Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky
Encyclopedia
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (also known as Story of Ricky) (Chinese
: 力王 Li Wang (Mandarin), Lik Wong (Guangzhou Hua), Strength King) is a 1991
Hong Kong
martial arts 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), Ka-Kui Ho 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") and Yukari Oshima
as Yomi (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 US around 1993. It is well-known for its extreme, 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 on video in Hong Kong around 2003-2005, 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 Terry Fan Sui Wong in the title role. Even the characters have different names (Ricky's name is He Shen in this film). Fan even sports the camouflage poncho seen in flashbacks and in the manga.
adaptation, with some minor modifications in certain instances.
By the year 2001, all prison institutions have been privatized
. Ricky Ho (Fan Siu-wong), a martial artist and former music student, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter after killing a crime lord who was indirectly responsible for the death of his girlfriend Anne (Gloria Yip
). Flashback scenes reveal that a group of thugs had captured her after she had witnessed their heroin deal. Anne was so scared in captivity that she ran upstairs and then leapt off the roof to her death.
One morning in the prison bathroom, an elderly inmate named Omar is viciously beaten by the captain of the cells, Samuel. As Samuel leaves, Ricky trips him, and Samuel falls on a piece of wood with nails on it, hand and face first. As Samuel devises a plan to get back at Ricky, one of the inmates suggest that they should have Zorro, a dangerous, morbidly obese inmate, to kill him. Omar is later informed by the guards that they turned down his probation after Samuel tells the guards that Omar was spreading rumors although this was untrue. Stricken by grief, Omar hangs
himself.
The next day, Zorro attacks Ricky, but is quickly killed along with Samuel. Shortly after, a member of the fearsome Gang of Four
named Oscar, the leader of the North Cell, suggests that Ricky should see the sadistic one-eyed Assistant Warden Dan. After Ricky confronts Dan, he suggests Oscar to kill Ricky. Outside the prison yard, Oscar and Ricky engage in a fight, which ends with Ricky defeating and killing Oscar.
Later on, Ricky soon discovers that the Gang of Four is growing illegal opium
for profit. Rogan, leader of the West Cell, discovers that Ricky had set the poppy garden on fire and they both fight. As the fight goes on, Brandon, leader of the South Cell, throws his needles and ties Riki-Oh up with them, leaving him defenseless. Meanwhile, the guards report to Dan that the Warden is returning from his vacation in Hawaii
, prompting Dan to raise the Zero Alarm. While the fight continues, Tarzan, leader of the East Cell, interferes, claiming that he wants to fight Ricky. As the Zero Alarm goes off, Ricky and the Gang of Four part ways for now.
The next day, the Warden and his spoiled, overweight
son return from their vacation. Dan informs the Warden about the incidents during his absence, including the poppy garden which infuriates the Warden. Dan escorts the Warden to Ricky's cell. As the Warden questions him, Tazan bursts through the wall and fights Ricky once again, which ends with Ricky brutally defeating Tarzan. The Warden then activates a ceiling trap to crush Ricky. As Ricky struggles to stay alive, Tarzan regains consciousness and saves him from being crushed by the ceiling, at the cost of Tarzan's life.
Later, the Warden orders the inmates to bury Ricky alive, which they reluctantly obey. The Warden claims if Ricky survives by staying underground for a week, he will consider freeing him from prison. As the week quickly passes by, Ricky survives, but the Warden does not free him. Later that night, Ricky is chained in his cell. A fellow inmate, named Freddy, brings him food so Ricky can regain his power. However, another inmate sees this and informs Dan about it and in response, Dan kills Freddy. Dan, dragging Freddy's body with his hook, then opens Ricky's cell to show the body to him. However, Dan and the other inmate find that Ricky has broken free from the chains, and Ricky kills the inmate and knocks Dan's remaining eye out. As the guards rush to the scene, the inmates rebel and violently ambush Dan.
