Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky
Original Theatrical Poster
Directed by Lam Nai-choi
Produced by Chan Dung Chow
Written by Lam Nai-choi
Tetsuya Saruwatari
Starring Fan Siu-wong
Fan Mei Sheng
Ho Ka-kui
Yukari Oshima
Frankie Chen
Distributed by Golden Harvest
Release date
  • 5 October 1991 (1991-10-05)
(Japan)
  • 9 April 1992 (1992-04-09)
(Hong Kong)
Running time
 91 min.
Country Hong Kong
Language Cantonese
Box office $2,147,778 HKD

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (also known as Story of Ricky; Chinese: 力王) is a 1991 Hong Kong martial arts-thriller film written and directed by Lam Nai-Choi, and based on the Japanese manga Riki-Oh by Masahiko Takajo and Saruwatari Tetsuya. The film stars Fan Siu-wong, Fan Mei-sheng (Siu-wong's real-life father), Ho Ka-kui, Gloria Yip, and Yukari Oshima.

Fan Siu-wong plays Ricky Ho Lik Wong (Lik Wong is the character's given name, but the subtitles use the anglicized "Ricky") who is a young man who has super-human power and fighting abilities. Yukari Oshima stars as Huang Chung (Rogan in the English dub). The English title given on screen is simply Story of Ricky but later releases were sold under the title Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. It had a limited theatrical release in the United States in 1993. It is well known for its acting, story, extremely brutal and highly unrealistic violence, as well as its high camp factor and extremely poor English dubbing (although versions in Cantonese and Mandarin are also available). One scene, showing a character crushing another character's skull with his bare hands, later became a regular fixture on The Daily Show during Craig Kilborn's time as the host.

It was alleged that a sequel titled Dint King, Inside King (aka, Story of Ricky 2 or Super Powerful Man) was released in Hong Kong in 2005, however, the plot does not follow the events that supposedly occur after Ricky breaks out of prison, and is set in the distant future as opposed to 2001 for the first film. The film was never released in the United States or in Europe but is available on DVD (without English subtitles) through Panorama Entertainment. Oddly, and possibly due to rights issues, the film is built as a stand-alone project despite casting Fan Siu-wong in the title role, sporting the camouflage poncho seen in flashbacks and in the manga. Even the characters have different names (Ricky's name is He Shen in this film).

Plot

By the year 2001, all correctional facilities have been privatized. Lik Wong/Ricky Ho, a martial artist, and former music student, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter after killing a crime lord indirectly responsible for the death of his girlfriend Keiko/Anne after a group of thugs chased her off the building to her death after witnessing their heroin deal. It is revealed in a flashback Ricky's name as a child was Rick, but his uncle, after seeing how strong he was, decided the name Ricky was suitable.

An elderly inmate, Ma/Omar, is attacked by the captain of the cells Wildcat/Samuel. Ricky trips Samuel, who falls face first on a piece of wood with nails. After this, one of the inmates suggests that Zorro, a dangerous, morbidly obese inmate should kill him. Omar is informed by the guards that his probation was turned down after Samuel lies, telling the guards that Omar was spreading rumors. Stricken by grief, Omar hangs himself. Zorro attacks Ricky but is killed by Ricky's bare hands. Ricky thwarts Samuel's attack and kills him as well.

Shortly after, a member of the Four Heavenly Kings (Gang of Four in the English dub) named Hai/Oscar the leader of the North Cell, suggests that Ricky see the one-eyed Assistant Warden Dan. After Ricky's confrontation, Dan suggests Oscar kill him. Outside the prison yard, Oscar and Ricky engage in a fight. After losing an eye, Oscar cuts a hole in his stomach and uses his intestines to strangle Ricky. Ricky breaks free, delivering a crushing blow which kills Oscar. Ricky soon discovers that the Gang of Four is growing illegal opium for profit. Huang Chung/Rogan, leader of the West Cell, discovers Ricky set the poppy garden on fire, leading to a fight. Brandon, leader of the South Cell, throws needles to tie Ricky up with them, leaving him defenseless. Meanwhile, the guards report to Dan that the Warden is returning from his vacation, prompting Dan to raise the Zero Alarm, causing the defense system to shoot anyone outside their cell. As the fight continues, Tarzan, leader of the East Cell, arrives announcing his intent to fight Ricky but leaves along with the Gang as the Zero Alarm goes off.

