It's been a couple days since I watched it, and I just had to let it sink in. Fans of the Bronson/Thompson pairing will know what to get (being no restrictions within a Cannon production), but for some particular reason it didn't hit home for me. Well not straight away. This is probably the pairs' most daring work (yeah more so than "The Evil That Men Do (1984)"), and fittingly the last they would make together in a technically well-made fable. What ruffled a lot of feathers when this came out was the exploitative topics at hand (child prostitution, repressed sexual desire and drug addiction), and the way they were handled and brought across. They are gruelling, stomach churning and sleazily downbeat, but never did it struck those cords with almighty, gut-busting force. The ugliness of these facets definitely creeps in, but the emotional drive while being there, feels quite thin with an uneasy and bitter underbelly taking hold.

Thompson's sufficiently polished direction (though a more raw edge to it would've been better) paints a rotten, grimy and scummy texture through heavy atmospheric vibes than anything visually punishing. Gideon Porath's leering cinematography streamlined the feature. For a Bronson film, action makes little head-way. Quite strange, but its slow going pace lets the basic premise evolve, with its two separate stories eventually interlocking with each other with a neat slice of irony and karma, which made the material not so predictable and largely authentic. However don't worry too much, as Bronson does gets his hands dirty, just the way we like it too. Serving out his 'own' unpleasant justice in few memorable sequences!

Some might say that Bronson in the latter end of his career (mainly through the 80s) made a living out of the same character and motivation. But an earnestly scathing script, helps give Bronson something interesting to work with (even a bit of western and eastern cross-culture differences plant themselves in early, and play a bigger part to story's progression) and makes for a weathered, but righteously hard-hitting performance of a multi-facet character. In support; Juan Hernandez's seedy pimp is a disturbingly slimy portrayal and James Pax's square Japanese businessman with an uncontrollable sexual urge effectively counter-punches Bronson and Hernandez's characters. None of these are clean characters, even though Bronson has the badge. He shows his insecurity, of the subject and uses it to make his actions justified. In the lesser co-starring roles is an exceptional Peggy Lipton as Bronson's wife. Perry Lopez is good in the loyal, but tired cop partner. An imposing Sy Richardson plays one of Hernandez's goons. Amy Hathaway shines as Bronson's on screen daughter and Kumiko Hayakawa impresses with a movingly gusty turn as the young kidnapped girl. As for Greg De Belles' funky music score, I found it sloppy and unsuited instead of sapping bleakness. I just wanted the musical pieces to get under my skin.

The dark, unsparing perverse tone doesn't make it enjoyable entertainment. However it really does linger on the mind, and holds a steady curiosity to it.

When great director/actor combinations are talked about the team of J. Lee Thompson and Charles Bronson is not usually mentioned. Probably because the output of nine joint ventures between the two of them runs the gamut from the really good action entertainment to the mediocre. Unfortunately Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects falls in the latter.

That's sad because Kinjite could have been a whole lot better. But for the life of me I don't understand why it was necessary to make the father of the missing Japanese girl, a guy used to getting some cheap jollies because the romance in his marriage has run out. That might have been good for another film altogether, but it served no purpose here.

A straightforward cop drama with Charles Bronson as a vice cop who's seen a bit too much in his line of work and has a strong prejudice against orientals. That part could also have used a little explaining as well. But he's going to have to overcome it if he and patient partner Perry Lopez are going to locate a captured Japanese school girl.

Bronson's time in the vice squad have told him exactly where to look for the kidnapper. A stylish, murderous pimp played by Jaime Fernandez is the guy and he and Bronson have some history. In fact in the film's best scene, Bronson made him eat an expensive rolex watch and set his car on fire.

At one point Fernandez happens to spot Bronson and Lopez in an all night delicatessen and this being after his rolex snack, he sprays the place with an Uzi killing everyone, but Bronson and Lopez. I really think that little incident would have had more than a couple vice cops from the LAPD after Fernandez. But that's another terribly big hole in the plot.

