The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” is a very enjoyable and fascinating film that manages to honor the legacy of China’s well-known feminist, revolutionary and writer Qiu Jin and also balancing the film with plenty of action sequences in making this film entertaining for viewers worldwide.

Images courtesy of © 2012 FUNimation Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake (Jian hu nu xia Qiu Jin)

FILM RELEASE: 2011

DURATION: 115 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, Mandarin and English, Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: National Arts, Eleven Arts, FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV MA

Release Date: May 15, 2012

Directed by Herman Yau

Written by Erica Lee

Produced by Kwok Sam Sin

Executive Produced by Kwok-Hing Lee, Kwok Lam Sin

Music by Chun Hung Mak

Cinematography by Kwong-hung Chan

Edited by Wai Chiu Chung

Production Design by Raymond Chan

Starring:

Huang Yi as Qiu Jin

Dennis To as Xu Xilin

Xiong Xin-Xin as Ao Feng

Anthony Wong as Li Zhongyue

Kevin Cheng as Wang Tinjun

Lam Suet as Gui Fu

In late-19th century China, Qui Jin was many things: a defiant rebel armed with both blades and guns, a paramilitary leader dedicated to overthrowing an unjust government, a non-conformist who boldly donned men’s attire in spite of tradition, a radical poet whose words inspired the oppressed, and a heroic martyr whose views on equality altered history. Her steadfast resolve to improve the plight of women and her bravery in the face of tyranny led her to the executioner – but her determination to topple the status-quo changed a nation forever.

In China, one woman has made an impact not just in her country but also around the world.  A revolutionary but also a woman known for speaking out for women’s rights.  Encouraging women to gain financial independence through education and also learning various professions, so she would not need to depend on a man.  But most importantly, rejecting oppression by their families (due to cultural tradition and women looked lower than men) and also at the time, the government of the Quing Dynasty.

She was known for her poetry and essays, wearing Western clothing (usually worn by males) but also being executed in 1907 (via beheading) for what she believed in.

And to this day, she is considered a heroine and a martyr and a symbol of women’s independence in China and a museum has been established in Shaoxing by the People’s Republic of China as well as statues dedicated to Qui Jin.

Needless to say, when films are created in honor of such an important person, those willing to direct a film will surely be scrutinized in China.  For one, they will be criticized for its accuracy, how much they honor the actual person and most importantly knowing that certain directors try to integrate plenty of action and martial arts into their movies, will they do the same for Qiu Jin?

Assigned the task of directing this film on an important person in China’s history is director Herman Yau (“The Legend is Born: Ip Man”, “The Eight Immortals Restaurant: The Untold Story”, “True Women for Sale”) and writer Erica Lee (“The Legend is Born: Ip Man”, “King of Comedy”).  And cast as Qiu Jin is Huang Yi (“Romancing in Thin Air”, “East Meets West”, “Overheard 2″) and cast as revolutionary leader Xu Xilin is Dennis To (“The Legend is Born: Ip Man”, “Ip Man”, “Ip Man 2″).

And the film did receive its fair share of controversial news stories.  The film received delays in China/Hong Kong due to protests by Jin’s grandchildren who worried about the depiction of their grandmother and if they would make her more of an action/martial arts character.  The film would eventually debut in October 2011 and Jin’s grandchildren would eventually watch the film at the premiere along with the director Herman Yau and actress Huang Yi.

“The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” is a film that showcases Qiu Jin in two parts that are mixed together in order to show the influence of Qiu Jin.  One part focuses on the battle between the revolutionaries that she had trained at school vs. the Qing government soldiers and events leading to her capture (and execution), as well as the capture of Xu Xilin (played by Dennis To), the leader of the revolution and the person who assassinated the provincial governor of the Anhui Province.

The other part focuses on Qiu Jin’s perspective on life from her young years, her feminist beliefs, her college years in Japan and how she became a revolutionary and worked strongly with Xu Xilin.

With a young Qiu Jin, not understanding why boys are given better treatment over girls.  She also resisted in having her feet bound (a common practice in China at the time as small feet was looked at as a positive cultural symbol of beauty at the time) and unlike other girls, she wanted to learn how to ride horses, learn martial arts and swordfighting with her father and brother.   It’s a lifestyle that she wanted and her father accepted.

And throughout her teenage years, Qiu Jin was critical on how women were not treated as equals to men.  She began to have a perspective that a Western-style government would be much better than the Qing government that was currently in place.

But the time the life of Qui Jin was not exactly the best time for many Chinese who suffered because of the war and treatment by its government.  This was during life after the Opium Wars where the Qing Dynasty fought against foreigners but then after losing, later working with them, which led to Chinese people thinking the government was corrupt. Also, the First Sino-Japanese War was also beginning to weaken the trust the people had toward its government.

While Qiu Jin, who was educated and would showcase her expressions through poetry and essays, she would often write about the weakening of China and the repression of women.

She would eventually be arranged in a marriage with the son of the wealthy Wang family, Wang Tinjun (played by Kevin Cheng) and give birth to a son and daughter.  But wanting more from her husband in hopes that his influence can lead to a political position that can make a change in China, her husband was not a strong individual like she is.  As Wang Tinjun wanted his wife to be like other wives, Qiu Jin was not that kind of a woman.

And through other independent women that she would eventually meet in her area, her conviction of fighting for the rights of women and a stronger government would lead Qiu Jin to leave her husband and children behind and pursue education in Japan.

And through her stay in Japan, she would also meet people who believed in the same ideals that she had, especially Xu Xilin, the person who would be the spoken leader for the Zehjiang students who were anti-Qing.  Xu Xilin would establish a publishing house and a public school (which would actually be used to train revolutionaries), a school that Xu Xilin has put his trust in Qiu Jin of running.

And the two storylines come full circle as the Quing officials go after Qiu Jin, who is considered a partner of Xu Xilin and she is taken to court where she would receive a trial.  While Qing court official Li Zhongyue (played by Anthony Wong) admires Qiu Jin for her writing and education, unfortunately the Qing court is corrupted and will do all they can to get Qiu Jin to admit that she is a revolutionary, even by means of torture.

“The Woman Kniht of Mirror Lake” is dramatized biography on the life of Qiu Jin, dramatized in a way that there are plenty of action sequences, such as Xu Xilin leading the revolutionaries to fight against the Qing soldiers and also a one-on-one battle between Qiu Jin vs. Qing official Ao Feng (played by Xiong Xin-Xin).

VIDEO:

“The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:39:1 aspect ratio).  The film absolutely looks fantastic in HD as the scenes are vibrant during the outdoor sequences.  The costume and set design were wonderful to look at and detail can be seen in clothing and structures.  I didn’t notice any artifacts or banding during my viewing of the film.  But for the most part, video quality for “The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” is great!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” is presented in Dolby TrueHD Mandarin and English 5.1.  Dialogue and music is crystal clear but I was hoping for a bit more of an immersive mix due to the number of action sequences in the film.  Surround channels are utilized, especially during music sequences but for the most part, the lossless soundtrack is good but I was hoping to hear more directional sounds and ambiance with the action sequences and the large number of crowds featured in the film.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” comes with the following special features:

• Making Of – A 20+ minute featurette showing behind-the-scenes making of and also interviews with the cast of “The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake”.
• Trailers – Funimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” comes with the Blu-ray and DVD edition of the film plus a slipcover case.

“The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” is my favorite film based on Qiu Jin’s life. It’s really difficult for Chinese/Hong Kong filmmakers to create films based on major symbols of Chinese history because viewers tend to expect action and not something so dramatic and serious for the full extend of a film.

We saw it last year with “Confucius”, which was a major challenge for the filmmakers but they managed to find a balance and not focus entirely on philosophy which may have enticed a niche of viewers but for the masses in China/Hong Kong, you need to have this action element.

While the fact that Herman Yau was directing the film and coming off the success of “The Legend of Ip Man”, I was not surprised that the film would integrate martial arts.  I felt that actress Huang Yi and also Dennis To did a great job playing the characters.  Huang Yi manages to give a strong commanding role as Qiu Jin but also showing that she also has an emotional side when she knows that she must separate from her family and children, but it’s that resolve knowing of the sacrifice she needs to make for the greater good.

Dennis To is known as an action star but manages to portray the character of Xu Xilin as a strong leader for those revolting against the Qing government.  And sure enough, his experience in “The Legend of Ip Man” is quite evident during his choreographed martial arts sequence in the film.

But the talent and interaction that I enjoyed the most was between Qiu Jin and Qing court official Li Zhongyue (played by Anthony Wong).  Wong does a fantastic job of playing the court official who respects the intelligence and writings of Qiu Jin but knows that he is powerless as a court official, despite seeing the corruptness by his colleagues.  The character is so passionate about Qiu Jin’s written work to the point he has memorized it.  And these interactions between both individuals were endearing and added to the depth of Qiu Jin’s character.

“The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake”‘ is a thrilling story, may it be the movie or just reading about the history of Qiu Jin that captivates you.  She was an independent thinker who had strong convictions until the very end of her life.  While I’m not an erudite of Qiu Jin and what is real and what is not real, I do know from what I have read is that Qiu Jin and Xu Xilin are cousins and read stories that that in real life, she was convicted for documents that show that she was a revolutionary, while in the film, she is shown as a person who was being convicted with no proof.

While the film manages to be entertaining and has a good balance showcasing Qiu Jin’s life as a feminist and the sacrifices that she made for her beliefs, the action sequences which Qiu Jin’s grandchildren actually worried about before the film was released, was also a cause of concern for me as well.

I didn’t want to see Qiu Jin flying in air, nor did I want to see the action look fake.  If you want to show people fighting with swords, guns, then make it realistic.  While it is known that Qiu Jin learned martial arts, part of me doubts that the real Qiu Jin engaged in such battles.  And not so sure if Xu Xilin and his fellow revolutionaries were engaged in the same type of battle as depicted in the film, but I will tell you what I didn’t like, the wire work of explosions.  We see people floating in air and flipping 360′s, it looked really fake considering the fighting choreography was well-done.

Granted, once again, it’s a double-edged sword of whether or not you want to see these long action sequences in a film about Qiu Jin’s life.

As for the Blu-ray release, video quality is fantastic and audio was very good (although I would have loved it to be much more immersive during the action sequences).  You get one making of special feature and also with the Blu-ray release, you also get the DVD version of the film included as well.

Overall, “The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake” is a very enjoyable and fascinating film that manages to balance the life of Qiu Jin and making sure it honors her legacy but also knowing that for viewers who expect action, there is also enough action sequences to entertain audiences.  With back and forth pacing, the storytelling is done well and not at all confusing.  While I do feel the action sequences were over the top at times, the storyline,which may not be historically accurate, does honor Qiu Jin and the biopic is entertaining.  And in the end, Herman Yau and Erica Lee accomplished their goal.

 

Confucius (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

An intriguing film about China’s greatest philosopher and idealist, Hu Mei’s “Confucius” is a film that can introduce his teachings to an international audience or a new generation who may not be familiar with the great thinker.  “Confucius” is entertaining!

Images courtesy of © 2012 FUNimation Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Confucius (Kong Zi)

FILM RELEASE: 2010

DURATION: 125 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1 aspect ratio), Mandarin and English, Dolby TrueHD 5.1

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: Not Rated

Release Date: March 27, 2012

Directed by Hu Mei

Written by Chan Khan , Jiang Quitao , He Yanjiang , Hu Mei

Produced by Po Chu Chui

Executive Producer: Sanping Han, Rachel Liu, John Sham, Punhoi Yu

Music by Jiping Zhao

Cinematography by Peter Pau

Art Direction: Chaoxiang Lin, Huaiqing Mao

Costume Design by Chung Man Yee

Starring:

Chow Yun-fat as Confucius

Zhou Xun as Nanzi

Lu Yi as Ji Sunfei

Chen Jianbin as Sunsi Ji

Ren Quan as Yan Hui

Yao Lu as Lu Jun

Ban Wang as Shu Sunwu

Zhenyu Quiao as Son of Confucius

Chow Yun-fat stars as Confucius in the inspiring, action-packed saga of a leader whose wisdom and cunning were more powerful than any sword.

In this sweeping battlefield epic, Confucius finds his lands threatened by the fires of war. After leading the nation’s most powerful army to victory against hordes of invaders, the new hero finds even greater danger in the jealous eyes of the aristocrats he fought to protect.

“What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.” – The Golden Rule by Confucius

He is known as the greatest sage of all ages, the idealist and educator who was known for being one of the greatest Chinese thinkers and philosophers.

It is also through the teaching of Confucius’ principles that is strongly intertwined into Chinese tradition and belief such as one’s loyalty to family, worship of ancestry, the young must respect their elders and the family as a basis for an ideal government.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 2,560th birthday of Confucius, a film was made to honor Confucius, also in the hopes to remind Chinese of his teaching, introduce the younger generation to Confucius as well as those around the world.

“Confucius” would be interesting in the fact that action-star Chow Yun-Fat was cast to play the role of Confucius. But because the film would feature Confucius at the age of 55, the same age of Chow Yun-Fat and his strong worth ethic, filmmaker Hu Mei gave Yun-Fat the opportunity.

The film would also star Zhou Xun (“Suzhou River”, “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”) and feature the return of Chinese pop star Fei Wong (who had been on hiatus since 2005) who sung the theme song for the film.

