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

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 23 Oct 2011, 11:18

I have over a 1000 dvds, so upgrading isn't really an option...boy, I need a life!

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 23 Oct 2011, 18:23

I wish I only had 1000

mind you I am dumping a shedload soon

luckystars · Post by **luckystars** » 23 Oct 2011, 18:31

I only upgrade when I'm 'ready' to rewatch a film...otherwise I never get round to watching the disc! I don't even buy new releases til way after the first viewing. Unless its a treat for myself I don't bother.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Oct 2011, 19:19

I used to always buy films then not watch them for months. I still do sometimes but only buy discs every now and again. The cost of Blu-ray's saved me money.

Don't you think if you've got 1000+ discs, you've got to many? I used to own 600 but it was getting silly. I had them in boxes in cupboards. I sold 200 and only one I regret selling (and I cannot now remember what it was

). In honesty I've still got to many but it's manageable.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 23 Oct 2011, 19:23

Ah well, better than wasting money on cigarettes, right?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 23 Oct 2011, 19:29

better than cigarettes, yes.

13 Assassins (Japan, 2010) – 3/5
Takashi Miike goes chanbara in a solid but underwritten reimagining of the 1963 Eiichi Kudo classics. The fittingly dark storyline takes its time to build up for the 45 minute non-stop action finale, but falls a bit short as soon as swords start clashing. The massive battle scene is impressive, but relies too much on kamikaze-techniques at the expense of inventiveness. Furthermore, with 13 main characters even 90 minutes is not enough to establish truly memorable characters before the climatic fight begins – only a handful of them come out with recognizable personalities. Nevertheless, the film is an entertaining and well made samurai romp that pushes the Japanese pg-12 rating to the edge with its violent action. “Miike factor” is kept to a minimum, although a few notable touches surface. Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada and Hiroki Matsukata lead the quality cast.

Kunoichi (Japan, 2011) – 2/5
B-action specialist Seiji Chiba helms yet another low budget ninja pic, this time with far less success than his recent sci-fi crowd pleaser Alien vs. Ninja. The 65 minute action film is remarkably low on action – only the final fight between karate girl Rina Takeda and Chiba regular Mitsuki Koga is worthwhile. The screenplay is non-existent, mainly consisting of meaningless dialogue scenes in the forest. Tech credits are modest even by genre standards, and the locations have been used to death in the director’s past works. Yet, with familiar cast and ninja theme it’s hard not to be at least a tiny bit entertained by Chiba’s passionate but sadly underperforming genre work. Lead girl Takeda ought to look for higher profile productions – her previous film K.G. was a step to the right direction.

edit: assassins edited

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 23 Oct 2011, 19:55

I hope the uncut version is released on UK/US BD soon.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 23 Oct 2011, 20:28

I doubt it ever will be.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 23 Oct 2011, 20:39

13 Assassins 90 minutes!? I thought the uncut version was something like 140 minutes!?

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 23 Oct 2011, 20:39

I don't mind having em all - keep most in folders. But I want to slow down - need to get out of the habit of chasing OOP titles too.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 23 Oct 2011, 20:45

Yi-Long wrote:13 Assassins 90 minutes!? I thought the uncut version was something like 140 minutes!?

sorry, that was a bit unclear. I meant (approx) 90 minute build up before the 45 min action scene. The international version is approx. 125 min. The JP version is 15 min longer.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 24 Oct 2011, 01:51

HungFist wrote:
Yi-Long wrote:13 Assassins 90 minutes!? I thought the uncut version was something like 140 minutes!?
sorry, that was a bit unclear. I meant (approx) 90 minute build up before the 45 min action scene. The international version is approx. 125 min. The JP version is 15 min longer.

Aw ic ic. Thanks

Anyway, cut releases like that just make it easy on the wallet for me, cause I'd never buy them, but download the uncut versions instead. I believe I have the uncut 13 Assassins. Haven't seen it yet though.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 24 Oct 2011, 13:13

VAMPIRE HUNTER D (1985) (straight to video)

I'm quite the anime novice, it must be said.

