Japanese cult cinema thread

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 18 Dec 2008, 13:27

thelostdragon wrote:
HungFist wrote:yesasia. I usually use cdjapan, but currently yesasia is cheaper because they have fixed dollar prices, and now yen has gone up to heaven. Their R2J product prices are currently below the Japanese standard / street prices.

Film caps and comments
Thanks! No wonder I haven't found it. I was looking for the English title. But whoa!! €37.79 is quite expensive for ONE film. I know it is cheaper than usual, but still, it isn't worth paying an amount of money for one film, when the same amount can easily get me three other films.

or 16 VHS. Be clever :bom:

It's approx. 33€, btw. You have some fixed currency asshole converter turned on. Everything is fixed at yesasia...

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 18 Dec 2008, 13:44

WTF? For real? Can it be turned off?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 08 Jan 2009, 14:40

The second batch of R2J Kozure ookami coming 20.3.2009. The bonus disc comes again with interviews (and maybe something else) and... if I understood correctly... Shogun Assassin!

****************************************

'Oh, this is a good year. Animeigo just announced a 4 disc Nemuri Kyoshiro (Sleepy Eyes of Death) set for 2009.
http://www.animeigo.com/Samurai/SLEEPY.t

I was just thinking I'll never be able to afford the R2J's... well, now this only leaves 8 of them (but perhaps, in 2010 Animeigo will... lets hope for the best...)

They also have The Loyal 47 Ronin (Chushingura, 1958) coming.
http://www.animeigo.com/

And have uploaded a trailer for Gosha's The Geisha
http://www.animeigo.com/Other/GEISHA.t

************************************

There’s a great Art Theather Guild article in Eiga Go Go:
http://eigagogo.free.fr/Articles/ATG/atg_01.htm

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 09 Jan 2009, 13:33

I'm guessing the JP DVDs of LW+C have no English subs? I'm fine with the Thai box TBH (basically the same as the R1's), Shogun Assassin is on R1 Animego as well.
The different fonts on the R1 were useful though, so you could see who was talking.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 11 Jan 2009, 01:05

No subs Grim.

Cops vs Thugs

This hard hitting study on the thin red line between the police and yakuza is one of my favourite Kinji Fukasaku crime films. Unfortunately I'm not entirely pleased with the R1 Kino transfer. I was hoping that Toei might have better image, but then, the Kino transfer actually looks a lot like some of Toei's weaker transfers. So I did a bit of investigation.

Against all odds I found this japanese review of the film, with a few screencaps. I can't quarantee they are from the R2J, but I think it's pretty safe to assume they are. JP cap top, R1 bottom.

yes, that's Reiko Ike

The cap from the japanese site is streched, and to make the comparison easier I have given the R1 cap the same treatement. All the other R1 caps in this post are correct.

It seems like the transfers are pretty similar. They could be the same, actually, as the R2J cap may not be accurate

Next up is the Wild Side Video dvd. This time I'm stealing caps from dvdrama. These caps don't seem very reliable, so lets only use them as rough reference only. FR top, R1 bottom. Not the exact same frame, this shouldn't cause much problems here.

It's a bit hard to say how accurate / inaccurate those caps are, but the cropping looks pretty nasty. Is there anyone who can confirm these Wild Sideo Video caps are correct or even close?

Finally, here's some more R1 caps. The transfer is interlaced and dvd-5 (shows some compression artifacts). If I had to take a guess, I'd say Toei is the same but without compression problems. Wild Side is most likely progressive.

izo · Post by **izo** » 11 Jan 2009, 09:33

HungFist wrote:So subs Grim.
Is there anyone who can confirm these Wild Sideo Video caps are correct or even close?

Some more caps

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 21 Jan 2009, 16:44

I finally added the remaing Red Peony Gambler reviews:
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... 0&start=46

Fantastic series. It also revealed the origins of many scenes seen later in Toei's pinky violence films, such as

The umbrella fight in Red Peony Gamber 2 (1968)...

...that Suzuki re-used in Ero shogun to 21-nin no aisho (1972)

Both films may have influenced...

...Teruo Ishii, whose Female Yakuza Tale (1973)...

... opens with an umbrella fight.

Female Yakuza Tale is actually a sequel to Sex & Fury (1973)...