Still there is a very rough justice in the end for Fernandez. I wish the whole film had been better though. This was the last film of the Bronson-Thompson team and J. Lee Thompson's last as a director. He should have gone out with something better.

With more holes than a sunken U-boat, and more cheese than a medium pizza, Kinjite still manages to entertain those who are fond of Bronson, or those who are fans of the more gritty action films of the era. The film has strong moments, but it also suffers at times from overly lazy dialogue, direction and overall storytelling, and it's hard to forget the painfully bad 80's music in this film. The fight scenes are also far from great, however there is enough grit, sleaze and action to make the film a worthy watch for many. The film is undoubtedly a fairly confused morality tale, or perhaps a morality tale within a confused society is the better way of describing it? In the end, the film does rely on a sort of karmic justice to satisfy it's audience, and to a decent degree, it works, at times however it just leaves us asking some very strange questions. There are a few parts that don't really make sense. Of other note, there is an early but very small appearance by Danny Trejo in the film, as well as a decent performance from a very young Nicole Eggert, as well as a strong performance by the little known but hard to take your eyes off of Amy Hathaway. Worth a look for some, but not to be touched with a ten foot pole by others. My rating... 5.5/10.

This thrilling picture titled Kinjite (which means "to forbid" in English) contains suspense , noisy action-packed , intrigue , thrills and lots of violence . The meaning and relevance of this movie's title is that it refers to subjects such as sex, child molesting, prostitution which are forbidden topics in Japanese culture . It deals with the cop Lt. Crowe (Charles Bronson , he was about sixty-seven years of age) who takes on a pimp (Juan Fernandez) and a slimy hoodlum (Sy Richardson) whose speciality is recruiting adolescents including the daughter of a Japanese business man (James Pax). The lieutenant married to Kathleen (Peggy Limpton) has a teenager girl (Amy Hathaway) and is helped by another policeman (Perry Lopez). He then stalks the baddies and takes the law into his own hands , acting as judge , jury and executioner ; searching vengeance on crooks , pimps making the neighborhood safer and bumping off delinquents and street scum.

This standard Bronson movie is full of action , thrills, and disturbing scenes . Bronson in his usual stoic acting displays efficiently his weapons such as ¨Harry the Dirty¨ and killing mercilessly nasties . This is the last movie Charles Bronson made for Cannon Films and it represents the tenth and final of ten teamings between producer Pancho Kohner and star actor Bronson . It's certainly thrilling , though the morality may be questionable , even in this time, as the spectators were clearly on the Lt. Crowe Bronson's side . Disagreeable scenes and loathing theme as abuse of children with terrible end . Screen debut from Baywatch's Nicole Eggert as a teen prostitute and Danny Trejo as an inmate in a final brief appearance -almost extra- . Unappropiated and anti-climatic musical score composed by means of synthesizer .

The fare was badly directed by J. Lee Thomson , in his last one , he previously had a nice track record in the English cinema from 1950 until 1961 , directing good Western (McKenna's gold , White Buffalo) and all king genres as Sci-Fi (Conquest and Battle of planet of apes), terror (reincarnation of Peter Proud, Eye of the devil), adventures (Flame over India ,Kings of the sun, Taras Bulba , Tiger Bay) and Warlike (Guns of Navarone, Von Braun , Chairman , The passage) . His two biggest successes turned out to be ¨Guns of Navarone¨and ¨Cape Fear¨. Thereafter , the filmmaker's career subsided in a morass of slickly realized but middling films . He moved into the field of international spectaculars , at which point his filmmaking seemed to lose its individuality . J. Lee Thompson working from the 50s in England, finished his career making Chuck Norris (Firewalker) and Charles Bronson vehicles (Caboblanco, Evil that men do , Messenger of death, Death Wish 4 : Crackdown, Caboblanco, St Ives). Rating : Below average . Lousy results for this disagreeable thriller that has many depressing failures.

