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

February 4, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

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!

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)

January 20, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

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

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!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, KINO VIDEO/INTL./LORBER

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

December 17, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

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!

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”.

EXTRAS:

“City Under Siege” comes with a DVD version of the film and a slipcover case.

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!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, Blu-ray Reviews

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

December 16, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

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!

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.

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!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, Music DVD/Blu-ray

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

December 15, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

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!

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!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

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

December 13, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

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!

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.

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.

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!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

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

November 27, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

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.

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”.

EXTRAS:

“The Legend is Born: Ip Man” comes with a DVD version of the film and slipcover case.

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!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, Blu-ray Reviews

Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

November 25, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

Sexy, stylish and all-out crazy! “Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” may lack the underdog style that people loved of Takashi Miike’s first film, but if you love crazy antics, sexy costumes and a lot of action and are wanting to see a superhero storyline done in a J-Pop style…this film is for you!

TITLE: Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City

FILM RELEASE: 2010

DURATION: 123 Minutes

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

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: November 29, 2011

Directed by Takashi Miike

Screenplay by Kankuro Kudo

Produced by Akio Hattori, Takashi Hirano, Arimasa Okada, Makoto Okada

Music by Yorihiro Ike, Yoshihiro Ike

Cinematography by Kazushige Tanaka

Edited by Kenji Yamashita

Casting by Yoshiko Arae

Art Direction by Akira Sakamoto

Starring:

Sho Aikawa as Zebraman

Riisa Naka as Zebra Queen

Tsuyoshi Abe as Niimi

Masahiro Inoue as Shimpei

The year is 2025. Tokyo has fallen and the world cries out for a hero. It cries for Zebraman. This striped crime fighter is the only hope for those who live in fear of the Zebra Queen, a hooved seductress out to conquer the world with the aide of her Miniskirt Zebra Police.

The Queen has stolen Zebraman’s powers and instituted Zebra Time: ten horrifying minutes each day when murder is legal! Without his super strength, Zebraman is just a guy with a mane – a broken-down hero unable to stop the onslaught of evil. Before he can take a bite out of the bad guys, Zebraman must find the young girl who holds the secret to regaining his ass-kicking powers and prove, once and for all, that a hero never changes his stripes!

In 2004, Takashi Miike (“13 Assassins”, “Ichi the Killer”, “Audition”) would surprise his viewers by taking on a superhero action/comedy film.

Taking place in 2010, the film would feature a story about a 3rd grade teacher and family man named Shinichi Ichikawa who’s life is not going all that great. His wife cheats on him, his teenage daughter dates older men and his son is constantly bullied because his father is a teacher. His students disrespect him. Life, is not a happy one for Shinichi.

In order to get away from life, he dresses up at night as “Zebraman”, a character from an unpopular 1970′s tokusatsu TV series that he watched as a child. While crimes and murders occur near the school that he teaches, Shinichi decides to confront these criminals as Zebraman but quickly learns that these criminals are actually possessed by aliens and somehow, he absorbs a special power to take on the aliens.

As the film was enjoyed by many, Miike decided to create a second film but this time taking place in 2025, 15 years after the events of “Zebraman”.

This time around, Tokyo has been taken control of governor Kozo Aihara (played by Guadalcanal Taka) who has significantly cut crime in Japan and because of what he accomplished, to further cut down the crime, he has merged Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and surrounding areas and renamed the region as Zebra City.

At 5:00 AM/PM, the government has allowed for “Zebra Time”, in which Zebra police and his Zebra Mini-Skirt Police can attack and kill any presumed criminal. And during “Zebra Time”, his daughter Yui/the Zebra Queen played by Riisa Naka) performs for her audience and is a major pop star, while behind-the-scenes, she is a sadistic and psychotic woman!

Meanwhile, we are given a glimpse to what has happened to Zebraman/Shinichi Ichikawa. 15-years ago, he was captured by Kozo Aihara and for some reason, he and a young girl, Sumire (played by Mei Nagano) were experimented on for some reason and now his hair is white.

One day, he is seen running fro the Zebra police during Zebra Time and is shot dozens of times. He is rescued by Junpei Ichiba (played by Naoki Tanaka) and taken to the White Horse camp that is off-limits to Zebra City and is run by Kohei Asano (played by Masahiro Inoue), a nurse and the leader of the camp. Asano is shocked to see his former teacher Ichikawa at the camp but it appears he has lost all his memory within the last 15-years.

While rehabilitating, he is introduced by Junpei to the “Zebraman” TV series which Junpei played the hero in costume. And immediately, Junpei starts to gain some memories and starts to go crazy. While Asano sedates him, Junpei wants to know the truth of how Shinichi is able to not have any injuries when he was attacked by the Zebra police and Asano tells him the truth… Shinichi Ichikawa is the original Zebraman.