“Confucius” begins with an elder Confucius looking back at this past.  We are then taken around 20-years-earlier, Confucius (played by Chow Yun-Fat) who is in his 50′s has been promoted from Major to Minister of Law in his home state of Lu.

Confucius is a well-respected man and is considered a great thinker, but he is often tested.

One example involves a young boy who escaped a mass slave sacrifice for his deceased master (note: During this era in Chinese history, before statues of people and animals were used, slaves were sacrificed along with their masters).  The young boy is being chased by the military but is found by Confucius’ disciples who hide the boy in the home of Confucius and they beg if he can help the boy from being killed.

This leads to a confrontation between the soldiers who want custody of the boy to be buried along with his master, but Confucius fights for the boy and speaks against the long-banned inhumane sacrifice ritual of human beings.

We see Confucius use philosophy and logic to prove his point and eventually secure the boy’s freedom.

The film also goes on to show how Confucius along with Duke Ding of the State of Lu, met with the duke of the State of Qi and bravely and successfully ask the State of Qi to return several cities that were taken from the State of Liu, to be returned.

The ability to accomplish such a big task without having to wage war, began to increase the popularity of Confucius, but also show how popularity can lead to trouble for the other leaders and thus, led to the exile of Confucius and his disciples.

While the first half of the film focuses on how Confucius helped the State of Lu, the second half of the film focuses on Confucius and his disciples who went on a 14-year journey, traveling to many states in order to instill their political ideology (Confucianism) on other people.

Eventually leading Confucius to the state of Wei, but also meeting Duke Ling and his concubine Nanzi (played by Zhou Xun).  But through these long travels and encountering many who do not want Confucius in their area, the film also showcases the danger that Confucius and his disciples (including his son) had to face, may it be war or the elements of nature.

VIDEO:

“Confucius” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1 aspect ratio).  For teh most part, the picture quality is very good.  Cinematography of beautiful landscapes and costume design are expected, but there are some moments where the CG and the use of the green screen didn’t seem to look natural.   Colors are saturated and there are moments where I saw some banding issues, but for the most part, the film looked good on Blu-ray.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Confucius” is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 via Mandarin and an English dub track.  The film does utilize ambience especially the sounds of arrows during the action sequences, the sound of wind during the snow storm or the crackling of ice or even the breaking down of the city walls which sounded very good.  But for the most part, the overall mix was adequate for this film.  It’s not an immersive soundtrack but dialogue is crisp and clear, the musical soundtrack by Jiping Zhao was fantastic, but the film is primarily front and center channel driven.

As for the English dub, I prefer to watch Asian films in their original language but for those who are not into reading the English subtitles and prefer to listen to the English dub, the good news is FUNimation Entertainment are known for casting wonderful voice talent and the voice acting may please those who prefer in hearing the English dub.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“Confucius” comes with the following special features:

• From Chow Yun-Fat to Confucius – (7:10) – Behind-the-scenes with Chow Yun-Fat and director Hu-Mei.
• A Woman, A Bosom Friend – (7:04) A featurette on Zhou Xun and her preparation for her role.
• Chaotic Period of Spring and Autumn – (6:59) Director Hu Mei talks about the creation of “Confucius” and the challenges she faced.
• From Chow Yun-Fat to Confucius Special Edition – (6:59) The cast and crew talk about the hiring of Chow Yun-Fat to play Confucius and their thoughts about working with him, plus interviews with Chow.
• The Politicians – (7:12) A looking into the politics of the film.
• Animal Stars – (7:43) Behind-the-scenes footage of the animals in the film.
• Progressing in the Snow – (6:26) Cinematographer Peter Pau talks about the snow scene.
• The Warfare – (7:06) How the green screen segments of the battles were filmed.
• Original Trailer – (1:43) The original theatrical trailer
• Trailers – Funimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“Confucius” comes with the Blu-ray and DVD edition of the film plus a slipcover case.

 

“Confucius” was an intriguing film for me, but because I am not a Confucius erudite, I must admit, I felt a bit unsettled because I wondered how can someone with a life that has created an impact on Chinese culture, be condensed in a two hour film.

Also, because the film was made to help introduce Confucius to a new audience, a younger audience, the film could not be cerebral or too philosophical and thus the film introduced many war elements into the film.

For me, “Confucius” intrigued me so much that I spent hours researching his contributions to Chinese society, going through philosophy blogs that debate his book or those who support his work but also to go through criticism and praise for the film.  To find out what people liked and what made people ticked about the film.

Suffice to say, “Confucius” has received a lot of criticism even before the film was made into a reality.  For one, the hiring of Chow Yun-Fat (a Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking actor) instead of a mainland Chinese actor who speaks Mandarin and also the fact that Chow Yun-Fat’s film career has been based on action.

Then there were rumors that drew the ire of many people.  Mainly because of the film featuring Zhou Xun’s character of Nanzi and that Confucius will be having a romance with the actress in the film.   It’s important to note that this never happens in the film but the rumors persisted especially due to misconceptions of the theatrical trailer that a descendent of Confucius filed a lawsuit in order to have certain scenes, especially anything intimate between Confucius and Nanzi to be removed.

And last, there were Chinese who were upset that Chinese authorities removed James Cameron’s  “Avatar” from film theaters and replaced it with “Confucius” in order to prevent the sci-fi film from taking any money away from “Confucius”.

But regardless of the criticism of the film, “Confucius” was going to be a film that was not going to please everyone.  As scholars and those who respect Confucius’ teachings may find the film blasphemous because it does not focus on the actual idealist and educator but more of the politician and military strategist.

It is quite obvious that the writers had to make concessions in order to win over a younger audience but quite possibly an international audience.  From the hundreds of arrows being shot in the air and a brave Confucius beating on the drums as arrows come crashing all around him.  It does make for great action, but I am aware that the use of action in a film about Confucius may be disconcerting for those who want more of the intellectual side of the well-known sage.

And for a man with a long career, to fit so much into a 2-hour film, there is only so much that can be done.  I felt the writers tried to appease both sides by bringing in a plot around militaristic action and balance it with the use of philosophy and ideals without being too cerebral and I accept that.

As for Chow Yun-Fat, I felt he did a good job at playing Confucius.  And no, for those wondering if Confucius engages in any martial arts or if he fights, the answer is no.  This is a thinking man, a man who appreciates music, ethics, politics and social relationships with sincerity.

As for historical accuracy, while his teaching can be found in the “Analects of Confucius”, there were some instances that relate to his disciples that I was checking online for hours to see if these characters actually existed and if some of their demise was factual.  I couldn’t really find anything to support if the demise of disciples as shown in the movie was fiction or non-fiction but through my research, the actual events that relate to the states and the war, especially the “meeting” with the State of Qi and the tearing of the walls, information relating to those scenes were easily found online.

As for the Blu-ray release of “Confucius”, the picture quality was very good but it did have some issues.   Lossless audio was appropriate for this type of film, although it would have been even better to have a bit more of an immersive soundscape during the more action-intensive scenes.   I am glad there were several special features that show the making of the film but also how passionate the writers, the crew and talent were in making this film a reality but also trying to be respectful to Confucius.

Granted, there is more to Confucius than what the writers could touch upon in 2 hours and anything delving too much into the idealist and philosophy may appeal to his followers and the intellectuals but that would have made the film too cerebral and would eventually turn off the younger viewers, especially many of its international viewers who are not too familiar with the respected philosopher.  And because of its trailer, many people would expect war and a lot of battles.

Overall, “Confucius” was an intriguing film that was neither great, nor was it terrible.  If anything, I was satisfied by the film to the point that it made me want to research all I can about Confucius for hours.

Prior to watching this film, I hardly knew anything about Confucius but now I find myself interested in reading the “Analects of Confucius” and discovering and learning more about his work.

For anyone who is curious about Confucius especially those who may be fans of Chow Yun-Fat or actress Zhou Xun, you may find “Confucius” to be intriguing, entertaining and a film worth their while.

 

Three Outlaw Samurai – The Criterion Collection #596 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

The filmmaking debut of legendary director Hideo Gosha and a fantastic samurai film with plenty of swordfighting action and an enjoyable storyline that makes this Criterion Collection Blu-ray worth watching and also worth owning!  Definitely recommended!

Image courtesy of ©1964 Shochiku Co., Ltd. 2012 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Three Outlaw Samurai – The Criterion Collection #596

MOVIE RELEASE: 1964

DURATION: 93 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: B&W, 2:35:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural Japanese with English subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASE DATE: February 14, 2012

Directed by Hideo Gosha

Written by Keiichi Abe, Hideo Gosha, Eizaburo Shiba

Associate Producer: Gin’ichi Kishimoto, Tetsuro Tanba

Music by Toshiaki Tsushima

Cinematography by Tadashi Sakai

Art Direction by Junichi Ozumi

Starring:

Tetsuro Tanba as Sakon Shiba

Isamu Nagato as Kyojuro Sakura

Mikijiro Hira as Einosuke Kikyo

Miyuki Kuwano as Aya

Yoshiko Kayama as Oyasu

Kyoko Aoi as Omitsu

Kamatari Fujiwara as Jinbe

Tatsuya Ishiguro as Uzaemon Matsushita

Jun Tatara as Yasugoro

Toshie Kimura as Oine

Yoko Mihara as Omaki

This first feature by the legendary Hideo Gosha is among the most beloved chanbara (sword-fighting) films. An origin-story offshoot of a Japanese television phenomenon of the same name, Three Outlaw Samurai is a classic in its own right. A wandering, seen-it-all ronin (Tetsuro Tamba) becomes entangled in the dangerous business of two other samurai (Isamu Nagato and Mikijiro Hira), hired to execute a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of a corrupt magistrate. With remarkable storytelling economy and thrilling action scenes, this is an expertly mounted tale of revenge and loyalty.

When it comes to Japanese cinema during the ’50s and ’60s, there were many samurai films produced but with “Sambiki no Samurai” (Three Outlaw Samurai), it was a national sensation on television.

Airing on Japan’s Fuji TV from 1963 through 1969, the drama series achieved a high rating  of 42%.  In Japan, anything over 25% is fantastic and not only did the studio Shochiku have a hot series, the three actors Tetsuro Tanba, Isamu Nagato and Mikijiro Hira became the most popular actors because of the TV series.

And with the success of the first season, Shochiku decided to create a jidaigeki film based on the characters of the TV series and “Sambiki no Samurai” (Three Outlaw Samurai) and give Hideo Gosha the opportunity to direct his first film.

And in 1964, “Three Outlaw Samurai” was released in theaters and would become a classic samurai film in Japan which would later inspire a manga series and TV sequels that would air on TV Asahi last from 1987 through 1995 (featuring newer characters) and a final “goodbye” drama series which aired from Oct.-Dec. 1999 which would feature the return of original actor, Tetsuro Tanba.

And now, “Three Outlaw Samurai” makes its first Blu-ray and DVD appearance in North America courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

The film is the second Gosha film to be released by the Criterion Collection, the first release on DVD was Gosha’s second film (and his most popular film in the west), “Sword of the Beast” (1965).

“Three Outlaw Samurai” begins with a wandering ronin (samurai without a master) named Sakon Shiba (played by Tetsuro Tamba) who is looking for a place to sleep. He sees someone running from the mill, which he discovers a golden hair pin on the ground.  When he goes into the mill, he finds three peasants tying up a young woman and look as if they are going to kill him.

Sakon is not afraid of these three peasants with swords (especially since he knows they can not fight) but finds out that the woman they have captive is the daughter of the magistrate.

The peasant farmers have been pleading with the magistrate to listen to them as they are suffering.  They want to be heard but no one is listening.  So, they feel their only resort is to kidnap his daughter in hopes that he will listen.

Feeling bad for the farmers, Sakon decides to help them out.

Meanwhile, as word gets to the magistrate (played by Hisashi Igawa) that his daughter has been kidnapped, he and a few of his soldiers head towards the mill to rescue her. While the magistrate has an excellent samurai swordsman named Einosuke Kikyo (played by Mikijiro Hira) that probably could do the job, Kikyo has no intention of wasting his talents on killing peasants.

So, the magistrate and his soldiers try to rescue his daughter but is embarrassed by the ronin Sakon who manhandles the soldiers.  And the magistrate who refuses to listen to the peasants decides that he needs to fight them by using other means, so higher-ups do not find out that he and his men have failed in rescuing his daughter from a band of peasants.

The magistrate resorts to releasing ronin that are being held captive in a jail cell, three criminals and a nonchalant swordsman named Kyojuro Sakura (played by Isamu Nagato).  All are given releases only if they kill the samurai named Sakon who is aiding the peasants, and to ensure that happens, the magistrate has Kikyo lead them to the mill.

While walking towards the mill, a peasant farmer tries to run behind Sakura and in self-defense, Sakura slashes the man.  He finds out that the man he killed was not a samurai but a peasant farmer and this begins to stay within Sakura’s conscience.

Sakon sees samurai coming towards the mill and immediately shows off his excellent swordsmanship by killing one of them.  Sakura then prepares to fight him, but Sakon asks him why he would try to kill poor peasants who just want to be heard.  When Sakura as Kinkyo if what Sakon is saying is true, Kinkyo confirms it.

