What a great way to encounter such an unusual masterpiece — Akira Kurosawa reenergized his creative career with this ambitious, uncompromised historical epic, filmed for Mosfilm on location in the wilds of far-East Siberia. A local woodsman becomes a guide for a Russian survey team, and a great friendship is formed. It’s like nothing Kurosawa made before or since — an adventure that stresses nature-friendly philosophy over action. The good extras are topped by Stuart Galbraith IV’s expert commentary, which includes three additional specialists to cover this film and its director in full fascinating detail.
Dersu Uzala
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 158
1975 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 142 min. / Street Date September 28, 2022 / Available from Imprint / aud 34.95
Starring: Yuriy Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Mikhail Bychkov. Svetlana Danilchenko.
Cinematography: Asakazu Nakai, Fyodor Dobronravov, Yuriy Gantman
Production Designer: Yurily Raksha
Costume Design: Tatyana Lichmanova
Film Editor: Valentina Stepannova
Original Music: Isaac Schwarts
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Yuri Nagibin from the book Dersi okhotnikbyV.
Dersu Uzala
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 158
1975 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 142 min. / Street Date September 28, 2022 / Available from Imprint / aud 34.95
Starring: Yuriy Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Mikhail Bychkov. Svetlana Danilchenko.
Cinematography: Asakazu Nakai, Fyodor Dobronravov, Yuriy Gantman
Production Designer: Yurily Raksha
Costume Design: Tatyana Lichmanova
Film Editor: Valentina Stepannova
Original Music: Isaac Schwarts
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Yuri Nagibin from the book Dersi okhotnikbyV.
- 12/13/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
In Stuart Galbraith IV's invaluable and exhaustive 2001 book "The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune," the famed Japanese director talks briefly about Sergio Leone's classic 1964 Western "A Fistful of Dollars." Kurosawa admired the film saying that it was "a fine movie," and hastened to add, "but it was my movie."
"A Fistful of Dollars" was, of course, a remake of Kurosawa's own 1961 film "Yojimbo." Both films are about stalwart and detached loners who find themselves wandering through a remote frontier villages that have been overtaken by two warring gangs. In both films, the stranger -- Mifune in the original, Clint Eastwood in the remake -- use their wits to pit the two gangs against one another. Notably, Leone's film didn't bother to credit Kurosawa or his "Yojimbo" co-screenwriter Ryuzo Kikushima, nor did he approach Toho about the possibility of licensing the rights.
"A Fistful of Dollars" was, of course, a remake of Kurosawa's own 1961 film "Yojimbo." Both films are about stalwart and detached loners who find themselves wandering through a remote frontier villages that have been overtaken by two warring gangs. In both films, the stranger -- Mifune in the original, Clint Eastwood in the remake -- use their wits to pit the two gangs against one another. Notably, Leone's film didn't bother to credit Kurosawa or his "Yojimbo" co-screenwriter Ryuzo Kikushima, nor did he approach Toho about the possibility of licensing the rights.
- 12/8/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
A lone stranger wanders through the countryside. He walks into a small town that, at first, looks deserted. When the stranger finally meets a few locals and begins talking to them, he finds that the entire town, though remote, is under the uneasy control of two warring criminal gangs. The stranger, identified as a dangerous handler of weapons, is enlisted by each side of the gang conflict to help eradicate the other. The stranger, cynical and perhaps a bit playful, manipulates both sides into killing each other. After a violent conflagration, the stranger wanders away from the town, happily leaving the madness behind.
This is the story of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film "Yojimo," written by Kurosawa and Ryūzō Kikushima. "Yojimbo" is easily the most cynical film in Kurosawa's filmography, bitterly taking glee in the copious amount of stupidity-inspired death depicted. Kurosawa, with a scoff, might have been making a dismissive...
This is the story of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film "Yojimo," written by Kurosawa and Ryūzō Kikushima. "Yojimbo" is easily the most cynical film in Kurosawa's filmography, bitterly taking glee in the copious amount of stupidity-inspired death depicted. Kurosawa, with a scoff, might have been making a dismissive...
- 9/3/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
(We are running this review from 2016 in commemoration of Pearl Harbor Day.)