Meanwhile, Yui and her trusted samurai guardian named Niimi (played by Tsuyoshi Abe) are trying to find a girl who has an alien inside her. If Yui can capture this alien, she can be the most powerful woman in the planet and release “Zebra Time” on the world. But her father does not want them going after the alien because of the incidents that took place 15-years ago. If anything, he doesn’t want her to pursue them and focus on bringing “Zebra Time” to the United States.

Back in the camp, Shinichi meets a girl named Sumire, who doesn’t talk. But for some reason, she begins communicating with Shinichi and when she touches him, she awakens part of his memories and also revives his Zebraman powers. Shinichi is not sure why Sumire can do such a thing but it also awakens Yui’s power and for some reason, she can feel what Shinichi is feeling.

Seeing her father as a distraction in obtaining the alien, she kills her father and immediately, they put the blame on the White Horse camp. So, she creates a law to incorporate the camp into Zebra City in order to bring Zebra Time to the camp.

This leads to a clash between both Zebraman and Yui and Zebraman just realizes, she is him? The darker side of him? He sports the white for good, she sports the black for evil.

And as the Zebra Police, in a grand army led by Niimi attempts to go to the White Horse camp to get Sumire, will anyone be able to stop them from succeeding?

VIDEO:

“Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” is presented in 1080i High Definition (2:40:1). The film definitely looks fantastic for the majority of the film. The film was shot with a lot of green screen and given a J-Pop heavy black, tad bit higher exposure to have this sort of look that is quite common in J-Pop music videos and also adds an interesting style to the film. During Yui’s scenes, we are greeted with darker blacks and vibrant colors, while Shinichi’s scenes are daytime earthtones. During the latter part of the film, at night, I did notice slight banding during the fire scenes but for the most part, the film looks very good.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” is presented in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and is presented with English subtitles. The lossless audio for the film is what stands out the most. Dialogue is crystal clear, as with the music which has a good amount of bass. But the surround channels are used for ambiance, sirens and the more action-intensive sequences. While the soundtrack is not fully immersive, you do get a good amount of surround during the action scenes.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” comes with the following special features on a second Blu-ray disc:

The Making of Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City – (1:26:18) Behind the scenes on the making of “Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City”. Especially the action sequences for actress Riisa Naka.
The Making of the “Zebra Queen’s Theme” Music Video – Behind-the-scenes making of the music video and interviews with Riisa Naka.
Interview with Director Takashi Miike – (6:56) Interview with Director Takashi Miike who talks about the challenge he put on the talent and crew for the making of this film.
Interview with Riki Abe - (4:27) Riki Abe talks about playing Niimi.
Interview with Show Aikawa – (5:23) Show talks about reprising his role as Shinichi and Zebraman.
Interview with Masahiro Inoue – (4:57) Masahiro talks about preparing and playing the role of Asano.
Interview with Riisa Naka – (5:13) Riisa talks about playing Yui/Zebra Queen.
Original Commercial – (1:21) Original TV spots.
Theatrical Trailers – (1:44) The original theatrical trailers for “Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City”.

EXTRAS:

“Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” comes with a DVD version of the film.

I suppose the best way to describe Takashi Miike’s “Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” is ambitious and a Japanese popcorn action-film that tries to blend a superhero film with comedy.

And at times, I felt as if I was watching an extended version of a music video, so far from the concept of the original film which was more underdog who has been bullied and disrespected, saving the world from aliens. In this case, screenwriter Kankuro Kudo (“Ping Pong”, “Zebraman”, “Go”, “Maiko Haaaan!!!”) was incorporating that crazy style that he was known for in “Maiko Haaaan!!!” of make-believe and a serious dramatic story with this sequel, and for the most part, many Japanese film critics and audiences didn’t go for it.

Everyone loves the underdog rising to the occasion type of film but “Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” was trying to go for a storyline that seemed appropriate for an anime or even a video game, but perhaps that was the goal… to bring something that seemed plausible for those mediums and taking all the unbelievable craziness and bring it to the big screen.

And because the story seems to have unusual pacing, some western viewers may feel turned off by the overall film.

But if you are familiar with Takashi Miike films or even Kankuro Kudo screenplays and are familiar with Japanese action/comedy cinema, you know what you’re going to get, it’s just about how satisfied you feel after watching it.

As a Japanese popcorn action film, I felt that it had a good amount of laughs and action and for most guys, seeing actress Riisa Naka (who usually plays “pure” dramatic roles) all bound with leather, push-up bra and showcasing a lot of skin and sexy dance choreography, I wouldn’t be surprised if people enjoyed the film much more because of her character role.

