Japanese cult cinema thread

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Post by HungFist »

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 2 (Showa zankyo-den: Karajishi botan) (1966)

Takakura returns to this sequel as a man who must kill the boss of a family in order to buy his brother’s freedom. Three years later he when he’s released from prison he meets the son and wife of the man he killed. Wonderfully written film with perfect acting from Takakura, Ikebe and female lead Yoshiko Mita. The near perfect yakuza eiga is only weakened by one dimentional villains.

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Last edited by HungFist on 14 Dec 2008, 15:26, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 3 (Showa zankyo-den: Ippiki okami) (1966)

Part three turns the Takakura-Ikebe character composition of the previous film upside down, but the screenplay hampers with some poor supporting characters and predictable storyline. It’s a shame as the Takakura and Ikebe pairing is as efficient as usual, and Junko Fuji – making her debut in the series – is nothing short of excellent. The action scenes are also the most impressive in the series so far.

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Last edited by HungFist on 14 Dec 2008, 15:29, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Ivan Drago wrote:I may have missed it but is there a Japanese DVD of The Bodyguard Kiba with Sonny Chiba?
I totally missed your post. Gomennasai.

No, Toei has not released Bodyguard Kiba on dvd. There's actually two films. Most people don't know that.

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Another similar and little known case is the Yakuza Deka films. Optimum released two, but Chiba starred in four.
Last edited by HungFist on 14 Dec 2008, 12:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HungFist »

A few months ago Nikkatsu released the 1970’s Harenchi Gakuen films on dvd. The films are based on manga by Go Nagai, which has been adapted into several films, TV show, anime and video game over the decades. Four live action films were made in the 70’s.

(Seishun kigeki:) Harenchi gakuen ((青春喜劇 )ハレンチ学園) (1970)
http://www.walkerplus.com/movie/kinejun ... h&id=19281
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1970/ct001190.htm
http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Harenc ... en&x=0&y=0

Harenchi gakuen: shintai kensa no maki (ハレンチ学園 身体検査の巻) (1970)
http://www.walkerplus.com/movie/kinejun ... h&id=19331
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1970/ct001970.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360633/

Harenchi gakuen: Takkuru kissu no maki (ハレンチ学園 タックルキスの巻) (1970)
http://www.walkerplus.com/movie/kinejun ... h&id=19357
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1970/ct002320.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360632/

Shin harenchi gakuen) (新・ハレンチ学園) (1971)
http://www.walkerplus.com/movie/kinejun ... h&id=19435
http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1971/cu000010.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360982/

The films are available in a box set (with a photobook) and separately.
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Shin harenchi gakuen double feature poster with Stray Cat Rock: Beat ’71
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Harenchi gakuen: Takkuru kissu no maki double feature poster with one of the Koukousei bancho films (高校生番長 棒立てあそび)
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More about the manga and history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Nagai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harenchi_Gakuen

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French article that mentions the films
http://nihon-eiga.over-blog.com/article-7094318.html
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Post by HungFist »

tolpol wrote:
HungFist wrote:I was already giving a half-serious thought on subbing parts 2-4, but now seems like I won't have to bother after all
Why is that ? Are there English subbed releases available ?
Someone's working on the sub scripts, I believe. The source is probably the old video search of miami bootlegs.
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Post by Classique »

Hungfist, I have a request.

I picked up Lone Wolf & Cub TV volume 1.


Apparently Teruo Ishii directs one or more of the episodes on the disc
but Media Blasters fails to inform us which one.

Any chance you can figure out for me which of the five episodes he directed?

Watched the first two episodes and it's pretty fun stuff.
Nakamura is no Wakayama when it comes to wielding a sword but he has more charisma in the role and doesn't play it so stoicly.

Second episode is basically the first movie but with a few minor differences.A girl still gets boinked to death however that is possible only Kazuo Koike knows.. :lol:

Can't wait to get home and watch some more tonight.
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Post by izo »

Classique wrote: Apparently Teruo Ishii directs one or more of the episodes on the disc
but Media Blasters fails to inform us which one.

Any chance you can figure out for me which of the five episodes he directed?
According to this Wikipedia entry and this fan page, Teruo Ishii directed the 1st and the 6th episode of Lone wolf and cub Tv. :wink:
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Post by Classique »

Yes izo thank you very much for the info.


Kinda suprised to be honest because I was actually not very impressed by the first episode particularly the choreography.


Even though the second episode told a story I had already seen in the movie version I thought it was alot more polished.
Here's waiting for disc 2 next month so I can get my hands on episode 6 to see Ishii's second and probably better effort.
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Post by izo »

Well, by the way:

Directors' list of Lone Wolf & Cub TV (first season I think)

1- Teruo Ishii
2-3- Kazuo Ikehiro
4- Makito Takai
5- Minoru Matsushima
6- Teruo Ishii
7- Makito Takai
8- Akinori Matsuo
9- Tokuzo Tanaka
10- Akinori Matsuo
11- Minoru Matsushima
12- 土居通芳
13- Yukio Toda
14- Minoru Matsushima
15- 土居通芳
16- Minoru Matsushima
17- 土居通芳
18-19- Tokuzo Tanaka
20-21-Shintaro Sobue
22- Keiichi Ozawa
23- Minoru Matsushima
24-25- Seiji Maruyama
26-27- Kazuo Ikehiro

There's some great ex-Daiei directors (Tanaka, Ikehiro, both worked on Zatoichi/Kyoshiro and so on) and I guess, some assistant directors (it was a common practise for tv shows like that... a shame when we know that some great directors really wished to direct some episodes... anyway...).

