What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Film Reviews and Release Comparisons
Post Reply
Killer Meteor
Hail the Judge!
Posts: 2350
Joined: 16 Mar 2005, 23:05

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Killer Meteor »

Clones of Bruce Lee (1980)

This potentially hilarious flick wastes no time getting down to business, with 3 clones (Dragon Lee, Bruce Le, and some fellow called Bruce Lai who looks in no way like the original), and a rouge's gallery of Bolo, Chiang Tao, Jon Benn, etc...

Sadly, this peaks halfway through with Dragon Lee's mission, and the following excursion for Le and Lai (plus Bruce Thai, who is a better clone then Lai but is not, in fact, a clone) in Thailand feels dreary, despite sexy dames and not-so sexy Bronzemen.

The fighting is part of the problem. It's very "shapes", which feels out of place in the modern day setting and far too old fashioned and over rehearsed. Very little attempt is made to copy the Bruce Lee style of fighting, and Dragon Lee (a good fighter in his own right) looks silly trying to do Mantis fist when you know his feet can do serious damage.

The end fight is potentially good, and Dragon Lee vs. Bolo is a suitably cool end fight (anything that vaguely resembles Bruce Lee vs. Bolo is welcome in my book). Sadly, we get a very anemic end fight between Bruce Le and the previously unseen Cheng Kei-Ying, who looks like a teenage boy with a bad case of the mumps and awful sideburns.

Despite my gripes, this is worth watching...your life won't be complete until you do!

4/10
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Guro Taku wrote: 26 Dec 2018, 17:53 My favorite film of his is The Outer Way (外道, 1998), which I wouldn't hesitate to include in any list of the best 10 Japanese films of the 90ies. That one's OOP too but, quite unlike the Wicked Reporters, it sells for about 50 yen so you probably can find it easily enough should you be so inclined.
You weren't kidding, 48 yen + shipping. I just might pick this up based on your recommendation! Thanks.
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Guro Taku »

Call Boy (娼年) (Japan, 2018) [BD] - 4/5
Every bit as good as Love's Whirlpool (愛の渦, 2014). Great acting, visually stylish, long sex scenes that remain surprisingly watchable because you are interested in and care for the characters and it goes to some pretty dark places along the way. Special props go to whoever did the sound effects for the finger breaking scene because those cartlidgey crunches really made me squirm. I really, really, really need to get caught up on Miura's two films from 2016: The City of Betrayal (裏切りの街) and Someone (何者).
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Guro Taku wrote: 30 Dec 2018, 20:30 I really, really, really need to get caught up on Miura's two films from 2016: The City of Betrayal (裏切りの街) and Someone (何者).
Someone is a pretty standard mainstream youth / shukatsu (job hunting) drama. It's not bad, but you wouldn't know it's by Miura if his name wasn't in the credits.

Haven't seen the other film.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Shoplifters (万引き家族) (Japan, 2018) [Flight] – 4/5
Perhaps Koreeda’s most accessible film with heartfelt, uniformly excellent performances by every central player. The characters, the direction and the performances are so good, so entertaining yet socially conscious that you don’t realize until halfway into the film that you don’t actually know anything about their backgrounds, which is something the film cleverly begins to examine from then on. Oh, and you get Sakura Ando almost naked. She’s so talented her talent, not her looks, makes her hot.

One Cut of the Dead (カメラを止めるな!) (Japan, 2017) [Flight] – 4/5
For my distrust in new Japanese indies, I skipped this one in theatres despite it becoming the Japanese cinematic phenomena of the year (it went from having no certain theatrical release to receiving limited arthouse release to finally ending up with massive mainstream distribution comparable to Marvel films as the word spread… it was made for $25 000 and went on to gross $25 million). My mistake! What begins as a moderately amusing zombie film (a frustrated film director summons real zombies to get genuine reactions from his cast and tries to film it all) shot in a single 36 minute take then turns into an absolutely genius and hilarious cinematic wonder. It is best not to reveal anything about the film’s final hour and let the audience discover it for themselves. Also don’t be put off by the film’s trailer – like the movie itself, it’s pulling the viewer’s leg.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Bakamasa Horamasa Toppamasa (バカ政ホラ政トッパ政) (Japan, 1976) [Netflix] - 1.5/5
Light-on-action businessman type yakuza film was a few years ahead of its time in that it is hopelessly dull. Bunta Sugawara leads a pack of three criminal/businessman/no goods. Nothing interesting happens, in fact, nothing much at all happens.