In the kitchen, Ricky, the prisoners, and Dan burst through the wall and the Warden shoots Dan with a gas-pressured bullet, causing him to inflate and violently explode. Rogan and Brandon then confront Ricky one last time, which ends with Ricky gravely injuring 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 quickly ends with Ricky throwing the mutated Warden into a meat grinder. In the finale, the prisoners rebel once again and start to attack the guards. Ricky then breaks the prison wall, allowing all the prisoners and himself to go free.
. 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 is a fight scene between Ricky and a knife-wielding prisoner named Oscar. During the fight, Oscar slashes Ricky's right arm, but Ricky uses his teeth and left hand to tie the tendons together. Oscar then charges at Ricky, but Ricky slaps 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 disembowelment
. 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: "You've got a lot of guts, Oscar!". This is similar to a scene in Guy Maddin
's Archangel
(1990), in which a man murdered by disembowelment saves his son by using his intestines to strangle his murderers before he dies.
In another fight scene, Ricky lands an uppercut on the giant prisoner, Tarzan, with such force that his jaw is torn off his head.
Another scene includes the warden's graphic death which depicts Ricky throwing him into a meat grinder. Ricky shoves the warden's body inside, only leaving his head. In that scene, so much fake blood was used that Fan Siu-wong could not get the blood off his skin for three days.
The film's low budget shows in the scene where Ricky's girlfriend Ying jumps to her death. For this scene, an obvious mannequin wearing her clothes is thrown off the top of the building. A dummy is used every time there is a close up.
rating (the Hong Kong equivalent of an NC-17) essentially destroyed its box office chances. It was one of the first Hong Kong movie that used Category 3 film rating system for non erotic media. It grossed $2,147,778 HKD in Hong Kong.
The film, however, has received surprisingly positive reviews overseas. Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice
called the film "a rather astonishing, starkly stylized blood flood set inside a privatized prison." 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." Rotten Tomatoes
currently has the film rated at 89% fresh on their Tomatometer.
released it on DVD in 2000.
On October 21, 2002, DVD was released in Hong Kong Legends
at Europe
in Region 2
.
One year later, Hong Kong Legends DVD were released on December 29, 2003, at 3 disc set Manga in Motion including two classic martial arts films they were: Dragon from Russia
and City Hunter.
Tokyo Shock will release it on Blu-ray for the first time on 10th January 2012.
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 力王 Li Wang (Mandarin), Lik Wong (Guangzhou Hua), Strength King) is a 1991
Hong Kong films of 1991
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 1991:.-1991:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 1991 at...
Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
martial arts film
Martial arts film
Martial arts film is a film genre. A sub-genre of the action film, martial arts films contain numerous fights between characters, usually as the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often as a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently...
written and directed by Lam Nai-choi
Lam Ngai Kai
Lam Ngai Kai aka. Nam Lai Choi, Nam Nai Choi, Simon Nam is a Hong Kong-based film director. French critic Xavier Desbarats has repeatedly compared his work with that of Edward D...
, and based on the Japanese manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
Riki-Oh
Riki-Oh
is a manga which later adapted to an anime series and live-action film. Created by Masahiko Takajo and Saruwatari Tetsuya, the story is about a young man who has learned the art of Qigong from one of Chiang Kai Shek's bodyguards and has become so strong that he can literally punch holes through...
by Masahiko Takajo and Saruwatari Tetsuya. The film stars Fan Siu-wong, Fan Mei Sheng (Siu-wong's real life father), Ka-Kui Ho and Yukari Oshima
Yukari Oshima
Yukari Ōshima is a Japanese actress and martial artist. Born Tsumura Yukari in Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan, to a successful Japanese businessman and fashion designer and to a Chinese woman...
.
