BroadcastChic
Excellent, a Must See
Dorathen
Better Late Then Never
DipitySkillful
an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
Aljohn Ynacis
This movie is definitely a treat for all the GTO fans out there. Perhaps, even for those who are about to watch it for the first time. Takashi Sorimachi's portrayal of Onizuka is undoubtedly a delight to watch - it is as if Onizuka came to life through the big screen.The most entertaining thing about it is that it's able to keep its viewers entertained as it contains just a bit of everything you look for in a story. Onizuka will either tickle your funny bone with his comedic and goofy antics, or leave you teary-eyed through its dramatic climaxes (especially in the live action series). Plus, I like how it never lacks essence as it translates the scenes into lessons that everyone can relate to. It's fun, highly entertaining, and will surely leave you asking for more.
Desertman84
Great Teacher Onizuka is the story of Eikichi Onizuka, an unorthodox high school teacher whose decidedly unusual teaching methods make him a hero to the kids, but a menace to the establishment. The saga of Great Teacher Onizuka or GTO achieved phenomenal success in Japan, spawning an animated television series, a twelve-episode TV drama, and a TV special. Finally, the brain trust of Fuji TV brought GTO: The Movie.It stars Takashi Sorimachi as Great Teacher Onizuka together with Norika Fujiwara, Reina Tanaka and Masayuki Suzuki.The film was directed by Masayuki Suzuki.Great Teacher Onizuka takes place as far away from the big city as possible. The setting is the rural town of Horobonai, which is located on Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido. The local high school has a trouble class, which is mostly due to the presence of Ayano Katsuragi, the local ice princess, whose dad ran a theme park called "Canada Land." Unfortunately, said park went bankrupt and the town is now experiencing a depression, of both the economic and emotional variety. The kids frequently threaten suicide, and the teachers are your usual motley band of useless types. Enter new substitute teacher Onizuka,who rides into town on his motorbike. Within minutes, he bullies a couple of kids, insults most of the teachers, and generally acts disrespectful and obnoxious. Things are the worst for Raku, a mousy kid who has no friends and contemplates suicide of his own. Onizuka steals money from the kid, accidentally pushes him off a roof (don't worry, he survives), and even badgers Raku into giving him room and board.Onizuka may be a societal castoff (he attended a fourth-rate college and is actually dumber than most of his students), but his brash, honest and utterly righteous ways make him a hip youth icon for our troubled times. Considering that Japan's educational system is polluted with corruption, abuse and student-teacher improprieties, Onizuka makes a decidedly refreshing anti-hero.Great Teacher Onizuka provides fun,laughter and entertainment to the viewer.No question that Onizuka,an ant-establishment type teacher and anti-hero continuously will amuse the viewer with his unorthodox methods of teaching and helping students with problems that compound them.Takashi Sorimachi is obviously born to play GTO as he provides charisma and talent to fulfill the traits needed.Although the story of the movie maybe somewhat implausible,the movie provides great comedy as well as pure sincerity in handling different issues that affect Japanese students through their anti-hero.Overall,this is a highly recommended movie for viewers who love student- teacher movies especially as GTO gives another "kind of education" to students.
cadillac20
GTO has always been a favorite series of mine, mostly due to actor Takashi Sorimachi doing such a great job in the live action. The film was actually my first view of the live action, and I must say I was impressed. Sorimachi captures Onizuka's personality extremely well, and having played it out for so many years, he's nearly perfected it. The erratic behavior is there, though his Onizuka is slightly less. However, the personality is there, just as we would expect. It's great and the film is hilarious. What's especially nice is that there are several original elements, like the amusement park angle and the old man on the bench. The film is highly entertaining, fairly original, and translates everything we love very well. Any fan should definitely pick it up. It's a keeper.
Rackham (Marubatsu)
Once again we see Takashi Sorimachi take on the role as the Great Teacher Onizuka. I must start off by saying that you should probably not watch this without having seen the TV-series first.So, what is there to say? This film is a lot better than the confusing TV-special but still lacking compared to the TV-series. Also I find Onizuka's logic alot fuzzier than normal. Usually you kind of understand how he's thinking but in this movie it seems he's just randomly freaking out.The best part about this movie might just be the new version of the song "Poison", which is sung at the end. Except for that, this is OK but not as good as the series. Still, if you're a fan you pretty much need to watch this anyway, right?