Japan's Violent Islands: Murder in the Capital by an Army of Killers (日本暴力列島 京阪神殺しの軍団) (Japan, 1975) [DVD] – 2/5
Weak jitsuroku tale by 60s ninkyo master Kosaku Yamashita, who often lost his touch with the grittier 70s material. The film not only fails to establish strong characters, but it also comes with clumsy edits and a somewhat misfit laidback score by the usually great Masao Yagi. There are occasional impressively cold blooded moments (e.g. Hideo Murota's disposal in the beginning) but most of the film leaves the viewer feel indifferent. Things are not helped by Nikkatsu migrant Akira Kobayashi, whose teddy bear looks never sold the jitsuroku psycho characters the way Sugawara, Watase or fellow Nikkatsu escapee Watari could under good direction. Here Kobayashi plays a fictionalized character based on real life gangster Jiro Yanagawa, the head of the Yanagawa gang. The film shows his rise in the 1950s. But he and the other character are regrettably superficial, a problem probably arising from adapting real life events into a film without enough consideration to cinematic characterization. In this respect, too, Yamashita's 60s output was much more satisfying.

Image Image
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Guro Taku »

The City of Betrayal (裏切りの街) (Japan, 2016) [DVD] - 3.5/5
A 20-something slacker (Love's Whirlepool's Sosuke Ikematsu) who leeches off his hard-working girlfriend uses an online hook-up site to contact women and so meets a woman almost 20 years his senior. Their first encounter is awkward but they get along well enough that they pursue their meetings. By the second time it is revealed that she's married. By the third date, they have disappointing sex. This all is intercut with their interactions with the respective parters they are cheating on. But don't feel too sorry for anyone here, as writer/director Daisuke Miura's realistic (some might say cynical) take on people and their relationships is in full effect here and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in this film who isn't flawed in some way. Performances are once again excellent, something that I have come to take for granted in a film directed by Miura. This being a 132 minutes long feature edit of what was originally a 6 part TV series, the sex isn't quite as frequent and graphic as it is in Love's Whirlepool or Call Boy but it still earns its R-15.
Killer Meteor
Hail the Judge!
Posts: 2350
Joined: 16 Mar 2005, 23:05

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Killer Meteor »

Bruce and Dragon Fist (1978)

Feels a bit like two different movies: a comedy with Bruce Le mugging shamelessly mugging as a beggar with a bindle, whilst a Korean martial arts drama plays out around him. Not much to say here

4/10



Bruce and Shaolin Kung Fu II (1978)


Simplistic but entertaining Bruce Le vs "Japs" sequel, with lots of fighting and very funny overacting from everyone, especially lead villian Bae Su-Cheon who jumps up and down like a todder on a sugar rush at the prospect of wiping out Chinese Kung Fu. Chiang Tao's "karate" master is a goofy highlight too. The downbeat ending works better then expected. Lovely use of what appears to be a Morricone piano tune, but I can't identify it specifically.

UPDATE: It's Mancini actually - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlv32UEazGc

6/10
Last edited by Killer Meteor on 14 Jan 2019, 00:27, edited 1 time in total.
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Guro Taku »