This is enjoyable, with some excellent design work, but at the same time it does leave me sort of cold. I find the OTT design of everything works against the uniqueness of the supernatural characters.

And funnily enough, that's exactly what I think of the English language theatrical spin-off VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST (2000)!

6/10 for both films

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 24 Oct 2011, 16:01

Kichiku dai enkai (Japan, 1997) – 1.5/5
Current top director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri ultra-violent breakthrough toured festivals and eventually made it to UK and US DVD distribution – quite an achievement from a student film. Its popularity may lie more on its extreme depiction of sickeningly violent acts rather than full understanding on the social and political commentary – Kumakiri draw inspiration from the Japanese extreme left student movement of the 70’s, which has also been the topic in various Koji Wakamatsu movies. The excessive bloodletting in Kichiku, however, tends to bury the social and political commentary and leave the viewer numb. Kumakiri has certainly come a long way since, with terrific character films such as Volatile Woman and Sketches of Kaitain City in his more recent filmography.

Life Can Be So Wonderful (Japan, 2007) – 2/5
Five short stories with gorgeus 8mm style visuals. Beautifully shot, but fails to reach a more personal level, mainly offering cinema poetry with cardboard characters and voiceover thoughts on life. The third episode, with Hiromi Katayama, shot almost entirely in one room, is the only one with real depth. Another somewhat successful episode is the last one, with the wonderful Mikako Ichikawa in the lead. The film maybe play better with middle aged audiences it appears to be aimed at.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 24 Oct 2011, 18:26

gasteropod wrote:Ah well, better than wasting money on cigarettes, right?

Times 100000

every few fags some fool smokes could buy me a film

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 24 Oct 2011, 19:51

HungFist wrote:
Yi-Long wrote:The international version is approx. 125 min. The JP version is 15 min longer.

Ohh that I did not know! now I will have to seek out a good comparison of the two cuts, as I dont want no hacked version!

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 24 Oct 2011, 20:47

romerojpg wrote:
HungFist wrote:
Yi-Long wrote:The international version is approx. 125 min. The JP version is 15 min longer.
Ohh that I did not know! now I will have to seek out a good comparison of the two cuts, as I dont want no hacked version!

http://wildgrounds.com/2011/07/07/thirt ... -vs-uncut/

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 25 Oct 2011, 18:46

Thanks a lot

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 26 Oct 2011, 16:06

Death Note - The Last Name (2006-Japan) **½

Sharp and imaginative follow-up... but too clever for its own good.

Keung · Post by **Keung** » 02 Nov 2011, 16:28

The Master - 1/5

I haven't seen this for a long time. It's horrible, haha. I'd give it a 0/5 if it didn't have Jet or Yuen Wah in it.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 02 Nov 2011, 16:37

Markgway wrote:Death Note - The Final Note (2006-Japan) **½

The Final Note????

Keung wrote:The Master - 1/5

I haven't seen this for a long time. It's horrible, haha. I'd give it a 0/5 if it didn't have Jet or Yuen Wah in it.

Pretty cool film, one of Li's better ones

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Nov 2011, 16:41

EDIT: Wrong film. It's Dragon Fight I've seen, which is downright dreadful. I have only seen it in English but I doubt it's much better in Chinese.

Keung · Post by **Keung** » 02 Nov 2011, 16:42

I did chuckle a few times. But, the American actors are so bad it's unbelievable.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Nov 2011, 17:52

I didn't think much of The Master. The American actors were really bad.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 02 Nov 2011, 20:57

HungFist wrote:
Markgway wrote:Death Note - The Final Note (2006-Japan) **½
The Final Note????

Oops. My mistake. I misremembered the title. Fixed now.

Keung wrote:The Master - 1/5

I haven't seen this for a long time. It's horrible, haha. I'd give it a 0/5 if it didn't have Jet or Yuen Wah in it.

HungFist wrote:[Pretty cool film, one of Li's better ones

I thought it wasn't too bad.

Bullets 'n' Babes

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

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