Bullets 'n' Babes

grim_tales wrote:Wasn't Shogun Assassin restored though? The DVD says "Animego reconstructed version" or something like that, maybe they just took the relevant video they already had of the Japanese versions of Sword of Vengeance and River Styx and then put the English soundtrack on.

From what I recall, that's exactly what they did.

grim_tales wrote:I'm not sure Sword of Vengeance would be uncut over here, previously it was cut for sexual violence/rape (?)

Good point

grim_tales wrote:Hey,

There's a picture of the forthcoming Eureka set here - its not on the Masters of Cinema label but it includes all 6 Lone Wolf and Cub films (I'm assuming the Japanese versions) AND Shogun Assassin so who knows what the quality will be like.

http://www.theimportforums.com/viewtopi ... &start=435

D'oh

Giving it a second thought, those are almost certain to be standards conversions of the Animeigo dvds (like their Sasori dvds... Jailhouse 41 was actually a conversion job of the shitties dvd available for that film... even though remasted ntsc and native pal dvds had already been released in other countries). Why else would they include Shogun Assassin? It's not like Toho has that film.

Sorry Hung, I missed that
Maybe it will be released uncut, Emmanuelle was released uncut, previously this had been cut for rape AFAIK.
If its not uncut hopefully some other releases will be in the pipeline. I bet the JP releases won't have Eng. subs though.

The Blood Brothers (Hong Kong, 1973) – 2/5
Politics, warlords and heroic deaths. Chang Cheh has made these types of grand productions before, and they have rarely convinced. The characters are cardboard figures and none of the three stars – David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chen Kuan Tai – are at their best. The fight scenes – like the entire film – are perfectly predictable, usually concluding with a long series of shots of the hero staggering to his heroic death. Chang Cheh is usually at his best when he leaves the politics out and aims at something a little bit less than a royal historical epic.

Catholic Nun's Rope Hell (Japan, 1984) – 1,5/5
A Katsuhiko Fujii film that isn't rotten to the core? Well, morally no, but in practice yes! Fujii is the dullest of all Nikkatsu star directors, but this SM film scripted by Dan Oniroku (aren't they all?) is surprisingly tolerable. Miki Takakura plays a woman who enters a sinful convent. Her beautiful looks is the first factor behind the film's minor but unexpected success. The second is director Fujii and his crew. The audio-visual output is passable, and the film rolls on somewhat fluently. Of course, there are no real merits, but that would’ve been ridiculously much to ask from Mr. Fujii.

The Blood Brothers is an excellent Chang Cheh film.

The Banquet 2.5/5

Not familiar with the story of Hamlet so don't know how much of a retelling this was, but while very stylish it didn't really seem to have that much susbstance. The actint and dance school was just weird... why did they all simply do little arty acting poses prior to being slaughtered... only one of them really seemed to realise fighting back might be an option...

Anyway, decent enough in places, but not that great.

HungFist wrote:The Blood Brothers (Hong Kong, 1973) – 2/5
Politics, warlords and heroic deaths. Chang Cheh has made these types of grand productions before, and they have rarely convinced. The characters are cardboard figures and none of the three stars – David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chen Kuan Tai – are at their best. The fight scenes – like the entire film – are perfectly predictable, usually concluding with a long series of shots of the hero staggering to his heroic death. Chang Cheh is usually at his best when he leaves the politics out and aims at something a little bit less than a royal historical epic.

.

There's a fine story in Blood Brothers, its just let down by some repetetive filming (how often do we see people rolling down hills in this thing) and much of the fight choreography is poor.

I could do without the rolling down hills I admit...

I aint seen it for a while, but I loved it myself one of the best. I feel a re-watch comin on.

The Beast Must Die (Japan, 1980) – 2,5/5
Toru Murakami and Yusaku Matsuda’s last collaboration is an adaptation from Haruhiko Oyabu’s novel, which has been brought to silver screen a few times before. Changes were made to the original story, and the director and star also had their disagreements about how the topic should be handled. Matsuda plays a man who murders four people and robs a casino. But he’s planning something else, too. The approach to the story is interesting, on both Matsuda and Murakami’s behalf. Matsuda’s acting – despite his superstar status – is minimal, weird, and he hardly speaks at all (his first lines don’t come until 15 minutes in). Apparently the actor was quite deep into the role. Murakami’s directing is partly in the same alley. The storyline moves slowly and doesn’t reveal its motives until later on. This makes the film more intesting scene by scene, as it’s building up for something bigger. A high level of intensity is ultimately reached, but the ending is a let down. Matsuda’s underacting becomes severe overacting, and Murakami explains in great detail and constant flashbacks what should only have been vaguely suggested. Even then the final scene is slighty notorious for being difficult to interpret. In this wild mix supporting star Hideo Murota’s policeman performance stands out as being one of the few even elements in the film.

Karate for Life (1977) – 3/5
The final Masutatsu Oyama film is the weakest in the bunch. Oyama is invited to Okinawa to fight in fixed matches against foreigners. But the righteous savage can’t lose and ends up getting his fellow fighter (unconvincing Kojiro Hongo) and promoter (Hideo Murota) in trouble. Later Oyama runs into orphan children and sick young woman struggling to make a living. This part of the film resembles The Killing Machine (1975), which had superior characters and more interesting post war setting. Karate for Life relies mostly on action and Shinichi Chiba’s charisma. Some of the fight scenes featuring american wrestlers are average at best, but there's some terrific action at the beginning and end. The opening scene alone is a small classic. Bored of his unexciting life, "karate idol" Oyama goes around picking up fights and insulting local martial arts masters. "We will not back up. You will face all 100 students of this dojo", Masashi Ishibashi roars. "Fine, as long as you’ll be number 101", Chiba replies.

Do you go out socialising with friends ever Hung? I'm just wondering, as you always manage to find the time to watch so many films per week .

Maybe his friends are all Japanese movie buffs?

bradavon wrote:Do you go out socialising with friends ever Hung? I'm just wondering, as you always manage to find the time to watch so many films per week .

A few times a year.

But seriously, it's very easy to find time to watch many movies per week. I go to work, I got out, I do whatever I need to do, and then watch a movie at 10pm. That's easily 7 movies per week. On weekends I may not have time in the evening, but I can easily watch one or two movies daytime.

Markgway wrote:Maybe his friends are all Japanese movie buffs?

All of those Chiba films I've indeed been watching with a friend. He can't get enough of Chiba. I had to convince him to watch one Meiko Kaji film (it was on TV but too late at night so I had to watch it from my dvd earlier that day )... and now he wants to watch Chiba films with me and borrow my Meiko Kaji movies. He already stole a bunch of my Toei dvds.

Fair enough .

bradavon wrote:Do you go out socialising with friends ever Hung? I'm just wondering, as you always manage to find the time to watch so many films per week .

You have asked that countless times this year alone and been told each time, your memory is getting less as you get older

Mad Detective - 2/5
By HK standards this is amazing but by any other...... Sort of a shame, once I realised that it was quite a lot better than typical HK fare I immediately began to compare it to non-HK films and it obviously fell very short. In the end I couldn't compel myself to watch the last 25 mins.

Note on the BD, the MoC has the correct colours but it is really murky and lacking in sharpness, even when not compared to the oversharp HK disc.

Lone Wolf and Cub: BabyCart To Hades - 3.5/5

I think Sword of Vengeance and River Styx have better action but the big fight at the end of Hades is a cracker.

Yellow Fangs (Japan, 1990) – 4/5
Sonny Chiba's directorial debut is a stunning adventure film.
- https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... &start=179

The Chaser (South-Korea, 2008) – 3/5
Thoroughly dark Korean thriller thriller chooses a rather unexpected path. There’s an incredibly stupid plot turn near the end, but most KR crime film cliches – ear shattering yelling, classical or rap music, "dynamic" camerawork etc. – are either missing of not as strongly emphasized as usual.

Beautiful Boxer (Thailand, 2003) – 2,5/5
Extremely colourful – exploring the whole spectrum from blown out to rainbow look – biography film about Muay Thai boxer Nong Toom who fought to finance his sex change operation. Beautiful Boxer finds a strange balance between ridiculous kitsch melodrama and remotely coherent storytelling; one step to either direction and it wouldn’t have worked. It’s a shame the film is overlong. At 110 minutes especially the middle third drags (eh...). Thankfully the ending saves the experience; our gender defying hero(ine) meeting Japan’s pro wrestler Kyoko Inoue is as far out as reality gets and has to be admired.