Immediately, Sakura stops fighting and tells everyone that he is joining Sakon to help the peasants.  And once again, the magistrate loses.

With the poor peasants now having two ronin’s defending them, the magistrate is beginning to worry, especially since his lord will be arriving in several days. The embarrassment of not being able to stop the peasants and their revolt, let alone two ronin’s is too much to bear.

So, the magistrate escalates things by hiring a dozen poor ronin’s who will do anything for money.  Because the peasants have his daughter, they will fight back by kidnapping and threatening to kill a peasant’s daughter.

Meanwhile, one of the female workers of the magistrate asks Kikyo to defend the peasants from the corrupted magistrate.  But will he?

As the Magistrate will do anything to get his daughter back, what punishment does he have in store for the peasants and the ronin’s that are assisting them?

VIDEO:

“Three Outlaw Samurai” is presented in black and white (2:35:1 aspect ratio).  This 1964 film looks absolutely fantastic on Blu-ray.  Not only is there a good amount of grain, there is also a good amount of detail.  May it be the dirty floors of the mill or its wooden surroundings.

Closeups of the character show the sweat, grime and dirt on their faces, contrast is excellent, black levels are deep and white and gray levels are also very good.  I don’t think I’ve seen any sort of video problems or damage while watching this film, maybe a few instances of softness but other than that, this film looks fantastic.  No banding, no artifacts, no problems that stuck out.

According to the Criterion Collection, the new high-definition transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35 mm  print struck from the original negative.  Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS and Pixel Farm’s PFClean, while Omage Systems DVNR was used for a small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Three Outlaw Samurai” is presented in Japanese monaural LPCM 1.0.    The dialogue is clear and I heard no hissing, crackles or any audio problems during my viewing.

According to the Criterion Collection, the monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35 mm optical soundtrack print.  Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD.  Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Three Outlaw Samurai – The Criterion Collection #596″ on Blu-ray comes with a trailer.

EXTRAS:

“Three Outlaw Samurai – The Criterion Collection #596″ comes with an 18-page booklet with the essay “The Disloyal Bunch” by New York Magazine writer Bilge Ebiri.

Having watched many jidageki/chambara films and dramas from Japan, this was my first time watching Hideo Gosha’s “Three Outlaw Samurai”.  And I absolutely loved it!

Sure, there is a banality when it comes to ronin who come into help the poor from evil bandits or warlords, but what I enjoyed about this film was its enjoyable story, its characters and also its swordfighting action!

For one, you have your calm, cool and collected samurai Sakon Shiba (starring legendary actor Tetsuro Tanba) and then you have someone different with Isamu Nagato’s Kyojuro Sakura, a man who can fight but also a man with a conscience.  A man who helps bring humor to the film because of his demeanor.  And then you have the playboy swordsman Einosuke Kikyo (played by Mikijiro Hira), doesn’t want to sully his sword with the blood with peasants but yet has no qualms about having sexual encounters with a local prostitute.

While the film is quite simple when compared to Akira Kurosawa’s jidaigeki films, bare in mind that “Three Outlaw Samurai” is Hideo Gosha’s filmmaking debut.  He obviously had magnificent company with three amazing actors who were extremely popular from the TV show, the benefit of having good writers, cinematographer and a crew.  May it be the swordfight choreography, the actors performances to its sociopolitical storyline, it’s a fantastic debut for Hideo Gosha and an important film that would help ignite a career with many fantastic films in his oeuvre.

As for the Blu-ray release, “Three Outlaw Samurai” looks fantastic on Blu!  Wonderful contrast, picture quality looked amazing with no blemishes or problematic scenes.   If anything, I wish there were more special features outside of the included trailer.  I suppose that I have been spoiled by Criterion Collection releases that I tend to expect a lot in terms of special feature content but it does explain why the price is cheaper compared to other Criterion Blu-ray and DVD’s.

Overall, if you are in the mood for a wonderful samurai film that isn’t too deep, easily accessible and has a lot of swordfighting action, definitely give “Three Outlaw Samurai” a a chance.  Definitely recommended!

 

Gantz II: Perfect Answer (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

The sequel and conclusion to the “Gantz” films, “Perfect Answer” is more exciting and features a lot more action than the original film and a more engaging storyline with plenty of twist and turns.  The Blu-ray release features a fantastic lossless and immersive soundtrack that compliments the action onscreen.  Fans of popcorn sci-fi action flicks will enjoy “Gantz II: Perfect Answer”.  Recommended!

Images courtesy of © Hiroya Oke/Shueisha, 2011 “GANTZ” Film Partners. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Gantz II: Perfect Answer

FILM RELEASE: 2011

DURATION: 142 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, Japanese and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: New People Entertainment

RATED: Not Rated

RELEASE DATE: January 17, 2012

 

Directed by Shinsuke Sato

 Based on the Manga by Hiroya Oku

 Screenplay by Yusuke Watanabe

Supervising Executive Producer: Hiroshi Miyazaki

 Produced by Takahiro Sato

 Music by Kenji Kawai

 Cinematography by Taro Kawazu

 Edited by Tsuyoshi Imai

 Casting by Yumi Minamidani

Production Design by Yasuaki Harada

Starring

Kazunari Ninomiya as Kei Kurono

Ken’ichi Matsuyama as Masaru Kato

Yuriko Yoshitaka as Tae Kojima

Kanata Hongo as Joichiro Nishi

Go Ayano as Kurofuku-Ichi

Ayumi Ito as Eriko Ayukawa

Takayuki Shiada as Masamitsu Shigeta

Natsuna as Kei Kishimoto

Tomorowo Taguchi as Yoshikazu Suzuki

The GANTZ saga meets its ultimate conclusion in GANTZ II: Perfect Answer, which offers an intensely gripping story-line yet to be known to even readers of the original manga series. Determined to resurrect his friends who have died on previous missions, Kei and other members trapped in the world of GANTZ aim to score the 100 points needed to break through and regain their freedom. But with the emergence of a mysterious man investigating the Gantz members, Gantz begins to act up and the next target shocks the members. Some fight for love, some for justice but what will each member sacrifice?

In 2000, mangaka Hiroya Oku created the “Gantz” manga series.  A series which is still ongoing to this day.

The 26-episode, two season anime series was released in 2004 and for many Americans, it was among the popular series to be released on DVD due to its sci-fi action, adult humor and violence.

Five years later, it was announced that two live action “Gantz” films were being created and starring in the film is actor and idol singer and ARASHI member Kazunari Nonomiya (“Letters from Iwo Jima”, “Yamada Taro Monogatari”, “Ryusei no Kizuna”), actor Kenichi Matsuyama (“Death Note” films, “L: Change the World”, “Kamui Gaiden”) and the film would be directed by Shinsuke Sato (“The Princess Blade”, “Tokyo Lullabye”, “Sunadokei” and also character and scene developer for the video game “Tekken 4″).

The film was shown in America first as it was simulcast in theaters in 46 states, in Japan, the first film was released in theaters on Jan.2011 and followed with a Blu-ray and DVD release in the U.S. courtesy of New People Entertainment.  Now the second film “Gantz II: Perfect Answer”, the conclusion of the film series, will be released on Blu-ray on Jan. 2012.

It’s important to note that the films are loosely-based on the manga and anime series.

A summary of what Gantz is about

“Gantz” begins with college student Kei Kurono (played by Kazunari Ninomiya) awaiting a train as he prepares himself for a job interview.  While waiting, he sees an old friend of his, Masaru Kato (played by Kenichi Matsuyama) awaiting for the train.

When a drunk man falls over to the train tracks, Kato goes to help him back up.  He screams for Kurono to help him but he pretends he doesn’t know the man.  But with the help of bystanders, the drunken man is saved but with the train coming, Kato needs help getting back up the platform.  Kurono tries to help him back up but instead is pulled down and both are in the direct path of the oncoming train.

Next thing you know, both re-materialize in a room with a few people watching them and a black orb sitting in the middle.  After the two arrive, a woman named Kei Kishimoto (played by Natsuna) rematerializes in the room without any clothes on.  Kato covers her up and tries to protect her from a yakuza looking man who tries to approach her.

Immediately, they see the orb start playing music and telling them to prepare for their new lives.  Everyone in the room at first are thinking they are dead, because their last memories were either being hit by a vehicle or trying to kill themselves but others think they were drugged in a hospital and are now part of a group experiment.

Meanwhile, the orb known as “Gantz” opens up and inside are suitcases with the names of the people inside the room, as well as weapons.  Inside is a live being, that is on a breathing apparatus.  No one knows what is going on but they are told they must kill an alien child who eats green onions.

While Kei Kishimoto puts on her Gantz outfit, the others are not so sure if they should wear it.

Each of the people inside the room materializes to a new destination and they spot the alien child.  One of the people of the group, Nishi (played by Kanata Hongo), tells them that it’s all part of a game show and whoever catches the kid will win a lot of money.  With many of the men unemployed and needing the money, they go after the kid with their weapons.

And the three of the men end up killing the child.  But not long after, a huge alien man comes  (who appears to be the brother of the alien child) and he begins to brutally kill each of the people of the group.  Kato who tried to stop the people from shooting the alien child is left panicking.  Meanwhile, Kurono just looks from afar and not sure what is going on.

As the alien tries to kill Kato, Kishimoto kicks him and sends the alien behemoth flying.  They then know that the suits given to them by Gantz is quite powerful and gives them some special abilities.

Nishi comes and kills the alien and now everyone who survived the fight rematerializes back into the room.  Everyone is frustrated and shocked of what happened and Kato is angered that Nishi didn’t come to save the others who were killed by the alien.  But Nishi tries to explain to them that they are part of a game, where many have been killed.

Eventually, the group learns from Nishi that with each battle of eliminating aliens, Gantz chooses the individual and give them points.  The overall goal is to reach 100 points. With 100 points accumulated, they can be set free and their memory of Gantz wiped out.  Or they can revive another person that has been killed.

With every night, each of them having to be sent to the battlefield, they are joined by other people who have recently been killed or just died and try to prepare them for the battle that awaits them.  But with each battle, these alien beings become more deadly.

With “Gantz II: Perfect Answer”, the film is set five months later after many of the people were killed including Masaru Kato, Megumi Kishimoto and other friends of Kei’s.

Those who survived to fight for another day includes Kei Kurono and the older Yoshikazu Suzuki.  For Kei, his goal is to revive his friend Masaru Kato but also to fight as long as he can and revive everyone.

But unusual situations have been taking place as Masaru Kato has been revived but according to Gantz, he is still dead.

Also, battles are now taking place in public places instead of the dimension that the group have been fighting in, so now anyone innocent can be slaughtered during the battles.

Meanwhile, as Kei and Tae begin to get closer, all hell breaks loose when a few of the top members who were able to escape Gantz (by reaching 100 points) are all brought back into Gantz together for some unknown reason.  And to make things worse, their target are not just aliens but Kei’s friend Tae Kojima.  To make things much worse, there has been an appearance of a smaller version of Gantz which is in the possession of a group of aliens and their instructions were also to kill Tae Kojima.

As Kei tries to protect the girl that he loves, that means he must fight against the powerful aliens but also his fellow members.

Will Kei, Tae , Masaru and Kurofuku-Ichi survive this onslaught?

VIDEO:

“Gantz II: Perfect Answer” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1).  The picture quality for the film is actually very good.  The picture quality features cool colors leaning to more blues and blacks, detail is very good and there is a fine layer of grain that can be seen.  Some scenes are darker than I would have like but there is a good amount of detail on closeup shots.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Gantz II: Perfect Answer” is presented in Japanese and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and I have to say that the most shining aspect of this Blu-ray release is its lossless soundtrack.  The soundtrack is absolutely immersive as this second film is action-intensive and there are explosions, gun shots, sword fights and destruction galore in this film.    The surround channels and LFE are heavily used throughout the film and for the most part, fans with a solid home theater setup will no doubt enjoy this film’s soundtrack.

As for the English dub, I prefer to watching live action Asian films in their original language but with that beings aid, New People Entertainment and Viz Media are known for hiring the most talented voice actors in the industry and I’m sure the English dub will appeal to those who prefer an English dub.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, Spanish and French.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“Gantz II: Perfect Answer” features a third bonus DVD featuring special features such as:

• Exclusive Director’s Interview 2 – (22:01) Behind-the-scenes footage and an in-depth interview with director Shinsuke Sato.
• Cast Profiles – text biographies on the cast.
• Trailers – (4:04) Original “Gantz: Perfect Answer” theatrical trailers from Japan.
• New People Presents -  New People trailers.

EXTRAS:

“Gantz II: Perfect Answer” comes with a DVD version of the feature film.

Exciting and more action-packed and satisfying than the first film, the sequel “Gantz II: Perfect Answer” is a popcorn action-flick with a lot of twist and turns.  A fitting and exciting conclusion to the “Gantz” films.

What one can expect from a popcorn action film starring a few of Japanese top young talents!  “GANTZ II: Perfect Answer” features constant action that will thrill you!  Definitely one of the better film adaptations from a manga series in terms of visual effects and costume design.

I personally enjoyed “GANTZ” for the reason that I’m familiar with the talent on the film.  Kazunari Ninomiya of ARASHI fame is very popular as with actor Kenichi Matsuyama, but even before I watched this film, I always felt that the costumes of “GANTZ” was the coolest costumes since the Matrix!