May The Devil Take You (Sebelum Iblis Menjemput) (Indonesia, 2018) [netflix] - 3/5
Timo Tjahjanto gets you to care for his characters, who are put in danger of losing their souls thanks to the greed of their father, in his first supernaturally themed feature since MACABRE. Tjahjanto's solid directing and the Indonesian setting are the main reason I watched this whereas I'd have likely passed up an American production with a similar premise. Much has been made of an EVIL DEAD influence on the film and while that is probably true, I'd argue that there's just as much of a J-horror influence, what with all the demonic hair stuff. Gore scenes are limited and I'm certain the budget must have been much lower than for THE NIGHT COMES FOR US, Tjahjanto's other netflix original last year. Chelsea Islan (of Tjahjanto's HEADSHOT) is very good as the lead, with Samo Rafael also solid in a supporting turn. The film unfortunately runs out of steam somewhere in the second act and would have worked better at, say, 85 minutes as opposed to 110 minutes.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Danger Pays (危いことなら銭になる) (Japan, 1962) [DVD] - 1.5/5
Nerve wrecking idiot comedy with Joe Shishido, Hiroyuki Nagato and Kôjirô Kusanagi goofing around after stolen money and master counterfeiter. Production design and Shishido's car are admittedly cool.

+ Sonny Chiba Special: Part 71

Violent Street (暴力街) (Japan, 1963) [35mm] - 3/5
Decent yakuza lieutenant Ken Takakura tries to strike peace between gangs while rivals and reckless subordinates (Shinjiro Ebara in full Hiroki Matsukata mode trying to make money with boxing and dirty gambling) alike give him hard time. This was one of the relatively few modern day ninkyo films (most were set in pre-WWII era), which lends to some interesting bits such as the "final walk" in contemporary milieu. Not especially well written, lacking the kind of strong honor/duty dilemma that is the backbone of the best ninkyo films, but there are many good scenes like a detailed yakuza ceremony in the opening and action packed ending. It's also surprisingly sexy, without explicit nudity, with one of Ebara's businesses being turning a traditional stage theatre into a strip theatre. Sonny Chiba has a decent supporting role as an impulsive young yakuza holding grudge against Takakura's gang. There's no character development for him but Chiba acts well and gets enough screen time to make it the film's third or fourth biggest role. The film is unrelated to the Hideo Gosha movie (1974) of the same title, btw.

Life of Blackmail (わが恐喝の人生) (Japan, 1963) [TV] - 3/5
Two kids and best friends (Tatsuo Umemiya and Sonny Chiba) go different paths, one becoming a gangster specializing in blackmailing and the other a policeman. Umemiya and Chiba share the top billing; however, it is Umemiya who gets the juicier role with most screen time as the blackmailer. It’s an entertaining modern day gangster film with an energetic score and young cast; however it feels a bit superficial as the script doesn’t really pit the two main characters against each other most of the time, which could have added psychological depth. The storyline is an adaptation of Shinji Fujiwara’s novel. Kinji Fukasaku directed a better version called Blackmail is My Life for Shochiku in 1968 with a vastly different rendering of the storyline. Chiba’s character does not appear in that film at all, and the blackmailer, played by Hiroki Matsukata, faces mostly different scenarios although some plot elements and characters are the same.

Image Image
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Blackmail is My Life (恐喝こそわが人生) (Japan, 1968) [DVD] - 3/5
One of the films Kinji Fukasaku helmed for Shochiku instead of his native Toei. The breezy youthful touch found in his film indeed fits Shochiku better than gangster heavyweight Toei, though one also feels this could’ve been a Nikkatsu film. The cast and crew are largely Toei people, though. Hiroki Matsukata is the titular blackmailer heading a very Nikkatsu esque youth gang gradually moving on to bigger fish to blackmail. Hideo Murota gets one of his best roles as Matsukata's pal, for once playing a good guy (if a blackmailer can be described as such). This was actually the 2nd time the source novel was adapted; it was preceded by a 1963 Toei film Life of Blackmail starring Tatsuo Umemiya and Sonny Chiba in a very different kind of rendering of the storyline (Chiba's policeman/former best friend character does not even appear in Fukasaku's version). Fukasaku's film is the more rebellious and faster paced one with frantic cutting between past and present to explain ongoing scenes on the fly. There’s a flashback overkill but it's an interesting way to tell a story anyway, and unmistakably Fukasaku.