Lt. Crowe is a no nonsense aged cop who almost goes over the edge after his daughter is molested by an unidentified Asian male. As he battles to curb his anger and racial prejudices, Crowe knows he must focus on the job at hand, the safe return of a kidnapped child, and the arrest of a child prostitute pimp...........vengeance and duty are about to become an uneasy alliance.

Showing his aged years and looking frazzled around the edges, this is actually one of Charles Bronson's best performances. Casting Bronson as Crowe now looks like an inspired decision, Crowe is a man getting old as the world around him changes its ideals and principals, with Bronson stepping into character and grasping the irony of his career overview. Not that there is anything remotely sad about the work here, it's a Bronson film with Bronson kicking arse, his character's conflicting beliefs allowing Bronson put some emotional blood into Crowe's sinewy veins.

Personally, what i find most engaging with Kinjite is its duality centre, we root for Crowe as he thunders on in pursuit of the vile bastards who exploit children for their own and monetary ends, yet the confusion reigns as Crowe's racist slant towards Asians reaches fever pitch. It's safe to say that a lot of Bronson pictures are beef for beefs sake, but this really isn't an excuse for just throwing punches, or a Bronson working for food scenario. Don't get me wrong here, i would be a liar if i said this wasn't seeping with 80s sweat, it so is an 80s movie, but it's got balls the size of Bronson himself and perfectly captures the point of change for society and leading man alike.

Underseen, undervalued and most definitely worth a look, 6/10.

Repugnant Bronson thriller. Unfortunately, it's technically good and I gave it 4/10, but it's so utterly vile that it would be inconceivable to call it "entertainment". Far more disturbing than a typical slasher film.

This is the last movie that Charles Bronson made before the death of his second wife, actress Jill Ireland. At 68 and with a string of mediocre action thrillers littering his 1980s output, this sleazy cop movie turned out to be one of his better efforts of the decade. Bronson plays vice detective Crowe, a racist veteran of the force who has grown weary of seeing the scum of Los Angeles dragging innocent children into prostitution and drugs. A parallel storyline follows visiting Japanese businessman Hiroshi Hada (James Pax) who struggles to adapt to American values and soon after arriving loses his young daughter to slimy pimp Duke (Juan Fernandez). Crowe has already had run-ins with Duke, so when he is assigned to find Hada's daughter, the stories merge with tragic results. Bronson is still trim and performs well as Crowe, with several good action sequences. Largely maligned as an actor because he underplayed his leading roles, Bronson always fit this type of role because you could believe that he actually does the things he is portraying. There is a nice little scene involving an ethnic event where Crowe vents his frustration on some startled Japanese that speaks volumes about character motivation. Juan Fernandez is exceptional as Duke and makes his character truly evil. Veteran British director J. Lee Thompson does a fair job of keeping the movie plugging along and has a great set piece at the end of the movie involving a crane and crashing automobiles. The subject matter isn't as exploited as it could have been, but it's still pretty rough and loaded with nudity and violence. Bronson fans won't be disappointed and even non-fans (like my wife) enjoyed it.

Charles Bronson stars as Lt Crowe a police detective who declares war on a pimp named Duke (Juan Fernandez) who kidnaps the daughter of a Japanese businessman who is the man who sexually harassed Crowe's daughter (Amy Hathaway) in this sleazy yet stylishly helmed revenge thriller. Kinjite may not be for everyone with it's somewhat disturbing plot threads but it is well made and indeed entertaining.

This is a pretty good movie, it is disturbing, dark, and depressing but these are things that happen in real life. We can't hide from these things, the movie is exposing the lifestyle of these scum and the man set out to destroy them. It's not Bronson's best movie but I thought it was pretty solid, I give it a 7.5/10. This movie is pretty underrated, it's such a good movie that touches on sensitive topics. People need to seriously stop being sensitive all the time and realize that the movie meant to expose these criminals. You can't just rate a movie low because it's depressing or doesn't fit your ideal world. the movie is about crime and that is what was shown here, you knew what you were getting into when you were going to watch this movie. You did read the synopsis, right?

