Content Warning: The following review discusses scenes of sexual violence.
A sweaty biker gang leader with a head shaved in the shape of a swastika huffs fumes from a plastic bag, swearing revenge and delivering exposition at the same time. Does the antisemitism of Japanese Neo-Nazi bike gangs feature in the plot of Detonation! Violent Riders (1975)? No. But it does signal to the viewer “this is a bad guy,” which is the level of nuanced characterization this film and its genre gravitate towards, even when reaching for more. It’s a reference to a real-life member of the Bōsōzoku gang featured in Godspeed You! Black Emperor (1976). As Michelle Kisner puts it in her riveting zine essay included with Violent Riders, this swastika was often worn for a shallow form of shock value among the post-war rebellious youth of Japan. Shock value has its fans. When this motorcycle gang war film attempts to elevate the way it discusses sexual assault, cycles of violence, and lost youth, it may attract critical appreciation. But it shocks for observation’s sake, not catharsis. A pitying glance where a strong stare is required. Detonation! Violent Riders is a gorgeous Blu-ray pickup that will leave many viewers uncomfortable or empty-eyed.
“Don’t cry. Women’s tears put me off.”
Photographed by Yoshikazu Tamasawa (The Bullet Train; Violent Streets), there are many sequences of this film that would have critics and filmbros hollering from the rooftops if this were a new theatrical release. Filmed to absurdity at the golden hour, the scenes of melodrama bring the emotion to an epic level. The stunt sequences shake with energy, filmed on the backs of bikes as you constantly wonder how no one died making this movie. These men weave between real moving trucks and turn their wheels at intense angles to show off. The transfer is spectacular, and the images feel like they should be iconic. Should be. To truly elevate from image to iconography requires a properly tuned subtext and a true grip on the handle.
Detonation! Violent Riders has the silhouette of a hidden gem and some will find it so. Nihilism loves a blunt object. It follows the best biker around, Koichi Iwaki (The Beast to Die; Anita) as Iwaki. He is torn between the straight and narrow, personified by Michiko (Tomoko Ai (Terror of Mechagodzilla; Flight Attendant: Scandal)) and the way of the rebel, temptingly represented by Mayumi (Junko Matsudaira (Deadly Fight in Hiroshima; The Bullet Train)). She is the girlfriend of a local gang leader, but she leaves him as soon as she spies Iwaki so she can happily have bad sex with him before heading to a party on the verge of orgy. Michiko is a local good girl who didn’t realize what kind of party she entered, until she became the literal prize of a duel, and Iwaki is goaded into protecting her honor.
Throughout the film, these two women are very purposefully made props in the battles of these aimless young men to the point where the safety and consent of these women become weapons of violence aimed at other men. Removing the agency of a character from a story is a perfectly valid idea for a storytelling device, though it is almost always one employed by male writers to voiceless women. If done right, nuance prevails, but with the wrong tone, in the wrong form, the point of pain becomes the pointing and not the pain. Such is the case here.
Iwaki is a great performance of a nonchalant greaser trying to make sense of a world with no opportunity. The evil of the world slides off his brow with Shakespearean power. Michicko, as well, gives one of the great stonefaces, twisted with pain in its stillness. But in the film’s attempt to channel the nonchalance of its genre hero, it fails to handle its heavy ideas with needed chalance. Upsetting displays of sexual assault, vengeful gang-rape, and coercion fail to punctuate disturbance. The film becomes a run-on sentence of violence for drama’s sake while a bloodless half-reality robs the action of that same name, “violence.” Deep wells can run under fun entertainment, and great art can be a blast, but scales require balancing, and Detonation! Violent Riders finds none. A release for the enthusiasts only.
Detonation! Violent Riders Limited Edition Special Features:
- Blu Ray Presentation In 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
- Original Mono 2.0
- Audio with new English Subtitles
- *NEW* Audio Commentary by Ashley Darrow and Jonathan Greenaway of the Horror Vanguard Podcast
- *NEW* Essay by Nathan Stuart
- Stills Gallery
- Trailer
- *NEW* Original and Newly Commissioned Artwork by Ilan Sheady
- Includes numbered obi slip [4000]
- Booklet notes by Michelle Kisner
Available on Blu-ray July 22nd, 2025.
For more information, head to the official 88 Films Detonation! Violent Riders webpage.
For more information, head to the official MVD Entertainment Group Detonation! Violent Riders webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Recommendation
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