This film essentially begins with an American army deserter named "Charlie" (Toshiya Yamano) trying to avoid duty in Vietnam by hoping to illegally obtain passage on a cargo ship in Yokohama that is headed for Sweden. To accomplish that, he has a stash of 500 LSD tablets of LSD which two of his friends named "Nobo" (Tatsuya Fuji) and "Sabu" (Jiro Okazaki) are trying to sell for their passage as well. However, upon trying to find a buyer, two separate gangs discover what is going on which complicates matters. To that extent, the first gang-comprised of females and led by an attractive woman by the name of "Maya" (Meiko Kaji)--eventually agrees to help them. Unfortunately, the other gang--which is loosely affiliated with Maya's gang and is led by a man named "Sakura" (Eiji Go)--doesn't seem to be on the same wave length. As a result, upon the direction of Sakura's clandestine boss "Yuri" (Bunjaku Han), the decision is made to acquire these drugs one way or the other. But what neither Yuri nor Sakura fully appreciate is Maya's reaction to their heavy-handed tactics. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this movie was a bit more fun than the others in the series due in large part to the music and psychedelic atmosphere depicted in the film. Where the movie falters, unfortunately, is in the selection of the person chosen for the role of Charlie for which it is stated in the film that he is both a Caucasian and a "round-eye." The problem was, that neither of these descriptions fit the actor chosen for that character. Not only that but, quite honestly, his English wasn't that good for an American either. Likewise, on a similar note, some of the action scenes could have used some improvement as well. Be that as it may, I still enjoyed this movie to a certain extent and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.
Review of Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal
