Memorable, crazy movie

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

After watching in horror as her young son is shot and killed in an ambush by a Yakuza hit-man upon a leader of the Italian mafia, a woman named "Gina Hayes" (Virginia Madsen) sets out to track down and kill all of those responsible. To that end, after buying a gun she subsequently hires on as a waitress at a nightclub frequented by members of that specific Japanese organization. In the meantime, however, the battle between the two rival groups becomes even more heated and this creates great difficulty for everyone involved. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this initially appeared to be a polished Hollywood production which had a good cast and definitely showed some promise. Unfortunately, like so many films made during this day and age, there was a lack of realism which strained its credibility to a certain degree. Additionally, the chemistry between Virginia Madsen and Toru Nakamura (as the Yakuza assassin by the name of "Seiji") was rather tepid as well. Having said that, however, I don't believe that this was necessarily a bad film by any means and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

After her son is shot and killed in a Yakuza hit, Virginia Madsen goes after the killers, using an ancient Japanese myth about dragon tattoos to plot her revenge. Unlike another female assassin film, "Ms. 45", the plot here is not straightforward, and is somewhat unpredictable. The movie is well photographed, and has an outstanding rhythmic soundtrack, that reminds me of the work of Philip Glass. There is plenty of violence, and things progress at an acceptable pace. It should be noted that Harry Dean Stanton has a very limited part as a tattoo artist. As female revenge thrillers go, "Blue Tiger" ranks with with the best of them. Recommended viewing. - MERK

In this Virginia Madsen vehicle, the writing is quite bad—not unusually bad, I would hurry to add; she looks extremely cool as a vigilante.Let's face it, Virginia is a piece of fine ass—not necessarily very glamorous—but rather like your sexiest neighbor, a very sexy midwife.Here she does a nice physical role, as an action star in a very average Yakuza thriller.The cast offers one more interesting actor—daddy Stanton.You can enjoy Virginia as a tough babe—Gina Hayes. If you're, like myself, her fan, then there's no discussion—BLUE TIGER offers Virginia a lead role; otherwise, the flick sucks rather badly.The action sequences are few and stale.'Gina', Virginia's character, is a single mother set to revenge the death of her little son who was accidentally killed by a Yakuza murderer. She trains to acquire some confrontational skills, learns to handle a gun, and learns Japanese.A mention of presumable interest to a Virginia fan:--no nudity, alas; only, now and then (a shower scene, a sex scene), small portions of her breasts. Yet she is, as I said, at her very hottest, and a delight to behold.

From the crop of "Yakusa thrillers" made in the eighties, this one is easily the best. It has it all : a great actress (Virginia Madsen of "Candyman"'s fame), a good story unfolding almost like a Greek tragedy, good direction with more than one nod to John Woo… Yes, there are shoot-outs, but not ONLY shoot-outs. In more than one aspect, this movie reminded me very much of Gans's excellent and sensuous "Crying Freeman".