Yukari Oshima
|
Biography
A self-admitted Kung-fu Fanatic, she played villains with such intensity, you kind of felt sorry for the good-guys. When she's the starof the film, the only thing that can save the bad-guys is the pause-button. In short, she's a very talented star, who can match just about any man you put in front of her. In my humble opinion, she could be the 90's version of Sue Shiomi, (one of her idols) in the martial-arts.
Onscreen, there wasn't much that she couldn't do. Her punching and kicking skills can leave most of her competitors in the dust. If she could've worked with someone, who could appreciate her skill (enough to take it to the next level), there would have been no stopping her. Like her idol (Shiomi), she trained at Sonny Chiba's - "Japanese Action Club" and later progressed to films. Appearing in Samo Hung's Millionaires Express, got her the notice she needed to excel in the film business and she hasn't looked back.
She was vicious in Burning Ambition, did some fine work in A Book Of Heroes, featuring another idol of hers, Yasuaki Kurata. Yet, her main competition, comes from the very capable Moon Lee. Their battles in the 90's were legendary -- each pushing the other to excel, in every film they appeared. Films like Dreaming The Reality, Midnight Angels, and A Kickboxer's Tears, have more action in them, than some "old school" classics.
I really liked her work in Avenging Quartet and Outlaw Brothers, where she really let go and showed her skills. As with other females in films, I'm sure she'll (at some point) want to do basic dramas, but I just can't see her doing anything else besides kicking butt - which it seems, she was made for. Just as tough (if not tougher), than Michelle Yeoh, I would've loved to have seen these two battle it out, because she (definitely) has the skills, to pull it off.