If Electric Dragon 80000V wasn't quite enough Sogo Ishii madness for you, then we're back with round two in the form of Burst City, one of the earliest entries in his infamous "punk" series of films. And is it ever punk! It looks punk, feels punk, is a story about punks, stars real life Japanese punks, and has a punk rock soundtrack. This thing is just oozing with punk. Punk, punk, punk. In fact, it may very well be the most punk rock movie ever made (I know, I know, that's quite a lofty accusation, but trust me). Either way, it's definitely one of the most chaotic. But then again, would you expect anything less from a film that's a perfect combination of post-apocalyptic action adventure a la Mad Max and a Decline of Western Civilization style documentary on the Japanese punk scene?

In a distant future, a dystopian Tokyo is overrun by gangs of angry, leather jacket clad youth who squat in dilapidated warehouses by day and run wild in the streets by night, rocking out with their loud, aggressive punk bands and drag racing until dawn. Oh yeah, they like to fight, too. They like to fight a lot. If the tension between the rival bands wasn't bad enough, things get even worse when a sleazy Yakuza family wants to take over their land to build a nuclear power plant. When two mysterious strangers decked out in scrap metal armor and medieval weaponry roll into town on their hyper speed motorcycle and join up with the rebellious locals, everything comes to a head and all hell breaks loose. "It's on!" as they say, big time, as pretty much everybody clashes with everyone else - gang of punks vs. gang of punks, gang of punks vs. "battle police"", gang of punks vs. yakuza thugs, etc. - until it all spirals unbelievably out of control into absolute full on anarchy.

I made mention in my other review how pleased I am that some of director Ishii's work is finally seeing the light of day here on US shores and this film is one that I'm absolutely delighted to finally be able to enjoy after merely reading about it for many years (as far as I know, all previous foreign versions were only available without English subtitles). It's really about time too, because it's a film that definitely deserves to be seen - one of the most celebrated examples of Japanese cult filmmaking ever. It's easy to imagine how many of Japan's big name genre directors of today might have seen Burst City back upon its release and decided right then and there that they wanted to make movies just like it some day; wild, uncontrollable films that went outside the boundaries of anything they had seen before. With it's manic, head spinning camerawork, pissed off rock n' roll soundtrack, desolate graffiti covered locations, low budget DIY approach (originally shot on 16mm), "no future" storyline and ultra rebellious attitude, Burst City is a prime example of that wild, uncontrollable cinema at it's finest (especially for a film made in 1982). After all, the last half hour is composed entirely of one extended full scale riot sequence, complete with futuristic armored robo-police to beat and blast the raging youth into submission. It's a film devoted entirely to breaking all the rules, both in it's theme as well as its execution.

Japanese cult genre buffs, as well as those with any kind of interest in truly original, oddball cinema, will not want to pass this one up - it's undeniably a classic in a class all to itself, a film very unlike many others. Fans of catchy, early 80's style punk rock and music historians in general should check this out as well because it features some incredible musical performances from many early Japanese punk rock bands including The Rockers, The Roosters, The Stalin, and Inu. Think of it as a Japanese Rock n' Roll High School, but lose the goofy comedy and add in lots and lots of violence and aggression instead.

Whatever your reasons are, see Burst City and get ready for one cranked up, in your face, totally rebellious middle finger of a movie.

Discotek once again provides a pretty nice package overall for this release. The transfer looks and sounds very clean and crisp considering the film’s budget and the time it was made, yet not so much so that it loses that wonderful gritty look and feel of a true underground cult movie. It retains the vibe of a midnight viewing of a heavily used video tape that’s been rented or lovingly passed on from friends, without looking like one. Extras include a few trailers for this film as well as other Discotek releases, a photo gallery, and some background on the film, its soundtrack, and a history of the record label responsible for releasing some of the bands that are featured. As with their last release I reviewed, I found the liner notes included to be very interesting and informative, providing lots of insight and background on a filmmaker whose work has little written about it in this country. Considering how important of a role those bands and their music play in this film, I think an accompanying soundtrack CD like they did with Electric Dragon 80000V would have been a perfect addition to this release, but unfortunately no such luck.