An action film in its purest form: a whole series of shootouts, chases and explosions set in harbour docks, night-time streets, nightclubs and warehouses. It's never boring! 

The bandana-wearing alpha heroes in this pre-John Woo era film evoke echoes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger in their heyday. Pop singer Sera Masanori plays traumatised cop Joe, who teams up with his old enemy (the fugitive Bruce) to take on the mafia boss who murders Joe's colleague in the opening scene (a small role played by the future king of V-Cinema, Takeuchi Riki).

More interesting than the average plot is the deliberate blurring of national identities: Joe works at the police station in “Little Tokyo” and drives an American police car in an environment with mainly non-Asian extras. This places Crime Hunter in a long tradition of universal action films, the best-known example being the work of Suzuki Seijun from the 1960s. As a “film you can't fast-forward”, Crime Hunter is consistently effective. Its short running time means it never gets boring and does exactly what it promises.