Writhing Tongue (震える舌) (Japan, 1980) [Netflix] - 3.5/5
A married couple (Tsunehiko Watase and Yukiyo Toake) struggle to keep their faith and sanity when their 5 year old daughter is struck by a painful and potentially deadly disease. Extremely difficult to watch in places, it's also an emotional sledge hammer that is impossible to get through without tears. The leading performances by Watase and Toake are terrific. Towards the end of the film they really look like they haven't slept in weeks.

Image Image
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

New Killers in Town (1990, Hong Kong) Amazon Prime 2/5
Another very cheaply made HK action flick that I was hoping was a Moon Lee feature. The U.S. release was called ‘Master of Disaster’ and spliced in a couple of Jackie Chan/Sally Yeh scenes from the Protector and this Amazon Prime version has two of those scenes - completely unrelated to the movie and, if you didn’t know any better, absolutely confusing to the plot.
Eh, who watches these for the plot?
Moon Lee’s two male cousins come to Hong Kong and they all immediately get tangled in a drug dealers business. It has its moments of what you watch these movies for, but it’s pretty amateurish filmmaking, even by Hong Kong standards. Moon Lee is WAY underused, almost to the point of calling her appearance an extended cameo, especially if you figure in that she’s a hostage for half the movie. One of Sophia Crawford’s earliest HK movies, she’s also underused, but the WORST example of underuse is Liu Chia-Liang as the uncle, who doesn’t get to show these knuckleheads how to fight until the finale of the movie. The fights in the film aren’t all that bad, they’re actually fairly entertaining, but boy does he make everyone else look like they’ve been moving in slow motion!
I knew what to expect here - it just had a lot of people in it I enjoy watching.

Image
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

The Yellow Sea (South Korea, 2010) [Netflix] - 3/5
Gripping, but uneven thriller told in an overly complicated fashion. It works better when the politics are put aside and the focus is on the sad protagonist, a man from a Chinese / North Korean border town sent to Seoul to kill a man. There are two major chase sequences, the first one of which is brilliant but the second one a shaky cam mess. The closing scene is great, but the ultra-violent last hour is otherwise too over-the-top to be taken seriously. Feels much like director Na Hong-jin ‘s first film, The Chaser.

Female (牝) (Japan, 1964) [TV] - 3.5/5
Amazingly convoluted but breathtakingly shot tale of a somewhat disturbed young woman (Mako Midori) engaging in a relationship with a married man at night and spying on his wife at day. The wife then seeks consolation from an attorney who just happens to be Midori's old man (who is unaware of his daughter's game)! And that's just the beginning of the storyline! Entertaining in spite of (or perhaps partly because of) its melodramatic convolution, it's also packed with beautiful melancholy with Midori wandering through the night and observing the city in lyrical images of exceptional beauty. Some of these scenes feel almost as if they were directed by Wong Kar Wai or Hirokazu Koreeda, and filmed by Ping Bin Lee (In the Mood for Love, Air Doll). Also, there is an amazing scene where Midori, who’s gotten herself on a TV show, "spies" on her lover and his wife making love via the television screen.

Image Image
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Devil Hunters (1989, Hong Kong) youtube 3/5
At some point, someone decided to put an English dub to this and rename it 'Ultra Force 2' which is what I watched, though it was listed as 'Devil Hunters' on youtube (In this English dub, 'Devil Hunter' is the Police Superintendent's radio code name.). Neither title makes much sense or difference - it's a police action/drama with a laughably hard as nails Police Superintendent, numerous cagey bad guys and their cronies (I've seen a lot of Ken Lo movies) and of course the hero, an underling in the force, getting chewed out endlessly because things don't go as planned. In this case it starts out as TWO underlings, Sibelle Hu (of course) and Candy Wen.
Alex Man plays the pompous Police Superintendent and yells things like "The whole operation has been ruined by your incompetence!" and "What am I going to say to the chief?" Moon Lee is adorable as ever - it took me a while to figure out what her character was up to, but in the meantime, she kicks the crap out of people here and there and lights up the screen whenever she's featured, which isn't TOO little. I mean, I'd put her in every scene, but here she gets some decent usage and it helps the movie.
Pretty sure they undercrank the camera on ALL of the action scenes, including the shoot-outs and people running, but it certainly spices it all up. Sibelle Hu wears a great deal of noticeably flashy 80's fashion, and we actually get to see some martial arts from her here and not just gunplay and sour puss facial expressions. Ray Lui plays one of the many sort-of bad guys and adds to the short, frantic martial arts scenes sprinkled throughout all the shooting.
The cliches are endless, the big 'reveal' is rather eye-rolling, but in truth, I was moderately entertained by this movie. The quality of the picture was good, the quality of production good, it moves along at a nice brisk pace and there are enough familiar faces in the movie to follow its goofy plot, while waiting for someone to start shooting or kicking.
And the ending? Well, its a Hong Kong cinema ending, but then the movie tells us, that the stunt people involved were actually hurt in the explosion (which still didn't stop the filmmakers from using the footage)...