By Lee Pfeiffer
If ever an epic deserved the Blu-ray deluxe treatment, Fox's 1970 Pearl Harbor spectacular Tora! Tora! Tora! is it. The film was a major money-loser for the studio at the time and replicated the experience of Cleopatra from a decade before in that this single production threatened to bankrupt the studio. Fox had bankrolled a number of costly bombs around this period including Doctor Doolittle, Hello, Dolly and Star! Fortunately, they also had enough hits to stay afloat. However, the Tora! debacle cost both Fox chairman Darryl F. Zanuck and his son, production head Richard Zanuck, their jobs. Ironically, Darryl F. Zanuck had saved the studio a decade before by finally bringing Cleopatra to a costly conclusion and off-setting losses with spectacular grosses from his 1962 D-Day blockbuster The Longest Day. By 1966, Zanuck and that film's producer...
By Lee Pfeiffer
If ever an epic deserved the Blu-ray deluxe treatment, Fox's 1970 Pearl Harbor spectacular Tora! Tora! Tora! is it. The film was a major money-loser for the studio at the time and replicated the experience of Cleopatra from a decade before in that this single production threatened to bankrupt the studio. Fox had bankrolled a number of costly bombs around this period including Doctor Doolittle, Hello, Dolly and Star! Fortunately, they also had enough hits to stay afloat. However, the Tora! debacle cost both Fox chairman Darryl F. Zanuck and his son, production head Richard Zanuck, their jobs. Ironically, Darryl F. Zanuck had saved the studio a decade before by finally bringing Cleopatra to a costly conclusion and off-setting losses with spectacular grosses from his 1962 D-Day blockbuster The Longest Day. By 1966, Zanuck and that film's producer...
- 12/7/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Yokai Monsters Collection will be available on Bu-ray October 19th from Arrow Video
From the makers of Daimajin comes a trilogy of terror ripped from the pages of Japanese folklore, with ghosts and monsters from ancient myths and legends brought to life through stunning special effects, alongside an epic, big-budget reboot of the series from a modern-day master of the macabre, now available together on Blu-ray for the first time.</p
In the first film in the trilogy, 100 Monsters, a greedy slumlord’s attempts to forcefully evict his tenants invite the wrath of the titular spirits when a cleansing ritual is botched, with terrifying results. The second film, Spook Warfare, tells the tale of an evil Babylonian vampire inadvertently awoken by treasure hunters, and a brave samurai that teams with the yokai to defeat the bloodthirsty demon. In the final film, Along with Ghosts (released only 12 months after 100 Monsters...
From the makers of Daimajin comes a trilogy of terror ripped from the pages of Japanese folklore, with ghosts and monsters from ancient myths and legends brought to life through stunning special effects, alongside an epic, big-budget reboot of the series from a modern-day master of the macabre, now available together on Blu-ray for the first time.</p
In the first film in the trilogy, 100 Monsters, a greedy slumlord’s attempts to forcefully evict his tenants invite the wrath of the titular spirits when a cleansing ritual is botched, with terrifying results. The second film, Spook Warfare, tells the tale of an evil Babylonian vampire inadvertently awoken by treasure hunters, and a brave samurai that teams with the yokai to defeat the bloodthirsty demon. In the final film, Along with Ghosts (released only 12 months after 100 Monsters...
- 10/5/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Hello, everyone! To kick off this month’s horror and sci-fi home media releases, we have an eclectic array of titles coming out this week. In terms of recent genre films, Rlje Films is releasing both Lucky by Natasha Kermani and Simon Barrett’s Seance on Tuesday, and if you’re a fan of the original Transformers movie (like this writer is), Shout! Factory has put together an incredible-looking Steelbook to celebrate the film’s 35th anniversary as well.
Arrow Video is keeping busy with two different sets of genre classics with their Sergio Martino Collection and The Daimajin Trilogy, and Code Red is showing some love to Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker this Tuesday with a special edition Blu-ray release.
Other titles headed home on August 3rd include Night Feeder, Dead Again, It Wants Blood, and Tailgate.
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker Aka Night Warning: Special Edition
Terror begins when a...