As for the Blu-ray release, it’s a pretty good Blu-ray release from FUNimation Entertainment as you get plenty of special features and also a DVD included. Picture quality was good for 1080i but had some banding issues, but it’s a pretty slick and stylish presentation that I enjoyed. And the lossless soundtrack was also enjoyable to listen as well. If anything, I wish the direct-to-video movie (“Zebra Miniskirt Police no Gyakushu) featuring the Mini-Skirt Police was included (this was released several months before the film in Japan and takes place one year before the events of the second film).

But compared to the original “Zebraman”, the storyline of “Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” is much weaker and also ambitious in trying to balance the action and comedy of this sci-fi superhero film. There are quite a few plot holes and do we ever find out what happens to the Zebra Mini-Skirt Police? They were just forgotten…

Needless to say, despite the weakness of the story, I do credit the costume designer especially for the outfit of the Zebra Queen and the final combined Zebraman outfit but most importantly, the visual effects team who did a good job.

For those who are wondering if they can watch this second film without seeing the first, the answer is “yes”. You get a pretty good backstory to Shinichi and Zebraman but it would be nice if FUNimaton Entertainment does release the original “Zebraman” on Blu-ray.

But “Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” is a crazy, fun, action film with a weak plot but where else can you find a film where you hear crazy sound effects, such as those that accompany Shinichi’s blinking or a huge alien (that reminded me of the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man of “Ghostbusters”) who is able to hurt people with it’s gigantic fart.

But the way it ended, I felt it was too ridiculous to end the film in such a way and it actually dampered my overall feeling for the film.

Overall, “Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City” may not be for everyone but if you love the crazy antics of action anime and manga series, love superhero films, you may find this sequel to be to your liking.

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, Blu-ray Reviews

The Treasure Hunter (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

October 29, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

If you watched filmmaker Yen-ping Chu and Jay Chou’s first collaboration in the 2008 film “Kung-Fu Dunk”, it doesn’t get any better with “The Treasure Hunter”. Visually, it’s a pleasing popcorn action film but as far as its story goes, unfortunately it’s confusing and not that good.

TITLE: Treasure Hunter (Ci Ling)

FILM RELEASE: 2009

DURATION: 105 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, Dolby True HD Mandarin and English 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Eleven Arts/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: November 15, 2011

Directed by Yen-ping Chu

Produced by Yang Du

Music by Ricky Ho

Starring:

Jay Chou as Qiao Fei

Chilling Lin as Lan Ting

Eric Tsang as Pork Chop

Daoming Chen as Master Hua

Chu-he Chen as Desert Eagle

Will Liu as Friday

Pu Miao as Swords Thirteen

Ian Powers as Russian Smuler

Kenneth Tsang as Tu Lao-dai

Qiaofei (Jay Chou) is a relic expert with a gritty past. When his mentor’s daughter is held hostage over a map with a deadly history, the rugged warrior whips into action! Chaos erupts as he swoops in to the rescue and scours the sands for legendary riches buried deep in China’s northwest desert. Chased down by the shadowy Sandstorm Legion and challenged by countless greedy, bloodthirsty foes, Qiaofei faces danger at every turn to find the tomb – but some treasures aren’t meant to be found.

Jay Chou is a talented, chart-topping singer/musician from Taiwan.

Known in America for his role as Kato in the 2011 film “The Green Hornet”, most of Jay Chou’s previous films were films that I guess many people can call them “growth” films. A musician turned actor who grows with each film. Beginning with his starring role in “Initial D”, starring with two powerhouse talent in “Curse of the Golden Flower” with Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li but to create more “growth” films with “Kung Fu Dunk” (2008), followed by “The Treasure Hunter” (2009).

And now, “The Treasure Hunter” receives its Blu-ray and DVD release in America courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

The film begins with a tale of two men who fight on the dunes. While one will win the title of “Desert Eagle”, the other would lose and never come back.

We then learn about how many have searched for hidden treasure in the dunes but many have literally been unsuccessful.

For Lan Ting (played by actress Lin Chi-ling), her father is a well known archaeologist/treasure hunter searching for the treasure. But not more to steal it, but to make sure no one takes it. As Qiao Fei (played by Jay Chou) works for Lan Ting’s father, his goal is to find treasure and return it back to their respective owners.

Qiao Fei is a man who has excellent martial arts fighting skills but he is also a man of mystery.

During one inspection of stolen treasure, Qiao Fei takes on a supernatural knight who rematerialized after he rings a bell (which he was told not to do). But during the inspection, he discovers a map, the map that would lead people to the lost treasure in the dunes. A map that must be protected at all cost.

But for Lan Ting, she has nothing but ill feelings towards her father because he has chosen his career and dedicated his life to finding the treasure in the dunes than being there for his family.

One day, Lan Ting’s father asks Qiao Fei to talk to his daughter about coming to visit him for dinner and we quickly learn that both Lan Ting and Qiao Fei have this not-so-kind relationship but he is the middleman to both as he tells them what both are up to.

