88 Films UK Blu-ray Synopsis: Director Nam Nai Choi (Erotic Ghost Story, The Seventh Curse), brings us a tour-de-force story of incarceration and injustice laced with supercharged action sequences and mounting prison-based tension. Set in the year 2001, where all correctional facilities have been privatised, martial artist Ricky (Fan Siu Wong) finds himself victim to the corrupt system when he is found guilty of the manslaughter of an infamous crime boss. Once in jail he must fight for his own survival when he is thrown into a world of enemies vying for his blood. Based on the Japanese Manga by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari, this cinematic adaptation also follows closely in the footsteps of a host of brutal prison dramas like Brute Force (1947), Escape From Alcatraz (1979) and Scum (1979) but of course it's all delivered with a distinctive Hong Kong-style powerhouse punch. (92 Mins)

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Hong Kong Legends UK DVD Synopsis: A radical fusion of brutal martial artistry, extreme violence and dark visuals, 'The Story Of Ricky' is one of the most infamous and disturbing film projects in the history of Asian cinema. Based on the Japanese comic-strip 'Riki Oh', the movie is set in a futuristic prison where Riki is mistakenly locked up and then systematically tortured by the sadistic warden and his cohorts. Through his radical actions and selfless attitude, Ricky quickly becomes a hero for the rest of the inmates and initiates a daring plan to break free from the brutal regime in which he is incarcerated. Featuring some of the most extreme violence ever recorded on film, 'The Story Of Ricky' is the holy grail of horror and manga fans all over the World. Gore-hounds who indulge in the dubious pleasures of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'Ichi The Killer' and 'I Spit On Your Grave!' will be in Seventh Heaven!! (88 Mins)

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Views: Golden Harvest continues its successful streak of Cat. 3 films with producer Chau Lam and director Lam Nai Choi returning for the infamous, Story Of Ricky. I have to admit, as much as I enjoy the film for what it is, I've never been a huge fan and probably got a bigger kick out of it back when I was a teenager. At that stage of my life, Hong Kong cinema was in full flow with weekly releases on VHS from the likes of Made In Hong Kong, Eastern Heroes, and Hong Kong Classics – not to mention what was on offer from 'private collectors' advertised in the back of Impact Movie Magazine and Combat. Of course, there was a lot of hype surrounding Story Of Ricky upon release (and ever since) so I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy – which would only be via a bootleg copy at that point. Many moons later as the DVD market exploded, Story Of Ricky got a glorious release via Hong Kong Legends which allowed fans to see a must better version overall. But this Blu-ray release from 88 Films just takes things to a whole new level. While the film still has many of the negative points that has come to annoy me over the years, any chance to see the gorgeous Fan Siu Wong half-naked in high definition is always a winner with me!

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As fun and as exciting as the violence is, I've often found Story Of Ricky to be quite a boring and bland film with average fight action and low production values. But perhaps watching this (again) straight after Lam Nai Choi's Erotic Ghost Story was the wrong thing to do. That film is gorgeously shot, exciting, and bursting with colour – obviously very different in style to this gorefest, albeit from the same team. Made a year or two after the popular sex comedy, Story Of Ricky is probably Lam's most well-known film and is based off the manga by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari. It's clear both he and producer Chau Lam enjoyed delving into comic book-style movies and previously worked together on the live adaptation of The Peacock King and its sequel, with the former being a lot more entertaining. They've also had a love of special effects across their shared productions, mixing some fantastic practical work with some cool camera tricks and animated sequences, most of which are quite well done and often entertaining. The great Philip Kwok returns as the action choreographer, having worked with Lam on The Peacock King and Erotic Ghost Story, and also stars in a small role as a friend of Ricky's. Unfortunately, given the martial arts talent involved and skills of Kwok's action choreography, the fights aren't really anything special and often don't allow for much of a showdown between fighters. The focus seems to be on the power of the opponents and more so, the strength of Ricky's punch – often seen bursting through people's stomachs, heads, or walls to great affect. Of course, that's not to say there isn't any hand-to-hand at all...

