User Reviews

A mysterious hired killer named Yo (Dacascos) - known as the Crying Freeman because after he executes his victims he sheds tears - is seen practicing his deadly trade by a woman named Emu O'Hara (Condra). Awesomely, he even has exploding guns to help cover his tracks. Soon after their chance encounter, they're both caught in the middle of a Yakuza war, with only the skills of Yo keeping them both alive. Detective Forge (Chong) and Detective Netah (Karyo) are trying to sort it all out, but Netah may have more going on than meets the eye. It may all seem simple, but in the world of the Crying Freeman, nothing ever is. Will the Power of Yo prevail? Find out today...

Crying Freeman is an excellent film that everybody should see. How it compares to the original Manga or Anime we wouldn't know, but as a film in its own right it succeeds brilliantly. In other words, you don't really need to know the source material to appreciate this. Maybe it helps, but there's plenty to recommend even if, like us, you were unfamiliar with its origins and background. Classily directed by Christophe Gans - known primarily for his Brotherhood of the Wolf (2008) - he balances sensitive and poetic passages that are downright painterly and beautiful with violent action setpieces involving everything from Martial Arts, gun-fu, blow-ups, and even a bow and arrow. Its artistic soul meshes well with the violence. The overall effect is intoxicating and adds up to be, we believe, a must-see.

Since this is quite obviously a work where the filmmakers clearly had high standards of quality, the whole thing seems solid and professionally made on every level - writing, directing, and, notably, the cinematography. It's all very solid, and it's comforting feeling you're in competent hands. Naturally, fan favorite Mark Dacascos shines in the role that he was perhaps born to play. Co-star Julie Condra must have been impressed - they later married. They are backed up by some familiar names: Rae Dawn Chong and Tcheky Karyo are on board and acquit themselves well, though, interestingly, Condra and Karyo were overdubbed by Deborah Kara Unger and Ron Perlman, respectively. Other B-Movie stalwarts are here to be found too, such as Byron Mann and Jerry Wasserman (check out our Virtual Assassin review for the reason why we're always pointing out these unsung actors) - and lest we forget fan favorite Mako.

A little over an hour in there's a bit of a lull, but that's common and to be expected. That's really the only criticism we have of Crying Freeman. And unlike most of its other brethren from 1995, this seems far more timeless. Shockingly - criminally - this didn't receive a U.S. VHS release during the video store era, and only came out here on DVD quietly in 2008, and that release is now out of print. There are some fine international releases out there, and even a Blu-Ray now. But why this didn't come out here when it would have done the most good for its reputation is puzzling and maddening. I guess it's all part of the adventure of movie watching and collecting - you never know what you're going to find, or where you're going to find it. Occasionally you turn up a gem like this.

Crying Freeman should be more well-known, especially in the U.S. We absolutely recommend this enjoyable winner of a film.

The story is told biblically. Starting at the middle moving to the beginning and leaving an open ending. Deserves more recognition.

Crying Freeman starts in San Francisco as Yo Hinomura AKA the Crying Freeman (Mark Dacascos) who works as an assassin for the Sons of the Dragon kills Takeshi Shimazaki (Kevin Ohtsji) & a couple of his bodyguards (Tong Lung & Kiyoto Matumoto) all witnessed by vacationing painter Emu O'Hara (Julie Condra) but Freeman lets her live... Jump to Vancouver B.C. where by a complete & utter coincidence Emu & Takeshi's father Shido Shimazaki (Mako) live, in a sort of 'kill two birds with one stone' situation Freeman takes out Shido in broad daylight in front of the court house & then turns his attentions to Emu who he just can't bring himself to kill so he has sex with her instead, hell it probably seemed like a good idea at the time. Back in Japan & a Yakuza bloke type guy named Ryuji Hanada (Masaya Kato) challenges the Sons of the Dragon & in particular Freeman as his head will make him powerful or something like that...

This French, Canadian, Japanese & American co-production was co-written & directed by Frenchman Christophe Gans & made by a lot of people with unpronounceable names both in front & behind the camera this is, in my humble opinion, total crap. The script by Gans, Thierry Cazals & the uncredited duo of Roger Avery & Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik which takes itself extremely seriously is based on the popular Manga comic by Kazuo Koike & Ryoichi Ikegami & subsequent Japanese Anime which I have seen but unfortunately it was back in the 90's & can't remember a single thing about it other than it was better than this live-action version. For a start it's pretty slow going & repetitive along with the fact that there's a criminal lack of proper over-the-top Anime action, there are constant dull shoot outs where the Freeman can shoot & kill dozens of bad guy's who no matter how hard they try or how heavy they are in number just can't even get a shot off, I hope these Japanese mafia bosses aren't paying these guy's that much because they ain't much use! Then there's the fact that at least some of it had to be Americanised with a couple of American cops & some of it being set in the US, the storyline is weak & is your basic inner struggle within a powerful crime organisation with someone wanting to take it over. I suppose Freeman is supposed to be some sort of anti-hero as he kills swiftly but also has some sort of moral code & predictably turns soft when the time comes to kill a piece of skirt who he fancies. It's all been done before & much better as well, from the rubbish James Bond style opening titles to the happy ending as the Freeman & his bird ride off into the sunset on a speedboat Crying Freeman is a crying shame...