Overall a pretty solid film, not the best but certainly not the worst.

The '80's were not very kind to one-time major star Charles Bronson. Starting with 1982's "Death Wish II" and ending with this truly gruesome film from '89, Bronson's screenwriters seemed to be trying to top each other in progressive grossness. "D.W. II" left little to the imagination in its depiction of the rape and suicide of Bronson's character's daughter, (a rape and murder of his housekeeper was also shown in disgusting detail). "10 to Midnight" was the sort of loathsome film that made you want to take a bath afterwards. Nothing redeeming about it. Other films like "The Evil that Men Do" and the remaining "Death Wish" films from this period straddled the line between high camp and high barf with their earnest depictions of brutality and revenge. I'm not sure if the producers (usually Pancho Kohner) got a kick out of showing a weary looking, senior citizen-aged Bronson destroying punks young enough to be his grandchildren or what, but the shoddy craftsmanship (and terrible scripts) of these films usually destroyed what little energy they may have generated.

"Kinjite" -- the last of these films -- is fairly well-made but truly takes the cake in cinematic wretchedness. In this film Bronson: sodomizes a perverse john; forces a pimp to eat his Rolex watch; allows a male prisoner to get raped by another prisoner; makes incredibly xenophobic remarks among other things I've thankfully forgotten. Also depicted is the gang-rape of a young Japanese girl (fortunately, this was off-screen, though well-implied).

What were people thinking when they made this film? What was Bronson thinking when he decided to ruin his career with these horrible films? For anyone interested in his best movies, check out most of the films he made in the '60's and '70's like "The Mechanic", "Death Wish", "From Noon til 3", "Once Upon a Time in the West", "Red Sun", "The Great Escape", "The Magnificent Seven", "Rider on the Rain", etc., etc....

OK, this isn't the best movie ever made, but it does have some positive qualities. Nicole Eggert has a medium to small size part, but looks GREAT! This was the stage of her career where she looked the very best; long before the Gen-X style took her over and she got those ridiculous breast implants. Amy Hathaway is also in this movie as Charles Bronson's daughter. She is very beautiful - though a bit young in this. Don't take it too seriously and enjoy the eye candy!

Charles Bronson continued his 80's slump with what could possibly be his worst movie of the decade, if not ever. In it he plays a detective who goes to great lengths to track down a pimp who has abducted an Asian girl and is currently selling her to the highest bidder. It's a shameful attempt at action and is quite possibly the most depressing movie ever made. A lot of people consider the Death Wish sequels to be Bronson's worst movies. The Death Wish sequels weren't great movies but were in most cases competently made and very watchable. Kinjite however is an utterly dull thriller which is punctuated by mean spirited racism and child molestation. It really is a rephrensible film and all of it is made worse by the fact that it tries to preach a "Law and Justice" mentality that is too overwrought to really say anything. Indeed the movie begins with underage sex being interrupted with Bronson then anally raping the pedophile with a dildo. The Chicago theater I watched this in just gasped at the awkwardness of this scene, only to gasp at the awkwardness of the pimp raping the girl in this film. It has no point other than to exploit and really the movie wasn't well written enough to rise above the exploitation level and deliver something that would work. Bronson seems more into things but clearly this is far too repugnant to save. I want to point out that I think Charles Bronson is the coolest actor ever but this effort is ultimately his worst. The action sequences are poor also.

1/2* out of 4-(Awful)

Ninth and final collaboration between J. Lee Thompson with Charles Bronson, it was also Jack Lee final film before retirement and the last one Bronson made for the two cousins of Cannon Group, Menahem Golan & Yoram Globus, "Kinjite - Forbidden Subjects" was a return to the action / crime / thriller genre, a territory covered by the duo in several films before, from "10 to Midnight" ('83) to "Murphy's Law" ('86), after the more mystery / 'whodunit' oriented, "Messenger of Death", made the previous year.