The next day, the Warden and his spoiled son return from their vacation. Dan informs the Warden about the incidents, including the poppy garden. This infuriates the Warden, almost transforming into a Hulk-like creature, though he prevents it by taking medication. As the Warden questions Ricky, Tarzan bursts through the wall to fight Ricky, which ends in Ricky dismembering half of Tarzan's left arm and breaking his mandible. The Warden activates a ceiling trap on Ricky who struggles to stay alive. Tarzan regains consciousness and holds the ceiling, only to unintentionally save Ricky by being crushed himself. After escaping, Ricky finds a photo showing Tarzan had a family waiting for him. The Warden orders the inmates bury Ricky alive, which they reluctantly obey. The Warden proposes if Ricky survives underground for a week, he will free him. Ricky does survive by eating dog meat, however, the Warden denies him freedom. Later that night, Ricky is brought food by an inmate Freddy. Another inmate informs Dan who mortally wounds Freddy. Dan then opens Ricky's cell to taunt him. However, Ricky breaks free and kills the inmate and knocks out Dan's remaining eye. The inmates then rebel and violently ambush Dan.

In the kitchen, Ricky, the prisoners, and Dan burst through the wall. The Warden shoots Dan with a homemade gas-pressured bullet, causing him to inflate and violently explode. Rogan and Brandon confront Ricky, who gravely injures Rogan. Brandon, realizing Ricky is far too powerful for him, flees from the scene, but not before the Warden shoots and kills Brandon. The Warden, revealing that he too, is a martial artist, transforms into a grotesque creature and battles Ricky. The fight ends with Ricky crippling and throwing the mutated Warden into a meat grinder. The prisoner's rebel once again and start to attack the guards until Ricky reaches the prison wall, breaking it allowing the prisoners and himself to go free.

Cast

  • Fan Siu-Wong as Lik Wong / Ricky Ho
  • Fan Mei-Sheng as Assistant Warden Dan
  • Ho Ka-Kui as Warden
  • Yukari Oshima as Huang Chung / Rogan
  • Tamba Tetsuro as Master Zhang
  • Gloria Yip as Keiko / Anne, Ricky Ho's Girlfriend
  • Kwok Chun-Fung as Lin Hung / Andrew
  • Frankie Chin as Hai / Oscar
  • Koichi Sugisaki as Taizan / Tarzan
  • Wong Kwai-Hung as Baishen / Brandon
  • Chang Gan-Wing as Ma / Omar
  • Lam Kai-Wing as Wildcat / Samuel
  • Chan Ging as Yeh Ming / Edward Lee
  • Lau Shung-fung as Prisoner
  • Wong Kwok-leung as Warden's Son
  • Chan Kwok-Bong as Alan, Hai / Oscar's godson
  • Lam Suet as narcotic boss
  • Bill Lung Biu as prisoner
  • Kong Long as Prison Guard
  • Ling Chi-Hung as Prisoner
  • Cheung Yiu-Sing as Prisoner
  • Choi Kwok-Ping as Prisoner
  • Cheung Yuk-San as Prison Guard
  • Chiu Chi-Shing as Prisoner
  • Yuen Wah as Prisoner

Notable scenes

The film is notorious for its excessive use of graphic violence and gore, primarily due to the fact that the lead character is practically invincible, has superhuman strength and can virtually withstand all pain, which is partially explained by Ricky being a practitioner of a mystical kung-fu style known as Qigong. This leads to attempts by other characters to subdue him which end up being extremely gory and over-the-top.