Director Gans making his full length film debut clearly doesn't know how to stage or edit an action sequence, this is really hard going actually. For a start there's absolutely no variety in the action with a constant stream of virtually identical shoot outs although there is some samurai sword play at the end which is the only reason I gave this 2 stars out of 10 instead of just the 1, the violence is tame & the blood very restrained with only one blood spurt right at the end. Then there's the constant annoying use of slow motion, seriously this film has more slow motion in it than any other film I can remember seeing. In fact if all the slow motion scenes were played back at normal speed Crying Freeman would probably run over 40 minutes shorter, everything is seen in slow motion from people running & walking to people falling over to people shooting guns from drink being poured to sex scenes there isn't 5 minutes that go by without at least something being shown in slow motion. Now this is fine when it's used properly but here director Gans just does it for the hell of it or because he mistakenly thought it looked cool & would automatically make his film stylish which it most certainly doesn't.

With a supposed budget of about $5,000,000 this had a much bigger budget than I thought while I was watching it, I'm not sure where all the money went as there are no big stars or particularly big action scenes either. The filmmakers obviously didn't go anywhere near Japan & it was shot entirely in Vancouver in Canada. The acting isn't up to much I'm afraid, if you like happy stories Mark Dacascos & his co-star Julie Condra actually married each other after the film in real life.

Crying Freeman is what I would personally term as a total waste of 100 odd minutes, I didn't like it & have no fondness for it at all. Disappointing as far as I'm concerned, stick to the Manga & Anime instead.

I'll start by saying this: Mark Dacascos is one of the most under-rated martial arts performers ever, usually playing someone's antagonist or sidekick. But speaking of kicking, the man is unbelievably talented as an on-screen martial artist, and has great screen presence as well. "Crying Freeman" based off the long-running famous Japanese manga/anime by Kazuo Koike is an odd 90's bit of shlock that attempted to make a star out of Dacascos, along with other 90s entries "Only the Strong" and "Drive" (spoiler alert: both are better movies than this).

The premise of Crying Freeman has potential, but is filled with quirkiness, and I can see why this movie never had a mainstream US release (aside from ordering a region-free DVD from specialty distributors, the movie has only been released in the US legally in 2018 on Amazon Prime Video, which is how I saw it). The ideas in it are a mixture of complex and rehashed, but based in manga motifs that only work questionably in a major film release. We have a story of a deadly hitman who used to be an award-winning...pottery artist (sure, okay), who witnessed a murder by the Chinese mafia and was then brainwashed (through acupuncture of all things!) into being an expendable murderer for the gang's next hit, but upon seeing his efficiency and skill, the mafia decides to keep him on-board and train him into being their number one assassin, supposedly able to be subconsciously commanded to kill at will, without hesitation due to his brainwashing. His true conscience and personality attempts to fight back and manifest despite his conditioning, and every time he takes a life or finishes a mission, Freeman uncontrollably sheds tears (hence the "crying" in the name, the "freeman" being an ironic, taunting nickname given to him by the gang, as he's anything but what that name implies).

There's interesting stuff there, and when a beautiful artist (named Emu? Is her mother "Ostritch? This is a name that should've been adjusted to "Emmy" or "Emma" in the live-action release, especially since they didn't use an Asian actress to play the role) who's the daughter of a government official witnesses one of his kills, he falls in love with her and starts to question his allegiance and fight back against his conditioning, resulting in him having to make a stand against his masters and deal with the effects of his rebellion throughout the crime world.

It all sounds decent on paper, but a mix of poor writing and odd production choices (probably due to budget constraints to give them the benefit of the doubt) keep Crying Freeman from achieving its potential. Director Christophe Gans clearly knows how to work a camera and has skill at making a shot: there's some legitimately good-looking shots and scenes in this movie, with quality locations at times. His other collaboration with Dacascos, the fun, genre-blending "Brotherhood of the Wolf" from the early 00s, demonstrates Gans' talents much more effectively. One of the major problems with Crying Freeman is an addiction to slooooow-mooootion, bringing every fight or action scene to a crawl. A lot of the worst hallmarks of 90s action are on display in Freeman: not just the slow motion, but also a protagonist who never needs to reload his weapons, uses unnecessary and energy-wasting gymnastics in the middle of fight scenes, can blind fire into groups of well-armed goons and effortlessly hit every single one of them lethally, and rarely ever taking cover in a firefight, despite bullets flying everywhere. There's several shots where it's established that an enemy has a clear line of fire at Freeman, and somehow, despite shooting, doesn't hit him.

Modern series like "John Wick" (that Dacascos would ironically go on to star in much later in his career, also as a Katana-wielding assassin) have made going back in time to watch action like this hard. Even back then, there were better-choreographed gun battles as seen in many Hong Kong-made John Woo films around and even before that time period, but the gun battles here haven't aged well. The tactics and strategies Freeman uses, who we're told time and again is a masterful assassin through dialog, are either basic or almost totally non-existent. Clearly, choreographing complex action wasn't a top priority.

