Shinichi 'Sonny Chiba' - Explosion! Motorcycle Gang - 爆発！暴走族 - Bakuhatsu! Boso Zoku

[wigsplitta]

Has anybody seen this movie?

爆発！暴走族 - Bakuhatsu! Boso zoku - Explosion! Motorcycle Gang

Starring Sonny Chiba and Directed by Teruo Ishii (The Executioner...)

http://www.toei-video.co.jp/data/hs/vcatalog_dvd/item/201003/dstd03183.html

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.toei-video.co.jp%2Fdata%2Fhs%2Fvcatalog_dvd%2Fitem%2F201003%2Fdstd03183.html&sl=auto&tl=en

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142100/

It looks like it's getting a release on 21 March this year, but just wondered if anyone's seen it, and is able to recommend it or not?

I'm a big Chiba fan, but have never seen this film before!

Cheers

[HAZ]

I'm sure Bob will be excited for this! I've never seen it & I'm very curious to know what it could be...

[Guest WuxiaFan]

Yeah Bob, do you have a rough cut?

[wigsplitta]

Thanks for the pointers, guys. I was thinking that the great KFB would be the man to ask too, but a PM came back saying that he hasn't seen it either.

A very elusive film it appears to be. Looks like it could be really cool, so I'll be putting in an order for it in March i think

[KUNG FU BOB]

I'm sure Bob will be excited for this! I've never seen it & I'm very curious to know what it could be...

Yeah Bob, do you have a rough cut?

Yeah, on my knee. When I read about this I fell off my chair!

Thanks for the pointers, guys. I was thinking that the great KFB would be the man to ask too, but a PM came back saying that he hasn't seen it either.

A very elusive film it appears to be. Looks like it could be really cool, so I'll be putting in an order for it in March i think

I think I may have been an extra in this, but after Sonny hit me (even pulling the punch) I lost all memory of the experience!

[Karlos]

DETONATION! VIOLENT RIDERS (aka BAKUHATSU! BOSO ZOKU)

(1975) director: Teruo Ishii / cast: Koichi Iwaki and Sonny Chiba / no subtitles

And a sequel - think there were a few, but only one with our man, Chiba-San:

DETONATION! VIOLENT GAMES

(1975) director: Teruo Ishii / cast: Sonny Chiba and Yumi Takigawa

I have both of these!!

[ben]

Thanks for the information, I would like to see this

[KUNG FU BOB]

DETONATION! VIOLENT RIDERS (aka BAKUHATSU! BOSO ZOKU)

(1975) director: Teruo Ishii / cast: Koichi Iwaki and Sonny Chiba / no subtitles

And a sequel - think there were a few, but only one with our man, Chiba-San:

DETONATION! VIOLENT GAMES

(1975) director: Teruo Ishii / cast: Sonny Chiba and Yumi Takigawa

I have both of these!!

DUDE!

Are they cool or what K? Please give us your thoughts on these.

[wigsplitta]

DUDE!

Are they cool or what K? Please give us your thoughts on these.

Yeah man, what are they like? They look pretty damn cool

[Takuma]

There's actually 4 films in the series, with 3 instalments directed by Teruo Ishii, and Koiuchi Iwaki starring in all of them. Iwaki is not well know outside Japan, but he's been working a lot on TV. His looks made him a perfect guy to play a gang member. Sonny Chiba makes a quest appearance in the first one. Some of the supporting actors are, I believe, real gang members. Back in the 70's Toei used to cast some of their actors from the streets. Some of the actresses in the Sukeban girl gang movies were also real sukeban.

The films in the Detonation series are:

Detonation: Violent Riders (Bakuhatsu! Bosozoku) (1975) (dir. Teruo Ishii)

Detonation: Violent Games (Bakuhatsu! Boso yugi) (1976) (dir. Teruo Ishii)

Season of Violence (Boso no kisetsu) (1976) (dir. Teruo Ishii)

Detonation: 750cc zoku (1976) (dir. Yutaka Kohira)

These movies were essentially Toei's attempt to cash in on the bosozoku phenomena, the Japanese biker gangs. The phenomena goes back to post WWII years when some war vets had difficulties returning to normal, excitement free life. They started tuning cars, hanging out on the streets, and taking idols from American movies, like James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.

These guys, called kaminari-zoku (thunder gang), later gave inspiration to youngsters who formed motorcycle gangs (bosozoku). The bosozoku youngsters did not have war traumas, they were just frustrated kids, social outcasts etc. They received quite a bit of media publicity in the 1970's, although many stories were exaggerated. A perfect topic for Toei to exploit.

The films Toei produced are biker gang exploitation flicks, quite decent most of them. You get racing scenes on streets, cool guys in leather, girls getting their tits out, messy storylines, and so on. The second film is the most famous, for being a (soft) exploitation remake of West Side Story (complete with some dancing scenes).

Notice that there's some confusion as of which films belong to the series. The 3rd film, Season of Violence, drops the "Detonation" (Bakuhatsu) from the title. The film is mainly drama, very similar but clearly inferior to Nikkatsu's Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo. There isn't much action of motorcycles in this one.

The 4th film, 750cc zoku, was directed by another director Yutaka Kohira (Dragon Princess). This one brings the action back, but it's more about tuning cars than motorcycles. The film does, however, conclude with an amazing 20 minute motorcycle chase.

Screencaps

Kouichi Iwaki and his gang (the 1st film)

Some street racing (the 1st film)

Sonny Chiba (the 1st film)

No gang is complete without a Japanese Travis Bickle (the 2nd film)

In for some West Side Story? (the 2nd film)

Some beach slacking. The bad guy even looks like Wild Jumbo's Tatsuya Fuji... (the 3rd film)

Iwaki and Yutaka Nakajima (she's a bitch (in the film)) (the 3rd film)

Iwaki the Cool! (the 4th film)

Amazing end chase (the 4th film)

[Takuma]

In addition, there was a “Female Detonation Movie”, Hell’s Angels: Crimson Roar (1977). This is a heavily mismarketed piece of Toei action from the late 1970’s. It scratches a lot of genres – pinky violence, biker, and others – without really landing in any of them. It’s more of a drama and thriller than exploitation film, and the leading lady Yuko Iruka really isn’t the “Violence Queen” the trailer calls her. It’s a bit disappointing film with average storyline, but Hiroshi Tachi gives a brilliant supporting performance, and the climax is strong if brief. Pop-star Yasuko Naito makes an appearance in the film, too.

Be warned: the only girl gang in this film appears in the opening scene only

Gang life

Yasuko Naito

Yuko Iruka and Hiroshi Tachi

Cool still!

[Gaijin84]

thanks Takuma, your posts are always ridiculously informative!