Arrow Video is keeping busy with two different sets of genre classics with their Sergio Martino Collection and The Daimajin Trilogy, and Code Red is showing some love to Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker this Tuesday with a special edition Blu-ray release.
Other titles headed home on August 3rd include Night Feeder, Dead Again, It Wants Blood, and Tailgate.
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker Aka Night Warning: Special Edition
Terror begins when a...
- 8/2/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
It’s a guest article by author and long-time associate Stuart Galbraith IV, an interview with Arnold Leibovit, the man behind an impressive, on-going restoration of the animation legacy of George Pal. The beloved producer-director persists as a fan favorite. All know his famous sci-fi pictures but the revival of interest in his fantasy replacement-animation ‘Puppetoons’ is well underway.
CineSavant Guest Article by Stuart Galbraith IV
Sometimes it takes a one-man army to preserve and resurrect movies the big conglomerates have forsaken. Think Dave Strohmeier and his efforts to preserve and give new life to the original Cinerama films, or Bob Furmanek’s 3-D Film Archive. While they’d be first to insist they were fronting a team of restoration experts and myriad financial backers, without them would the films they champion ever have seen the light of day, or would they still be languishing in warehouses, slowly deteriorating into nothingness?...
CineSavant Guest Article by Stuart Galbraith IV
Sometimes it takes a one-man army to preserve and resurrect movies the big conglomerates have forsaken. Think Dave Strohmeier and his efforts to preserve and give new life to the original Cinerama films, or Bob Furmanek’s 3-D Film Archive. While they’d be first to insist they were fronting a team of restoration experts and myriad financial backers, without them would the films they champion ever have seen the light of day, or would they still be languishing in warehouses, slowly deteriorating into nothingness?...
- 1/19/2021
- by Stuart Galbraith
- Trailers from Hell
Koji Shima’s Eye-Popping Warning From Space (1956) will be available on Blu-ray From Arrow Video October 13th
The first Japanese science fiction film to be made in color, Koji Shima s Warning From Space features eye-popping special effects from the same team at Daiei Studios that would bring Gamera to life a decade later.
As Japan is rocked by mysterious sightings of UFOs over Tokyo and large one-eyed aliens attempting contact, scientists collaborate to investigate the unexpected rise in extraterrestrial activity. Unbeknownst to them, one of the aliens has already assumed human form and is about to deliver a very important message that could be humanity s last hope for survival.
With a witty script by Hideo Oguni (screenwriter of several Akira Kurosawa classics including Seven Samurai) and iconic starfish-like aliens designed by avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto, the original Japanese version of Warning From Space finally makes its official English-language video debut.
The first Japanese science fiction film to be made in color, Koji Shima s Warning From Space features eye-popping special effects from the same team at Daiei Studios that would bring Gamera to life a decade later.
As Japan is rocked by mysterious sightings of UFOs over Tokyo and large one-eyed aliens attempting contact, scientists collaborate to investigate the unexpected rise in extraterrestrial activity. Unbeknownst to them, one of the aliens has already assumed human form and is about to deliver a very important message that could be humanity s last hope for survival.
With a witty script by Hideo Oguni (screenwriter of several Akira Kurosawa classics including Seven Samurai) and iconic starfish-like aliens designed by avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto, the original Japanese version of Warning From Space finally makes its official English-language video debut.
- 9/28/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Look out! Gamma Gamma Hey! It’s the attack of screaming, arm-waving green goober monsters from a rogue planetoid, here to bring joy to the hearts of bad-movie fans everywhere. Just make sure your partner is agreeably inclined before you make it a date movie — this show has ended many a good relationship, even before the immortal words, “We’ll never make it chief, it’s coming too fast!”
The Green Slime
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 90 min. / Gamma sango uchu daisakusen / Street Date October 3, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Horton, Luciana Paluzzi, Richard Jaeckel, Bud Widom, Robert Dunham.
Cinematography: Yoshikazu Yamasawa
Film Editor: Osamu Tanaka
Original Music: Charles Fox, Toshiaki Tsushima
Written by Bill Finger, Ivan Reiner, Tom Rowe, Charles Sinclair
Produced by Walter Manley, Ivan Reiner
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
It’s a summer evening in 1969. Unable to get into a showing of Butch Cassidy...