But with that being said, this is a popcorn action film with a lot of action and visual effects but at the same time, it’s a film that is quite different from the manga/anime series.  There is a lot of violence, even sexual perversion in the original manga release but because the manga is ongoing in Japan, for the film, things had to be different.

The first film featured a lot of time showing the viewers of the relationship between Kei and Kato and how they were good friends and how they stopped being friends and then trying to become friends once again.  But most importantly, there was a bit of ego stroke on Kei’s part as he was the person that is typically not seen as a hero and thus, granted powers via the suits from Gantz, he started to gain an ego but learned a big lesson.

In the end of the first film, the major characters were killed after fighting a killer Buddha.

But in “Gantz II: Perfect Answer”, we know with the big Gantz, he sends out people who were just killed, on missions of killing of an alien.  It’s part of their mission in order for them to survive but also to gain points necessary to live a free life once again or to resurrect someone. And with Kei now nearing 100 points, he intends to bring back his friend Kato.

But what happens when he comes face-to-face with Kato, who revived him?  Obviously Kei didn’t, so who did?  Or is it Kato?

And as Kei and the others take order from Gantz, we are introduced to a group of aliens who also take orders but this time, a smaller version of Gantz and similar to Kei and the others, they must kill as part of their mission.

And possibly taking a page from terrorist attacks that would seem more fitting for a “Call of Duty” film, “Gantz II: Perfect Answer” has one of the most violent scenes in a Japanese film (which no one hopes will happen ever in Japan) as Kei and the others are transported into a train, but instead of taking place in an alternate dimension, they are put into the public.

And when the Gantz group and the aliens are battling, there is always massive destruction.  So, you can imagine how chaotic things get now that the battles are taking place in areas where a lot of people are.

To make things much more interesting, both the aliens and the Gantz group receive a mission but it’s to eliminate Kei’s girlfriend (or female friend that he is trying to get close with).  You know Kei is not going to let that happen and it becomes a chaotic slaughter-fes.

While Kei is the character that is focused on in the sequel, Actor Ken’ichi Matsuyama as Masaru Kato plays a different type of role in this second film.  As Kato, he is much more restrained, but when his other self is revealed to be an imposter alien, Matsuyama plays a crazy killer.

We also get more of actress Yuriko Yoshitaka (who plays Tae).  In the first film, she was interesting because she was the manga fan who secretly likes Kei.  In the sequel, their friendship is now growing to the point where they start having feelings for each other.  But when orders are given by both Gantz to have her eliminated, you can only hope that her well-liked character survives.

Last, we are treated with a storyline with an investigator named Masamitsu Shigeta, who is trying to find out how these dead people are coming back alive.  While the character adds some drama in the film, we know that he’s just human and compared to those in the Gantz suits and the aliens, he’s just not strong enough.  And his storyline is possibly the weakest in the film.  As the screenplay utilizes him more to give a break to the action.

But “Gantz II: Perfect Answer” is in-your-face, all-out action that fans will probably enjoy much more than the first film.  The first film tried to play more on character development and relationships and establish Gantz and the missions but with that part being over, it’s all about the actions and missions this time around.  And with the twist and turns in the storyline, you can’t help but be captivated with all this crazy action and this destruction happening in the film.

It’s important to note that while this film is not rated, this is a violent film.  You see people being stabbed and cut up with swords, a woman getting shot point blank in the head, it’s a violent film.  So, definitely don’t have your children around while watching this movie.

But for fans who enjoy popcorn action films, the sequel to “Gantz” is much better this time around. While manga/comic book film adaptations are never exact, still..I can’t but help but saying that I enjoyed the “Gantz” films.  Yes, they are different and while I thought the first film was OK, I enjoyed the sequel even more.  Much more to be exact!

As for the Blu-ray release, you get the Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film and several special features as well.  The picture quality is good (sometimes too dark) but the best part of this Blu-ray is its lossless immersive soundtrack which is fantastic!

Overall, fans of the first film, those who are looking for an exciting Japanese popcorn action film or people who are fans thatcan separate themselves from the original storyline of the “GANTZ” anime and manga series will enjoy “Gantz II: Perfect Answer”.

Recommended!

 

United Red Army (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

Koji Wakamatsu’s “United Red Army” is absorbing, intriguing but also shocking, unnerving and brutal!

Images courtesy of © 2011 Blaq Out. 2011 Kino Lorber, Inc. All rights reserved.

DVD TITLE: United Red Army (Jitsuroku Rengo Sekigun: Asama sanso e no michi)

DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 2007

DURATION: 190 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, 1:85:1, Japanese with English Subtitles

COMPANY: Lorber Films

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: January 17, 2012

Directed by Koji Wakamatsu

Based on the novel by Masayuki Kakegawa

Screenplay by Masayuki Kakegawa

Producer: Noriko Ozaki

Co-Producer: Asako Otomo

Executive Producer: Koji Wakamatsu

Music by Jim O’Rourke

Cinematography by Yoshihisa Toda, Tomohiko Tsuji

Edited by Koji Wakamatsu

Starring:

Maki Sakai as Mieko Toyama

Arata as Hiroshi Sakaguchi

Akie Namiki as Hiroko Nagata

Go Jibiki as Tsuneo Mori

Shima Onishi as Kunio Bando

Anri Ban as Fusako Shigenobu

Koji Wakamatsu’s epic docudrama explores the political unrest of 1960s Japan, when mass student uprisings coincided with the beginnings of the far-left United Red Army group, which tortured and murdered its “deviant” members during a 1972 training session. An uncompromising piece of filmmaking from one of Japan’s most controversial filmmakers, with a score by American musician (and ex-Sonic Youth member) Jim O’Rourke.

From the 1960′s through the 1970′s,  it was a turbulent time in Japan.

Dismayed about America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, dismayed of Japan for the renewal of the Security Treat with the US, allowing the U.S. to refuel in Yokota Air Force Base and the American military presence in Okinawa to dismay of the treatment of students at the university but most importantly, anger towards then Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.

Seeing how student revolutions were taking part all over the globe, especially in the United States against the Vietnam War and revolutions taking place in other countries, it was a beginning of the Japanese Student Left.

Massive demonstrations took place in Japan in which protestors (which included many students) would fight against the police and in the process, a few protestors were killed but the demonstrations by students against their universities due to tuition increases would lead to boycottts of classes but others had bigger ideas in mind.  A revolution that would transform a group of students to form one of the most radical groups in Japan, the Red Army Faction.

Using violence and even terrorist methods, the Red Army Faction would be known for hijackings, bank thefts, munition thefts and eventually, these radical ideas would play a part in the demise of the Red Army Faction as distrust among members would lead to internal purging in which several members would kill some of their own because they were not completely dedicated to the Red Army Faction ideals.

The story of Japan’s left movement had not really been fully explored as a feature film until 2007, when filmmaker Koji Wakamatsu known for this pink eiga films of ’70s would release his film “Jitsuroku Rengo Sekigun: Asama sanso e no michi” (United Red Army), a film that would provide historical background on the Japan’s student movement of the ’60s and ’70s and focusing on the beginning of the Red Army Faction, the military training in the mountains by members and what happens when URA chairman Tsuneo Mori (played by Go Jibiki) and Hiroko Nagata (played by Akie Namiki) feel that a few of their members aren’t completely dedicating their life to the Red Army Faction and communism.

Wakamatsu’s “United Red Army” gives viewers a visual sense of what had taken place during the early 1970′s as the United Red Army tried to harden their members in order to dedicate their lives to communism with the use of violence and murder.  What the group did not know was that by going into this violent direction, they would essentially destroy their own group.

The film would chronicle the student protests in Japan from the ’60s leading up to the creation of the United Red Army and what took place at their training camp.  The story is non-fiction and while true, there are some elements that are fictional to humanize each character before they left to training camp.  And also featuring the murders of a dozen of the Red Army Faction members through the decisions made by Mori and Nagata and the infamous “Asama-Senso Incident”.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“United Red Army” is presented in 1:85:1 color (and archived footage).  The historical footage is as one can expect, not in the best quality but when the film focuses on non-historical footage, picture quality was good for DVD.  If anything, the combination of historical and modern footage helped to document the student protests and the creation of the United Red Army.

Audio is presented in stereo, Japanese with English subtitles.   Japanese dialogue was clear, while subtitles were white with a black background and was easy to read.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“United Red Army” comes with the following special features:

• Trailers – Trailers for “Army of Crime” and “Kimjongilia”.

“United Red Army” is absorbing but also a horrific chronicling the leftist Japanese student protestors as they dedicate their lives to become terrorist seeking for a new revolution.  Koji Wakamatsu’s film provides insight to this true story of how a group with the same ideals would end up having severe internal problems and lead to the murders of their own members.

As a person who has covered so much about Japanese culture, one area that I have never delved into is the political activism that took place during the ’60s and ’70s.  Like many other countries which were going through turbulent times especially with the Vietnam War affecting the United States and other students protesting it in their country but also using it as a way to unify other students to protest their dissatisfaction of their university or own government, it’s one thing to read about the clashes with the police and those who have been injured in those clashes.

But when you watch “United Red Army” and then research further of how these young individuals ended up destroying themselves in the process, it’s a film that is quite absorbing but also can be difficult to watch as we see how these internal problems become quite violent.

As their leader Mori wants each member to “self-critique” themselves and their failures and each time these members come back with an answer of “this situation has made me become a better person and dedicate myself to the revolution”, it’s not the answer he wants.  And because these members enforce the “self-critique” to their mentally and physically weaker members, we see how other members start to resent the violence, while those who are hard dedicate, start to resent the weak minds of the others.

Needless to say, the weak become fodder and instead of focusing their anger towards getting anything accomplished in their revolution, the group starts to self-combust and the United Red Army starts to focus their anger more towards themselves and their ways of doing it, if torturing is not your cup of tea, “United Red Army” may not be easy for some to watch.

Where Koji Wakamatsu was able to bring some realism is its characters.  While, I’m not so sure the characterizations are factual, there is somewhat of a chilling factor when you see Hiroko Nagata (played by Akie Namiki), when she starts seeing the negativity around her.  In some way, the look on her face is sinister, while the other female members are normal.  Each time she shows up on screen, I was always feeling dread that someone is going to get hurt or killed.

While Tsuneo Mori (played by Go Jibiki), you knew that he was always not happy with the way things are going with his group.  He was the URA-chairman and it was interesting to see how his character evolved, from a weakling to the leader but to see him become more maniacal and demanding, obviously he has come to terms with death and trying to force others to not be afraid of it.

Unfortunately, his tactics as seen in the film may have made a few members dedicated to their cause but also scared and made others feel that perhaps the URA was not what they expected.  These people joined to create a revolution but instead, they were forced to become hardened soldiers which many could not be and were punished for it.

In some way, “United Red Army” resembles a horror film because of the amount of violence and deaths that take place, but the intention is to give the viewer an idea of extremism of any sort and how people change because of it.  While here in the United States and other countries, we have seen it with terrorist groups and religious cults, every decade always has its share of extremism.

But in a country like Japan, while the country is seen for being peaceful in modern times, from the feudal era to 1995, the country has had its share of extremism as well.  Even from the ’70s United Red Army, Japan would face tragedy from the Aum Shinrokyo cult responsible for the 1995 sarin attacks on Tokyo subways and other murders.

While there have been films on groups vying for a revolution, may it be “Che”, “Carlos” or “The Baader Meinhof Complex”, there really hasn’t been a Japanese film that would go in-depth into showing one group’s extremism, but most importantly how extremism can destroy a group within.

Koji Wakamatsu’s “United Red Army” is absorbing, intriguing but also shocking, unnerving and brutal!

 

 

City Under Siege (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

Filmmaker Benny Chan (“Gen-X Cops”, “Divergence”, “New Police Story”) and actor Aaron Kwok reunite in a sci-fi action film about one man’s fight against a group of superhuman mutants.  “City Under Siege” is a very cheesy film that may please fans of unusual HK popcorn action films!

Images courtesy of © 2011 FUNimation Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: City Under Siege

FILM RELEASE: 2011

DURATION: 111 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9 HD Native), Dolby TrueHD Cantonese 5.1, Dolby TrueHD English 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: December 13, 2011

Directed by Benny Chan

Screenplay by Benny Chan, Chi-man Ling

Producer: Benny Chan

Executive Producer: Daniel Lam

Music by Anthony Chue

Cinematography by Anthony Pun

Edited by Benny Chan, Sing Yan Chan

Production Design by William Chang

Starring:

Colin Chou as Zhang Dachu

Chrissie Chow as Youyou

Aaron Kwok as Sunny

Shu Qi as Angel

Nan Tie as Liu Zhenxing

Jacky Wu as Sun Hao

Terence Yin as Kai

Jingchu Zhang as Chenge Xiuhua

Sunny, a lowly circus clown, dreams of following in his father’s footsteps by perfecting the lethal Flying Dagger technique. That dream seemingly dies the night a group of bullies force Sunny into a mysterious cave where an abandoned military experiment turns them all into mutants! Suddenly bestowed with superhuman strength, Sunny finally has the power to master his father’s technique and defend the city against his fellow horribly disfigured mutants!