Fan Siu-wong plays Ricky Ho Lik Wong (Lik Wong is the character's given name, but the subtitles use the anglicized "Ricky") and Yukari Oshima
Yukari Oshima
Yukari Ōshima is a Japanese actress and martial artist. Born Tsumura Yukari in Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan, to a successful Japanese businessman and fashion designer and to a Chinese woman...
as Yomi (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 US around 1993. It is well-known for its extreme, 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
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
during Craig Kilborn
Craig Kilborn
Craig Kilborn is an American actor and talk show host. He was the original host of The Daily Show, a former anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter, and Tom Snyder's successor on CBS' The Late Late Show. On June 28, 2010, he launched The Kilborn File after a six-year absence from television...
'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 on video in Hong Kong around 2003-2005, 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 Terry Fan Sui Wong in the title role. Even the characters have different names (Ricky's name is He Shen in this film). Fan even sports the camouflage poncho seen in flashbacks and in the manga.
Plot
The plot closely follows the events depicted in the original Japanese comic and its animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
adaptation, with some minor modifications in certain instances.
By the year 2001, all prison institutions have been privatized
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
. Ricky Ho (Fan Siu-wong), a martial artist and former music student, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter after killing a crime lord who was indirectly responsible for the death of his girlfriend Anne (Gloria Yip
Gloria Yip
Gloria Yip Wan-Yee is a Hong Kong actress and singer of Guangdong ancestry, best known for her four films with director Lam Ngai Kai, and to Western audiences, her "special appearance" in Lam's Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky and principal supporting role in the cult classic Saviour of the Soul. ...
). Flashback scenes reveal that a group of thugs had captured her after she had witnessed their heroin deal. Anne was so scared in captivity that she ran upstairs and then leapt off the roof to her death.
One morning in the prison bathroom, an elderly inmate named Omar is viciously beaten by the captain of the cells, Samuel. As Samuel leaves, Ricky trips him, and Samuel falls on a piece of wood with nails on it, hand and face first. As Samuel devises a plan to get back at Ricky, one of the inmates suggest that they should have Zorro, a dangerous, morbidly obese inmate, to kill him. Omar is later informed by the guards that they turned down his probation after Samuel tells the guards that Omar was spreading rumors although this was untrue. Stricken by grief, Omar hangs
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
himself.
The next day, Zorro attacks Ricky, but is quickly killed along with Samuel. Shortly after, a member of the fearsome Gang of Four
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four was the name given to a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes...
named Oscar, the leader of the North Cell, suggests that Ricky should see the sadistic one-eyed Assistant Warden Dan. After Ricky confronts Dan, he suggests Oscar to kill Ricky. Outside the prison yard, Oscar and Ricky engage in a fight, which ends with Ricky defeating and killing Oscar.
Later on, Ricky soon discovers that the Gang of Four is growing illegal opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
for profit. Rogan, leader of the West Cell, discovers that Ricky had set the poppy garden on fire and they both fight. As the fight goes on, Brandon, leader of the South Cell, throws his needles and ties Riki-Oh up with them, leaving him defenseless. Meanwhile, the guards report to Dan that the Warden is returning from his vacation in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, prompting Dan to raise the Zero Alarm. While the fight continues, Tarzan, leader of the East Cell, interferes, claiming that he wants to fight Ricky. As the Zero Alarm goes off, Ricky and the Gang of Four part ways for now.
The next day, the Warden and his spoiled, overweight
Overweight
Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary...
son return from their vacation. Dan informs the Warden about the incidents during his absence, including the poppy garden which infuriates the Warden. Dan escorts the Warden to Ricky's cell. As the Warden questions him, Tazan bursts through the wall and fights Ricky once again, which ends with Ricky brutally defeating Tarzan. The Warden then activates a ceiling trap to crush Ricky. As Ricky struggles to stay alive, Tarzan regains consciousness and saves him from being crushed by the ceiling, at the cost of Tarzan's life.
