GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

RainDogJr Kensuke Hagane (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) is a beginner in the Yakuza world , he is very fearful and nobody respect him. After the prison release of Tosa (Takeshi Caesar), who is a Yakuza boss and the idol of Hagane, both are killed as a result of a gang problem with Tosa. Both corpses ends in the hands of mad scientific who creates a kind of robot with parts of both corpses. Now Hagane is part machine with some parts of Tosa, he is bullet proof and has an incredible strength. When he escapes from the scientific, he is looking out for revenge with the heart of his boss and idol, literally.This is the main plot of this unique direct-to-video film and that is full with elements that only a Miike film can have. The storyline is pretty simple and very common in a Yakuza or Mafia film because is just a revenge story but "Full Metal Yakuza" is not a common Yakuza film. Since the main character, Hagane, who is not the usual Yakuza/gangster with the bad-ass attitude, is more like a common guy and he is always afraid. And the sci-fi elements, with all the influence of Paul Verhoeven's Robocop, (Miike said that Verhoeven is one of his biggest influences) are really bizarre and sometimes funny. So the film is like the main character who is part Hagane, part Tosa and part machine; the film is part sci-fi, part Yakuza, part comedy and sometimes is really absurd. And creates bizarre situations like Tosa's girl is in love with Hagane but what she don't know is that Hagane has parts of Tosa, including his penis. Or Hagane eating metal with milk, really bizarre situations like in every other film of Miike.So i really love this film because is unique and for be released direct-to-video with a very low budget it has a very good response, in part because of the cult success of Miike in the West. But anyway, the direct-to-video industry of Japan don't have the same bad reputation of it Western counterpart. And according to the interview with Miike in the DVD, he likes to make films in this industry due to the creative freedom and the less stringent censorship.Conclusion: this film is great and unique, not Miike's best but anyway this film works because of it originality. And is hard that you know about this film before watching "Audition" or "Ichi the Killer", so if you watch this film, like in my case,is because you are into Miike so you must know his bizarre style. Takashi Miike is for me the kind of director that when you see a DVD with his name you don't care about anything else, you just want to see more of his films so i really recommend this film to anyone who likes Miike and also to anyone who want to know about him because this is a great start into his work. 9 out of 10DVD: i have the Region 1 DVD that i think is the only available in the American continent. Is really good, with interviews with the cast and with the crew and anyway is the unique form for watch this film. Also i hope that soon more films of Miike can be release in Mexico and of course with Spanish subtitles.

christopher-underwood Even if this is not top notch Miike it is always going to be worth watching. The first ten minutes or so are a little confusing (as usual) with, here a yakuza, there a yakuza, one shoots one and another shoots another. Shot and sliced splendidly it has to be said with fountains of blood from headless necks and severed arms in the sidewalk! Soon enough all is clear and a fairly simple tale unfolds enlivened no end by the main character being formed of 'full metal'. There is humour throughout and also some gruelling scenes plus a little more sex than I recall seeing in other Miike films. Not as profound as some, although we probably miss the Japanese social nuances, but a fun ride with more than the odd gasp and wince.

UncleBobMartin It is tiresome enough when so-called "professional" critics drag a film over the coals for not being an exact match to other work by the same director. It is oh-so-much worse when the same is done by amateurs who don't even know the full output of the filmmaker under this type of dissection.With splashy films like Ichi, the Dead or Alive series, and The Happiness of the Katokuris having reached these shores and found their audience, the smaller films have started to tag along. Visitor Q and Audition have been highly praised by many, but these low-budgeters were made after Miike had gotten his quirkiness shaped into a formula. A great formula, in my opinion, but a formula nonetheless.There are many more early films by Miike headed this way, and many of these, I suspect, will be much like Full Metal Yakuza -- stories told in a straight-up style with a view for pleasing an audience, rather than a cult.While it is no "American Cyborg," FMY is a rip-snortin' 100% straight-to-video exploitation venture by a skilled filmmaker who manages to more than meet the requirements of the genre. The story concerns a Yakuza who awakes from what had seemed to be certain death to find that he now has a body that is partially steel, partially his own, and partially made from the parts of his dead sempai...can you guess? Yes, we are going to have a revenge tale. And, as silly as it is, it's a lot less goofy (and will no doubt age better) than that overpraised pastiche of revenge tales, Kill Bill.Grab a six-pack, pop some corn, and forget about meaning while Uncle Takashi spins what is without doubt the best scifi Yakuza tale of the 20th Century.

suttercane I bought Full Metal Gokudo before seeing it, and felt a little ripped off. I've seen many Miike films, and this is the weakest, by far. Still, it's way better than most movies. It starts out fairly strong, but it gets really quite boring. Worth checking out though.