...which seems to have borrowed a bit from Red Peony Gambler 8 (1972)

Of course, Junko Fuji's clothes never malfunctioned like Reiko Ike's

Moving on, I noticed Shochiku is releasing Noboru Tanaka’s Village of Doom (1983)

An old UK dvd exists. Here’s a film review:
http://www.mjsimpson.co.uk/reviews/villageofdoom.html

Shochiku's website: http://www.shochiku-home-enta.com/

Kaneto Shindo's Hokusai manga is also coming to R2J. I think there's an old HK dvd available, too.

***************************************

EDIT: Michael spotted Shochiku's promo video for their 25.2.2009 releases:
http://wildgrounds.com/index.php/2009/0 ... -releases/

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 28 Jan 2009, 14:52

In April Toei will release six Gekkou kamen (aka Moon Mask) films

月光仮面 (1958)

月光仮面絶海の死斗 (1958)

月光仮面魔人の爪 (1958)

月光仮面怪獣コング (1959)

月光仮面幽霊党の逆襲 (1959)

月光仮面悪魔の最後 (1959)

In 1981, Yukihiro Sawada directed a Gekkou kamen film with Daijiro Harada, Takeo Chii, Johnny Okura and Etsuko Shihomi. It was a Kadokawa production, so Toei won’t be releasing it.

Toei May; four Kinnosuke Nakamura movies

源氏九郎颯爽記白狐二刀流 (1958)

浅間の暴れん坊 (1958)

お役者文七捕物暦　蜘蛛の巣屋敷 (1959)

独眼竜政宗 (1959)

EDIT: missed one:

浪花の恋の物語 (1959)

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 22 Feb 2009, 00:47

In June Toei is releasing more gangster films from the series that stared with Hana to arashi to gyangu (see January 2009 releases). The films to be released are parts 2-5 and 7. I don’t know what happened to part 6. It’s possible they forgot to list it.

恋と太陽とギャング (1962)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1962/cl001010.htm
Directed by Teruo Ishii, starring Ken Takakura, Tetsuro Tamba and Shinichi Chiba

ギャング対ギャング (1962)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1962/cl002300.htm
Directed by Teruo Ishii, starring starring Koji Tsuruta, Tatsuo Umemiya and Tetsuro Tamba

ギャング対Ｇメン (1962)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1962/cl003500.htm
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku, starring Koji Tsuruta, Tatsuo Umemiya, Shinichi Chiba and Tetsuro Tamba

暗黒街の顔役　十一人のギャング (1963)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1963/cm000210.htm
Directed by Teruo Ishii, Starring Koji Tsuruta, Ken Takakura and Tatsuo Umemiya

ギャング同盟 (1963)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1963/cm002400.htm
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku, starring Ryohei Uchida

******

EDIT: Cover arts

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 08 Mar 2009, 11:59

In July Toei is releasing 6 yakuza films starring Bunta Sugawara.

関東テキヤ一家 (Kanto Tekiya ikki) (Kanto Street Peddlers Clan) (1969)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1969/cs003710.htm
http://www.ofdb.de/film/127731,Kant%C3%B4-Tekiya-ikka
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki

関東テキヤ一家　喧嘩仁義 (Kanto Tekiya ikki: Goromen jingi) (Kanto Street Peddlers Clan: Violent Loyalty) (1970)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1970/ct000520.htm
http://www.ofdb.de/film/127736,Kant%C3% ... omen-jingi
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki

関東テキヤ一家　天王寺の決斗 (Kanto Tekiya ikka: Tennoji ushi no ketto) (Kanto Street Peddlers Clan: Royal Temple Duel) (1970)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1970/ct001160.htm
http://www.ofdb.de/film/127735,Kant%C3% ... i-no-ketto
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki

懲役太郎　まむしの兄弟 (Chôeki Tarô: Mamushi no kyôdai) (1971)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1971/cu001600.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321692/
Directed by Sadao Nakajima

まむしの兄弟　お礼参り(Mamushi no kyôdai: orei mairi) (1971)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1971/cu002890.htm
Directed by Michio Honda

まむしの兄弟　懲役十三回 (Mamushi no kyôdai: chôeki jûsankai) (1972)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1972/cv000290.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0323170/
Directed by Sadao Nakajima

The first three films are the first three instalments in the Kanto Street Peddlers Clan series. In case someone doesn’t know, Norifumi Suzuki was a seminal yakuza film worker before he became the king of exploitation in the early 70’s. In the late 60’s he wrote (most Red Peony Gambler films) and directed several yakuza films for Toei. He wasn’t considered the studio’s most remarkable yakuza director, but his input was nevertheless remarkable. As for the five part Kanto Street Peddlers Clan series he directed the first four films. The fifth movie was directed by Takashi Harada.

