Gun Crazy: Episode 1: A Woman from Nowhere (2002)

Best movie of this year hands down!

From my favorite movies..

An Exercise In Nonsense

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I found this movie on Amazon in one of my continuously ongoing quests for finding Asian movies that I don't have in my collection. I wasn't initially expecting too much from "Gun Crazy: A Woman from Nowhere", so there wasn't much to live up to from the movie.And now having seen the movie, I can say that this is indeed an action movie, and nothing else. The story in the movie was so weak and thin that it was more transparent than air. This is basically about a woman who comes to a small military base where corrupt people control everywhere, and she must clear out the 'trash' and seek the revenge on the leader here because he wronged her when she was a young girl.Yeah, that is it. Then it is all action, fighting and guns shooting for the rest of the money. Oh, and I almost forgot about the hidden rocket launcher inside a prosthetic leg. Yeah, one of those in the movie too! Forget about acting, because there is very little of it in the movie, but then again, the action and shooting does make up for that and make up for the lack of a properly coherent story. And the dialogue, well, let's just say they tried to put in some - let's leave it at that.One of the most memorable parts of the movie were the Westerners at the military base. Let's put foreigners in a Japanese movie, and have them come off a cocky, arrogant people lacking intelligence."Gun Crazy: A Woman from Nowhere" is a movie where you just sit back and disconnects your brain entirely, just watching the shooting and action unfold on the screen. The movie requires absolutely nothing from your mental capabilities. And it is actually an enjoyable enough result, and I have orders more movies from the series.

"Gun Crazy: A Woman From Nowhere" is a Japanese female action film along the lines of the "Zero Woman" series, only considerably better. It is just as violent (which means VERY violent), less sleazy, and more action-packed, fast-moving and stylishly-executed. It's still a low-budget shot-on-video film, so don't expect anything flawless (for one thing, a lot of the characters sure could use a little more shooting practice), but it does not lack ambition (there are strong music and plot homages to Sergio Leone's westerns). Ryoko Yonekura is an impressive heroine (and probably one of the most beautiful women in the world - there is also a bad girl who is a stunner herself), and "Mr. Tojo" is a cruel, sadistic and smart villain. Worth getting if you like this kind of stuff. **1/2 out of 4.

Yet another remake of "Fistful of Dollars", Sergio Leone's remake of Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" (suggested by the novel 'Red Harvest').This one is strictly a B-Movie; taken as that, it is rather enjoyable. the direction is crisp, the acting full of verve, the limitations of its 'direct-to-video' photography well-handled.The weakness of the film is in the disastrous decision to marry the 'fistful'/'yojimbo' plot to a sub-plot from Leone's 'Once Upon a Time in the West'. Although leone directed both 'Fistful' and 'West', his motivations behind the two films couldn't be anymore different. The 'Man With No Name' (Eastwood) is a borderline socio-path with a soft spot for broken families. Harmonica (Chaeles Bronson) is obsessed with his own broken family, and obsessed with revenge. These two characters would not have had much to do with each other. In order to bring them together, 'Gun Crazy' has to twist it's plot and complicate it until we lose track of which story we're actually following.But this is a B-Movie after all, and filled with action and silliness; it's entertaining on that level, just don't expect anything more.

At first I have to admit, that I had my share of fun with 'Gun Crazy: Episode 1'. You certainly are not surprised about the fact you do not get a masterpiece of modern cinema, as the movie never pretends to be. Nevertheless the impact of wooden acting and lurid dialog is quite a blast. If you can handle this, perhaps with the help of some alcohol, switch of all higher brain activities and .... voila the raw & simple story develops a certain kind of charm. The heroine is cute and her garment plus arms look good as well. Gun battles are the movies central element and they are not something never seen before - partially even plagiarizing - , however they do not let you down. I was not bored at all and enjoyed the hour watching. Besides, the two GI's at the beginning are my favorite bad guys. Wooohah! Do I recommend 'Gun Crazy: Episode 1 - A Woman From Nowhere'?No way, people with good taste could ruin their sensitiveness.6/10