Meanwhile, as Lan Ting decides whether or not to visit her father, he is visited by the notorious crime group known as “The Company” who are looking for the map. Meanwhile, another group led by Pork Chop (played by Eric Tsang) kidnaps Lan Ting in order to blackmail her father in giving the map to them. And to assist them in finding the treasure area, a man named Master Hua Ding Bang (played by Chen Daoming), who was the sole surviving member of an expedition crew that last searched for the treasure will be joining them.

Because Lan Ting was kidnapped, Qiao Fei is forced to give the map to Pork Chop’s crew but to give her the bad news that her father has been killed. Pork Chop is shocked and tells them that they have nothing to do with it as they just kidnapped the daughter.

But immediately, a man from nowhere comes and steals the map which leads to a battle between Qiao Fei and the assailant. Meanwhile, out of nowhere, a child steals the map and brings it to his mysterious boss in the desert.

Having to face all sorts of dangers in the dunes, now the treasure hunter Qiao Fei, along with Lan Ting (with Pork Chop crew not far behind) must find the map before anyone steals the treasure.

VIDEO:

“The Treasure Hunter” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1). The picture quality is quite warm and sports plenty of detail during the daytime, cooler colors during the night time. Detail is very well-done as we can see the detail around the treasure relics, to the detail of the cool special effects featured in the film. Black levels are deep and overall, picture quality for the film is very good.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Treasure Hunter” is presented in Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Mandarin and English. I was surprised that this film was only a 2.0 mix but for the most part, the front channels definitely get a lot of work in showcasing the many sound effects during the intense action sequences of the film. From windstorms, to shrieks by possessed characters and more!

It’s important to note that I did not listen to the English dub track as I prefer to watch Asian films in their original language. With that being said, despite not liking English dialogue for Asian cinema, FUNimation Entertainment is well-known for their English dubs and doing a great work with them, so if you prefer English dubs instead of reading English subtitles, you do have that option.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“The Treasure Hunter” comes with the following special feature:

Original Trailer – (2:08) Original theatrical trailer for “The Treasure Hunter”.

EXTRAS:

“The Treasure Hunter” comes with a slipcover case.

Another collaboration between Taiwan filmmaker Chu Yen-ping (“The King of Comics”, “Kung Fu Dunk”) and music artist/actor Jay Chou plus popular Hong Kong action choreographer Ching Siu-tung (“A Chinese Ghost Story” and “Swordsman” films), “The Treasure Hunter” was an interesting action film that tried to incorporate too much.

First, as mentioned earlier, this is a “growth” film for Jay Chou. As a singer, he wanted to improve his acting, so he did a few popcorn action films, one was “Kung Fu Dunk” and the other was this film “The Treasure Hunter”. Needless to say, these two films are not the best, and while they are both flashy in different ways, they are primarily popcorn action films with a popular singer as the main star.

And while these two Chu Yen-ping films are good starting blocks for Jay Chou’s acting and are literally stylish action films, while “Kung Fu Dunk” tried to capture the feel of “Shaolin Soccer” (which it failed to accomplish), “The Treasure Hunter” tries to be a martial arts Indiana Jones-style film with more plot holes than holes in Swiss cheese.

One thing that we know of the film is that Jay Chou plays a treasure hunter that returns the treasure back to their owners. We know there is sexual attraction between treasure hunter Qiao Fei and his mentor’s daughter Lan Ting.

The problem of the film is that it introduces a lot of things to the film that make no sense. From the hoard of attacking warriors on the dune and they happen to be stuck inside a diner, its reminiscent of the American film “Legion” but what is their purpose, we don’t know. It seems that the film tried to incorporate one large action chase scene for action-sake, with nothing impacting the storyline.

Before the attack by the dune warriors, we see a soldier attacking Qiao Fei, but what is his purpose in the film? Why even give this non-essential character a closeup.

And then all of a sudden, the film tries to become a zombie/vampire like film when Pork Chop’s employees start eating flowers that have grown from a dead corpse, thus making him to a zombie with super abilities.

And while it was one thing to introduce these supernatural beasts or whatever they are, we are introduced to a storyline that revolves around a woman named Dao-Dao and the Desert Eagle, which plays an impact to the story in the beginning and about Qiao Fei’s past. But the brief interaction with Desert Eagle is so short that you wonder why the writer chose to introduce it to the storyline.

Unfortunately, as much as the film does look cool in terms of its warm colorized look and the visual effects, especially the fight choreography, the film was disappointing.

And what makes it even worse is that the film that Yen-ping Chu and Jay Chou did before this, was also the same. Full of style, cool fight choreography but a storyline that tried to add to much but got nowhere.

The Blu-ray release is also “OK”. While the picture quality is very good, we are only given a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 soundtrack (Mandarin and in English) and for special features, just a single trailer.