Image
User avatar
grim_tales
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 22071
Joined: 25 Oct 2004, 18:34
Location: St. Albans, UK

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by grim_tales »

Merantau (2009): 3.5/5

Pretty good, with a darker than expected story and effective action, the Western villains are very cliche though.
If the main character had the final face off against his brother that would have been a better showdown - shame about the sad ending :(
When the credits rolled I realised the director used to be one of our own, on the old forums :)
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Moebius (South-Korea, 2013) [Netflix] - 2/5
Kim Ki-duk's film about lost dicks. Shocking, but repetitive with one dimensional characters. The film had quite a bit of censorship trouble in Asian countries, including Japan where the film was cut to shreds. The film could only secure an 18 rating in Japan after 5 minutes of censorship cuts to remove "child pornography" (the actor playing “the son” was 15 at the time of filming). Western censors, BBFC included, had no similar objections. How ironic.

Ken and Kazu (ケンとカズ) (Japan, 2015) [Netflix] - 3.5/5
Ice cold indie drama about two drug dealers making a barely sufficient living by dealing meth on suburban streets. The film opens with them mercilessly beating the shit out of punks who came to their territory. There's not one bit of Scorsese or Coppola's glory, not even Fukasaku's explosive chaos, but only bleak realism. Initially almost unwatchable for this reason, little by little the film gets under the viewer's skill thanks to terrific performances and fine characterization with the slightest bit of humanity inserted into Ken's character who is about to become a father. Debut director Hiroshi Shoji also helms the film with just enough visual cool to compensate for the draining nihilism. The last 25 minutes is less impressive with a more conventional confrontation. Nevertheless, the most noteworthy crime film from Japan in a while.

Image Image
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

The Bare-Footed Kid (Hong Kong, 1993) [Netflix] - 2/5
Mostly watchable kung fu fairy tale with good production values and nice supporting performances (especially Ti Lung as retired kung fu master). The story however is so naive, predictable and moralizing that the film is ultimately beyond salvation. The awful ending montage is the last nail in the coffin. The action is good, but there isn't enough of it.

Night Scandal (Akujo) (悪女) (Japan, 1964) [TV] – 2.5/5
Toei had Yusuke Watanabe, Mako Midori and Mayumi Ogawa team up for this lesser, more conservative follow-up in the wake of the success of Two Bitches. Ogawa is an innocent maid entering a decadent house with predatory playboy son Tatsuo Umemiya, lesbian party bitch Midori, and wife Hizuru Takachiho who is waiting for the old man to die and pass his fortunes to her. Pretty watchable exploitation-melodrama, but Ogawa is the weakest link. She's loud, hysterical and a bit annoying, which is at odds with the role she's playing. Umemiya fares the best, surprisingly. He spent two decades playing sexist playboy characters, usually seen thru a questionable macho filter. Here, however, he is a genuine bastard whose actions are not glorified.

