF RICKY (Li Wang)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound format: Mono
After killing the drug-addicted lowlife who murdered his fiancee, an unlucky strongman (Terry Fan Siu-wong) is remanded to a corrupt prison where he's forced to defend himself against inmates and tyrannical officials, spilling gallons of blood and gore along the way...
Notorious for its splattery violence and hyper-stylized melodrama, STORY OF RICKY - derived from the Japanese manga 'Riki-Oh' created by Tetsuya Saruwatari - is directed by former cinematographer Laam Naai-choi, whose earlier efforts (THE SEVENTH CURSE, EROTIC GHOST STORY, etc.) rarely scaled the same dizzy heights of outrage and audacity. Shot on a shoestring budget in Macao, the film combines high octane bloodshed with "Carry On"-style humor (watch out for the incredible moment when a character uses his intestines as a weapon!), mixed with visual references to earlier exploitation fare such as THE STREET FIGHTER (1974) and THE FURY (1978), though the makeup effects are rudimentary at best, in keeping with the film's comic-book tone.
Japanese actress Yukari Oshima takes second billing as one of the *male* villains (she's dubbed with a masculine voice), and fan favorite Gloria Yip (SAVIOUR OF THE SOUL) plays the hero's ill-fated girlfriend in a series of corny 'feel-good' flashbacks. But the film belongs to handsome, hunky Terry Fan, ripping his shirt off at the drop of an intestine and posing impressively for the various combat sequences. Clothed or unclothed, he's never less than magnificent to behold, and director Laam uses the actor's exaggerated studliness to lampoon the homoerotic spectacle which once fuelled 'golden age' kung fu pictures. It ain't Shakespeare, but trash/splatter fans will embrace the movie with gusto. Also known as STORY OF RICKY AKA RIKI-OH.
(Cantonese dialogue)
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Le Froque
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This film could be seen as the Chinese version of "Braindead" aka "Dead Alive": a Bruce Lee-like guy named Ricky, who?s talented with supernatural powers, fights his way through a corrupt prison and leaves a trail of blood and guts behind him. For sure, "Story of Ricky" is a very violent and gory flick, but everything in it is so exaggerated that no one should take it too serious: there is gut-strangulation, people in a meat grinder and for the showdown the leader of the prison mutates to a giant Kung Fu-fighting monster..! However, this film is so funny that you will laugh your heads off! Larded with typical Asian humor "Story of Ricky" is one of the definite cult movies that were shot in the last decade! If you had fun with it, try also to find director Ngai Kai Lam?s Indiana Jones-fantasy-action-gore-adventure "The Seventh Curse" (Check out the review which I wrote under my former pseudonym "Daywalker"..!) starring Chow Yun Fat, which contains nearly the same plenty of gore and curious ideas as this one has! Two great films that would make a great double-feature!! Check?em out!!!
One scene required Siu-Wong Fan and Yukari ”shima to exchange lines while standing close to a raging fire. Siu-Wong, doused with water for protection, was horrified when he noticed ”shima's exposed neck literally smoking and blistering from the heat. When he asked her why she didn't move, she reportedly replied, "You weren't done with your lines, so I had to wait for the cut." Amazed by her professionalism, he referred to her in future interviews as "amazing Yukari."
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So much fake blood was used in the "Meat Grinder" finale that Siu-Wong Fan could not wash the red off his skin for three days.
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Mei Sheng Fan, who played the Assistant Warden, is the father of Siu-Wong Fan.
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In the English dub, the prison gang leaders are called the "Gang of Four." In Cantonese, they are the "Four Heavenly Kings".
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The first Hong Kong movie to receive a "Category III" rating for violence.
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Although Riki-Oh is 21 years old in the manga, Siu-Wong Fan was only 18 when he portrayed the title character.
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The film takes place in 2001.
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When Riki chops an inmate's head in half, a pig's brain was used in the connecting shot of the severed skull cap.
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When Ricky punches down the prison wall, the wires pulling the chunks of debris are clearly visible.
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During the final battle between Riki Oh and the giant transformed Warden, the Warden's position in the grinder changes between two shots.
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When Riki's girlfriend jumps to her death, you can clearly tell it's a dummy.
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When Riki throws the Warden into the meat grinder, the wire holding the puppet in the air as it flies into the churner is visible and it's legs are also missing.
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crushed to death|held captive|animal abuse|knocked out|megalomaniac|reference to bruce lee|glass eye|cut hand|falling to death|mulching someone|meat grinder|severed arm|
AKAs Titles:
- Riki ”
Argentina - La historia de Ricky
Spain - Historia de Ricky
Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title) - I Istoria tou Ricky
Greece - — ™ƒ„οία „ο… Ricky
Hong Kong (Mandarin title) - Li wang
Hong Kong (English title) - Story of Ricky
Hungary - Story of Ricky
Soviet Union (Russian title) - ˜‚о€и о икки
USA - Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky
World-wide (English title) (literal title) - King of Strength
World-wide (English title) - Story of Ricky
Release Dates:
Certifications:
Argentina:18 / Australia:R / Brazil:18 / Canada:R (Alberta/Manitoba/Prince Edward Island) / Canada:R (British Columbia/Ontario) / Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) / Chile:18 / Czech Republic:18 / Finland:K-18 / France:-16 / Germany:18 / Hong Kong:III / Hungary:18 / Ireland:(Banned) / Ireland:18 (re-rating) (2002) / Italy:VM18 / Japan:R-15 / Malaysia:(Banned) / Mexico:C / Netherlands:16 / New Zealand:R18 / Norway:18 / Philippines:R-18 / Singapore:R21 / South Korea:18 / Spain:18 / Sweden:15 / Taiwan:R-18 / UK:18 / USA:NC-17 / USA:R (edited for re-rating) / West Germany:(Banned)
Movie Details:
640x352 (25.000 Fps - 1 361 Kbps)
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