Aside from the aforementioned head crushing and meat grinding scenes, most notable[1] is a fight scene between Ricky and a knife-wielding prisoner named Oscar. During the fight, Oscar throws powdered glass in Ricky's eyes and then slashes Ricky's right arm. Ricky, seemingly finished, smashes a water pipe and cleans his eyes, then uses his teeth and left hand to tie the veins and tendons in his arm back together. Oscar then charges at Ricky, but Ricky dodges and smacks him in the back of the head, popping one of his eyes out, leaving it to be eaten by crows. Seeing himself at a disadvantage, Oscar attempts suicide by seppuku. However, when Ricky approaches Oscar to try and stop the suicide, Oscar grabs his own intestines and wraps them around Ricky's neck in an attempt to strangle him, prompting the assistant warden to exclaim in the English dub: "You've got a lot of guts, Oscar!". Ricky then punches Oscar in the face, with an X-ray image showing the front of his skull shattering. The deceased Oscar crumples to the ground without so much as a visibly broken nose.

In another fight scene, Ricky punches and graphically breaks the Gang of Four member, Tarzan's arm, then lands an uppercut with such force that Tarzan's jaw is torn off. Finally, Ricky goes for the Coup de grâce and punches several of Tarzan's fingers off as he attempts to punch Ricky.

Another scene includes the warden's graphic death which depicts Ricky throwing him into an industrial meat grinder. Ricky pushes the struggling warden through the grinder, until his whole body is shredded and only his head remains. In that scene, so much fake blood was used that Fan Siu-wong could not wash the blood off his skin for three days.

The film's low budget shows in the scene where Ricky's girlfriend Keiko jumps to her death. For this scene, an obvious mannequin wearing her clothes is thrown off the top of the building, landing with a dull thud and a slight bounce. A dummy is also used in some scenes where there is a close up.

Adaptation and Production

The plot closely follows the events depicted in the original Japanese comic and its anime adaptation, with some minor modifications in certain instances.

Box office and reception

Riki-Oh received a Category III rating (viewers under 18 not allowed). It was one of the first Hong Kong movies to receive such a rating for non-erotic content. This rating greatly inhibited the film's ability to make money at the box office. The film grossed $2,147,778 HKD in Hong Kong.

On the aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Riki-Oh has an approval rating of 89% by 9 reviews, and with an average rating of 7.1/10.[2] Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice called it "a rather astonishing, starkly stylized blood flood set inside a privatized prison."[3] Kurt Ramschissel of Film Threat gave the film 5 stars, saying that "the violence comes fast and furious and is just as outrageous and over-the-top as Sam Raimi or Peter Jackson ever were."[4] J.R. Jones from the Chicago Reader said, "If you can handle the torrent of grisly violence, you'll find yourself royally entertained by this Hong Kong actioner."[5]

Home video and online streaming releases

In the U.S, Tokyo Shock released it on a bare bones DVD in 2000. In 2002, Hong Kong Legends released their DVD in Region 2 territories.[6] In 2003, Fortune Star (formerly Mega Star), current holders of the Golden Harvest library from Media Asia, released a Remastered version of the film on a 3 disc set along with: The Dragon from Russia and City Hunter.

The film was released on Blu-ray Disc on 10 January 2012.[7] Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky became available in its original Chinese with hard-coded English subtitles on Netflix's Instant Streaming service in mid-2012. The movie aired on Turner Classic Movies on 2 November 2012 and 14 April 2013 as part of TCM Underground.

References

  1. ↑ "100 Greatest Movie Fist Fights – UGO.com". Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky". Rotten Tomatoes.
  3. ↑ Atkinson, Michael (November 5, 2002). "New York Movies Taboo Ya!". The Village Voice.
  4. ↑ "Story of Ricky (Lai Wong)". Film Threat. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29.
  5. ↑ Jones, J.R. (March 12, 2008). "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky". Chicago Reader. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  6. ↑ Desbarats, Xavier. "Riki-Oh". DeVilDead.
  7. ↑ "Media Blasters Announces Riki-oh: The Story Of Ricky Blu-ray 9/27, More Blu-ray News". Screen Anarchy. 12 July 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012.
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