That was an excellent one.

just watch it!

Expected more

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Searing, passionate and stylish revenge thriller that rises above its b- grade formula due to its well-written character dramas lead by a powerful performance from Virginia Madsen. Its her character's fierce determination of a mother that drives it, especially in her commitment as she gets the tattoo of the avenging red tiger on her back. Madsen really takes it upon herself to portray a damaged individual who's desire for revenge sees her character entering the dangerous underworld of the Japanese mafia seeking the identity of the killer of her son who was caught in the crossfire during an Yakuza hit. The only clue driving her was the glimpse of a tattoo of a blue tiger across the killer's chest. Fearsome action with heated drama and cold straight-faced villains… no surprises with the intrigue, but its well-made and there's perfect support parts led by Harry Dean Stanton.

In this Virginia Madsen vehicle, the writing is quite bad—not unusually bad, I would hurry to add; she looks extremely cool as a vigilante.Let's face it, Virginia is a piece of fine ass—not necessarily very glamorous—but rather like your sexiest neighbor, a very sexy midwife.Here she does a nice physical role, as an action star in a very average Yakuza thriller.The cast offers one more interesting actor—daddy Stanton.You can enjoy Virginia as a tough babe—Gina Hayes. If you're, like myself, her fan, then there's no discussion—BLUE TIGER offers Virginia a lead role; otherwise, the flick sucks rather badly.The action sequences are few and stale.'Gina', Virginia's character, is a single mother set to revenge the death of her little son who was accidentally killed by a Yakuza murderer. She trains to acquire some confrontational skills, learns to handle a gun, and learns Japanese.A mention of presumable interest to a Virginia fan:--no nudity, alas; only, now and then (a shower scene, a sex scene), small portions of her breasts. Yet she is, as I said, at her very hottest, and a delight to behold.

"Blue Tiger" is a rare example of ambition almost overcoming budget, almost. The film tells the story of a young single mother who loses her 5 year old son when he is hit by a stray bullet in an attempt on a crime-lord's life by a Yakuza hit-man and her obsessive descent into the American Yakkuza underworld in search of her son's killer. The story which is rather original and urgent, is told in a straightforward manner, with some moments of stylish direction by Norberto Barba and cinematographer Christopher Walling who manage to give the film a much more lush look than would be expected from such a low-budget effort. But what truly sets this film apart are the combination of the stylish production and the energetic performances of the cast headed by the ever admirable Virginia Madsen who gives a touching and mesmerizing performance as the revenge-bent mother. Despite a mostly mediocre (and sometimes annoying) musical score, a first half that suffers from overly choppy editing that doesn't allow the first act enough time to breathe and develop properly and some misjudged moments of melodrama, this is one of those forgotten, ambitious B-movies that deserve a second chance for its sheer energy and ambition to transcend its humble origins.

From the crop of "Yakusa thrillers" made in the eighties, this one is easily the best. It has it all : a great actress (Virginia Madsen of "Candyman"'s fame), a good story unfolding almost like a Greek tragedy, good direction with more than one nod to John Woo… Yes, there are shoot-outs, but not ONLY shoot-outs. In more than one aspect, this movie reminded me very much of Gans's excellent and sensuous "Crying Freeman".