Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Gordon Cheatham (cheathamg) A lot of the comments have been about the film's relationship to the nature of violence, and it's true that it is a violent film. However, that's not the point of the movie. The film starts showing a young man sitting in the dark. He comes out into the light and walks slowly to where the action is taking place. He is dull, uninvolved, uninterested in what's going on. In the beginning, events happen to him. It is only after he is attacked by a hoodlum that he begins to take action himself. He volunteers for the mission to buy a gun and while on that expedition he is exposed to a wide variety of experiences that force him to become a more active personality. After his return he shows himself to be a take charge guy. The symbolism of the butterfly eggs is one of metamorphosis. The title "Boiling Point" has a meaning of change, the point at which water turns to steam. Finally, the last scene is of him in the same darkness as he was at the beginning, but this time when he emerges his movements are quick and jaunty. He is a different man.

bob the moo A local amateur baseball team has some trouble with Yakuza gangsters in the area, with the quiet and unassuming Masaki being one of those victimised the most. Pushed to the point of action, Masaki and his friend go to get a gun to challenge those thugs in power. This quest brings them into contact with the violent and erratic Uehara, who himself is losing to those within the Yakuza holding all the power.I have been using my DVD rental club to catch up on some foreign films recently and part of this has been watching the films of Takeshi Kitano. Doing this has reminded me what an odd but engaging character he is and, by extension, his films are and I continued to add a few more of his to my list. Boiling Point (not sure why, other than marketing reasons, they settled on that title given that the translation is 3rd and 4th day of a month) is sadly not one of his films that did anything for me other than put me off. It is not that it is without anything of note or merit, but more that it just doesn't hang together as an accessible piece of film. I say this with the full knowledge that Kitano's films are often an acquired taste and tend towards silence and fragmentation of timelines but here it did feel like a deliberate decision to push the audience away.With the narrative stuttering over the duration it is left to the moments to carry the film and there are not enough of them to go around. Moments of violence, sex and brutality are arresting no doubt and it is interesting to have such an abhorrent character as Uehara in a key place, but these are scattered and not developed. Instead we have the film generally moving in no specific direction in regards structure or characters and it is hard not to find it all a bit dull. The cast don't help by not making that much of an impression at any point other than scenes involving Kitano. He is not as interesting here as in other films but it is hard to ignore him as a violent force in the film. Alongside him the two boys look dull and uninteresting – a problem for them because they are supposed to be the main characters. As director and writer, Kitano may have been making cultural points (as some have suggested) and that context is required but, without the film helping me get it, I have no way to get this context and as a result the film just doesn't work for me. I'm not sold on this "context" argument because it does come from those who will not have Kitano questioned but either way the film is not a success if it cannot even serve those who are familiar with Kitano.Boiling Point is not a total waste of time as it does have moments and things of interest but as a total product it is inaccessible, dull and built on a plot that is either uninteresting, incoherent or both. Kitano's presence in the second half picks it up a little but nowhere near enough to be worthy of mention alongside the many much better films that he has made.

Stefan Ketelsen This movie started out pretty slow pacing and kind of boring. I gotta say i was confused the first 40 minutes. But then Takeshi Kitano showed up and then all the fun started. He acts perfect in this movie. You gotta love him in this role. I laughed my pants of. Its good to see some funny violence. One thing i liked about the violence is that there were no exaggerated sounds when hitting. There is just one thing and that is the ending. I have no idea on what happened and i have seen many discussing this topic. I gotta say i have no clue. I think everyone who likes the Tarantino violence should see this movie. Go and find it and buy it. You won't be disappointed.

Infofreak If this was the first Beat Takeshi movie I'd ever watched I'm sure I would be absolutely baffled! Even admirers of his 'Sonatine' and 'Hana-bi' might find this offbeat movie a bit difficult to get into. Certain sequences are brilliant and simply unforgettable, but as a whole the movie fails to gel, and ultimately disappoints. The first hour or so of 'Boiling Point' features an amateur baseball player who crosses some local Yakuza with disastrous results. The main character Masaki (Masahiko Ono) is deliberately a bit of an idiot and difficult to like. This makes it hard to care about his fate. The movie really picks up when Beat Takeshi's character is introduced. He is completely unpredictable and dangerous, and the most repellent role I have ever seen Takeshi play. These parts of the movie remind me more of Takashi Miike's work like 'Dead Or Alive' than Takeshi's subsequent movies. They are very dark, disturbing with surreal touches and bits of bizarre humour. Takeshi still remains one of the most charismatic contemporary actors, and he displays originality and talent as a writer and director, but I found the movie to be nowhere near as satisfying as 'Hana-bi', his masterpiece released several years after this one. Even Kitano's previous movie 'Violent Cop', which was much less ambitious (and a little uneven) was more enjoyable for me than this. So I say newcomers to Takeshi best steer clear of 'Boiling Point', but fans will find it to be fascinating albeit flawed viewing.