Home :: DVD :: Science Fiction & Fantasy :: Monsters & Mutants  

Alien Invasion
Aliens
Animation
Classic Sci-Fi
Comedy
Cult Classics
Fantasy
Futuristic
General
Kids & Family
Monsters & Mutants

Robots & Androids
Sci-Fi Action
Series & Sequels
Space Adventure
Star Trek
Television
Tetsuo II: Body Hammer

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 3 and a half stars, its no iron man
Review: After coming off of the mind splintering rush of Tetsuo The Iron Man but still buzzing I couldn't wait to see this movie. I was expecting more of the crazy madness and brutality of the first film but was at first let down bigtime. Instead of hyper speedball pacing with downright crazy images being jabbed at you 900mph this is a really slooooow movie. I don't have any idea what film the other reviewers are talking about, the first film was putting your brain in a blender, this film is putting your brain on sleeping pills.

Gone is the madness, gone is the overdone gore (though we do get some really violent images here, there are only three real short scenes of violence, the last one with the children and the arm cannons is beautiful)gone is the gruesome images of men warping into twisted bloodsoaked iron junk. This film actually attempts at giving a story. A business man with a wife and kid go around Tokyo shopping, talking, regular family things when a gang of strange thugs who like to hang out at steel mills and workout (it looks like a really cheesy infomercial for weightlifting products) kidnap his son, toss the dad off a building, who is then saved, and the kid is returned. Then the same thing happens again only this time when the dad gets up from the building one thug acts like he threw his son off and the dad gets so man his arm turns into a cannon and he shoots at the thug but he holds his son in front of him right before the bullets hit. A dark hilarious image of a guy covered in gore and guts holding up to hands with bloody stumps follows. Then some stuff happens and the thugs capture the man and hook him up to a machine that makes him make goofy faces, and one guy shoots another, then they run around, then his wife is kidnapped, one guy kills some other guy, blah blah blah. You start to wonder what any of this has to do with the first film, I was frustrated by the time the first hour was up, nothing happens in the movie! Then, when the guy warps into a half large chunks of steel, half wobbly plastic machine guns the film goes 360, it turns into a stunning disturbing beautiful piece of film. It starts when the two heads are connected and until the end credits the film.

Then when you're done you see how it all works, and though its an hour and 30 minutes it seems shorter than the hour long Iron Man. It just works.

It has very little of the bloodshed and mayhem of the first film, its a completely different thing but its well worth it. Iron Man is still waaaaaay better.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, but too slow
Review: After trying to get this video for quite a long time, I found it in a pawn shop of all places, ..., and at that price it's a good movie. I would be hesitant about paying [full price] for it, though.

The main reason for this is the pace: it's just much too slow. I haven't seen "Tetsuo - Iron Man" yet, but it's shorter (only 67 minutes) and I've heard that it's also faster paced that this sequel (or remake, if you wish.) While watching this movie I kept wishing for more parts like the one appearing right at the end of the film, with consists of nothing but a lot of still images flashing on your screen - japanese bondage stills, metal, weird colours and what looks like photographs taken through a microscope - all blending together to form a massive attack on your neural network.

If the movie had contained more scenes like that it would have been great. If it had been 20 minutes shorter and if it had had MORE of that cool music it would have been even greater.

Perhaps the mistake is mine - I wanted a movie that progressed at the pace of a music video, and this doesn't. Still, I can't help but think that it would be a truly great movie if it did.

Some of the good things about this movie are things like the colours - lots of cold blues and silver are used, giving the viewer a sense of something very naked; a city stripped of emotion and feeling. This is also the basic theme of the movie - a man who can not evolve unless he gets in touch with his emotions and accepts himself for what he is.

Japanese movies are usually strange to Western eyes and minds. "Tetsuo II - Body Hammer" is no exception.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Intense to the point of confusion
Review: After watching this movie, I was more or less at a loss for words. I thought it was horrible, yet so intense that it left a "want to see it again" mark in your brain. It definitely is not for everybody, and people who expect a Futuristic/Cyberpunk genre when looking for movies should completely avoid this. On the other hand, fans of Japanese Anime and just trippy movies in general should not miss a chance at grabbing a copy. I personally liked and disliked it at the same time because I expected a whole different movie, but was still taken in by the originality, presentation, and just sickness of the visuals and plot. I'll keep it safe and give it a neutral score...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Creation and destruction
Review: Although its ideology is creation, the modelling of a world, industrial society is really based on destruction. Much more impressive than the benefits of our economic system are the high number of victims it demanded to survive (WWI, WWII, the cold war, with massacres sponsored by both sides), much more impressive than the technology that makes our live simpler is the fact that it was born in the battlefield. All we created can be used as weapon, just because it was its primary function.