I don't know who is 土居通芳!
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Post by HungFist »

More Nordic Toho Chambara. Apparently the R2J transfers but without windowboxing. Most likely conversions, too. Nice covers, though.

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Post by eddyospina »

HungFist wrote:More Nordic Toho Chambara. Apparently the R2J transfers but without windowboxing. Most likely conversions, too. Nice covers, though.

...
Nice. Odd that they use the English titles though, rather than romanised Japanese or straight translation. Nice to know they use Tarantino's name to sell these anywhere in the world :D
izo wrote:
I don't know who is 土居通芳
Thanks for the info.

Doi Michiyoshi (that's a guess!) was one of Shin Toho's lesser known directors in the late '50s - early '60s. After that he seems to have moved on to TV gigs. JMDB Link

edit: He seems to only have one Daiei credit to his name: 'Shitto' (Jealousy) from 1962.

He also directed the intriguingly-named 'Kuroi Chibusa' (Black Nipple/Breast) in 1960 with Sugawara Bunta for Shin Toho. (Amazon) Might have to try and track that one down... ;)
Last edited by eddyospina on 24 May 2008, 18:31, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by saltysam »

watched the first 3 of the Lone Wolf series,it's excellent :)
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Post by HungFist »

More Gosha news. According to kfcc Animeigo have licenced Yokiro. That was one of the French Gosha releases that have not been translated yet.

Animeigo are also releasing Imamura's Ballad of Narayama, starring Ken Ogata. The film was released by IVL some years ago, but those subs were translated from chinese...

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Post by Shingster »

The subs on the IVL were a fucking travesty, I look forward to seeing the film again with a proper translation.
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Post by HungFist »

Shing, have you (or anyone else) tested the other IVL Toei releases? I've got Samurai Reincarnation (watched, but can't remember sub quality) and Bullet Train (not watched) myself and I'd be interested in some others too (mainly Fukasaku dramas).
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Post by HungFist »

Holy shit, Cinema Epoch strikes hard
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.

TALE OF SORROW AND SADNESS (Hishu Monogatari) (1977)
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Cast: Kyoko Enami, Yoshio Harada, Masumi Okada
Seijun Suzuki’s sole directorial effort from the 1970s follows a professional model poised for success in the golfing magazine fashion world. Pure Suzuki madness ensues when she is confronted by a sexy female blackmailer.

YELLOW FANGS (Rimeinzu: Utsukushiki yuusha-tachi) (1990)
Director: Sonny Chiba/Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Bunta Sugawara
Yuki’s family is killed by a huge maneating bear, and her childhood friend Eiji and his fellow hunters set off in search of the murderous beast. Although she cannot join them as women are forbidden from entering the mountains, she is determined to pursue a perilous quest for revenge. Based on a true story.

THE HEARTBREAK YAKUZA (Saraba itoshiki hito yo) (1987)
Director: Masato Harada
Cast: Hiromi Go, Mariko Ishihashi, Kazuya Kimura, Koichi Sato
A precursor to John Woo’s “The Killer” about an up and coming Yakuza member who accidentally blinds a childhood friend during a shootout. An impressive early work by director Masato Harada. The Japanese title was later used as a Sony Playstation game.
- http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/cinema- ... -classics/

I was about to pick Nikkatsu's R2J Bad Girl Mako. But now I'm gonna wait.

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Post by Shingster »

I've not tested the IVL Toei titles Hung, only bought a couple from the first batch of titles IIRC, will have to go through my collection to see which ones. I never bought Bullet Train and Makai Tensho though.
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Post by HungFist »

You don't remember what dvds you own? :lol:

At least IVL used dvd-9 with those Toei films, unlike with the Kadokawa releases. The sad truth was that my custom dvd-5 discs (created from the R2J's) had much better compression than those commercial IVL Kadokawa dvds, although they used the same source material as the R2J's. The subtitles were also badly timed and I had to spent hours fixing them so that they would meet my own fansubbing standards.
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Post by Shingster »

HungFist wrote:You don't remember what dvds you own? :lol:
I own too many DVDs :D
Anyway I found the titles, they're a couple of Fukasaku titles: Rage of Love and House on Fire.
At least IVL used dvd-9 with those Toei films, unlike with the Kadokawa releases. The sad truth was that my custom dvd-5 discs (created from the R2J's) had much better compression than those commercial IVL Kadokawa dvds, although they used the same source material as the R2J's.
Yeah the badly compressed DVD-5 problem is exactly the reason why I avoided those releases. I did want to buy a fair few of the titles, but thought i'd wait and see what made it to R1 land.
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Post by HungFist »