It struck me as such an odd choice to have a world-class martial arts star cast in something that would have plenty of opportunity for fighting to happen, and then have so few moments where you have that star showcase his skills. Without surprise, the final where Emu (bawk, bawk...do emus go 'bawk'?) and Freeman make their stand against hordes of Yakuza is the best part of the movie, allowing Mark Dacascos to really tear into the goons, even if it's too brief. Something else odd about this flick is how voice-dubbing is used. Tcheky Karyo, who played a wonderfully over-the-top, corrupt police commissioner in Kiss of the Dragon, bizzarely has his voice dubbed over by none other than "Hellboy" great Ron Perlman. Why not just cast Ron Perlman if you didn't like Karyo's accent? Or have Karyo's character be a French-national who's immigrated, explaining his accent? Apparently, Julie Condra who plays Emu was also dubbed over, and that makes sense since her whispery, almost softcore porn-style narration starts to grate on you about midway through the movie.

Between the cast, director, and concept, there was potential here. Speaking of the cast, the great, also underappreciated Bryon Mann shines in his supporting role as the cold, ruthless Koh, Freeman's main point of contact and handler for his missions. You also have a cameo from screen-legend Mako, made famous from Conan the Barbarian and the cartoon series Samurai Jack, so clearly the production was able to pull in some top-class talent. Crying Freeman was still enjoyable to me due to sometimes decent cinematography, a solid ambient soundtrack, my nostalgia for 90's cheese-fests, my love of anime and manga as a medium, and my fandom behind some of the cast, but that's me. Unless you're a Dacascos fan, a fan of the source material, or can find the fun in unintentionally funny action romps from this era, I would say that Crying Freeman is something that you can let slip by, but if you do end up seeing it, you won't be shedding tears, either. I give this time-capsule curiosity a 6 out 10. With some writing tweaks, a good cast, a solid choreographer, and a cameo for a now middle-aged Dacascos, a remake of Crying Freeman could do really well.

Let me know when the movie starts as this Zelda dragon from Nintendo is cartooning its way around the introduction credits. Let's go already.

"His name is Robert Paulson." This guy's name is YO.

Not making any sense, YO enters Canada and imports a suitcase full of plastic explosives through customs.

Elsewhere, Mako is introduced and surrounded by Yakuza cohorts and would you look at all the poker faces! Smile, boys. Why so serious?

Some chameleon assassin has infiltrated Gastown BC and operates as a well-dressed hitman out of his hidden Beaver Lake cave in Stanley Park. He must takedown some art dealers who have double-crossed him with fake Rembrandts and bogus Ming crockery.

Everyone is sophisticated in this movie and move at slow motion. I bet they even wear their glasses and suits to bed.

The lead actor reminds me of Pauly Fuemana. He sang that "How Bizarre" song. Don't recall it, huh? "Wanna know the rest? Buy the rights." Never mind.

I'm sitting here like a toadstool watching this.

It thinks it's high-class but in reality - it's boring.

Some "Lonely Planet" guide goes on a jaunt from San Francisco to Vancouver, England, China, then Japan, where she meets YO AKA The Red Dragon.

They take pottery classes to Righteous Brothers 'Ghost' music.

Yuppy art auctioneers get shanked.

Red Dragon makes love to a stone statue while being tortured by the witch from "Double Dragon 3: The Sacred Stones."

It's all in slow motion in the tradition of a John Woo movie and annoying as all hell.

What's this supposed to be - the 'Godfather' of Asian cinema?

Why do all these bad boys in karate movie feel sorry for themselves? It's pathetic. Grow a pair.

This is doing absolutely nothing for me. I'd rather watch dog poop grow hair and mold.

Hold that thought. Naked flesh. For an old lady... she's okay.

Everyone in this movie acts like they're in control but you know they'll all die in the end.

And all this John Woo murder is great for the Japanese tourism industry.

I heard a rumor that if you visit a restaurant in China and clean up your plate that it insults the chef. Supposedly you are to leave a few spoonful's on the plate. It tells the chef that he sated your appetite. But at the price they charge for Chinese cuisine it's all onion, rice and light on meat, so I'm gobbling that slop down and informing the chef that his lousy tradition is outdated and that he's a hustler in the food industry. Not that I'm going to that part of the world anyway.

The only thing that livened this movie up was the naked Japanese cougar, who used the coat hanger harness swing to ride Sheriff Boyle from 'Silence of The Lambs' in the closet.

As guessed, all the baddies die at the end in a slow-motion display of opera proportions. Two people take fatal shots to vital organs yet manage to solider on in defiance. (I think if you're stabbed in the heart, the old cigarette plastic trick won't plug that hole and let you live.)

The jungle explodes from Nintendo timer devices and the two love birds float off to some other adventure.

This movie didn't give birth to a sequel, did it? Heaven help us.