Filmmaker Benny Chan is known for his action films.  From “Gen X Cops”, “New Police Story”, “Divergence”, “Invisible Target” to name a few, when it comes to action films, viewers know that they will be watching a film with plenty of action, guns and martial arts.

With the 2010 film “City Under Siege”, the film reunites Benny Chan with actor Aaron Kwok who worked together in the 2005 film “Divergence”.

And for actor/singer Aaron Kwok (“Divergence”, “The Storm Riders”, “And I Hate You So”), it’s another film for the actor to take on a new type of character role that he has never done and sure enough, “City Under Siege” is a film that can be described as “over-the-top” as Kwok plays a half mutant (more like “zombie”)/half human gifted with superhuman abilities.

“City Under Siege” begins with a story taking place in World War II.  The Japanese are experimenting on foreigners and trying to use a chemical to make them superhuman but also controllable zombies.  During the experiment, everything works according to plan but the mutant dies not long after.  The Japanese are upset that the Chinese scientists are unable to fix the issue and not long after, they are bombed during an air raid and the chemicals are all buried within the cave.

Fastforward to the present time.  Aaron Kwok plays the character of Sunny, a man who was once an orphaned child of a knife throwing master that was part of the circus.  His uncle takes him in and because the uncle and most people in the circus see Sunny as a misfit, they make him perform as a clown.  But Sunny just wants to show them that his father taught him to also be an expert knife thrower.

The problem is that Sunny tends to diverge from the act and wants to be a knife thrower (without asking permission to do so) and thus, Zhang Dachu (played by Collin Chou, “The Matrix Reloaded”, “The Matrix Revolutions”, “Fearless”), who is an expert knife thrower, tends to step in and make sure that Sunny doesn’t disgrace the circus performers.

His fellow circus performers are disgusted by Sunny that they tie him up, so he doesn’t cause any problems and his uncle reminds him that he is nothing but a loser, which saddens Sunny.

One day, Zhang Dachu and a few other circus performers leave the circus site to view a group of people who have found a map to hidden treasure inside a cave.  Supposedly, this cave holds gold bars that were left behind by the Japanese back in World War II.  The circus performers feel that this is their opportunity to be rich and no longer be part of the circus ever again.

The circus performers manage to beat up the treasure hunters but Sunny, who is spying on them, manages to fall from the trail and is discovered by the circus performers.  Zhang Dachu and the others feel this is their opportunity to get rid of Sunny.

As they investigate the cave, they manage to find these locked pots.  When Sunny opens one of them, inside are gold bars.  Now the circus performers feel they are rich and Zhang gives the order to one of the circus performers to kill Sunny.

As the circus performer takes Sunny out of the cave, the circus performers open the other locked pots and the chemical agent that was used back in World War II is let out and is inhaled by everyone.  For Sunny, he is being strangled by the performer but because of the chemical agent, he manages to kick out but accidentally knocks the other performer who falls from a high area and dies.

As Sunny makes it out of the cave, the others inside the cave begin to mutate.

Sunny mutates as well but into a heavy set man.  While walking towards the roadside, he is picked up by a reporter named Angel (played by Shu Qi, “Millennium Mambo”, “For Bad Boys Only”, “Skyline Cruisers”).  She is very kind to Sunny and Sunny tries to explain that he is very skinny but she laughs it out, thinking he’s just joking around and drops him off at home.

Sunny doesn’t know what has happened to his body but by the next morning, he is back to normal.  Meanwhile, the other circus performers who have mutated, have not turned back to normal.  They begin using their superhuman abilities to rob banks and cause mayhem in the city.

As for angel, she learns that she is being replaced as a reporter by a younger host and is quite upset about the matter.  When she and her camera men go out to cover a story of a hostage situation in which a deranged man is holding a female police officer captive, Sunny happens to be in the area.

Sunny appears to have extremely great vision and can see the hostage situation happening as if it was close by.  And he manages to run into Angel and tries to tell her that he was the fat guy she picked up earlier but of course, she doesn’t believe him.

As they watch from afar, Sunny can see that the deranged man from far away is about to kill the police officer.  Thinking quickly, Sunny wants to show off his knife throwing experience and grabs a stick and flings it towards the deranged man from a far distance.  The stick flies through, goes through a window, breaks the deranged mans gun and impales his hand and essentially, Sunny rescues the police officer.

When the police officers wonder who threw the stick, all the news cameras look back and see Sunny.  Sunny has become a hero and knowing this is a big scoop for her career, Angel takes Sunny and they both escape from the media and asks if she can get an exclusive interview from Sunny.

Meanwhile, Sunny’s former circus mates who have mutated, see the news and are angered that Sunny has not mutated and want to kill him.  So, the group goes after Sunny and tries to attack him while he is doing his interview with Angel.  But out of nowhere, two talented cops, Sun Hao (played by Jacky Wu, “Twins Mission”, “Fatal Contact”, “Drunken Monkey”) and his fiance Cheng Xiuhua (played by Jingchu Zhang, “Rush Hour 3″, “Seven Swords”, “Night and Fog”) come out of nowhere and begin fighting with the mutants.

While the mutants are more than they can handle, one mutant tries to hurt Sunny and when Sunny becomes over-angered, he begins to mutate with incredible strength and manages to unleash a fury of sharp objects that manages to kill one of the mutants and easily making the others mutants wanting to escape.

When Sunny is taken in by police for observation, they learn that he possesses an anti-body to make him suppress him become a mutant but still managing to retain his superhuman abilities.  Because he is looked at as a hero in public, Angel steps in to become his promoter and becomes his consultant that will help the image of the police department.  Meanwhile, Sun Hao and Cheng Xiuhua are the officers assigned to protect him.  This bugs Cheng because she and Sun are supposed to get married and she very much wants this wedding to happen, but for Sun…he thrives on the action.

But as Sunny becomes a star in the media, this angers the mutants who now want more than anything to kill him and anyone around him.

VIDEO:

“City Under Siege” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1) and the film looks absolutely great on Blu-ray.  Colors are vibrant, the detail of the visual effects on the mutants veins are good but makeup design can often look cheesy. While closeups do not show skin pores or that much detail, primarily detail is scene on clothing and objects. I didn’t notice any banding issues or artifacts. Overall, skintones are natural, black levels are very good and picture quality is great!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“City Under Siege” is presented in Cantonese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and is presented with English subtitles. As all Asian films that I watch, I prefer not to watch the English dub track but for those who prefer it, there is an English dub track included and the fact that FUNimation is well-known for their voice actors that they hire, I would think that fans of these English voice actors should have no problem with them.

One thing I have learned about Benny Chan films in the past is that he loves to utilize audio when it comes to weapons firing and in this case, he continues doing that through the many intense action sequences.  May it be punches, the whizzing of knives being thrown, explosions…you name it!  So, the film does have great use of the surround channels but would have been great if the rear surround channels were utilized as well.

But overall, the the lossless audio track features crystal clear dialogue and good use of surround channels and some LFE during those action-intense sequences.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“City Under Siege” comes with the following special features:

• Making of City Under Siege – (22:14) Behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast and director.
• Theatrical Trailer – The original theatrical trailer for “City Under Siege”.

I am a big fan of Benny Chan films, from “Gen-X Cops” to “New Police Story” and “Divergence”, when it comes to popcorn action films for HK cinema, he has done a pretty solid job with many of his films.

For “City Under Siege”, although I felt the concept was rather intriguing, the problem is that there is a high-level of cheesiness that I have never seen in his films prior and depending on the viewer, they will either not care or be bothered by it.

The problem with the film is that it tries to incorporate too much.  For one, it’s an action film but also tries to be a comedy with Sunny’s awkward and naive behavior. Especially when he mutates into a fat figure and tries to convince Angel that he is actually skinny.

You also get this mix of “Resident Evil” meets the “Incredible Hulk” type of storyline with the zombie mutations and then you get this love story that comes out of nowhere between two police officers, who end up becoming the emotional catalyst of the film despite not having a major impact in the film earlier on.

The mutations also don’t look menacing but more comical.  While the black veins that show up before the mutation was quite interesting to see, the actual mutations itself look very B-movie-ish that I wish there was better planning on making these mutants much more menacing (they look more like aliens from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”).

But still, the film is carried by its top star Aaron Kwok and actress Shu Qi and its over-the-top action.  While it was great to see these two together in a film, I would love to seem them again in a more serious film or perhaps a romantic comedy.  I have watched these two in HK films for a long time and they both look incredible onscreen as they did over a decade ago.

The action sequences definitely look cool, the fighting choreography was very well-done and overall, when you watch a Benny Chan film, you expect solid action and as far as the action is concerned, those sequences are the best parts of the film.

The Blu-ray release definitely has great picture and audio quality, you do get a making-of special feature and theatrical trailer and also a DVD version of the film is included.

As for the film, “City Under Siege” is definitely Benny Chan’s most ambitious film that tries to blend in action and sci-fi elements with comedy but I felt the screenplay was fairly weak, the visual effects of the mutations were also not as menacing and there were many cheesy moments that made this action film too kitschy for my tastes. While zombie/mutation films are nothing new for HK films, I felt I enjoyed films such as “Bio-Zombie” (1998) and ”Bio-Cops” (2000) much more!

And I really wanted to enjoy this movie because I am a big fan of Benny Chan and Aaron Kwok films.

Overall, “City Under Siege” is a decent popcorn action film but for a Benny Chan film, the cheesiness was at its all time-high and didn’t go well for me.  If you love HK action films and want something different, “City Under Siege” may be for you!

 

Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued (a J!-ENT Music DVD Review)

One of the best music documentaries I have watched from Japan and also a wonderful documentary for those who want to learn more about AKB48!  Delightful, fun and entertaining, “Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued” is highly recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2011 AKS Inc./TOHO CO. LTD/NHK Eterprises Inc./Rockwell Eyes, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued

YEAR OF FILM RELEASE: 2011

DURATION: 120 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, Dolby Digital

COMPANY: Toho/New People Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2011

Directed by Yuri Kanchiku

Produced by Yoshihiro Furusawa, Yasushi Kubota, Hideki Motegi, Junichi Nogami, Sin’ichi Takahashi

Executive Producer: Shunji Iwai

Cinematography by Chigi Kanbe

Edited by Yuri Kanchiku

Starring:

Kaoru Hayano

Tomomi Itano

Grace Kaku

Yuki Kashiwagi

Haruna Kojima

Atsuko Maeda

Natsumi Matsubara

Jurina Matsui

Sae Miyazawa

Rina Nakanishi

Risa Naruse

Kayo Noro

Aika Ohta

Erena Ono

Mariko Shinoda

Ayana Takada

Minami Takahashi

Mayu Watanabe

 

This documentary follows the unstoppable all-female Japanese idol group AKB48 and gives you a glimpse into the girls’ struggle and growth that is behind their success and ever-growing popularity. Five years ago they started as a small Akihabara idol group with only seven people showing up to their shows. Now, they’ve topped Japan’s music chart with the top two best-selling singles of the year in 2010 as well as another two singles ranking in the top 10.

With a complicated balance of competition and friendship among the members, their bond is strong. Throughout 2010 the camera captures AKB48’s history with scenes from their concerts, general elections, and activities abroad amounting to over 1000 hours of footage. The documentary also includes personal interviews with select members revealing each of the girls’ struggle, joy, growth, and dream.

One of the best music documentaries I have watched from Japan and also a wonderful documentary for those who want to learn more about AKB48!  Delightful, fun and entertaining, “Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued” is highly recommended!

Producer Yasushi Akimoto, known for writing producing TV shows and writing lyrics for Japan’s popular groups, was also known for creating one of Japan’s largest all-female idol group in the ’80s known as Onyanko Club.

While Japan has had their full share of large all-female idol groups since the ’80s, Akimoto began working on the franchise known as AKB48 in Dec. 2005.

Originally, AKB48 (AKB named after Akihabara) was a theater-based idol group that performed in Tokyo on the 8th floor of a Don Quijote store and would entertain their fans through their music and performances on a daily basis.

But slowly, the group became popular and now AKB48 is one of the most successful franchises in Japan which featured 16 members who are part of individual and competing teams such as Team A, Team K, Team B and Team 4 (which currently has 11 members).  Since then, Akimoto has added SKE48 (which performs at the Sunshine Sakae in Nagoya), SND48 created around an “adult idol” concept in 2010, NMB48 (a group which performs at the Yes-Namba Building in Namba, Osaka) and now Akimoto intends to grow the franchise by launching a Taiwan version known as TPE48 and an Indonesian version known as JKT48.

Needless to say, the group has dominated the single and album charts (each single release features different teams performing the songs, which have different arrangements), are featured on many television commercials and magazines and hold the Guinness World Record for “largest pop group”.

And what makes AKB48 so different from other Japanese idol pop groups is that a performer must stay competitive as general elections are held to determine which members will perform on a single and which members would end up on what team formation and who will lead the group.  So, there is healthy competition built upon these different groups which make up AKB48.

For most people, the whole concept of AKB48 may seem confusing or too much to take in, but fortunately, New People Entertainment will be releasing the group’s 2011 documentary “Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued” on DVD.

The DVD features scenes taken from over 1,000 hours of footage including interviews with several members of AKB48 in 2010.  Including their feelings about being part of the group, the anxiety of leaving a group you have been with for years and joining another, about the competition and elections and also seeing a personal side of a member.