That's Tetsuo II. Death inside life. Doom as the most essential part of love. Security created by terror. Peace made by war.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Nice visuals - hazy story
Review: Although there definately *is* a good story somewhere in there, it's often cast-aside as some sort of sub-plot to the imagery, which is unfortunate. Still, I liked the ingenuity of it's visuals and effects, and it's worth renting on that basis. Actually deserves 2.5...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Low Budget Science Fiction Horror Action Art Movie
Review: Comparisons will obviously be made to David Lynch and Cronenberg, but if you like those directors and have a taste for low budget foreign horror movies then you will love Tetsuo II - Body Hammer.

Basically this is like a live action Magna cartoon and can be watched as a stand alone without seeing the original Tetsuo. Where the film scores in aces is with the editing and camerawork. Shinya Tsukamoto is held in great esteem by directors like Quetin Tarantino, who once asked if Tsukamoto would work on an American film with him. Tsukamoto responded by saying Yes - If he was allowed to nuke Hollywood.

The plot is crazy and revolves around a Tokyo businessman, Taniguchi, whose son is kidnapped by a cult of demented nazi-type body builders led by a villain who has the special power of being able to turn his body parts into mechanical firearms. Taniguchi discovers that he too has similar special powers and proceeds to try and wipeout the gang in a Superhero sort of way.

There is lots of arty nightmare sequences and action, although the film does loose its pace in parts. At its heart, Tetsuo II is a movie about a superhero with a grotesque gift. It is violent at times but the plot is actually coherent and the story is a lot of fun.

Considering the budget limitations the filmmakers have done well and Tetsuo has quite a cult following and it is easy to see why directors like Tarantino recommend it. So if you have a taste for low budget weirdness, then this movie is a must.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Furious and frenetic" claims idiot reviewer.
Review: Cyberpunk. Love it or hate it, there's something grimly fascinating and darkly absorbing about a medium that concerns itself with the fusion of man and machine. Nowhere are these ideas expressed more clearly than in "Tetsuo II: Body Hammer", a film which doesn't so much involve the audience as it does smash them over the head with a live chainsaw. This is furious, frenetic filmmaking, with rapid-fire editing, a pulsing techno soundtrack, and truly shocking imagery, culminating in a frantic apocalyptic climax best left to the imagination. In short, it's terrific. Stylistically, it makes "Fight Club" look like "Alice In Wonderland", while the crazed overwhelming madness of it all leaves one drained but exhilarated. You'll have to take the other reviewers' words for it about the DVD transfer (I don't have the DVD), but the film itself is well worth parting with hard-earned cash for.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Core
Review: Essentially, 'Bodyhammer' is the original 'Tetsuo', but with added commercial appeal. It's filmed in colour (black, white, *and* purple), and explains a lot of the action with a plot, one which unfortunately seems to be borrowed from a million-and-one other Anime films. Still, as with the original, the style is the important thing, and '2' has it in bucketloads. Pushing the boundaries of pre-Cat III censorship to the limits, although you never see anything particularly disturbing, the excellent grindcore soundtrack and furious visuals make you think that you are witnessing a hell on not-quite-earth. Ultimately, it's rather like hard-core pornography - extreme, relentless, and numbing, so that by the end you're actually quite bored. It's a heck of a ride, though.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible DVD transfer, buy the VHS version.
Review: First off, this is by far a 5 star movie - a true cinematic masterpiece. But unfortunately it has been completely ruined by one of the worst DVD transfers I have ever seen. The colors are completely washed out and the brightness level is very low. Therefore the film is dark and grayed in appearance on the DVD, when it was meant to be shockingly vivid in its use of color. Also the sound on the DVD is at such a low level you have to turn your speakers up very high to hear it properly. This causes extreme levels of hiss in the quieter moments. And the video compression was too high so you get "pixelated" areas of monotone in low color contrast scenes. This DVD is a disaster! And just to add insult to injury, the trailer is included on the DVD and it is a beautiful quality transfer. I suppose they wanted to show you what you should have seen had you not been ripped off by a terrible product.

It is hard to imagine how such a terrible product slips under the noses of all the people that must be involved in it's creation and final release. But it happened. All I can say is stay far away from this DVD, it is a complete waste of money. But definitely purchase the VHS version, for this film is not to be missed.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: honestly speaking.
Review: Honestly, this has got to be one of the worst films I've ever seen. The storyline is garbage, picture is dark blue(so you really can't see it well), and it's just absolutely booooring. I was watching the whole time thinking "when will this crap end." I do not recommend this film to anyone except someone I hated. Some guy put this as #2 on his list of most disturbing movies. It's not shocking or scary at all. I wasted about an hour and a half of my life watching it. I really don't see how anyone could like this garbage.


<< 1 2 3 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates