Golgo 13: Kûron no kubi (1977)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Yukio Noda

Writers:

Takeshi Matsumoto (screenplay)
Nobuaki Nakajima (screenplay)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

A master assassin, bent on blood!

Plot:

Blood for Money! Sonny Chiba is "Golgo 13", a cold, calculating, ruthless assassin, working for the U.S...

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | Drug Syndicate | Blood | Kingpin | Assassin

Cast

Sonny Chiba	...	Duke Togo (Golgo 13)
Lun Chia	...	Detective Smith (as Callan)
Etsuko Shihomi	...	Lam Ling
Emi Shindo	...	Yip Lin
Elaine Sung	...	Kong Laan
Dana	...	Leika
Nick Lam Wai Kei	...	Chow Lui Fung
Jerry Ito	...	Polanski
Chi-Chung Lee	...	Wong Tak Ming
Yao Lin Chen	...	Chan
Shu Tong Wong	...	Hung
Joana Tors	...	Maliya
Fiona Humphrey	...	Cassowary
Gam Shing Sung	...	Lee
Tien Hsi Tang	...	Baldy Nyudo

Also Known As:

Golgo 13 (International: English title)
Golgo 13: Kowloon Assignment (Japan: English title) (literal title)
The Kowloon Assignment

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M | USA:R

Company:

Toei Company

Trivia:

Golgo 13 manages to pull off one of those "bullet through the sniper rifle's mounted telescope" scenes inspired by the contemporary legend of Vietnam solider Carlos Hathcock in this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the final island sequence, when Golgo 13 emerges from the sea wearing shorts there is no sign of the leg wound he received a few scenes previously.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dip huet seung hung (1989)

I liked it.

If you look into Golgo 13 film adaptions, you're more likely to encounter the anime 'The Professional: Golgo 13' produced in the 80's. But little would you know that there were unfamiliar live action films beforehand. This film is what I'd call 'the familiar of the unfamiliar'.

This film came part of 'Sonny Chiba Collection Vol. 2'; a three-disc boxset consisting of Chiba's roles outside the popular Street Fighter films (not to be confused with the videogames) which I found one day (probably better than the three films on Vol. 1). What caught my attention was finding him portray Golgo 13. Having read an English translated first volume manga compiled with two stories of Golgo 13 beforehand, I was interested to watch.

If I could compare this film to the structure of the manga, I'd say it's done a good job. You don't see the title-role most of the time until he attempts an objective at the right time just like the manga. It probably makes sense for who he is; he's an assassin with an unknown past, unknown origin, etc. He's a master at sniping, he won't shake hands, and he only meets contact with the hirer once, unless something goes wrong with the objective.

Sonny Chiba, if I had to match the image of the role he plays, was probably the perfect role for Golgo 13. He has the strong eyebrows, the charisma, and the attitude like the character.

The story's great as well. Rather than follow the same familiar structure of 'waiting for the villain to get assassinated' from the manga, the film takes a bit of a different approach. That, I won't spoil for anyone.

The only downer I'd probably give, is the Japanese dubbing on gaijin (foreigners). It's fine with the Chinese actors, but with the Americans, it looks cheesy and unrealistic in a way. Sure, a foreigner could pick up the language with the accent too, but there's probably a hard chance on the rest to handle that reliably. But despite that, it shouldn't be such a big deal to be taken on.

Overall, in my opinion, you'll probably like this film if you've read the manga at least once. I dunno if those unfamiliar with the series will be glued to their seats for the entire picture, but I think the ol' Chiba action in parts would keep them entertained. Well, maybe. Give it a try at least. It's a stylish 70's flick from Japan to enjoy.