Mamushi no kyôdai is a long running series with 7 instalments (as far as I know). Several directors (Kosaku Yamashita, Sadao Nakajima, Norifumi Suzuki, Eiichi Kudo, Michio Honda) have contributed to the series, but each film stars Sugawara. The films Toei is releasing are the first three movies in the series.

Here's some posters for Mamushi no kyôdai and Kanto Street Peddlers Clan movies

Chôeki Tarô: Mamushi no kyôdai (1971) (the first film)

Mamushi no kyôdai: orei mairi (1971) (the second film)

Mamushi no kyôdai: musho gurashi yonen-han (1973) (the fifth film)

The fifth Kanto Street Peddlers Clan film: 関東テキヤ一家・喧嘩火祭り(1971)

If you feel like buying some Mamushi no kyôdai or Kanto Street Peddlers Clan goods just follow the links to yahoo.

gerira · Post by **gerira** » 27 Mar 2009, 05:26

I know, that even Chuck D. says, that there are only 5 Parts of KANTO TEKIYA IKKI,
but please check this link

http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=143065

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 27 Mar 2009, 08:10

Interesting notice. The 6th film is Kantô hizakura ikka, Junko Fuji's retirement movie. I didn't know it was considered a part of the series. Could this be one of those cases where it's not so clear whether a film is a part of the series or not (like Sister Street Fighter 4, or Karate Warriors which jmdb considers a Street Fighter film). But I haven't seen any of the Kanto films and I don't know the backgrounds so this is just speculation.

Here's a review of Kantô hizakura ikka
http://www.asiandvdguide.com/toei/junko/khi.html

And a VHS cover. Toei has also released this on dvd ages ago.

And thanks to that link you posted I notice amazon has update the Toei July cover arts.

Kanto Tekiya ikki 1-3

Mamushi no kyôdai 1-3

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 30 Mar 2009, 16:11

Golgo 13 (1973)

Takao Saito’s Golgo 13 comics aren’t very easy to adapt into live action features due to their international nature, but Toei went all the way with this first attempt. Junya Sato shot the film on location in Iran with mostly foreign cast. The lead role is played by the heavenly cool Ken Takakura, whose combination of charisma, black sunglasses and M16 assault rifle makes him one of the coolest asssassins in film history. Both execution and storywise the film could be better – and it would’ve been a good to opt for local languages istead of having the entire Iran speak Japanese – but with its rare international setting, superb leading man and some exciting action Golgo 13 easily ranks more interesting than Toei’s average action thrillers of the era. Due to the high expenses the studio didn’t allow Golgo 13 to return to the big screen until in 1977 in a slightly inferior Shinichi Chiba film Golgo 13: Kowloon Assignment.

Stills, teaser (consisting of manga pics) and trailer included.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 15 Apr 2009, 20:56

HK Flix has some info regarding Animeigo's upcoming Sleepy Eyes of Death box set.

July 14, 2009

Volume 1 includes the first four films from the 12-movie series on 4 discs: "The Chinese Jade", "Sword Of Adventure", "Full Circle Killing", and "Sword Of Seduction".

# Audio Commentaries by Film Scholar Ric Meyers & Author/Martial Arts Expert Jeff Rovin
# Program Notes
# Cast/Crew Info.
# Stills Gallery
# Trailers
# Collector's Booklet

Lets hope they have used the R2J remasters. Animeigo isn't known for their remastering skills...