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The underrated and very handsome Louis Fan Siu Wong gets to strut his stuff as the titular character, and does a great job doing so. He looks amazing whether he's flexing his hot body and knocking the heads of people, or dressed up in the flashbacks while he entertains the super cute Gloria Yip – returning to work with Lam Nai Choi after working with him on The Peacock King 1 & 2. I've long been a huge fan of Siu Wong's since I first caught him in Yuen Biao's Righting Wrongs (Above The Law). Even then I knew the guy had something and about 5 years later, most of which he obviously spent in the gym, the young Fan came back a man in the fun Stoneage Warriors which was very quickly followed by Story Of Ricky. Unfortunately, and even after some strong roles in the likes of Michelle Yeoh's Project S (Supercop 2), Danny Lee's Organised Crime & Triad Bureau, and Brandy Yuen's Master Of Zen, Fan Siu Wong's career got a little wobbly soon after that saw him star in a number of low budget, straight-to-video movies that didn't really win the critics over. Thankfully, after a bit of a resurgence in films like Shaolin Vs Evil Dead 1 & 2, The Moss, and Donnie Yen's ground-breaking Ip Man, Fan has proven to Hong Kong cinema fans that he isn't planning to give up too soon. The bosses of the blocks are played by Frankie Chan Chi Leung from the awesome Full Contact and Operation Scorpio, the amazing Yukari Oshima in a gender-bending role, and lesser-known actors Wong Kwai Hung and Koichi Sugisaki. Each boss gets to get in on the action, deliver their own brand of violence and moves – with the Osh bringing her fair share of kicks and punches to the party. This was a busy and interesting period for Yukari having starred in almost 20 productions between 1991 and 92 – some of which were amazing like Angel (Iron Angels), Dreaming The Reality, The Big Deal, and Kickboxers Tears, and some cheaper productions including the insane Ultracop 2000. Apart from Fan Siu Wong's portrayal of Ricky, the Osh probably stands out as one of the more memorable characters in the film for me – and looks super cool at the same time. Another memorable character is played by Siu Wong's prolific father, Fan Mei Sheng, who stars as the gross and brutal assistant warden, Cyclops – the hook-handed man with a fake eye. The star of over 100 films, Fan senior started life in the business around the early 60s going on to star in a host of Shaw Brothers classics and films like Jackie Chan's Young Master and Project A 2, Yuen Woo Ping's Buddhist Fist and Dreadnought, and Sammo Hung's Millionaires Express as well as many others. It was great to see father and son share the screen and go up against each other with Papa Fan playing such an outlandish character. I can only imagine what a fun experience that would have been for them both, reteaming only a year or two later in Brandy Yuen's Master Of Zen. William Ho, star of over 150 Hong Kong films, stars as the eccentric prison warden who brings his spoilt son to work and has some bizarre tricks of his own up his sleeve. And the wonderful Lam Suet pops up as a gang boss who quickly gets on the wrong side of Ricky, which leaves him feeling more than a little sore.

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Regardless if I find the film a tad boring or not (in between the violence), Story Of Ricky will hardly be forgotten by fans of Hong Kong cinema anytime soon. Lam and the team had one hell of a challenge in bringing this to life, packed with some very ambitious effects work that helps viewers ignore the cheap set design and bad script. It entertains as expected with its excessive gore and wild comic-book violence, aided by a host of ridiculous characters and Fan Siu Wong spending the majority of the film topless. This stunning Blu-ray edition from 88 Films actually gives Story Of Ricky a new lease of life to, what was once, a very dated-looking film with great sharpness, bold colours, and lots of detail. And you can't be bad to that!

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Overall: Crazy fun and packed with wild violence, Story Of Ricky is worth the watch but may disappoint those looking for another martial arts epic!

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88 Films Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng, Audio Commentary with Kim Newman and Sean Hogan, Audio Commentary with Audi Sorlie and Chris Ling, Interview with Fan Siu Wong, Trailers.

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Hong Kong Legends DVD Extras: Audio Commentary with Jude Poyer and Miles Wood, Interview with Fan Siu Wong, Martial Arts Showcase with Fan Siu Wong, Trailers

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Watch my unboxing video of this 88 Films release HERE