Maki's 13 Steps

[perfectpawn]

Just want to say that of all the '70s Japanese karate films I've seen, which is a lot, Maki's 13 Steps (aka The 13 Steps of Maki) with Etsuko "Sue" Shihomi is at the top. Can't believe it's not been released on DVD, even in the US. I'm happy to own a copy of the English fansubbed DVD, which looks to have been sourced from a vhs print...but I'm curious why it hasn't come out on official Toei DVD. Was the movie a flop when it was released? Given the mass amount of Toei DVDs coming out, particularly pinky violence, you'd think "Maki" would make for an obvious release. It's got it all -- stray cat action, karate thrills, violence, and the obligatory bad treatment of women which Japanese audiences apparently demanded in the '70s. Plus Shihomi looks like a comic hero come to life throughout the film.

[HungFist]

Etsuko fans have been waiting forever for Toei to release the film. Maybe there's a real reason, such as the lack of good print, or maybe it just hasn't found a release slot yet. We have to keep in mind Toei produced tons of films, and even bigger stars than Shihomi still have many of their films unavailable. Several Junko Fuji/Ken Takakura yakuza films are actually getting their dvd premiere this spring & summer

As for US companies, I wouldn't hold my breath. Toei charges ridiculous licensing fees, and Kill Bill went already (in other words: US companies are no longer able to sell Asian movies to John Does with Tarantino's name... I always found it amusing and sad when "fans" were complaining about Tarantino's name on the cover of every other Asian movie when Tarantino's name was the only reason why those releases ever happened... Now we're back in the situation where it's no more profitable to release these films because without motormouth Tarantino there simply isn't enough people to buy these discs to make them profitable).

[saltysam]

i have the fansubbed copy of this,not got round to watching it yet.