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 16 May 2009, 09:23

25 Aug 2009

- http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/655

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 06 Jun 2009, 15:14

Toei August is a Terrifying Girls’ High School month

Terrifying Girls' High School: Women's Violent Classroom (Kyofu joshikôkô: Boryuku kyoshitsu) (1972)
Director: Norifumi Suzuki
Cast: Miki Sugimoto, Reiko Ike, Ema Ryoko, Nobuo Kaneko

Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom (Kyôfu joshikôkô: bôkô rinchi kyôshitsu) (1972)
Director: Norifumi Suzuki
Cast: Miki Sugimoto, Reiko Ike, Ema Ryoko, Tsunehiko Watase

Terrifying Girls' High School: Delinquent Convulsion Group (Kyofu joshikôkô: Furyo monzetsu guruupu) (1973)
Director: Masahiro Shimura
Cast: Reiko Ike, Yuko Kano, Ema Ryoko, Tatsuo Endo

Terrifying Girls' High School: Animal Courage (Kyofu joshikôkô: Animaru Dokyosei) (1973)
Director: Masahiro Shimura
Cast: Reiko Ike, Nobuo Kaneko, Ema Ryoko, Rie Saotome

Toei September is a Hot Springs month

温泉あんま芸者 (Onsen anma geisha) (Hot Springs Massage Geisha) (1968)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1968/cr001560.htm
Directed by Teruo Ishii
Starring Teruo Yoshida, Masami Tachibana, Yukie Kagawa, Yoko Mihara and Tooru Yuri

温泉ポン引女中 (Onsen ponbiki jyosyu)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1969/cs002090.htm
Directed by Misao Arai
Starring Masumi Tachibanan and Aoi Mitsuko

温泉こんにゃく芸者(Onsen konnyaku geisha) (Hot Springs Devil-Tongued Geisha) (1970)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1970/ct002110.htm
Directed by Sadao Nakajima
Starring Miwako Onya, Taiji Tonoyama, Ichiro Araki and Asao Koike

温泉みみず芸者 (Onsen mimizu geisha) (1971)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1971/cu001960.htm
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki
Starring Reiko Ike, Miki Sugimoto, Yoko Mihara, Asao Koike, Tooru Yuri and Akira Oizumi

温泉スッポン芸者 (Onsen suppon geisha) (1972)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1972/cv002000.htm
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki
Starring Miki Sugimoto, Ema Ryoko, Yoko Mihara, Nobuo Kaneko, Tooru Yuri and Akira Oizumi

温泉おさな芸者 (Onsen osana geisha) (1973)
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1973/cw002040.htm
Directed by Ryuichi Takamori
Starring Mimi Fukada and Akira Oizumi

see more in the exploit thread

Toei October is a Sadao Nakajima month.

日本の仁義 (Nihon no jingi) (Honor of Japan) (1977)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358607/
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1977/da001440.htm
Starring Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, Shinichi Chiba, Takeo Chii...

総長の首 (Sochiyo no kubi) (1979)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144614/
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1979/dc000780.htm
Starring Bunta Sugawara, Johnny Okura, Asao Koike, Eiko Matsuda, Noboru Ando, Koji Tsuruta, Junko Natsu, Reiko Ike, Asao Koike, Tatsuya Umemiya

真田幸村の謀略 (Sanada Yukimura no bouryaku) (Renegade Ninjas) (1979)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165218/
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1979/dc002590.htm
Starring Hiroki Matsukata, Kinnosuke Nakamura, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tetsuro Tamba

制覇 (Seisha) (Conquest) (1982)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088082/
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1982/df003370.htm
Starring Toshirô Mifune, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, Tatsuo Umemiya, Tetsuro Tamba, Asao Koike, Reiko Oshida, Akira Kobayashi...

首領を殺った男 (Don o totta otoko) (1994)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144176/
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1994/dr000960.htm
Starring Hiroki Matsukata, Yumi Takigawa, Bunta Sugawara, Tatsuo Umemiyam, sao Natsuyagi...

******

EDIT: Amazon has cover arts

Gaijin84 · Post by **Gaijin84** » 11 Jun 2009, 16:50

HungFist - your reviews here are invaluable, thanks!

Over the past year or so Cinema Epoch have quietly built themselves into one tasty little boutique label for fans of unusual film, particularly of the Asian variety, and the menu just expanded considerably. The company picked up a fistful of classic titles at the recent Cannes Marche Du Film and will be bringing all of them to DVD in 2009 with brand new anamorphic transfers taken from new prints of the films. What have they got?