The Green Slime
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 90 min. / Gamma sango uchu daisakusen / Street Date October 3, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Horton, Luciana Paluzzi, Richard Jaeckel, Bud Widom, Robert Dunham.
Cinematography: Yoshikazu Yamasawa
Film Editor: Osamu Tanaka
Original Music: Charles Fox, Toshiaki Tsushima
Written by Bill Finger, Ivan Reiner, Tom Rowe, Charles Sinclair
Produced by Walter Manley, Ivan Reiner
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
It’s a summer evening in 1969. Unable to get into a showing of Butch Cassidy...
- 11/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Over the course of his legendary acting career, Toshiro Mifune was a samurai, a stray dog, and a shoe tycoon. He was a muse for one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th Century, a beacon for Japanese cinema, and a howling ambassador for the entire country and its culture. He was a feral force of nature who prized combustion over control, a wild gust of wind whose energy only a precious few collaborators knew how to harness. He was even, according to his daughter, almost Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The one thing that Toshiro Mifune wasn’t — wasn’t even capable of being — was boring. At least not on screen. At least not until now.
A thin, dull, and by-the-numbers biography that fails to capture its subject’s irrepressible spirit or properly contextualize his importance, Steven Okazaki’s “Mifune: The Last Samurai” might have made for a solid bonus feature on a Criterion Collection DVD,...
The one thing that Toshiro Mifune wasn’t — wasn’t even capable of being — was boring. At least not on screen. At least not until now.
A thin, dull, and by-the-numbers biography that fails to capture its subject’s irrepressible spirit or properly contextualize his importance, Steven Okazaki’s “Mifune: The Last Samurai” might have made for a solid bonus feature on a Criterion Collection DVD,...
- 11/25/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
In my review of the first “Diamond Guys” collection Arrow put out, I noted how, for all the ways those films tried to shake up the Nikkatsu formula, it was still a fairly representative look at what the studio was all about – widescreen, black-and-white, stoic men drawn into violent situations, corruptible women, and jazzy scores. Only the final film in that set – Rambling Guitarist – really managed to strike out and maintain a distinctive tone, but the narrative remained the same. With this second collection, the trajectory is quite the opposite. Rather than gradually move away from the formula, Volume 2 begins with a loose riff in the manner of Rambling Guitarist and gets more cartoonish, absurd, and unpredictable from there. Not that this precisely means the films are any more successful overall. The ratio remains the same – one solid bit of fun, one slog, and one that’s pretty near great.
- 9/7/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Haryashu Noguchi's Murder UnincorporatedSTORY66%DIRECTION72%ACTING67%VISUALS74%POSITIVESSlapstick humorPreposterous CharactersGreat restoration NEGATIVESSpecifically addressing fans of slapstick humor2016-07-2970%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (1 Vote)65%
The third part of Arrow’s Diamond Guys Vol 2 is definitely the funniest, as suggested by the guy in the introduction, who threatens to shoot anyone who does not laugh, suggests.
The film revolves around a mysterious individual named Joe of Spades, who threatens the existence of a criminal syndicate, despite the fact that no one knows who he is. The crime syndicate, that comprises of five kingpins, each one in charge of various “fields” (prostitution, drugs, gamble, etc) decide to hire professional assassins to kill Joe of Spades, after one of their members is gunned down, with a card with the ace of spades lying next to his body. In order to choose ten of them, they use the Assassin’s office, which actually auditions professionals.
The third part of Arrow’s Diamond Guys Vol 2 is definitely the funniest, as suggested by the guy in the introduction, who threatens to shoot anyone who does not laugh, suggests.
The film revolves around a mysterious individual named Joe of Spades, who threatens the existence of a criminal syndicate, despite the fact that no one knows who he is. The crime syndicate, that comprises of five kingpins, each one in charge of various “fields” (prostitution, drugs, gamble, etc) decide to hire professional assassins to kill Joe of Spades, after one of their members is gunned down, with a card with the ace of spades lying next to his body. In order to choose ten of them, they use the Assassin’s office, which actually auditions professionals.