Kagemusha (Japan, 1980) – 3,5/5
Kurosawa’s 3 hour epic is slightly too long. And a bit too short as well. The build up could use some tightening – removing some scenes altogether - while the second half would benefit from extra 30 minutes. The story comes to a conclusion before the main character’s potential development has been completed. It may be intentional, but most of the time Kurosawa’s camera is an outsider. Tatsuya Nakadai’s terrific acting, however, would allow a far more intimate portrait (admimittedly that type of cinema was only mastered 20 years later). Small complaints aside, Kagemusha is an impressive film full of enjoyable long scenes.

Violence Jack: Evil Town (Japan, 1988) – 2,5/5
Anarchy rules in an underground society that came to be when an eath quake destroyed the city above and trapped unlucky people a few hundred metres below the surface. They are now divided into three uneven groups - men, women, and gang members - all fighting for survival, until a giant knife man Violence Jack appears and decides to take sides. This second part in the notorious OVA trio entertains but doesn’t offer anything exceptionally memorable. BBFC, once again over-doing their duty at protecting people from harmful cartoons, removed 25 seconds from the pre-cut version that was already missing nearly 4 minutes of footage.

K-20: Legend of the Mask (Japan, 2008) – 3/5
While Hollywood is eager to remake every successful Asian movie, this Japanese superhero film is in debt to American comic books adventures. Set in alternate Japan where class differences have kept rising since the 19th century and WWII never took place, the film follows a circus artist (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who is framed by a famous masked thief K-20. Now he must clean his name by capturing the real villain, and that can only be done by mastering the arts of disguise and acrobatics. K-20 kicks off with one of the best opening shots in recent memory; gyro-copters flying above half-futuristic 1940’s metropolis. This shot, like most computer effects in the film, is far above Japan’s usual cgi standars. K-20 borrows elements from Sky Captain and the Word of Tomorrow, V for Vendetta, and Spiderman, and does it fairly successfully. Despite some unnecessary violence there’s a good amount of old school adventure feel in it. The film does come a bit short in term of production values though; while it doesn’t look cheap, it also doesn’t look visually as stylish as one would wish. There could be more action, and the ending could be more better. It’s also sad to see Takako Matsu – the star of Shunji Iwai’s pitch perfect masterpiece April Story (1998) – give such a bad performance in the leading female role. Takeshi Kaneshiro on the other hand is his usual self – if you’ve liked him before, you’ll like him here too. If not, then not. A sequel with improved production values would not be a bad idea at all, as the concept is good and has more potential than was reached this time.

Mr. Vampire - 4/5
Re-watched that classic for maybe the 30th time. I will never get enough of this film. Suspenseful and funny. Professional and cheesy (on purpose). Awesome!

Police Story BD 5/5

Awesome Jackie Chan classic, notable for it's stunning opening and stupendous climax which is proof positive of how good Chan in his prime was.It's not perfect,some of the comedy is weak to say the least but for all it's flaws it remains an all-time classic for me.

So the BD presentation is excellent then?

gasteropod wrote:So the BD presentation is excellent then?

No it's unimpressive-there's a white scratch on the print during the first few minutes (faintly visible but it's there) but it has (to my eyes) better colours than the DD i have.it's an AVC transfer

Would you say it's a proper 1080p transfer rather than an upscale? As long as stuff looks genuinely film-like, I don't mind as much about print damage for older films, at least for stuff like HK films it adds to the charm.

gasteropod wrote:Would you say it's a proper 1080p transfer rather than an upscale? As long as stuff looks genuinely film-like, I don't mind as much about print damage for older films, at least for stuff like HK films it adds to the charm.

is there a surefire way of knowing if it's an upscale? i know the german OUATIC&A was and it looked horrendous,the normal dvd was far better.Police Story is grainy as hell but that's the source i think..but let's be honest this film has never looked very good (at least on the versions i have had) it's on a BD-25 only. looking at the DD disc it's a definite upgrade picture wise but nowhere near enough to justify £20 (i'm a nutter though) plus the DD has as an extra the slightly extended and redited ending,which i prefer...like the Bruce discs there's a better version waiting to be released somewhere i'm sure...