Needless to say, Jay Chou fans are going to watch this film because it features Jay Chou. But the film didn’t do well in Taiwan and was a box office failure. But since Jay Chou has become internationally well-known because of his work on “The Green Hornet”, the collaboration between him and Yen-ping Chu for their second film together is another mess.

It’s unfortunate because I respect Jay Chou as a fan of his music and I have been supportive of his growth as an actor, even when he first starred in “Initial D”, but his two films with Yen-ping Chu may give him that acting experience but unfortunately they are bad films. Again, these films were made before “The Green Hornet”, so hopefully, he gets better film roles to star in.

“The Treasure Hunter” is more eye-candy and a popcorn action-film with an anemic, kitschy storyline that is too confusing to be any good.

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, Blu-ray Reviews

City of Life and Death (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

October 20, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“City of Life and Death” is the most visceral war film that I have seen to effectively capture the atrocities and the brutality of the Nanking massacre in cinema. This is an unforgettable film that resonates within you for a very long time with its realistic and stunning cinematography. Director Lu Chuan has created a masterpiece! This Blu-ray is fantastic! ”City of Life and Death” is highly recommended!

TITLE: City of Life and Death

FILM RELEASE: 2009

DURATION: 113 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1920x1080p (2:35:1), Mandarin with optional English Subtitles

COMPANY: Lorber Films/Kino Lorber

RATED: Not Rated

Release Date: October 25, 2011

Written and Directed by Lu Chuan

Produced by John Chong, Sanping Han, Hong Qin, Andy Zhang, Li Zhou

Music by Tong Liu

Cinematography by Yu Cao

Edited by Yun Teng

Production Design by Yi Hao

Starring:

Ye Liu as Lu Jianxiong

Yuanyuan Gao as Miss Jiang

Hideo Nakaizumi as Kadokawa

Wei Fan as Mr. Tang

Yiyan Jiang as Xiao Jiang

Ryu Kohata as Ida

Bin Liu as Xiadouzi

Yuki Miyamoto as Yuko

John Paisley as John Rabe

Beverly Peckous as Minnie Vautrin

Lan Qin as Mrs. Tang

Sam Voutas as Durdin

Di Yao as Tang Xiaomei

Yisui as Shunzi

On December 9, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army laid siege to the Chinese capital of Nanking, beginning a reign of terror that killed as many as 300,000 civilians — an infamous tragedy now referred to as the Rape of Nanking. The first big-budget fiction film by the Chinese to deal with this seminal event in their modern history, CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH is a visceral, heartbreaking portrait of life during wartime, and an unforgettable masterpiece of contemporary world cinema.

For many years, I have been waiting for a powerful film that would show people of the atrocities that took place from December 1937-January 1938 in the capital city of Nanking.

While there have been several films on what occurred in Nanking over seventy years ago, young writer/director Lu Chuan accomplished what many felt he couldn’t do, to create a realistic portrayal of the genocide.

Known as the Nanking Massacre and also the “Rape of Nanking”, the atrocities were committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War when the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army slaughtered civilians of all ages, raped women until they died. It is estimated that 300,000 people were massacred.

Despite records kept by Nazi-supporter John Rabe (the person who tried to save the Chinese in Nanking by developing a safe zone) , the records kept by Westerners working for the Red Cross or were missionaries and journalists and residents who witnessed the atrocities, to this day, the genocide of the civilians of Nanking is still being disputed by Japanese nationalists who believe that the massacre was fabricated.

Needless to say, because of the war and atrocities that were committed during the war, it remains to be a tense and problematic situation between both countries today.

I have researched the Nanking (or Nanjing) Massacre since I was in college, as my eyes were opened to the atrocities committed, I know that many people around the world are not familiar of what happened to the Chinese people. And since the ’90s, I have been wanting to see novels receive film adaptations and while there have been several films featuring John Rabe and also bits and pieces of the battle of Nanking, there have not been many movies that would realistically capture the battle but also the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial troops towards the Chinese people of Nanking.

Especially since its a touchy subject and the fact that many Chinese still hold a lot of pain and anger towards the Japanese because of the war. And for director Lu Chuan, his goal was to create a realistic portrayal of the atrocities committed towards the innocent civilians of Nanking but also to show a sympathetic side to the Japanese and show that while what the Japanese Imperial soldiers did do to Chinese was barbaric, it does not make the whole country barbaric.

In an interview with Empire Magazine, Lu Chuan said, “Yes, Japanese people committed a crime but maybe it’s not a fault of a certain nation, maybe it’s a fault of the war, so I’m not going to make a movie against a certain nation, but against the war. If the government forces us to go to the battlefield, everybody can be a killer.”