Later, the Warden orders the inmates to bury Ricky alive, which they reluctantly obey. The Warden claims if Ricky survives by staying underground for a week, he will consider freeing him from prison. As the week quickly passes by, Ricky survives, but the Warden does not free him. Later that night, Ricky is chained in his cell. A fellow inmate, named Freddy, brings him food so Ricky can regain his power. However, another inmate sees this and informs Dan about it and in response, Dan kills Freddy. Dan, dragging Freddy's body with his hook, then opens Ricky's cell to show the body to him. However, Dan and the other inmate find that Ricky has broken free from the chains, and Ricky kills the inmate and knocks Dan's remaining eye out. As the guards rush to the scene, the inmates rebel and violently ambush Dan.
In the kitchen, Ricky, the prisoners, and Dan burst through the wall and the Warden shoots Dan with a gas-pressured bullet, causing him to inflate and violently explode. Rogan and Brandon then confront Ricky one last time, which ends with Ricky gravely injuring 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 quickly ends with Ricky throwing the mutated Warden into a meat grinder. In the finale, the prisoners rebel once again and start to attack the guards. Ricky then breaks the prison wall, allowing all the prisoners and himself to go free.
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 QigongQigong
Qigong or chi kung is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation...
. 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 is a fight scene between Ricky and a knife-wielding prisoner named Oscar. During the fight, Oscar slashes Ricky's right arm, but Ricky uses his teeth and left hand to tie the tendons together. Oscar then charges at Ricky, but Ricky slaps 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 disembowelment
Disembowelment
Disembowelment is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract , usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident, but has also been used as a method of torture and execution...
. 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: "You've got a lot of guts, Oscar!". This is similar to a scene in Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin, OM is a Canadian screenwriter, director, cinematographer and film editor of both features and short films from Winnipeg, Manitoba...
's Archangel
Archangel (film)
Archangel is a 1990 comedy-drama film directed by Guy Maddin.The film is set in 1919. News of the war's end has not yet reached the remote Arctic Ocean port of Archangel in Russia, so they fight on. The Russian Civil War is also underway. The protagonist is Lt. John Boles, a soldier missing a leg...
(1990), in which a man murdered by disembowelment saves his son by using his intestines to strangle his murderers before he dies.
In another fight scene, Ricky lands an uppercut on the giant prisoner, Tarzan, with such force that his jaw is torn off his head.
Another scene includes the warden's graphic death which depicts Ricky throwing him into a meat grinder. Ricky shoves the warden's body inside, only leaving his head. In that scene, so much fake blood was used that Fan Siu-wong could not get the blood off his skin for three days.
The film's low budget shows in the scene where Ricky's girlfriend Ying jumps to her death. For this scene, an obvious mannequin wearing her clothes is thrown off the top of the building. A dummy is used every time there is a close up.
Box office and reception
Riki-Ohs Category IIIHong Kong motion picture rating system
The Hong Kong motion picture rating system is a legal system of movie screening and rating. An official government agency issues ratings for any movie that will be shown in Hong Kong movie theatres.-History:...
rating (the Hong Kong equivalent of an NC-17) essentially destroyed its box office chances. It was one of the first Hong Kong movie that used Category 3 film rating system for non erotic media. It grossed $2,147,778 HKD in Hong Kong.
The film, however, has received surprisingly positive reviews overseas. Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
called the film "a rather astonishing, starkly stylized blood flood set inside a privatized prison." Kurt Ramschissel of Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
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
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
or Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
ever were." Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
currently has the film rated at 89% fresh on their Tomatometer.
Home video releases
Tokyo ShockMedia Blasters
Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...
released it on DVD in 2000.
On October 21, 2002, DVD was released in Hong Kong Legends
Hong Kong Legends
Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007...
at Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in Region 2
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
.
One year later, Hong Kong Legends DVD were released on December 29, 2003, at 3 disc set Manga in Motion including two classic martial arts films they were: Dragon from Russia
Dragon from Russia
Dragon from Russia is a 1990 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Clarence Fok and based on the Japanese manga Crying Freeman and written by Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami, and also produced by Dean Shek, and starring Sam Hui, Maggie Cheung, Nina Li Chi, Carrie Ng, Loletta Lee and Dean...
and City Hunter.
Tokyo Shock will release it on Blu-ray for the first time on 10th January 2012.