Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)

December 4, 2018 8:56 AM

This offbeat action drama from Hong Kong stars Bin Shimada as Riki, a new prisoner at a high-tech penal institution of the future. Riki finds himself challenged by the prison's violent, corrupt guards, and when one of his friends is murdered by the jailers, Riki explodes into a fury of violence as he seeks bloody vengeance against all who would cross him. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky has won a cult following for its deliberately outlandish martial arts violence, in which Riki displays the remarkable ability to punch through his victims -- and even blow them up.

Complete film on YouTube

Rotten Tomatoes listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (7 comments total)

I realized after referencing this film in my comments on The Night Comes for Us that this film has never been featured on FF. That needed to be rectified.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:56 AM on December 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

This is ridiculously, stupidly, volcanically bloody. I'm pretty sure the filmmakers are about half-kidding, so it's not so much disturbing as truly fucking gross and ludicrous and laugh-out-loud weird.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:57 AM on December 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

The mincing gay guy didn't age well.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:46 AM on December 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

OTOH, this is the movie where the head-smashing from old Daily Shows came from.

Also: Everyone knows the warden must be the very best at kung fu!
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:46 AM on December 4, 2018

I think calling Ricky-Oh an "offbeat action drama" is a strange way to describe it. I mean just watch the final battle scene. Apeshit might be more apt?
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:30 AM on December 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

I copied and pasted that from RT. Their subdued phrasing played better than the series of OMG's and swear words I would have managed on my own.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:42 AM on December 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

I watched this with a friend years ago after obtaining it from a dodgy torrent site. I never did find the subtitles but that didn't diminish our enjoyment.
posted by AndrewStephens at 4:19 PM on December 4, 2018