Want To see some Hideo Gosha films hit R1 DVD/Blu Ray??

[vegeta84]

Ok, I started this topic over on Kung Fu Cinema's, but I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to expand to other forums as well. Basically Criterion has been sitting on the rights to a few Hideo Gosha films. They hold the rights to at least three Gosha films to my knowledge that have never been released proper on the R1 market. Three!

Bandits Vs Samurai Squadron
Hunter In The Dark
Death Shadows

Hunter In The Dark is a masterpiece and deserves to be seen by more and the only way that is going to happen is if Criterion releases it. One big draw to see this movie? Sonny Chiba Vs Tatsuya Nakadai in a sword duel to the death in a chicken barn. Yes, I'm not kidding. A chicken barn.

Send an e-mail to mulvaney@criterion.com and suggest that they release these fine films and maybe one day it will happen. Can't hurt to send an e-mail right?

[HungFist]

Reminds me that I should re-watch Hunter in the Dark. I wouldn't quite consider it Gosha's top film, though (those would be Hitokiri, Violent Street, Cash Calls Hell, and Goyokin). Got it one HK Video dvd, like the other two. That's why I don't have that much personal interest in getting these out on Criterion, but good luck with the quest. Criterion's releases could easily be improvements over the less than perfect HK Video transfers.

I'm not sure if Criterion has much interest in releasing these, though, them not being films from Gosha's masterpiece era. They probably got them as filler when they licensed Three Outlaw Samurai and Sword of the Beast (if I'm not mistaken, they are all Shochiku productions). Eclipse release would make more sense, but even then the three films don't make a very logical collection them not being related in any way other than being Gosha films (even being an uneven bunch at that).

[vegeta84]

I will agree that Goyokin and Hitokiri are probably Gosha's best works, but Hunter In The Dark remains my favorite of his films. I bought a boot of Hunter In The Dark and the transfer is much better than the HK Video DVD, so there is a good transfer out there.

Bandits and Hunter are both Shochiku productions (not sure about Death Shadows) so it makes sense that they got a package deal. Criterion has a good relation with Shochiku and I wish they had similar connection with Toei.

Either way, an Eclipse set would make sense. All three films deal with swords, so I'm sure they could figure out a proper title for the collection. Either way, it would be nice to be able to give Hunter In The Dark a larger audience. My favorite Chiba performance and the film has so many great cameos that are actually utilized which is the complete opposite of what happened in Four Days of Snow and Blood. So many camoes wasted.

[HungFist]

I'd be very interested in what is the source of that bootleg, as I have owned both the Shochiku R2J and the HK Video, and find the latter the better of the two despite the typical HK Video shortcomings.

Death Shadows quite honestly I think is one of Gosha's much lesser films, and I'm a bit worried with R1 companies almost exclusively releasing these lesser films. The man was hugely important but it's no wonder he remains under appreciated when R1 seem to avoid his classics. Well, at least Goyokin and Three Outlaw Samurai got released, but his very best + most of the other quality films remain unreleased.

[HungFist]

If I was to rank Gosha's films from best to worst it would be something like (the underlined ones are available in R1)

1. Hitokiri (1969)
2. Cash Calls Hell (1966)
3. Violent Streets (1974)
4. Goyokin (1969)
5. Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)
6. Samurai Wolf (1966)
7. Samurai Wolf 2 (1967)
8. Hunter in the Dark (1979)
9. Sword of the Beast (1965)
10. Tracked (1985)
11. The Wolves (1971)
12. Bandits vs Samurai Squad (1978)
13. Oar (1985)
14. Onimasa: A Japanese Godfather (1982)
15. The Secret of the Urn (1966)
16. Kagero (1991)
17. Death Shadows (1986)
18. Wives of the Yakuza (1986)
19. The Geisha (1983)
20. Tokyo Bordello (1987)
21. Fireflies in the North (1984)
22. Oil Hell Murder (1992)
23. Carmen 1945 (1988)

I have not seen Four Days of Snow and Blood yet.

[vegeta84]

I got Hunter In The Dark here.

http://www.vendio.com/stores/stuffyouwa ... Id=4012634

He has 22 out of 24 Gosha films. I wouldn't say the the transfer of Hunter In The Dark is perfect, but I found it better than the HK R0 DVD.

Interesting list. I've seen about almost all of his films and liked them for the most part. I thought the first 15 minutes of Fireflies in the north was perfect, but I'm still shocked as to how fast the quality of the film fell apart. 4 Day of Snow and Blood didn't feel like a Gosha film even though it probably had the best cast Gosha ever assembled. Also really liked Onimasa and I see that ranked around the middle for you.

I'm still shocked that there is not a proper R1 of Tenchu. Not only is it Gosha's finest work, but one of the best Japanese films period. I really don't understand how Criterion or anyone hasn't released this film yet.

[HungFist]

hehe, I'm not talking about Hong Kong DVD's, I'm talking about the French distributor HK Video who are famous for releasing all kinds of gems in remastered format (they released 12 Gosha films, put out Fist of Legend uncut/remastered/original language 10 years ago, released The Wicked Priest and Tsui Hark's Dangerous Encounters: 1st Kind and The Blade, and many others).

Half of the dvds on that bootleg site appear to be bootlegs of HK Video releases, though Hunter in the Dark is probably a R2J Shochiku boot.

Here's the old comparison:
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=4309

With Hitokiri (Tenchu) there were some legal issues... the French (Wild Side Video) had to fight years before they got the rights and put out that lovely 2 Disc Edition. I don't know the details, but it's possible other companies still struggle with this. Clearly, it's a film Criterion should have released as soon as they finished encoding Seven Samurai.

[gasteropod]

I believe Criterion also have had the rights for Nobuo Nakagawa's 'Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan' for years yet still haven't released it.

[vegeta84]

Oh, I wasn't aware that HK Video is a French distributer. haha. Yeah, the boot I have looks more like a boot of the R2J Shochiku as the colors are very soft where it seems like the colors on the HK Video seems to be more vibrant.

Either way, while not a perfect transfer, it's one I can live with and is much better than the HK R0 boot.

Still, Tenchu is a Shochiku release I believe, so I would figure a big company like Criterion could get a hold of the legal issues and release this beauty. Not only is it one of the best Japanese films ever made, it's one of the best films made period. Hell, the film Izo got a release in the states before this one. Either way, it's a shame that there is no proper way of getting this film on R1 as well as other Gosha films. It's getting there slowly, but not fast enough.

[vegeta84]

I believe Criterion also have had the rights for Nobuo Nakagawa's 'Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan' for years yet still haven't released it.

Criterion has the rights to slight over 100 Japanese films that have never seen a home video release in the R1 format. That's a lot of films! I'm guessing it cost money to hold onto these films as they have to renew the rights every so often.

[gasteropod]

I'm guessing it cost money to hold onto these films as they have to renew the rights every so often.

Yeah every 6 years I think, it annoys me when distributors sit on rights, and shouldn't really be allowed.