Image Image
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Guro Taku »

A Woman's Holes (女の穴) (Japan, 2014) [BD] - 3/5
Definitely a lot better than director Kota Yoshida's The Torture Club ちょっとかわいいアイアンメイデン (2014) and with a lot less sex and nudity. The R18 rating it brandishes is due to brief full-frontal nudity from gravure idol Yumi Ishikawa. The film is split pretty evenly into two separate stories, the first one being "A Woman's Holes" and dealing with a high school girl who got taken over by a space alien and now wants to learn about love and sex (as well as conceive a baby) from one of her teachers. It's pretty funny and even sort of sweet. You can view it as a very different take on the same concepts as Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin (2013). The second story, titled "A Woman's Pig" is about another schoolgirl getting coached by a horned demon chick into blackmailing and bullying a gay teacher she actually has a crush on. It's not terrible but much less engaging than the first story. Luckily for the film, the final 13 minutes take us back to the first story and its conclusion. Then there's an absolutely outstanding song playing over the end credits with lyrics about super-comfy deep, deep holes!

Wicked City (妖獣都市) (Japan, 1987) [BD] - 4.5/5
Animated adaptation of a Hideyuki Kikuchi pulp novel that improves upon its source material with stellar, wildly inventive direction from Yoshiaki Kawajiri. A staple of the edgy kind of anime that popularized the artform in the West in the 90ies, it still holds up perfectly. The 4K remastered BD from Toei is simply astounding as well.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Painted Faces (Hong Kong, 1988) [Netflix] – 4/5
Rich, beautiful cinematic reconstruction of 1960s Hong Kong, focusing on children growing up in Peking Opera School over a 7 year period. It's the school that Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao attended, but the fact that they are featured as central characters in the film is both beside the point and wisely understated (Jackie is never referred by the name we know him by). Sammo Hung gives a solid dramatic performance as the school owner/teacher.

Rapist (犯る男) (Japan, 2015) [Netflix] - 2.5/5
Abused young woman falls in love with a homeless thief/murderer/rapist who lives by the river with his glorious special effect zombie monster dog. This is one movie that proved my initial assessment of it as garbage wrong. The first half is dull and the train groping parts downright ridiculous, but the further it gets, the odder it becomes till it ends up downright memorable twisted love story. But the best thing about the movie: the John Carpenter / Escape from New York rip-off score. The film, released theatrically as R18 and R15 versions in porn and arthouse cinemas respectively in 2014 and 2015, marked a sort of comeback for junk director Daisuke Yamanouchi (I once asked a friend who was working on a Daisuke Yamanouchi article which of his movies he'd recommend. His reply: none). The version reviewed here is the R15 one, running 70 minutes. The R18 version is supposed to have the same running time, more or less (it was released as a “Groper Train” film, btw). In 2017 Yamanouchi also released a 90 minute director’s cut. And Amazon US is streaming a supposedly 61 minute version called Wanted: For Forced Entry.

Image Image

@Guro Taku, I remember you saw and reviewed this as well. Did you manage to confirm any of the version running times first hand?
Guro Taku wrote: 03 Feb 2019, 11:35 Wicked City (妖獣都市) (Japan, 1987) [BD] - 4.5/5
The 4K remastered BD from Toei is simply astounding as well.
The price is pretty astounding as well :lol:
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Guro Taku »

HungFist wrote: 03 Feb 2019, 12:25@Guro Taku, I remember you saw and reviewed this as well. Did you manage to confirm any of the version running times first hand?
My Japanese DVD has a runtime of 71 minutes and is identified as the R15 cut on the back cover. I compared it with the 60 minute thing on amazon and they basically cut out all the sex scenes. Never saw the R18 version and I didn't know about a director's cut existing.
HungFist wrote: 03 Feb 2019, 12:25The price is pretty astounding as well :lol:
That it is but that's not just for the BD. You actually get 2 whole books as well, one being the complete storyboards and the other containing charcter designs, production sketches and illustrations as well as numerous interviews. If you're as big a fan of the film as I am, that's a great deal. I'm sure a cheaper BD only release will follow once this initial batch sells out.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Guro Taku wrote: 03 Feb 2019, 12:33
HungFist wrote: 03 Feb 2019, 12:25@Guro Taku, I remember you saw and reviewed this as well. Did you manage to confirm any of the version running times first hand?
My Japanese DVD has a runtime of 71 minutes and is identified as the R15 cut on the back cover. I compared it with the 60 minute thing on amazon and they basically cut out all the sex scenes. Never saw the R18 version and I didn't know about a director's cut existing.
Wait, which version is missing most of the sex scenes? The 60 minute version? Or the 71 min R15 version?

