Crazy Thunder Road is a difficult film to grasp, at least from a critical standpoint. On its surface it is a standard, albeit influential, Japanese biker film from the 80s. It concerns the internal power struggles within a biker gang when its leader, Ken, steps down. From there it dives into a chaotic frenzy as the bikers bounce from gang to gang, from leader to leader. But there is more at work here than just a simple exploitation film. Director Sōgo Ishii endows the film with a cynical self-conscious, as if it realizes how futile and expendable the lives of its characters are. An ex-punk rocker, Ishii seems to conclude that those who choose the biker way of life are doomed to self destruct. This becomes most apparent during the final fight were several gangs fight it out with fists, bats, guns, and dynamite. Ishii's coup de grace is that the only character to escape from the climax unharmed is a young boy who doubles as a drug dealer, as if to suggest that while the bikers may die, their way of life is invincible from one generation to another. As a film critic, I feel repulsed by its abject ugliness. But as a filmmaker, I am fascinated by its construction considering Ishii made it on 16mm film stock as a graduation project for film school. Despite its surliness, it is impossible to ignore the high craftsmanship of its kinetic editing and direction. In the end, Crazy Thunder Road is as frantic as the lifestyle that it emulates.
6/10
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