BAD GIRL MAKO (Furyo Shojo Mako) (1971)
Director: Koreji Kurahara
Cast: Junko Natsu
Cult classic from Nikkatsu Studios. Patronized by a gang ruling the city, Mako delinquently plays around a nightclub everynight with her bad company. When her lover Hideo is murdered by the gang, Mako swears vengeance on all of those responsible.

Any word on Bad Girl Mako? I see that Yellow Fangs has been released, but really waiting for this Mako... no mention of it or the other 2 on Cinema Epoch's site.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 11 Jun 2009, 19:08

Thanks, and welcome.

I haven't heard anything about Mako yet. I'm really looking forward to it. I remember Yellow Fangs hit the stores with almost zero warning... it was out before I even knew it had a release date. Either I completely missed it, or the release date wasn't announced until maybe a few weeks before the release.

Gaijin84 · Post by **Gaijin84** » 12 Jun 2009, 15:29

Regarding Toei's limited pressing releases (i.e. the recent Etsuko Shihomi set), is it common for all these to have virtually no extras and no Japanese subtitles? I just got The Long Chase and was surprised how bare bones it was for ~$30.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 12 Jun 2009, 16:17

The low priced editions are the exact same discs as the original releases.

Usually Toei's catalogue titles don't feature any extras other than photo gallery and trailer (plus teaser if available). The only exception I can think of are the Sukeban Deka movies which had making of documentaries.

Toei doesn't include any subtitles for Japanese language dialogue. If it's an old movie and there's a small amount of foreign language dialogue, then you'll probably get the original burnt in subs on the print.

Toei's dvds are heavily over-priced (especially TV shows) but then again, who else is releasing 4-6 classic Toei movies every month year after year? Besides, the sales for these movies can't be very good. I doubt they are making any profit.

Gaijin84 · Post by **Gaijin84** » 12 Jun 2009, 17:22

Toei's dvds are heavily over-priced (especially TV shows) but then again, who else is releasing 4-6 classic Toei movies every month year after year?

Good point - my bank account is suffering as a result. Where do you recommend buying them from (and shipping overseas) to reduce financial damage as much as possible?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 12 Jun 2009, 17:48

I usually use cdjapan, but that's mostly because I'm trying to take full use of all the money saving programs they have (coupons, frequent shopper points, and affliate program). Otherwise I'd say yesasia might be the best, at least if you get free shipping. They price all their items originally in US dollar and are very slow at reacting to changes in currency rates. In other words, their Toei dvds cost the same amount in US dollars week after week. For this reason they are sometimes more expensive than cdjapan, sometimes cheaper.

Amazon used to be the best. They, and many other japanese retailers, have 25% off discounts for pre-orders. But amazon became useless a few years ago when they went "DHL only", meaning terrible shipping cost.

But you have to compare yourself. At the moment the Euro-Yen conversion rate sucks, but I'm not sure about $US-Yen.

Gaijin84 · Post by **Gaijin84** » 12 Jun 2009, 18:23

Thanks! I did a quick calculation from the ones you mentioned for the Toei movie "The Winter Camellia (Kantsubaki - 寒椿)" - 6/1 release

cdJapan - 3000 yen + 500 yen shipping = 3500 yen ($35.64)
YesAsia - $34.99 + free shipping
Amazon - 3000 yen + 2000 yen shipping! = 5000 yen ($50.92)

Well that stops my use of Amazon cold in its tracks. You're definitely right... with cdJapan's promotions they seem like the way to go over the long haul, at least at this point.

thanks again

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 23 Jun 2009, 19:55

If you're a millionaire, here's a great way to get rid of your money

Yujiro Ishihara Golden Treasure - Nikkatsu Eiga Taizen

"DVD collection box set features one of Japanese greatest actor Yujiro Ishihara. This box set includes all 90 films Yujiro Ishihara appears, rare footages collection, talk by the director Toshio Masuda who shooted Yujiro the most, booklet featuring 90 posters created from 1956 to 1971, data book featuring all 90 films, PR materials, and three bonus discs."

- http://toshiakis.at.webry.info/200904/article_2.html

Cdjapan's got if for 270 000. Better use amazon, you'll save 62 100

Gaijin84 · Post by **Gaijin84** » 24 Jun 2009, 14:47

good lord that's cool

I wonder if all 90 films of his are available on DVD individually. If not this seems to indicate that they could be soon.