The dir. cut seems to have been released theatrically only with no DVD or streaming releases. And I think I read it was R15 as well.
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Guro Taku »

HungFist wrote: 03 Feb 2019, 13:04Wait, which version is missing most of the sex scenes? The 60 minute version? Or the 71 min R15 version?
The 60 minute amazon version.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Guro Taku wrote: 03 Feb 2019, 14:14
HungFist wrote: 03 Feb 2019, 13:04Wait, which version is missing most of the sex scenes? The 60 minute version? Or the 71 min R15 version?
The 60 minute amazon version.
Thanks. I thought so, I just wasn't sure there was 11 minutes of sex in the R15 version to cut. And who is that 60 min version for anyway? The R15 one is already the censored commercial version...

So, we got:
- 71 min R18 version: presumably cut for storyline
- 71 min R15 version: cut for sex
- 60 minute version: cut even more for sex
- 90 minute R15 version: extended for story but cut for sex

All this for a bloody Daisuke Yamanouchi film? :lol:
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Guro Taku »

You Don't Even Like Me (好きでもないくせに) (Japan, 2016) [BD] - 2.5/5
Another Kota Yoshida film and there'll be a couple more before I'm done catching up. This one is a serious drama about Kotoko (gravure model turned actress Riko), a girl who can only have sex with guys she doesn't actually like. This mostly means Goda (Ryosuke Kawamura of Noboru Iguchi's MACHINE GIRL), a colleague from the hostess club she works at and who's in love with her. One day, when they're bar-hopping with Goda's college friends, she meets aloof male model Riku (Takuya Negishi) and falls for him. But guess what? Riku is a major sleazebag and only interested in fucking as many girls as he can... Sex scenes are of the realistic variety and the acting from Kawamura and Riko is uneven. Both are mostly alright but struggle with the more emotional scenes and, in Riko's case, with playing drunk. Negishi fares better but then again he's playing a robot without discernable emotions to begin with. The R18 is due to a couple full frontal shots of Riko's pubes/merkin.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

The Viper Brothers: Up on 30 Charges (まむしの兄弟 二人合わせて30犯) (Japan, 1974) [DVD] - 2/5
Part 7. Kawachi finds his long lost mother, who is a rich lady of a respectable family. Comedy and melodrama ensue. Watchable but hardly exciting entry save for a few highlights such as the excessively violent ending and a wonderful only-in-Japan comedy rape when jailed Sugawara is determined to have sex with a female guard despite there being bars between them. Michi Azuma (the topless swordswoman from Babycart in Peril) plays a tomboy girl who wants to join the bros, overdoing it a bit while remaining clothed this time.

The Viper Brothers and the Young General (まむしと青大将) (Japan, 1975) [DVD] – 1.5/5
The last in the series. Sugawara runs into two mahjong cheaters (Ichiro Araki and Mako Midori + sidekick Takuzo Kawatani) whom he takes for friends in need as his naivety prevents him from seeing their true nature. Sadly this is waste of good cast, with cool-Araki, maniac-Kawatani and femme fatale Midori all in relatively restrained, boring roles. Kawachi doesn't appear until 35 min into the film. Sugawara's mother complex becomes a pain, too. The grit, the drama and the fun of parts 1, 5 and 6 respectively are nowhere to be found here. This is typical routine Nakajima with an occasional fun or exciting moment (the mahjong scenes fare the best). Note that there was one film made before this, Scoundrel vs. The Viper Brothers, which was a cross-over with the Tomisaburo Wakayama action comedy series and seems to be primarily considered part of that series.

Image Image
Post Reply