Ironfinger 2: Golden Eye

aka １００発１００中　黄金の眼 aka Hyappatsu hyakuchu: Ogon on me aka 100 Shot, 100 Killed: Golden Eye aka Booted Babe, Busted Boss

1968
Written by Jun Fukuda, Ei Ogawa, and Michio Tsuzuki
Directed by Jun Fukuda

Ironfinger 2: Golden Eye returns to the world of Ironfinger. We have international criminals, jet setting fun, and a hero who is invincible kicking butt. As usual, the title changed for overseas export. 100 Shot, 100 Killed: Golden Eye became Ironfinger 2: Golden Eye, though in some locales it was turned into Booted Babe, Busted Boss! Those poor saps… The “Golden Eye” of the title betrays more of the Bond influence, for the few who couldn’t figure it out from the Ironfinger part, or for the Japanese audience. This is the last outing of Andrew Hoshino, so cry your tears now and then read all about it.

The tone is slightly altered in that Andrew Hoshino’s organization is hinted to be more criminal in nature, though Andrew himself is given a few more noble things to do. He’s pulled in under the story of avenging the murder of a Japanese citizen upon request of his young daughter. It turns into a quest to find the missing rare Samanta Gold coin, though that is just part of a bigger economic criminal conspiracy.

Golden Eye features world locations,Besides Japan, the opening of the film is in Beirut! This may seem amazing to modern audiences that anyone would spend time in Beirut, but things weren’t always the way they are now. Another thing Ironfinger 2 has is sheiks in blackface (also seen in Yellow Line). The characters are played by Japanese actors, but are painted up dark brown and treated as if they’re foreign. Both a good police officer and several of the villains feature this treatment. Also both of the Ironfinger films feature big boss villains who are Caucasian, though both are European in origin. I would guess this is to show both that the Japanese hero can defeat anyone in the world, including what would be considered traditional Bond villains, and that Japanese people can’t be the big villain because they aren’t evil, and it’s people outside their culture affecting their life.

A highlight of these Ironfinger films is the killer 1960s clothing. Every outfit Bibari Maeda wears is spectacular. The cool clothes help make the fun lifestyle easier to accept, as they’re dressed just like cool people, so they would naturally do cool things.

Andrew Hoshino has a pair of women to deal with, though his darker affiliation is reveal again as bad girl Ruby is who he is paired with the most, Mistuko Saito functions as a catalyst to get the plot to the various locations, but she’s far too busy being a star to drop everything to run around with a playboy spy. Freelance bad girl Ruby easily slips into this role, her various connections with Andrew happening frequently

The far more complicated plot deals with economic problems of late 1960s Japan, hidden treasure, and even a hint of environmentalism thrown in. The whole thing hinges on a missing rare gold coin, but the real crime is wholesale precious metals smuggling used to hold hostage parts of Japan’s economy. It seems like it should be a modern film, the economic battle having played out in a modified form in real life. Golden Eye thankfully just uses that as backdrop and keeps the focus on the missing rare coin, giving audiences who don’t understand complex economic issues something to follow, while those who are aware have an insight into why the villains have so many high powered goons.

Andrew Hoshino (Akira Takarada) – The mystery man is back and just wanders into the big trouble this time. Little is explained of who he is or who the mysterious Mama is (and the subtitles didn’t realize it should be Mama and not mother!) If anything, less is known, because he’s still using the Andrew Hoshino identity that he picked up in the last film. Ruby (Beverly/Bibari Maeda) – Information broker and knife expert hired by Stonefeller to assist, but she’s playing her own game. Continually runs into Andrew Hoshino. Beverly Maeda is best known in the West for her role in Son of Godzilla. She also put out albums and her son is Claude Maki, a surfer/actor/rapper. Mitsuko Saito (Tomomi Sawa) – Singer and race enthusiast, returning to Japan in an attempt to gain fortune and glory. Instead, finds murder and rich killers, but somehow gets through it all with only a few scratches. Tomomi Sawa was a singer who was in a scattering of films and tv shows before disappearing into the ether. Detective Ryuta Tezuka (Makoto Sato) – The good detective returns, now a member of an international police force and doing work in Beirut. Has been recast from Ichiro Arishima to Makato Sato, and he plays the part more as a tougher detective than the unassuming Tezuka of the prior film. Stonefeller (Andrew Hughes) – The bad boss who in search of missing rare gold coin treasure in the midst of his other illegal activities. His precious mineral supply manipulation attracts the attention of international police, but it’s the rare gold coin that brings him down. Is blind, but uses a powerful microphone to know what is going on. Andrew Hughes pops up in more Japanese cinema than you would believe, including the amazing The Golden Bat. Sinbad (A good doggy!) – Sinbad is Stonefeller’s loyal pooch, who is sadly left behind in Beirut and will have to find a new master as his meets an unfortunate ending. A sad tale for poor Sinbad.