- 7/29/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Buichi Saito's Danger PaysSTORY68%ACTING75%DIRECTING72%VISUALS74%POSITIVESHilarious parodyGreat comedic actingImpressive finaleNEGATIVESA bit nonsensical script2016-07-2372%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (0 Votes)0%
The second film in Arrow’s Diamond Guys Vol 2 takes a more definite turn towards the comical, being a parody of the crime noir film.
In the film’s intro, it is stated that “danger is where the money is,” and that is actually the main theme of the film, which deals with a case of counterfeiting, revolving around an expert forger and the efforts of a crime syndicate headed by Hijikata and various individuals, to have him working for them. The parody element of the film kicks right in, as these individuals have names like “Glass Headed” Joe (the protagonist), “Slide Rule” Tetsu, and “Dump-Truck” Ken, while the expert forger is comfortably named “The Expert.” The three aforementioned eventually team up, and along with Tomoko, an ex-secretary, skilled in Judo and Aikido,...
The second film in Arrow’s Diamond Guys Vol 2 takes a more definite turn towards the comical, being a parody of the crime noir film.
In the film’s intro, it is stated that “danger is where the money is,” and that is actually the main theme of the film, which deals with a case of counterfeiting, revolving around an expert forger and the efforts of a crime syndicate headed by Hijikata and various individuals, to have him working for them. The parody element of the film kicks right in, as these individuals have names like “Glass Headed” Joe (the protagonist), “Slide Rule” Tetsu, and “Dump-Truck” Ken, while the expert forger is comfortably named “The Expert.” The three aforementioned eventually team up, and along with Tomoko, an ex-secretary, skilled in Judo and Aikido,...
- 7/23/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Buichi Saito's Tokyo Mighty GuySTORY65%ACTING72%DIRECTING70%VISUALS75%POSITIVESVery quick pace that makes the film easy to watchMany hilarious scenes and linesGreat restorationNEGATIVESThe script's nonsensicallity reveals its ageYou have to love Japanese cinema to watch it2016-07-1871%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (1 Vote)70%
Nikkatsu, the oldest film studio in Japan, inaugurated a star system in the late 1950s, finding talent and contracting them to a series of wild genre pictures. A prominent example of the tendency is “Tokyo Mighty Guy.”
Young Jiro returns to Tokyo after finishing his studies in French cuisine and opens a restaurant in Ginza. However, he stumbles upon many troubles as an ex-prime minister crashes his car in his restaurant, the Yakuza seems to demand money for protection, and Jiro does not seem able to stop helping everyone that comes across his way.
Buichi Saito directs a very entertaining film, which, although focuses on the comic element,...
Nikkatsu, the oldest film studio in Japan, inaugurated a star system in the late 1950s, finding talent and contracting them to a series of wild genre pictures. A prominent example of the tendency is “Tokyo Mighty Guy.”
Young Jiro returns to Tokyo after finishing his studies in French cuisine and opens a restaurant in Ginza. However, he stumbles upon many troubles as an ex-prime minister crashes his car in his restaurant, the Yakuza seems to demand money for protection, and Jiro does not seem able to stop helping everyone that comes across his way.
Buichi Saito directs a very entertaining film, which, although focuses on the comic element,...
- 7/18/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Take a look @ the June 2016 home video releases from cult movie specialists Arrow Video Us, via Mvd Entertainment Group, including "Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 2 on Blu-ray + DVD, June 14, "Suture" on Blu-ray + DVD, June 21 and "Return Of The Killer Tomatoes" on Blu-ray, June 28:
"Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 2" available June 14, 2016, includes three classic films from directors Buichi Saito ("Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril"), Ko Nakahira ("Crazed Fruit") and Haruyasu Noguchi.
In Saito's "Tokyo Mighty Guy" : "...Akira Kobayashi stars as 'Jiro' , a chef who opens a restaurant in the busy 'Ginza' district. His culinary skills and dashing good looks bring in the women as well as unwanted trouble, while an explosive political scandal builds around his girlfriend's business.
