Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Interesting mixture of science fiction, and action, this story written by Seiichi Morimura for Kadokawa publishing with intent on making a movie out of it. It's the first movie to feature Hiroko Yakushimaru as the girl who has sixth sense to foresee danger in the near future.Ajisawa (Ken Takakura) is a special forces commando. He was on a training mission with orders not to engage with the civilians. But he runs into a massacre of the entire village (by only one man, hah !), with the sole surviver being the daughter of the murderer. The daughter has amnesia, but can tell the impending danger of anyone who is involved with her. She thinks Ajisawa is her father, and Ajisawa takes her in as a daughter. Now Ajisawa and the daughter gets involved in a news paper's attempt to bring military's corruption into public. More killing ensues, and Ajisawa, and the daughter becomes the next target for the military, and the corrupt power broker.The movie has all the Kadokawa regulars like Rentaro Mikuni, Hiroko Yakushimaru, and Haruki Kadokawa himself as the Defense force command leader. It was Haruki Kadokawa's early attempt to break out into the movie making business (and it shows). The plot is somewhat interesting, but the story lacks punctuation. It just drags on until the end. Both Seiichi Morimura and Haruki Kadokawa doesn't know how to showcase the coolness of the character through his movements on the screen. He just looks like a middle aged guy meandering through the mayhem created by the military, and the power broker played by Rentaro Mikuni. So what if Hiroki Matsukata comments "Ajisawa is the best commando". Ken Takakura never shows the edge.The acting was terrible. Hiroki Matsukata, Ryoko Nakano, Ken Takakura all did terribly. And they were supposed to be the leads for the military, the main protagonist, and the civilian sector. So there's no hope for this movie to ever make it out of the hole.Hiroko Yakushimaru must have a special talent, because even in this very early point of her career, her role looks interesting and intriguing. She always seems to be able to define her role with pinpoint accuracy.So the movie might have helped launch the career of Hiroko Yakushimaru, and rightfully so, because she was the only one that counts in this monotonous saga. Everyone, and everything else was a flop.It makes you left feeling "What was the meaning of the story ?". One thing I am impressed with is all the tanks and helicopters they've been able to assemble without the help of the Japanese Self Defense Force. It sure helps to have money.

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.

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.