But most importantly, it was a film that Chuan, who did countless research, lived and studied in Nanking wanted the film for people outside of China to know about what took place in Nanking.

“City of Life and Death” was created with a budget of $10 million, casting of hundreds of people which would include both Chinese and Japanese talent and the film would receive rave reviews from critics worldwide and would win numerous awards around the world for “Best Film” and “Best Cinematography”.

“City of Life and Death” is a film that begins shortly after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese war, the Imperial Japanese army has captured the capital of the Republic of China, Nanking and because of that, many of the Chinese commaders of the KMT began to flee Nanking. Meanwhile, soldier Lu Jianxiong (played by Liu Ye), his comrade Zhao try to fight the fleeing Chinese troops from abandoning the city. But as the Chinese soldiers attempt to leave, they are captured by the Japanese Imperial troops.

As the Japanese scour the city, we are introduced to Japanese soldier Sergeant Masao Kadokawa (played by Hideo Nakaizumi). Like everyone on the Japanese side, they are low on food and drinks, so they loot the Chinese restaurants for anything to drink.

The soldiers who are led by Ida (played by Ryu Kohata) are approached by Dr. John Rabe (played by John Paisley) and Mr. Tang (played by Wei Fan). [Note: John Rabe was a foreign national from Germany and a Nazi-supporter who along with 15 American and European missionaries and businessman created the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone. The Safety Zone provided Chinese refugees with food and shelter and prevent them from being slaughtered by the Japanese Imperial troops).

As Rabe tries to talk to Ida and tell them that Japanese can not interfere with the Safety Zone and that he is German and is a Nazi, he hopes that because of Germany and Japan's alliance, he could deter them from hurting the Chinese. But unfortunately, Ida could care less about what Rabe and Mr. Tang have to say and continue on their way to scouring the city.

We see a small group of Japanese soldiers led by Commander Ida (played by Ryu Kohata) which includes Sgt. Kadokawa approach a church-like area and as they go inside, they see possibly thousands of men, women, children, elderly and wounded soldiers giving themselves up. For Kadokawa, he is sent to bring Japanese reinforcements to the church. And we see the first act of defiance as the soldiers shoot innocent people hiding inside closet.

But while scouring the city, Lu Jianxiong along with a group of young children who are Chinese soldiers begin to help him kill the Japanese troops. So, as a sneak attack takes down the Japanese troops, more Japanese troops come to the area and there outnumber Jianxiong and the Chinese troops and all are captured and will all be executed.

All the people are rounded up and then the massacre begins. We see the Japanese shooting and killing the innocent Chinese people of Nanking, people of all ages as they are gunned down.

We see thousands of people who are standing being shot and killed by soldiers. We see hundreds of people being buried alive. We see many people being lined up and slaughtered by the Japanese troops bayonets.

Thousands slaughtered...

And as his people are being killed, soldier Lu Jianxiong accepts his fate and joining him is his young soldier, a young boy named Xiaodouzi.

As the Japanese prepare the Chinese soldiers, young and old, for execution, the Chinese soldiers, with their last breath, yell scream about their pride for China, but for Lu, he looks at Xiadouzi and puts his hands over his eyes. The Japanese soldiers shoot at the Chinese and kills them all in the mass execution.

For those staying in the safety zone, Mrs. Tang and the women can not believe what has happened to everyone in the city. As some of the Chinese go out to see if they can check if there are any survivors, Zhao who survived the massacre also finds young Xiaodouzi alive.

Both escape to the safety zone in hopes that John Rabe and Mr. Tang can help them.

But there are thousands of people there and its way more than Rabe and others can watch over. So, each night, bands of Japanese soldiers try to infiltrate and rape the Chinese women and some of them do just that in front of a crowd of other scared refugees who do not want to die. As Rabe and the other Westerners try to stop the Japanese from raping the women, some of the women decide that they must take precautions and many go as far as cutting their hair and begin dressing like men in hopes that they do not get raped.

Meanwhile, on the Japanese side, Sgt. Kadokawa spends his time with a Japanese comfort woman named Yuriko. Because he is conflicted by the violence around him, unlike other soldiers, he manages to show his act of kindness towards her and vows to marry her once the war is over.

At the Safety Zone, the Japanese soldiers pull a ruse and trick all the westerners who were protecting the Safety Zone to all come out while many Japanese soldiers go inside to the Safety Zone to rape more women. Japanese Commander Ida tells Mr. Tang and John Rabe that he requires 100 female refugees to become comfort women or else more will be killed. When they go after Mr. Tang's wife and daughter, he tries to fight back and because Mr. Tang tried to fight against the Japanese, they grab his young child and throw her out the top window many levels down, killing her.

