Arano is one pissed-off dude who's always violent, cruel and who never seems to back away from a fight, or at least take revenge on those that hurt him. One day a group of local Yakuza beats Arano up and later they take him into their group to fight some meddling Yakuza, but they do not realize what they're in for because Arano never stops and it doesn't take long before the guy reveals just how crazy he is.
Pornostar is obviously not a movie about a pornostar, but instead about a guy named Arano who one day gets involved with some local Yakuza. I believe that there were some problems with the actual title of the film with the movie first being called Tokyo Psycho in english, later to change to Pornostar and then to change and finally being released under the name Tokyo Rampage. But since the japanese title of the movie is 'Poruno sutâ', which directly translates to Pornostar (well duh!), I'm just gonna keep refering to the film as Pornostar because that is what I first heard it being called as well as it says so on my copy of the film. So why is it called Pornostar one might think? The answer to that seems nowhere to be found and the movie does not deal with any porno, nor does it deal with any stars for that matter. One thing I can tell you about Pornostar though is that it was directed by Toshiaki Toyoda, the same man who gave us Blue Spring which was one great film...and so is Pornostar, Tokyo Rampage, Tokyo Psycho - whatever you wanna call it.
When I first heard about the film, it sounded like it would just be about this one crazy guy who one day decides to start killing Yakuza for no apparent reason. While the guy do kill a bunch of Yakuza, that is still not really what the movie is all about. Basically, Arano does one day end up with two members of the Yakuza, kills one of them and gets beaten up for it, but later they realize that the guy's not half-bad, so instead of killing him, they let him join the group. After that, we get to follow a bunch of characters from that same group, Arano and everything they're up to. There are some killings but I would have to say that the title Tokyo Rampage is actually a bit misleading. Sure, the guy does a lot of things, but the word rampage alone sounds like it's just one big bloodbath all the way through, and that's really not the case.
 
The guy that the film deals with is played by Chihara Kôji who you might have seen in 1-Ichi. The character remains nameless throughout the film, but over at IMDB they called him Arano so I'm going with that even though I'm not sure it's correct. One thing you'll notice straight away is just how perfect the guy is for the part. He looks a bit creepy and rough, doesn't say too much and is basically pretty ice-cold. Once in a while though it feels like there's a more gentle side to him, but every time you'd think so, he soon after proves that that's not the case at all. Even so, he's still somewhat likable even though he's acting just a bit too weird at times.
The movie deals with youth-culture as well as it deals with crime-culture and it looks pretty gloomy and dark (not as in so you can't see dark) all the way through. I believe that the pacing is very good and while the movie takes its time, it never really feels slow and even though there are scenes where basically nothing really happens, they still serve a purpose that delivers a certain feel. Pornostar has a lot of atmosphere and feels very realistic and so does most of the violence in the film, but there's really nothing that is too much to sit through. Except for that it has an interesting story and very interesting characters, the score which is brilliant also adds a great feel and manages to capture it all in a very good way.
Pornostar might be a bit violent but not really as violent as it first may appear to be. I would say that first and most it's a really good drama that has a story that is interesting, easy to follow and especially easy to get caught up in. The acting is truly terrific with Chihara Kôji standing out as the stone-cold not very talkative guy that he is, or that is his character. If you're the least bit into japanese cinema, Pornostar is a great pick.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Poruno sutâ, Tokyo Psycho
MOVIE YEAR: 1998
DIRECTOR: Toshiaki Toyoda
WRITING CREDITS: Toshiaki Toyoda
GENRE: Crime, Drama
CAST: Chihara Kôji, Akaji Maro, Rin Ozawa
COUNTRY: Japan
RUNTIME: 98 min
RATING: 9/10
Pornostar (Tokyo Rampage) Website/IMDB Click here
Pornostar (Tokyo Rampage) Trailer Click here
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