Here are a few things you can expect from a few of the spotlighted AKB48 members in this documentary:

• Tomomi Kasai – Tomomi discusses being moved to Team B for the 2nd formation and how hard it was to leave her previous team.
• Sae Miyazawa – Sae of Team K (2nd formation) and being part of the media spotlight and the frustration of not being one of the members who never got the opportunity to speak to media and wants to improve her ranking in order to get noticed.
• Rino Sashihara – Rino of Team A (5th formation) goes to visit her grandmother who was originally against her joining AKB48.
• Mayu Watanabe – Mayu of Team B (3rd formation) talks about her love of collecting action figures and drawing but the challenge of wanting to have a better ranking.
• Tomomi Itano – Tomomi of Team K (1st formation) talks about her love of fashion and eating.  But also taking on a leadership role and her feelings of having to leave Team A, who she had been with for five years.
• Minami Minegishi – Minami of Team K (1st formation) talks about leaving Team A after being with the group for so many years and joining Team K and thinking about the future.
• Haruna Kojima – Haruna of Team A (1st formation) talks about preparation for a show and how she looks at herself as average.
• Rie Kitahara – Rie of Team B (5th formation) talks about her dreams of being a leader and being realistic of her rating.
• Yuki Kashiwagi – Yuki of Team B (3rd formation) visits her hometown, the first time in four years.
• Yuko Oshima – Yuko of Team K (2nd formation) talks about being a member of AKB48, not being goody-goody and being a leader.
• Atsuko Maeda – Atsuko of Team A (1st formation) talks about being voted the #1 member and being a leader in the group and also being busy with her acting career.
• Mariko Shinoda – Mariko of Team A (1.5 formation) talks about her love for fashion and being one of the mature members of AKB48.
• Yui Yokoyama – Yui of Team K (9th formation) talks about her approach to making mistakes as an AKB48 member and being a member of the group.
• Mina Takamina – Mina of Team A (1st formation) talks about being the leader of AKB48 and the challenges that come with having to be the person that leads and expecting the best from each performer.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued” is presented in 16:9 widescreen and in Dolby Digital. 

The picture quality of the DVD is very good, great colors and many outdoor shots featuring a combination of various footage from concerts, theater performances, personal interviews and more.  If anything, because the quality is very good, I hope that New People Entertainment considers releasing this documentary on Blu-ray in the near future.  

Dialogue and music is clear and understandable and English subtitles (which are optional) are easy to read.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued” comes with two theatrical trailers.

In 2007, I had the opportunity to exclusively work with a few of the major Japanese labels of some of Japan’s top female idol groups for interviews and review of their music.

My first introduction to AKB48 was through their first stage album when there was only Team A and Team K.  At the time, I only thought of the group as a theatrical idol group and because they weren’t so popular at the time, I figured that producer Yasushi Akimoto was going a different path than what he did with Onyanko Club and what other producers were doing with their idol groups.

Fastforward to 2011 and not only has he done something different than what other producers have done with their idol groups but he has managed to make AKB48 internationally known.  The group has ventured outside of Japan, performed in the United States, Europe, Asia and I’m quite impressed of how the overall operation has been in cultivating this idol franchise with multiple teams and now building more teams in various countries.

As I have reviewed and interviewed a good number of Japanese idol groups, AKB48 has been an interesting pop group because there are so many people and they move from team-to-team, it’s not easy to casually follow this group, especially if you listen and follow other J-Pop artists, groups and bands.

But when I first heard that “Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued” was being released in the United States, I was absolutely thrilled.  For one, New People Entertainment is literally bringing out the first J-Pop documentary DVD to the American market.  Two, it’s an AKB48 DVD that has possibilities of extending other AKB48 merchandise or videos for U.S. release and three, it’s a documentary that will help explain how things are with AKB48 and also introducing viewers to a few of the key members of the group.

Granted, not all members of every group are interviewed on this DVD.  That would be too difficult and there is typically a process of how members are featured on a single and possibly on this documentary.  I will say that the most visible members of the group (visible in the fact that I see these members featured on the majority of the TV commercials and publications) are featured in this documentary, these interviews definitely give you a more personal side to the members of AKB48.

For me, it was intriguing to learn how Tomomi Kitano loves to try different types of food (that other’s probably wouldn’t eat), to see Mayu Watanabe so different than the other members because she is a big action figure fan and loves drawing.  But also to see how being member of AKB48 has changed people.

For example, Yuko Oshima who is one of the top-ranked members of the group, ditching her goody-goody side and it was really interesting to hear her talk about her approach to life.  But also to learn more about the leaders of the group, especially Mina Takamina who is the leader of the entire AKB48 and knows that she is in a leadership role where she has to be tough on the members of the group and direct.

And also interesting is how competitive these girls are, especially when it comes to the elections.  With most members of an idol group, they are in the group forever…unless a producer feels they are not popular or are getting old, they make them graduate from the idol group.  But it’s a popularity contest and to see how some girls react when their rank is not as great as they would have hoped, was rather sad but also interesting of how they are encouraged to speak up about their emotions to the audience.  One was Mayu Watanabe looking devastated after being picked as #5 and crying her eyes out and telling the audience how upset she upset she was but wanting to do better.

These “personal” sides of these talents, A&R and management are good to put a squash on things like that in Japan.  To the point that what you know of a member is what management allows them to say to their audience.  But because of these spontaneous elections and then the talent being interviewed about their true feelings, that’s what I loved about “Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued”, you get to see a real side to these talents…good and bad.

I’ve watched many documentaries, concerts, and videos of Japanese artists, groups and bands in Japan, and I have to say that “Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued” is the best one that I have seen.  There was dedication in the making of this product.  From following the group for the entire year of 2010, over 1,000 hours shot and personal interviews…most Japanese labels typically don’t wait that long to get a product out (and sometimes, you can tell it was rushed). But in this case, there was no rushing…what you get in this documentary is a year’s worth of footage. And the editing is well-paced and the presentation is sleek, colorful and looks great on DVD (I just wish it was also released on Blu-ray).

Granted, I wish there were special features such as extra interviews that didn’t make the cut or maybe even outtakes but knowing that many of the J-Pop DVD’s or Blu-rays I have reviewed from Japan, rarely do you get special features.

Overall, “Documentary of AKB48 – to be continued” is a fantastic documentary on AKB48 that fans will love, especially for those who are new to the group and want to learn more about how AKB48 operates and also learn more about key members of the group.

A delightful, fun and highly entertaining documentary on AKB48 that is highly recommended!

 

Branded to Kill – The Criterion Collection #38 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

Unique and brilliant, Seijun Suzuki’s masterpiece… “Branded to Kill” is a film that was ahead of its time, misunderstood but now highly appreciated.  This 2011 DVD release improves upon the original 1999 DVD in picture quality clarity and detail but also comes with wonderful special features as well!  “Branded to Kill” (2011) is another highly recommended Criterion Collection release!

Image courtesy of © 1967 Nikkatsu Corporation. 2011 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Branded to Kill – The Criterion Collection #38 (Koroshi no Rakuin)

FILM RELEASE DATE: 1967

DURATION: 91 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, Monaural in Japanese with English Subtitles, 2:35:1 Aspect Ratio

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: December 13, 2011

Directed by Seijun Suzuki

Written by Hachiro Guryu, Takeo Kimura, Chusei Sone, Atsushi Yamatoya

Produced by Kaneo Iwai, Takiko Mizunoe

Music by Naozumi Yamamoto

Cinematography by Kazue Nagatsuka

Edited by Matsuo Tanji

Art Direction by Sukezo Kawahara

Starring:

Jo Shishido as Goro Hanada

Koji Nanbara as No. 1

Isao Tamagawa as Michiko Yabuhara

Anne Mari as Misako Nakajo

Mariko Ogawa as Mami Hanada

Hiroshi Minami as Gihei Kasuga

When Japanese New Wave bad boy Seijun Suzuki delivered this brutal, hilarious, and visually inspired masterpiece to the executives at his studio, he was promptly fired. Branded to Kill tells the ecstatically bent story of a yakuza assassin with a fetish for sniffing steamed rice (the chipmunk-cheeked superstar Joe Shishido) who botches a job and ends up a target himself. This is Suzuki at his most extreme—the flabbergasting pinnacle of his sixties pop-art aesthetic.

“Branded to Kill”, Seijun Suzuki’s masterpiece but also a film that led to the filmmaker’s firing.

While we are graced with films with visual style, humor and coolness by Beat Takeshi, Takashi Miike, Kazuaki Kiriya to name a few… Seijun Suzuki was part of the Nikkatsu company that churned two movies a week and had to work with a low budget, be creative and churn out a film within 25 days. Needless to say, executives didn’t understand Suzuki’s style, they criticized him, they talked down to him but what they didn’t know was that his style was not being rebellious, it was his style.

Perhaps Suzuki’s style was too surreal because what Nikkatsu wanted was traditional Japanese films that they were used to making.  Seijun Suzuki who created 40 B-movies for the company between 1956 and 1967 was anything but traditional, not necessarily a rebel but he created films that he wanted to make,each film being different and now respected as films that were ahead of its time.

Prior to releasing his final film, “Branded to Kill”, for Nikkatsu, they were growing tired by his inability to create traditional films that the executives were used too.  But by the end of “Branded to Kill”,  the executives of the company had enough of Suzuki’s style of filmmaking. While he never complained, he was fired from his job.  And Suzuki was not a man to let the studio run all over him.  In fact, he successfully sued the company for wrongful dismissal but in Japanese business tradition, if you sue an entertainment company, you will be blacklisted (which still goes on today in Japan) and in this case, Suzuki was blacklisted for ten years.

In Japan, because he stood up to the big entertainment company, he became a counterculture icon and his films were shown at midnight screenings to a packed audience.

In America, many cinema fans appreciated Suzuki’s work because of its visual, surreal style that was not as common to see in Japanese gangster films.

And while his two better known films, “Tokyo Drifter” and “Branded to Kill” have been released in America on LD and DVD from the Criterion Collection, in Dec. 2011, the Criterion Collection released both of Seijun Suzuki’s films “Tokyo Drifter” and “Branded to Kill” on Blu-ray and DVD which features improved video quality plus a new interview with Seijun Suzuki done exclusively by the Criterion Collection in 2011.

“Branded to Kill” is a film about an assassin named Goro Hanada (played by Jo Shishido), better known as assassin No. 3 in rank.

Whenever someone needs to be killed, these assassins are called in.  But if they mess up a job, they immediately will become a target.  And there are some who are concerned by their rankings.  You want to be No. 1, you have to kill No. 1.  Problem is… no one really knows who No. 1 is.

Goro is calm, cool and collected and excellent with a gun. But he also has an unusual fetish of sniffing rice before he can engage in sex with his wife Mami Hanada (played by Mariko Ogawa), a woman who appears to be having sex with his friend Michihiko (played by Isao Tamagawa) and a woman that Goro only sees as a plaything.

But this is the underworld, a life of making money through killing people and for Goro, this is the life that he has lived and has no problems on taking a job.

One day after successfully killing a list of people, he is contacted by a mysterious woman named Misako Nakajo (played by Anne Mari).  She is attractive, sexy but shows no emotion and immediately, Goro is sexually attracted to her.  But she knows something about him, and that makes him wonder about her.

Misako asks for him to assassinate a man that she is with but he only has a three second window and he would be paid quite nicely.

But Goro’s sniping skills is disturbed by a butterfly and he ends up killing an innocent woman, while Misako ends up shooting the man but not killing him.

When Misako and Goro encounter each other, she tells him that because of his mistake, he will be killed.  And it is revealed that Misako maybe an assassin herself and also has an unusual fetish of butterflies in her room and also a fetish of using poisonous needles which she has killed several of her birds with.  And when he tries to threaten to kill her, she pulls out her poisonous needles and tells him that she knows he won’t kill her because he wants to ravage her.  And she plays mind games with Goro, making him think that he can engage in sex with her but also teasing him that if he does, he will die.

Meanwhile, Goro’s wife hates Misako with a passion and is angered that her husband has found a new “plaything”.

But it doesn’t take long for Goro to know that No. 1 will be responsible in killing him and from there on, No. 1 starts to use psychological tactics to make Goro uneasy.  Torturing him by teasing and even putting a movie of a nude Misako bounded and being threatened by flames.

Goro knows there are assassins after him, including No. 1 who tries to wear him down.

But in unusual fashion, No. 1 goes straight to Goro’s home and doesn’t kill him immediately.  In fact, No. 1 stays with him in his apartment using psychological tactics to make sure that Goro knows not to pull anything while he’s there.  Even when they are sleeping, Goro feels uneasy as No. 1 sleeps with his eyes open.

But as No. 1 tries to use these tactics to instill fear in Goro, Goro who is slowly losing it realizes, if he kills No. 1, he will then become No. 1.

Who will emerge victorious and become the #1 killer?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Branded to Kill” is presented in 2:35:1 aspect ratio, black and white and audio is presented in monaural. It’s important to note that with the 2011 release, the release signifies the HD release of “Branded to Kill” on Blu-ray and for those wanting the best picture and audio quality, the Blu-ray is the version to buy.