John Rabe and teacher Ms. Jiang Shuyun (played by Gao Yuanyuan) know that they have no choice and must tell the women in the Safety Zone that 100 female refugees must become "comfort women" for the Japanese Imperial Troops. And those who were previously victimized realize that in order to save the others, they will need to volunteer themselves and become comfort women.

So, thousands of soldiers prepare to have their 15 minutes with the 100 women, including Commander Ida who beats Mr. Tang's sister-in-law May for not smiling to him or kissing him as he rapes her. As Sgt. Kadokawa meets Xiao Jian (played by Jiang Yiyan) and brings her rice, he can not rape her but when one soldier wonders if he is done, he immediately pulls down his pants and starts raping Xiao Jian in front of Kadokawa and the woman looks at Kadokawa with a lifeless stare.

And eventually, many of the women are killed due to the non-stop rape and many go crazy. Such as May, who begins singing opera loudly and is shot and killed by Commander Ida. Kadokawa is repulsed by what Ida has done but Ida tells him that he liked her and that its better for her to die than being subjective to living this way. Meanwhile, Xiaio Jian is dragged to a wheel barrow with other women who have died from rape and this time, the lifeless stare is there, but this time, she is dead.

Unfortunately because Dr. Rabe's interference with German and Japan relations because of the Safety Zone, the Nazi's order him to return to Germany and now the Safety Zone will be taken down. With Rabe gone, what will happen to the many Chinese refugees still living in Nanking?

And for Kadokawa, what happens when the atrocities, the violence and alienation gets the best of him?

VIDEO:

"City of Life and Death" is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1), black and white. Director Lu Chuan was influenced by Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and felt the film should be kept in black and white and the decision to do so, in my opinion, made the film quite effective. Because the film already focuses on the atrocities committed by the Japanese towards the Chinese citizens, the film would be too gory to watch if we were to see blood everywhere. But by no means does that mean picture quality would be inferior.

In fact, this film is enhanced by its high details. From the worn out skin of the soldiers, the grime on the skin and dark blood (which is seen as black) on the soldiers is shown effectively in HD as well as the clothing as you can see the stitching patterns and the threading with clarity. Skin pigments with clarity. Especially with the destruction of buildings during the battle, the scene of Nanking looks realistic in the film.

Black levels are deep while whites and grays have amazing contrast and the picture is sharp.

But I must credit cinematographer Yu Cao for capturing the brutality and the massacres with his camera shots. What is captured on camera is heartbreaking, stunning and realistic. The details are in the eyes, shots of fear, panic, despair...and people with tears knowing that they are not going to survive the ordeal... I was literally captivated and sickened at the same time. To know that what is shown on screen is non-fiction and these atrocities took place (and many situations even worse as seen in photos from Nanking), many times during the film, I had to pause and collect myself.

This is the second time this has ever happened to me, the other time was watching Alain Resnais' "Night and Fog", a documentary about the Nazi concentration camps. But the fact that a film such as "City of Life and Death" can have this much of an effect, it goes to show how viscerally powerful this film is.

So, overall...picture quality is magnificent, cinematography is fantastic!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

The lossless soundtrack of "City of Life and Death" is magnificent. Presented in Mandarin DTS-HD Matster Audio 5.1, let me first preface and say that there are not many Asian films (non-animated) that I have watched and felt were immersive but I have to say that the soundtrack for this film is hauntingly immersive as one can expect from a war film.

From the battle between the Chinese and Japanese, to hear the bullets zipping from all around you, to hear the gunfire, the tanks and mortar rounds going off close by or to a distance, to hear explosions from a distance and to hear the screams whenever a soldier shoots in the air, the realism of fear, sadness, pain and everything brutal that can be heard in a film about the massacre of innocent people is captured on the soundtrack of "City of Life and Death".

To have a film that can captivate you visually but also via audio, needless to say, I was quite impressed and as Yu Cao did a wonderful job with cinematography, Tong Liu did a magnificent job with the music of the film.

With powerful visuals and powerful audio, needless to say, "City of Life and Death" was certainly an experience. I heard no problems with the audio, Mandarin was crystal clear, each artillery fire was amazingly clear and once again, this lossless soundtrack is absolutely immersive and enhances your appreciation for the film!

As for subtitles, English subtitles are optional and are easy to read.

SPECIAL FEATURES

"City of Life and Death" comes with the following special features:

Disc 1:

Kino Lorber Trailers
Stills - Featuring stills from "City of Life and Death"

Disc 2:

Matters of Life and Death - (1:53:56) It's important to note that the second disc is not a Blu-ray but a DVD. The documentary or making-of features an interview with director Lu Chuan and the talent. But we learn how much of a challenge it was to create this film but also how the talent felt the power of this film and what they felt at the time of making the film.

EXTRAS:

"City of Life and Death" comes with a slipcase cover.

Heartbreaking, brutal but the most honest portrayal of the atrocities committed in Nanking for cinema.