Bronson plays his usual cop on the edge to be acting above the law (he was in full Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" mode here), this time chasing a pimp who is forcing minors into prostitution, played by the forever baddie Juan Fernandez ("Salvador", "Crocodile Dundee 2") in an one more sleazy performance, who kidnapped the 12 years old daughter of a yuppie japanese businessman (James Pax from "Big Trouble in Little China") new in town. After his own daughter was molested (ironically by the same oriental) during a bus ride, Bronson's feel of bigotry towards the japanese who are taking L.A. grow bigger, but his sense of integrity and the fact he's father of a teenage girl himself, makes him on the loose through the city's underground to find the missing child.

The movie deals with several relevant issues, such as cultural differences, hidden sexual desires and the execrable child prostitution ring, but ultimately (and unfortunately), it doesn't balance them well, cutting the plot to pieces to acommodate a Charles Bronson's action vehicle, and it was a shame, because the material was there for a great 'serious' crime / drama film such as Paul Schrader's "Hardcore" ('79) or William Friedkin's "Cruising" ('80).

The budget seems even shorter than "Messenger of Death" due to Cannon's financial bankrupt around '89, and some of the shots look cheap enough to be the "made for TV" film of the week and not even the cinematography is that good in this one, but Jack Lee & Bronson compensate it with more fights, more gunshots and more action, including an over-the-top big finale that all the Bronson's fans will be pleased.

The shocking subject of the movie, and its infamous, not showed but suggested, scenes it may be too exploitative for some mainstream public back then and even now, that's why Jack Lee, probably with conservative Bronson's aval, shot them in a more "light" tone, instead of going too nasty or visually sordid.

Besides Bronson, Fernandez and Pax, the supporting cast features several well known faces such as the beautiful & future "Baywatch" mermaid, Nicole Eggert, in her debut film; Perry Lopez ("Kelly's Heroes", "Chinatown" & "Death Wish 4") playing Bronson's partner; Sy Richardson ("Straight to Hell") as the pimp's henchman; Amy Hathaway & Peggy Lipton, playing respectively, the daughter & wife of Bronson's character and even cameos from Alex Hyde-White ("Biggles - Adventures in Time", "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", "Pretty Woman") & Danny Trejo ("Runaway Train", "Heat", "Desperado", "Machete").

In short, "Kinjite - Forbidden Subjects" isn't the best of the Jack Lee Thompson / Charles Bronson pairing, neither is the worst, but works as the last hurrah from both veterans together, from the Cannon Group before bankrupcy, and the 80's Era of the OTT / cheesy / full of witty on-liners, action films.

I give it a 6 !!

Charles Stone Face Bronson strikes again now as bad temper Cop Lieutenant Crowe at Los Angeles corporation, he track drown Duke (Juan Fernandez) who live kidnaping underage girls, addicting her on drugs firstly to later introducing her on child prostitution for select, rich and perverted customers with twisted minds, although has a lousy Japanese business man Hiroshi Hada (James Pax) designated to work at Los Angeles's subsidiary Japanese Company whose have odd sexual habits plenty undue, reaching at town he dares tried out touch in a teenage girl on the bus, actually Crowe's daughter, even she screaming louder, he got away, the freak Japanese guy later has his own daughter being a victim these barbaric crime, seems paradoxical and ironic, but before he left Tokyo at underground he was witness of the same crime carry out by him over Crowe's daughter, due in Japan the girls feel ashamed, they didn't complain the sexual harassment, Crowe and his partner Eddie Rios (Perry Lopez a fine actor by the way) take over the case, firstly it was treats as a simply disappearance, however after wide-ranging working days the skillful Crowe had a hint to solve the case, the answer is Duke, as Golan-Globus production might be expect a massive fireworks display as always they did, a hard subject told in strong colors and implausible sequences, a bit of racism and some scenes off-colour!!

Resume:

First watch: 1993 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7