In Nakashira's "Danger Pays", actor Joe Shishido ("Massacre Gun", "Retaliation") stars in a crime caper about counterfeiting:
"...when one billion yen goes Awol, 'Joe the Ace' (Shishido) spies an opportunity to get rich quick,...
"Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 2" available June 14, 2016, includes three classic films from directors Buichi Saito ("Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril"), Ko Nakahira ("Crazed Fruit") and Haruyasu Noguchi.
In Saito's "Tokyo Mighty Guy" : "...Akira Kobayashi stars as 'Jiro' , a chef who opens a restaurant in the busy 'Ginza' district. His culinary skills and dashing good looks bring in the women as well as unwanted trouble, while an explosive political scandal builds around his girlfriend's business.
In Nakashira's "Danger Pays", actor Joe Shishido ("Massacre Gun", "Retaliation") stars in a crime caper about counterfeiting:
"...when one billion yen goes Awol, 'Joe the Ace' (Shishido) spies an opportunity to get rich quick,...
- 4/19/2016
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Bloody havoc reigns! Kinji Fukasaku's no-holds-barred vision of ugly violence and uglier politics on the streets of Hiroshima is a five-film Yakuza epic that spans generations. The film amounts to an alternate history of postwar Japan, that puts an end to the glorification of the Yakuza code. The enormous cast includes Bunta Sugawara, Tetsuro Tanba, Sonny Chiba and Jo Shishido. Battles without Honor and Humanity Blu-ray + DVD Arrow Video 1973-74 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 760 min. / Limited Edition Boxed Set Street Date December 8, 2015 / 149.95 Starring Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, Tetsuro Tanba, Kunie Tanaka, Eiko Nakamura, Sonny Chiba, Meiko Kaji, Akira Kobayashi, Tsunehiko Watase, Reiko Ike, Jo Shishido Cinematography Sadaji Yoshida Production Designer Takatoshi Suzuki Original Music Toshiaki Tsushima Written by Koichi Iiboshi, Kazuo Kasahara Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In the 1990s the American Cinematheque was headquartered in various places, but settled for a few years in a large...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In the 1990s the American Cinematheque was headquartered in various places, but settled for a few years in a large...
- 12/22/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
(Region B) Akira Kurosawa's unquestioned top rank classic remains a fascinating study of truth and justice. A forest encounter left a man murdered and his wife raped. Or did something entirely different happen? The witnesses Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Machiko Kyo give radically differing testimony. This UK edition offers a full commentary by Japanese film expert Stuart Galbraith IV. Rashômon Region B UK Blu-ray BFI 1950 / B&W / 1.33:1 / 88 min. / Street Date September 21, 2015 / Available at Amazon UK / £15.99 Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda, Fumiko Honma. Cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa Art Direction So Matsuyama Film Editor Akira Kurosawa Original Music Fumio Hayasaka Written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa from stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa Produced by Minoru Jingo, Masaichi Nagata Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This reviewer doesn't review most foreign discs, but with major studios licensing out their libraries, there are...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This reviewer doesn't review most foreign discs, but with major studios licensing out their libraries, there are...
- 11/3/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Chicago – When I was younger, I considered the blockbuster flop “Tora! Tora! Tora!” pretty boring. Critics over the years and friends have remembered the film more fondly than when it was released and therefore made me feel like perhaps a re-appreciation was in order. Nope. It’s still boring. And now it’s boring in stunning HD!
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0
To be fair, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” does look pretty damn good in the new collector’s edition from Fox. One would never guess that the film is over forty years old as it’s been mixed better than a lot of the works from its era. In the early days of HD, a large number of ’70s films were over-polished, resulting in plastic-looking actors and poor color levelss. It’s nice to see remastering done well, even if it is for a movie that baffles me in its very existence. Why...
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0
To be fair, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” does look pretty damn good in the new collector’s edition from Fox. One would never guess that the film is over forty years old as it’s been mixed better than a lot of the works from its era. In the early days of HD, a large number of ’70s films were over-polished, resulting in plastic-looking actors and poor color levelss. It’s nice to see remastering done well, even if it is for a movie that baffles me in its very existence. Why...