But many may wonder if they owned the older 1999 DVD release and don’t own a Blu-ray player, should they upgrade to the 2011 DVD release? I can tell you right now that the 2011 version takes advantage of newer remastering technology. The contrast is much better, whites and grays are well-contrast while black levels are nice and deep. The picture quality is so much better than the older DVD but if you can, I highly recommend going for the Blu-ray release as you will get more detail and clarity.

According to the Criterion Collection, the new high-definition transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a fine-grain master positive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS and Pixel Farm’s PFClean, while Image System’s DVNR was used for small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

As for the monaural soundtrack, the new release was remastered at 24-bit from the original soundtrack print. Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

Audio-wise, dialogue was clear and I detected no problems or crackle. Doing tests of the 1999 DVD release and the 2011 DVD release, there is a slight distinction of clarity in audio but for the most part, the difference is more apparent in the video.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Branded to Kill”, the 2011 DVD release comes with the following special features:

• Seijun Suzuki and Masami Kuzuu – (12:10) A 2011 Criterion Collection interview with director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu discussing “Branded to Kill”.
  
• Joe Shishido - (11:01) An interview with main actor Joe Shishido conducted in July 2011 by the Criterion Collection.
  
• Seijun Suzuki – (14:07) An interview with director Seijun Suzuki recorded during a retrospective of his work by the Japan Foundation and the Los Angeles Film Forum at the Nuart Theatere in Los Angeles in March 1997.
  
• Trailer – (3:09) The original theatrical trailer for “Tokyo Drifter”.
  

EXTRAS:

• 20-Page booklet – Featuring a new essay titled “Reductio Ad Absurdum: Suzuki Seijun’s Branded to Kill” by film critic Tony Rayns.

This is the film that defied Nikkatsu and led to Seijun Suzuki’s termination with the studio.  But it’s also the film that can be considered Seijun Suzuki’s greatest masterpiece!

While “Branded to Kill” could have been the typical banal yakuza film and be the “King of the Mountain” type of story of individual assassins try to reach the #1 position in killer rating, that would have made a fine traditional Japanese gangster film.  But for those who are familiar with Seijun Suzuki’s work, Suzuki is not your traditional filmmaker.  Many look at his work as surreal filmmaking, even though Suzuki never thought of it that way.  It was just his style, of being creative and not wanting his films to be just like any other film.  And in this case, making each film different and doing the best he can no matter how much Nikkatsu would cut from his budget or force him to shoot in black and white as a sort of punishment for not following their rules.

From the opening scene, we are treated with the usual stoic man, full of bravado, suave and cool with his Rayban sunglasses and excellent shooting, but its the characters that literally make things surreal.

From when you are reminded of Goro’s fetish with sniffing rice, the film would then become a showcase of kinky sex and surreal violence. Goro Hanada is a killer, an assassin who will take on the best paying assignments and typically succeeds.  During his offtime, he can always find his wife fully nude, and whether he’s having sex with her in various positions or slapping her around, this is the character that Suzuki focuses on.

What about the other characters such as Misako, the emotionless and beautiful killer who also has a fetish with her poisonous needles as we see her dead birds penetrated with needles or her love for butterflies.  Or even No. 1, the #1 ranked assassin who uses psychological tactics to the point where he confronts Goro at his home and even stays with him, including making sure they go to the bathroom a certain way… together.

With intriguing editing, compositions and creative camera angles, Suzuki is able to merge commercial mainstream filmmaking with avant garde style.  Making a gangster film artistic and despite the film being a violent film, especially for 1967 audiences, he manages to pull off one hell of a perverse, surreal, violent but yet fantastic film that is unlike other gangster films, especially films coming from Nikkatsu.

I have watched “Branded to Kill” countless times before including Suzuki’s film “Tokyo Drifter”, as these two films were ahead of its time.  If people can respect the David Lynch, Takashi Miike and the Quentin Tarentino style of films today, they will love Seijun Suzuki’s films.  This is a man who worked for a studio that made things as difficult as possible for him to be successful but because he and his crew were good at adapting to their economic situations, they used creative styles of storytelling, filming, costume and set design in order to achieve success in their mind, even if the studio execs felt Suzuki’s films were “incomprehensible”.

As for this latest 2011 release on Blu-ray and DVD, personally…the point of this new release is the Blu-ray!  Criterion Collection has done a magnificent job of remastering this film in HD but since I’m reviewing the DVD version, I’m confident to say that this film is still worth it (especially if you don’t own a Blu-ray player) as the DVD looks great, especially compared to the old Criterion Collection 1999 DVD which lacks the color, detail and clarity.  This DVD’s picture quality is much better than the original DVD and you get more special features as well!

Overall, “Branded to Kill” is a unique, brilliant masterpiece from Seijun Suzuki and a Criterion Collection release that is highly recommended!

 

Tokyo Drifter – The Criterion Collection #39 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

Stylish, cool and all-out entertaining!  Seijun Suzuki’s classic gangster film “Tokyo Drifter” is magnificent!  And for those who owned the original 1999 DVD, the Criterion Collection’s 2011 release of “Tokyo Drifter” is a major improvement in picture quality and special features.  Definitely recommended!

Image courtesy of © 1966 Nikkatsu Corporation. 2011 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Tokyo Drifter – The Criterion Collection #39 (Tokyo Nagaremono)

FILM RELEASE DATE: 1966

DURATION: 82 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, Monaural in Japanese with English Subtitles, 2:35:1 Aspect Ratio

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: December 13, 2011

Directed by Seijun Suzuki

Written by Kohan Kawauchi

Produced by Tetsuro Nakagawa

Music by Hajime Kaburagi

Cinematography by Shigeyoshi Mine

Edited by Shinya Inoue

Production Design by Takeo Kimura

Starring:

Tetsuya Watari as Tetsuya “Phoenix Tetsu” Hondo

Chieko Matsubara as Chiharu

Hideaki Nitani as Kenji Aizawa

Ryuji Kita as Kurata

Tsuyoshi Yoshida as Keeichi

Eimei Esumi as Otsuka

Tamio Kawaji as Tatsuzo, the Viper

Eiji Go as Tanaka

Tochiko Hamakawa as Mutsuko

Isao Tamagawa as Umetani

Michi Hino as Yoshii

Shuntaro Tamamura as Koyanagai

In this jazzy gangster film, reformed killer Tetsu’s attempt to go straight is thwarted when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. Director Seijun Suzuki’s onslaught of stylized violence and trippy colors is equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima—an anything-goes, in-your-face rampage. Tokyo Drifter is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties.

In Japan, what kind of film would ever feature a stoic, cool tough former gangster that can whistle or sing a song while guns are pointed at him?

The answer is “Tokyo Drifter”, the 1966 film directed by Seijun Suzuki who has earned a worldwide following of cinema fans due to his experimental visual style, humor and nihilistic coolness that his style of films were ahead of its time.

While we are graced with films with visual style, humor and coolness by Beat Takeshi, Takashi Miike, Kazuaki Kiriya to name a few… Seijun Suzuki was part of the Nikkatsu company that churned two movies a week and had to work with a low budget, be creative and churn out a film within 25 days.  Needless to say, executives didn’t understand Suzuki’s style, they criticized him, they talked down to him but what they didn’t know was that his style was not being rebellious, it was his style.

You can call his style “surreal” but what Nikkatsu wanted was traditional-style filmmaking, Seijun Suzuki who created 40 B-movies for the company between 1956 and 1967 and he was anything but traditional.

After “Tokyo Drifter”, he created two movies including his masterpiece “Branded to Kill” and the company had enough of Suzuki’s style of filmmaking.  While he never complained, he was fired from his job and successfully sued the company for wrongful dismissal but in Japanese business tradition, if you sue an entertainment company, you will be blacklisted (which still goes on today in Japan) and in this case, Suzuki was blacklisted for ten years.

In Japan, because he stood up to the big entertainment company, he became a counterculture icon and his films were shown at midnight screenings to a packed audience.

In America, many cinema fans appreciated Suzuki’s work because of its visual, surreal style that was not as common to see in Japanese gangster films.

And while “Tokyo Drifter” and “Branded to Kill” have been released in America on LD and DVD from the Criterion Collection, in Dec. 2011, the Criterion Collection released both of Seijun Suzuki’s films “Tokyo Drifter” and “Branded to Kill” on Blu-ray and DVD which features improved video quality plus new interviews conducted by the Criterion Collection in 2011.

As for “Tokyo Drifter”, the film was to be made to propel the career of pop star Tetsuya Watari (who sang the theme song “Tokyo Nagarerumono”) and according to Suzuki, he only had 28-days to shoot the film including editing and post-production. Because Nikkatsu was growing tired of Suzuki’s bizarre visual style, they cut the film’s budget in hoping that it would make things much more simpler for the filmmaker.  But instead, it pushed Suzuki and art director Takeo Kimura to look for creative ways to making the film look cool.

For the intro, he wanted to experiment with expired film and because they were shooting on a low-budget, in order to be creative using a single set, they used a variety of colors.  And also, Suzuki wanted to stray away from the typical yakuza film by giving the main protagonist warmer colors instead of wearing the typical black suit.

Suffice to say, once again, upon completion, Nikkatsu executives were not pleased.  They felt that the film did not promote Tetsuya Watari and that the film was “incomprehensible” and he was ordered to reshoot the ending.

Needless to say, the film was ahead of its time and it introduced many cinema fans of his work and also creating demand for his older Nikkatsu films.

“Tokyo Drifter” is a film that revolves around Tetsuya “Phoenix Tetsu” Hondo, a former yakuza member who has gone straight along with his boss Kurata (played by Ryuji Kita).  Out of loyalty, Tetsu has done everything that his boss has told him and not to get involved in any fights that would cause harm.

In the beginning of the film, he is assaulted by a gang led by rival boss Otsuka (played by Hideaki Esumi), who do all they can to recruit Tetsu into their organization by beating on him but Tetsu continues to remain loyal to Kurata.  For Otsuka, Tetsu has become the major thorn on his side in winning the war against his rival Kurata and thus, it is important to get Tetsu to join their gang or eliminate him.

As Tetsu tries to live the straight-life and doing business legit for his boss and also maintain a relationship with a singer named Chiharu (played by Chieko Matsubara), Otsuka wants to inflict revenge on his rival Kurata by taking over a building that they are leasing from a businessman named Yoshii (played by Michio Hino).

Kurata intends to buy the building but instead, Otsuka organizes a sham meeting with Yoshii, who is leaving to meet with Kurata.

Yoshii finds out that Otsuka has lied and wants him to sign documents saying that Otsuka has bought the building and thus Kurata must make payments to Otsuka.  Yoshii refuses but when he is beaten and threatened to be killed, Yoshii has no choice but to sign.

When Tetsu catches word that Yoshii has sold Otsuka the building, Tetsu knows something is awry and goes to confront Otsuka.  But when he arrives, Otsuka has shot Yoshii to death and when Tetsu tries to get at them, he falls into a hidden pit and is unconscious,  Otsuka and his gang use the Yoshii deal and Tetsu capture as leverage against Kurata.

And as Otsuka tries to blackmail Kurata, in the process, Kurata tries to shoot at one of Otsuka’s gang members but instead, shoots his girlfriend to death.  Now Otsuka threatens to call the police, but Tetsu manages to escape from the pit and rescue his boss from harm.

Showing loyalty to his boss, Tetsu tells him that he will take the fall for the woman’s death and to stop causing problems for his boss, he will become a drifter and leave immediately.

As Tetsu leaves his former life behind, including his girlfriend Chiharu, Tetsu is unaware that Otsuka’s gang is on his tail and are planning to eliminate him.

Will the Tetsu, the “Tokyo Drifter” survive against the rival gang?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Tokyo Drifter” is presented in 2:35:1 aspect ratio, color and audio is presented in monaural.  It’s important to note that with the 2011 release, the release signifies the HD release of “Tokyo Drifter” on Blu-ray and for those wanting the best picture and audio quality, the Blu-ray is the version to buy.

But many may wonder if they owned the older 1999 DVD release and don’t own a Blu-ray player, should they upgrade to the 2011 DVD release?  I can tell you right now that the 2011 version takes advantage of newer technology.  Colors and detail are more apparent than the older DVD and you also get newer special features.  The picture quality is so much better but if you can, I highly recommend going for the Blu-ray release as you will get more vibrant colors and better picture quality.

According to the Criterion Collection, the new high-definition transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35 mm low-contrast print.  Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS and Pixel Farm’s PFClean, while Image System’s DVNR was used for small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

As for the monaural soundtrack, the new release was remastered at 24-bit from the original soundtrack print.  Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD.  Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

Audio-wise, dialogue was clear and I detected no problems or crackle.  Doing tests of the 1999 DVD release and the 2011 DVD release, there is a slight distinction of clarity in audio but for the most part, the difference is more apparent in the video.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Tokyo Drifter”, the 2011 DVD release comes with the following special features:

• Seijun Suzuki and Masami Kuzuu – (12:12) A 2011 Criterion Collection interview with director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu discussing “Tokyo Drifter”.
  
• 1997 Interview - (20:12) The following interview with Seijun Suzuki recorded during a retrospective from 1997 courtesy of the Japan Foundation and the Los Angeles Film Forum.
• Trailer – (2:47) The original theatrical trailer for “Tokyo Drifter”.
  