For so long, I have waited for a film of this caliber to be made on the "Rape of Nanking". Because it would probably answer a lot of questions for many people of why there are continued tensions between China and Japan. But also to understand how war can make regular people do terrible things.

Back in college, I learned a lot about the Armenian Genocide and Nanking Massacres but while my college due to its large Armenian student population would have memorials for those who were killed, there is not much out there for people to know about what transpired in Nanking in 1937-1938 unless you go out and look for it.

Having studied Asian culture (especially with focus on Japanese culture), it was interesting to see things on brother's side who is more closer to Chinese culture and him experiencing first hand through his Chinese father-in-law of the long-lasting pain and anger that Chinese have towards Japanese. It was an intriguing juxtaposition because I recently wrote about how my grandfather fought against the Japanese in World War II but he told me that what happened then was due to war.

So, as I was researching this film, I ran a quote by director Lu Chuan with Filmmaker in which the director said, "Why is there war? I wanted to make a movie about the Nanjing massacre, but then I started to explore the history of massacres, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and learned they happened everywhere. It’s not something that belongs to Japanese people. So I decided to [articulate] this kind of feeling in my movie. I don’t want my son or daughter, younger brother or sister to look at the Japanese [in the] way [we did]. It’s not true. The massacre was in 1937. After 70 years, we have to reconsider it from a different angle. The Japanese troops were criminal — but the biggest criminal was the war itself. It twisted human nature. It pushed normal people to pull the trigger. I was in the army for several years, you know. I know if I was in uniform on the battlefield, I would pull the trigger on strangers if the [military] authorities asked me to.”

And in China, since childhood, people are taught about what happened during their war against Japan and what Japan did to them, it doesn’t help when Japanese nationals continue to say that the genocide was fabricated. And while the modern younger generation (in Japan) feels no attachment to what transpired in the past, they are not taught about the atrocities committed by their own people and pretty much, it’s part of the history that is hidden from them. But many young people know that Japan at the time, are responsible for a lot of terrible things due to war, a lot of other countries have also done the same throughout time.

So, war is always ugly and war brings out the worst in humanity.

And what happened to the people of Nanking back in December 1937-January 1938 is shocking, disturbing and you can’t believe how people can be so cruel and barbaric but it happened. And there is only so much one can do by reading a book, online and seeing the photos. But for many people, they need the visual and “City of Life and Death” amazingly captures the massacres, the pain, the suffering of people with so much efficacy. People have to remember, this was a low-budget film featuring hundreds of people, many who have never worked on a film before. But yet, each role was crucial, each scene must look realistic and for everyone who participated in this film, they did a magnificent job in making the film real for us viewers.

As mentioned earlier, this is the second film where I had to pause and collect my thoughts and just take time and wait a few minutes because the massacre of innocents was making me feel sickened and to the point where I felt like crying because I have never seen humanity become so cruel to innocent people. I know genocide has happened within my lifetime but what took place in Nanking is shocking. From the massacre of 300,000 people, from soldiers having contests on how many people they can behead (and this was featured in a major Japanese newspaper publication as two soldiers were having a contest), to the rape of thousands of women and girls who were raped repeatedly until they died. And there was no respect for these women. These soldiers did their thing and not shown in this film but you can find photos are what soldiers inserted in women after they killed them.

And what is so unforgettable are the details captured by the cinematography of the film, when thousands are shot to death, people being buried alive, trying to escape but they can’t. But just looking at the eyes of the characters, the tears, the lifelessness, the fear and in death.

Filmmaker Lu Chuan had encountered many challenges in making of this film. From those who didn’t want to support it because of its content or that it was a film that a young director could not handle, but he proved them wrong. He was able to write and direct a film that captured the atrocities and brutality against the Chinese people but also trying to show not exactly sympathy but to show that even the Japanese like the character Kadokawa did things that he did not want to do but because it was war, he was conflicted and starts to eat upon his soul.

The Blu-ray release is absolutely fantastic, from amazing picture quality and an immersive lossless soundtrack to a making-of that is not your average run-of-the mill non-exciting feature but there is a lot included in terms of sharing with the viewer of the challenges and the emotional state of the talent who took part in this film. Because it was a thought-provoking film that has not been explored in this magnitude and the result is literally epic.

In fact, this film had so much of a profound effect on me that I hope to visit the Memorial Hall of Victims of the Nanjing Massacre in Nanjing.

Overall, “City of Life and Death” is the most visceral war film that I have seen to effectively capture the atrocities and the brutality of the Nanking massacre in cinema. This is an unforgettable film that resonates within you for a very long time with its realistic and stunning cinematography.

Director Lu Chuan has created a masterpiece! This Blu-ray release is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, Blu-ray Reviews, Featured Review Spotlight