Shingster wrote:BTW Kev Gilvear has put in a request to cover Epoch's Bad Girl Mako DVD, so look out for that to appear (hopefully fast) on DVDTimes.
It may still take some time considering the dvd is not even in production yet :wink:

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Post by saltysam »

These lone wolf releases are great but it's going to be a long and expensive road to acquire them all sadly :?
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Post by HungFist »

Toei August

See here

Toei September

Shin Abashiri Bangaichi (新網走番外地) (1968)
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Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Runin-masaki no ketto (新網走番外地 流人岬の血斗) (1969)
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Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Saihate no Nagare-mono (新網走番外地 さいはての流れ者) (1969)
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Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Dai Shinrin no Ketto (新網走番外地 大森林の決斗) (1970)
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Toei October

Golgo 13 (ゴルゴ13) (1973) (starring Takakura)
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Golgo 13: Kowloon Assignment (ゴルゴ13 九竜の首) (Starring Chiba)
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Sakitto no ookami (サーキットの狼 ) (1977) (Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi)
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What a crazy Toei year it is... they’re obviosly trying to prove something, lol. And, let me guess, the original Abashiri Prison series will be low priced in December?
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Post by HungFist »

HungFist wrote:
What a crazy Toei year it is...
... and it just got crazier. November: 4 Hiroyuki Sanada films, including the long awaited Roaring Fire, and Shadow Warriors season 2
- http://adg.invisionzone.com/index.php?s ... =522&st=97

And more excellent news; Criterion picks seven Nikkatsu action titles, including A Colt is My Passport.
- http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/criteri ... -passport/

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+

Kino grabs Suzuki's Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards! and Bakuhatsu sanbyomae.

- http://outcastcinema.blogspot.com/2008/ ... pdate.html
- http://www.avmaniacs.com/forums/showthr ... 183&page=2

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

Toei’s low priced batch is coming November 1. There seems to be at least a lot of yakuza films, a couple of Hideo Gosha movies (Tokyo Bordello, Wives of the Yakuza + non-Gosha sequels) some pink (School of the Holy Beast, Mantis Wife’s Confession) etc. No Abashiri Prison unfortunately...

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/newrelease/jmo ... 2008-11-01

Kadokawa’s low priced dvds hit the streets October 24th. Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (original threatrical cut, almost certainly), Resurrection of the Golden Wolf, Beast to Die, The Little Girl Who Conquered Time (Obayashi), Legend of the Eight Samurai etc. Note that many of these are available in R1 and / or R3 HK. The R1 dvds should about the same quality, but as mentioned before in this thread, the IVL HK discs feature shitty encoding and badly timed subtitles.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/newrelease/jmo ... 20&step=20

I need to get The Little Girl Who Conquered Time at least. I've been meaning to get rid if the poor HK disc. Tomoyo Harada's face deserves a solid transfer!

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Last edited by HungFist on 20 Jan 2009, 12:24, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Toei November

Shogun's Ninja (Ninja bugeicho momochi sandayu) (忍者武芸帖 百地三太夫) (1980) (Sanada, Chiba, Shihomi, Tamba... directed by Suzuki)
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The Blazing Valiant (Moeru yusha) (燃える勇者) (1981) (Sanada, Wakayama)
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The Kamikaze Adventurers (Bokensha kamikaze) (冒険者カミカゼ) (1981) (Sanada, Chiba)
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Roaring Fire (Hoero! Tekken) (吼えろ鉄拳) (1982) (Sanada, Chiba, Shihomi, Ishibashi... directed by Suzuki)
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+ Kage no Gundan S2 (sorry, no pic avaible yet)

EDIT:

Missed one release. A film every self-respecting inhabitant of planet earth has been eagerly awaiting to hit the dvd. Yes!

Doberman Deka (ドーベルマン刑事) (1977) (directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring Shinichi Chiba
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Last edited by HungFist on 06 Sep 2008, 11:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Toei December

反逆児 (1961)
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http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1961/ck004970.htm

関の彌太ッペ (1963)
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http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1963/cm003550.htm

血と砂の決斗 (1963)
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http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1963/cm003660.htm

資金源強奪 (1975)
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http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1975/cy001840.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326140/

沖縄やくざ戦争 (1976)
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http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1976/cz002700.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183594/

Okinawa Yakuza War (沖縄やくざ戦争) at least is a must buy.

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

All credit to Al Edwards from dvd maniacs for spotting these.

Cinema Epoch’s Yellow Fangs is scheduled for January 13, 2009 release
http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.548 ... etails.htm

And Animeigo is releasing Kosaku Yamashita’s 199 minute war epic Aa kessen kokutai (1974) starring Koji Tsuruta, Akira Kobayashi, Bunta Sugawara, Hideo Murota, Noboru Ando, Tatsuo Umemiya, Goro Ibuki, Tsunehiko Watase, Nobuo Kaneko... damn, that cast is almost on par with the 1970 Toei war masterpiece Saigo no tokkotai (review a few pages back).

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http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.548 ... etails.htm

Toei has released the film twice; original and low priced edition.

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Last edited by HungFist on 20 Jan 2009, 12:23, edited 1 time in total.
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