EXTRAS:

• 16-Page booklet – Featuring a new essay titled “Catch My Drift” by writer Howard Hampton.

Visually stylish and cool, “Tokyo Drifter” was an avante garde film that was ahead of its time!

Each time I have watched “Tokyo Drifter”, it’s one of those films that I never grown tired of watching.  When I was younger, I used to equate “Tokyo Drifter” almost like a James Bond film.  Stylish in presentation, suave protagonist that is always calm, cool, collected and great with a gun and isn’t afraid in getting into a brawl.

Granted, the film is a yakuza story after all, but what I enjoyed about this film is its presentation that is so awkward and sometimes unusual, but in a very cool way!

For example, the introduction of the film is shown in black and white.  But the contrast of the black and white is done in a way that looks nothing like your typical B&W film and then he spots a toy gun in red, how often do you see a gangster film with this type of artistic presentation.  Never.

Another scene features an accidental shooting as one of Otsuka’s gang member’s girlfriend is shot and killed.  Typically, you would see the girl shot, perhaps a closeup of the face and then the character falling to the ground.  For Suzuki, we get a shot from high above.  She gets up, feels the shot, rips the top of her dress up, falls and dies and then we get a close up shot as we see the blood flowing down the top of her breast.

Another shot features Tetsu walking through a snowy path with his light blue suit, on white snow but on the right is a red mailbox.    There are several of these artistic shots that I absolutely love looking at.

And then you have the action, from the perfectly posed Tetsu shooting off his gun at an enemy to a scene where the enemy thinks they got him down, but then he starts singing or whistling his “Tokyo Nagaremono” song and eventually escapes death.

This is your bonafide anti-hero and while he looks like a normal guy, it’s how he’s characterized.  Cool, focused and no matter if he gets shot, hit and falls on the ground multiple times…his suit is still pristine and he’s still singing before kicking some ass!

Even the other characters have their own distinction.  Otsuka is shown primarily with the camera focused on his sunglasses, his henchman Tatsuzo, known as the Viper, is often seen with his silencer, Keiichi the loner is seen with his forest green jacket and Umetani, a friend of Kurata is seen with his suit and leather gloves.

And the set design, while the same set is used, Suzuki and his art director went for creative lighting in order to continue to give this impressive visual style despite the studio cutting their budget in hopes that Suzuki would not be so creative and kept to traditional filmmaking.

So, suffice to say, I love this film!  From the first time I watched it to so many multiple viewings leading up to this 2011 release, I’m so thrilled that the Criterion Collection has chose to give the film the HD treatment.

Granted, I’m not reviewing the Blu-ray release, but since I owned the original release and now reviewing this 2011 release, I can tell the difference in quality as this 2011 DVD looks very good and I can only think that the Blu-ray is so much better!  The vibrant colors, the clarity and detail…I’m impressed of how this film looks compared to the original DVD release.

And also you get special features which is a major bonus!

Overall, “Tokyo Drifter” is a film that is worth the purchase, mainly for those who love classic Japanese cinema, especially the gangster films.  But in this case, it’s not your typical banal yakuza film, it’s stylish, visually creative and surreal and it’s a wonderful film from filmmaker Seijun Suzuki.  And for those who thought the old DVD release from Criterion Collection was not that great in picture quality, well…you’re going to love how this film looks with this latest release on DVD, especially on Blu-ray!

“Tokyo Drifter” is definitely recommended!

 

The Legend is Born: Ip Man (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

Ip Man vs. ninjas? “The Legend is Born: Ip Man” may not be historically accurate but it does deliver as a popcorn martial arts action film featuring Ip Man when he was much younger.

Images courtesy of © 2011 FUNimation Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Legend is Born: Ip Man

FILM RELEASE: 2010

DURATION: 100 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080i High Definition (2:35:1), Cantonese DolbyTrue HD 5.1, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: December 13, 2011

Directed by Herman Yau

Screenplay by Erica Lee

Produced by Kwok Lam Sin

Executive Producer: Kuo Hsing Li, Kwok Lam Sin

Music by Chung Hung Mak

Cinematography by Kwong-hung Chan

Starring:

Yu-Hang (Dennis) To as Ip Man

Siu-Wong Fan as Ip Tin Chi

Sammo Hung as Chan Wah-Shun

Huang Yui as Cheung Wing-shing

Rose Chan as Lee Mei-wai

Rose Chan as Li Mei Wai

Ip Chun as Leung Bik

Packed with Kung Fu combat and thick with drama, The Legend is Born follows Ip Man as he grows from a promising young pupil into an unstoppable force. When political corruption threatens his temple, his friends, and his honor, Man single-handedly challenges a swarm of shinobi in an ultimate showdown.

There is no denying that the legend of martial arts teacher Yip Man (also known as the man who taught Wing Chun to Bruce Lee) have been a financial success in Asia.

With the popularity of the first two “Ip Man” films starring Donnie Yen, there have been big questions on how to continue the Ip Man stories, especially with Donnie Yen not wanting to do anymore Ip Man films.  The solution, focus on a prequel while Ip Man was young or focus in the future when he is much older.

And in 2010, Director Herman Yau (“All’s Well Ends Well 2010″, “The Eight Immortals Restaurant: The Untold Story”) and screenwriter Erica Lee (“King of Comedy”, “Only Fools Fall in Love”) decided to do the former with their film “The Legend is Born: Ip Man”.

While not an officially related to the first two films, Yau did cast Dennis To who looks like a younger Donnie Yen, while also casting Sammo Hung and Fan Siu-wong who both appeared in the previous Donnie Yen “Ip Man” films.  But perhaps the biggest draw was the casting of Ip Chun, the actual son of Ip Man, who plays the role as Leung Bik (the man who would teach Ip Man a new style of Wing Chun).

While the film does take liberties by creating fictional stories around the true story of Ip Man’s actual martial arts training when he was younger, the addition of half-brother and also Japanese antagonists continues the trend of foreign invaders vs. Ip Man.

“The Legend is Born: Ip Man” begins with a young Ip Man and his adoptive brother Tin Chi being brought to the school of Wing Chun (taught by the master Chan Wah-shun) and left their by their father to be trained.

While at their new school, both Ip Man, Ip Tin Chi befriend a young Lee Mei-wai and the three become close friends.  But three years into their training, their master dies and the second student, Ng Chung-sok (played by Yuen Biao) continues his master’s training.

Fastforward years later, as all three are now young adults and are well-trained, while going out with his friends for shopping, a young Ip Man (played by Dennis To) meets a wealth young woman named Cheung Wing-shing (played by Huang Yi).  When a group of men start trouble with a young woman in the marketplace, Wing-shing tries to prevent the men from hitting the young lady and instead, try to hit her.  But before one man can strike her, Ip Man manages to stop his strike and a brawl begins with Ip Man and his friends vs. the other group of fighters.

Ip Man and his friends manage to defeat them but this first meeting between Cheung Wing-Shing and Ip Man was love at first sight.  And as Wing-Shing tries to meet up with Ip Man once again, Mei Wai (played by Rose Chan) is jealous because she likes Ip Man and tends to retrieve the messages that are meant for Ip Man.  Meanwhile, at a distance, Ip Man’s half-brother Tin-chi (played by Fan Siu-wong) watches Mei Wai, as he is in love with her.

But as Ip Man is sent to study at St. Stephen’s college in Hong Kong, Ip Man learns English and during a fight with a British man, he easily defeats him with his martial arts and word spreads around about Ip Man and his fighting skills.

But when Ip Man goes to buy some medicine for the man he hurt, he encounters the elder Leung Bik (played by Ip Chun) who tells him that he is not too impressed by his Wing Chun skills and when the two spar, the elder Leung Bik beats him with ease.  Ip Man learns that Leung Bik is the brother of his master Chan Wah-shun, but because he practiced alternate and improved styles of Wing-chun because it disgraced his family’s line of Wing Chun martial arts, he moved away.

But knowing that learning a new style of Wing Chun goes against his master’s wishes, Ip Man learns from Leung Bik and develops a style which includes fiercer moves and high kicks. And while Ip Man attended college and also learned this new style of Wing Chun, his brother Tin-chi becomes a prominent businessman  under another Wing Chun martial arts association. And secretly collaborating with the Japanese.

When he returns back to Foshan to visit his brother and friends, he shocks them with his new style and eventually teaches them some of what he has learned.  But in doing so, he has angered his master Ng Chung-sok who tells him that his master would not improve learning Wing Chun from his master’s brother (especially because they didn’t get along because of Leung Bik using alternate styles) and its not what they are taught.  As Ng Chung-sok spars with Ip Man in anger, there are times when Ip Man could have beaten him but instead let Ng Chung-sok win.

Meanwhile, back at home, Ip Man and Cheung Wing-shing meet once again and rekindle their love, meanwhile a broken-hearted Mei-Wai knows that Ip Man’s heart is with another woman, so she decides to have a relationship with his half brother Ip Tin-chi and the two end up getting married.

But when Tin-chi receives a wedding gift from the Japanese, the night of his wedding… tragedy hits the family and as for Ip Man, he is accused of murder and imprisoned.

What will happen when Ip Man finds out the truth about who is involved in the tragedy?

VIDEO:

“The Legend is Born: Ip Man” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1) and the film is intentionally saturated and warm in the beginning but later becomes fully detailed and colors are vibrant.  There is very good clarity and detail on clothing and wooden objects, doors and fences.  You can see the detail on the album that Wing-shing is carrying as each line around the album is visible.  While closeups do not show skin pores or that much detail, primarily detail is scene on clothing and objects.  I didn’t notice any banding issues or artifacts.  Overall, skintones are natural, black levels are very good and picture quality is great!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Legend is Born: Ip Man” is presented in Cantonese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and is presented with English subtitles. As all Asian films that I watch, I prefer not to watch the English dub track but for those who prefer it, there is an English dub track included and the fact that FUNimation is well-known for their voice actors that they hire, I would think that fans of these English voice actors should have no problem with them.

I will say that the lossless audio track was not as immersive as I would have liked.  But while there are plenty of action sequences in this film, it’s not like the previous “Ip Man” films which tend to sound more immersive.  The action sequences do sound good and are effective during the action sequences but these moments are not as long as I would have hoped.

But overall, the the lossless audio track features crystal clear dialogue, music and action sequences when it is featured onscreen.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“The Legend is Born: Ip Man” comes with the following special features:

• Making of – (13:21) Behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast.
• Theatrical Trailer – (1:58) The original theatrical trailers for “The Legend is Born: Ip Man”.

I loved Donnie Yen’s first “Ip Man” film, the second was OK and despite this film not being related to the other two and is more about Ip Man’s earlier life, I would have to say that this film is primarily a popcorn action film.

There are lot of liberties taken with Ip Man’s life and unless you do the research, some people may think he actually had a half-brother and that what they are seeing onscreen is biographical.  But the truth is that there are fictional moments that are presented around Ip Man’s non-fictional life as a young man learning Wing Chun, that I often wonder how he would feel if he was alive today and see how writers really distorted his life for the sake of entertainment.

Granted, the film does feature Ip Man’s son, Ip Chun which was great!  And I can only hope that the estate of Ip Man are getting paid well with all these “Ip Man” related stories and I don’t think that there will be an end to these stories anytime soon.  They make money and people all over the world love the martial arts action that comes along with these films.

But while I did enjoy “The Legend is Born: Ip Man”, as a guy who loves to research the lives of these individuals that these movies are based on.  I now wonder how much of what is featured in this film is actually truth.  We know that Ip Man studied under Chan Wah-shun and when he died, Ng. Chung-sok took over.  It is documented that he studied in Hong Kong and learned alternate forms of Wing Chun from Leung Bik.

But other than that, we know that he had a brother but not this half-brother that was featured in the film.  Was there a real Mei Wai?  Did Ip Man meet his wife at a market?  To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what is fiction and what is non-fiction in this film aside from the training from his two masters.

And personally, I just hope there is not a constant number of films that are released and continue to distort the true story of his life.  If anything, I hope that people are smart enough to know that “The Legend is Born: Ip Man” is completely accurate.

Outside of that, I will say that the casting of Dennis To is fantastic.  I know the director has made it clear that this film is not a prequel to the previous two films but I have to admit, Dennis To looks like a younger version of Donnie Yen.  And for anyone watching this film, they will think that this film is an actual prequel to the other two films because of that.  Also, casting Sammo Hung and Fan Siu-wong who starred in the Donnie Yen “Ip Man” films also makes things a bit interesting.

As for the Blu-ray release, you get the making of and trailers.  Picture quality is very good and the lossless soundtrack is also very good but not too immersive.

Overall, “The Legend is Born: Ip Man” is an entertaining popcorn action, martial arts film but it’s also another film that distorts the life of the actual man.  Throwing in a fight against Japanese dressed as ninjas is becoming a bit too farfetched and more Shaw Brothers-like than any other “Ip Man” film before it. But I do understand that as long as these “Ip Man” films continue to be made, it does well in the box office.

“The Legend is Born: Ip Man” continues the action but showcases Ip Man during the time of his earlier teenage years.  If you are looking for a martial arts film to sit back and enjoy without wanting to learn about the actual history of the man who taught Bruce Lee, then definitely give this film a try!

 

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