Wonderful character development!

the audience applauded

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This film stars Ken Takakura as Ajisawa, a firmer member of the Special Forces, now a life insurance salesman. There was a massacre in a rural village in Japan, and Ajisawa ends up adopting the only survivor, Yoriko (a young Hiroko Yakushimaru). She has amnesia but can also has a sixth sense of dangerous things just ahead. Her memory slowly returns. The local government wants Ajisawa dead, and you begin to understand why. Among the questions about this enigmatic figure you have to ask yourself is, did he commit the massacre, thereby killing Yoriko's parents? This film has that psychological intent to it, and there are moments of violence. About the only criticism I have is that its a bit too long, but it still keeps your interest. For lovers of the kind of action drama that eventually spawned Rambo, but this film is just as much about story as action. Stay with it, I think you'll like it. The acting is uniformly good.

There's a good movie in here somewhere, but it's never allowed to escape. 'Never Give Up' seems to be making an important point about the state of Japan in the late 1970s, where the contained military forces will turn on their own people without hesitation or mercy. The main character comes up against a neo-feudalism, in which a single clan can control a town's big business, industry, press and police force. It's also the story of the hero's redemption, where humanity is reclaimed at a heavy price. Takakura Ken is a fine leading man and most of the supporting cast are adequate.So why does it stumble so badly? The excessive length kills the pace and tension, not helped by flat direction. The script takes an eternity to set up the leading characters and various dramatic conflicts. It also relies on the Idiot Plot, where the story can only progress if the characters behave like idiots. The action set-pieces, though gory, are sparse and indifferently staged. Even Takakura's noble, stoic persona - used to good effect in 'The Yakuza' - is poorly served by a character who takes forever to decide what he needs to do, even though it's obvious to the audience from the first few scenes.MAJOR SPOILER My biggest problem with the film is Takakura's failure to tell his adopted daughter why he was forced to kill her real father (the latter had been driven mad by fungal poisoning, slaughtered his fellow villagers and family, and was about to kill her). There may be a good reason - cultural or psychological - for his silence but I've no idea what it is. Furthermore, the daughter's psychic powers are forgotten completely in the final act, when they would come in really handy.

The English title of this film is "Never Give Up". I very nearly did. A dull, plodding film starring the usually fabulous Ken Takakura, this woeful piece of film-making will stretch your willpower to the limit - the urge to reach for the stop button on your video player during its 148 minutes duration is almost irresistible. There were parts of this film that reminded me of Rambo - an ex super commando up against the rest of the world. But there's no heart to it. The characters are cold and so I didn't really care what happened to them. And the special effects are rubbish: for example, when the daughter gets shot near the end of the film, it looked like someone had fired a paint ball at her. Complete hogwash. Avoid.

A great action film with a human drama, featuring Ken Takakura of "Black Rain". A story about a soldier in a secret army division who escapes, and on the way, finds humanity. A sort of modern day samurai story. Stoicism and lyricism abound. I consider it as one of the best Japanese action films. In Japan, the movie was a big hit when it was released, but I have been unable to find a video in USA with English subtitle.