- 12/21/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Blu-ray Review
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Directed by: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda
Cast: Jason Robards, Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Takahiro Tamura
Running Time: 2 hr 25 min
Rating: G
Due Out: December 6, 2011
Plot: The story of the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor is told from the point of view of both sides of the conflict.
Who’S It For? War buffs, your Dad, but also any American who wants to know a little more about their country’s history.
Movie:
Though not a financial success at the time of its release, Tora! Tora! Tora! has aged well thanks to the accuracy of the filmmakers. Unlike Pearl Harbor, the filmmakers focus on the actual story of the attack and the events that led up to it, rather than trying to force in a love story or anything else that may detract from what happened. Also, to tell the story from both sides,...
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Directed by: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda
Cast: Jason Robards, Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Takahiro Tamura
Running Time: 2 hr 25 min
Rating: G
Due Out: December 6, 2011
Plot: The story of the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor is told from the point of view of both sides of the conflict.
Who’S It For? War buffs, your Dad, but also any American who wants to know a little more about their country’s history.
Movie:
Though not a financial success at the time of its release, Tora! Tora! Tora! has aged well thanks to the accuracy of the filmmakers. Unlike Pearl Harbor, the filmmakers focus on the actual story of the attack and the events that led up to it, rather than trying to force in a love story or anything else that may detract from what happened. Also, to tell the story from both sides,...
- 12/16/2011
- by Megan Lehar
- The Scorecard Review
DVD Playhouse—December 2011
By Allen Gardner
The Rules Of The Game (Criterion) Jean Renoir’s classic from 1939 was met with a riot at its premiere and was severely cut by its distributor, available only in truncated form for two decades until it was restored to the grandeur for which it is celebrated today. A biting comedy of manners set in the upstairs and downstairs of a French country estate, the film bitterly vivisects the bourgeoisie with a gentle ferocity that will tickle the laughter in your throat. Renoir co-stars as Octave. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Introduction to the film by Renoir; Commentary written by scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by Peter Bogdanovich; Comparison of the film’s two endings; Selected scene analysis by Renoir scholar Chris Faulkner; Featurettes and vintage film clips; Part one of David Thomson’s “Jean Renoir” BBC documentary; Video essay; Interviews with Renoir, crew members,...
By Allen Gardner
The Rules Of The Game (Criterion) Jean Renoir’s classic from 1939 was met with a riot at its premiere and was severely cut by its distributor, available only in truncated form for two decades until it was restored to the grandeur for which it is celebrated today. A biting comedy of manners set in the upstairs and downstairs of a French country estate, the film bitterly vivisects the bourgeoisie with a gentle ferocity that will tickle the laughter in your throat. Renoir co-stars as Octave. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Introduction to the film by Renoir; Commentary written by scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by Peter Bogdanovich; Comparison of the film’s two endings; Selected scene analysis by Renoir scholar Chris Faulkner; Featurettes and vintage film clips; Part one of David Thomson’s “Jean Renoir” BBC documentary; Video essay; Interviews with Renoir, crew members,...
- 12/12/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Note: for the purposes of this article, all Japanese names are presented in the Western fashion, with the given name followed by the family name.
There's a Kurt Vonnegut story called "Who Am I This Time?" about a quiet and formless small-town man named Harry Nash who comes to life only during productions at the local theater, in which he becomes entirely consumed by whatever character he's playing. A tabula rosa defined only by his current role, Nash is a complete mystery beyond his otherworldly talent. This story springs to mind almost every time I watch one of Takashi Shimura's rapturously immersive performances - he's perhaps the most accomplished actor in film history to have a mere stub for a Wikipedia page.
When people think of actors closely associated with the films of Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune is rather understandably the first person to come to mind. Mifune's raw,...
There's a Kurt Vonnegut story called "Who Am I This Time?" about a quiet and formless small-town man named Harry Nash who comes to life only during productions at the local theater, in which he becomes entirely consumed by whatever character he's playing. A tabula rosa defined only by his current role, Nash is a complete mystery beyond his otherworldly talent. This story springs to mind almost every time I watch one of Takashi Shimura's rapturously immersive performances - he's perhaps the most accomplished actor in film history to have a mere stub for a Wikipedia page.
When people think of actors closely associated with the films of Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune is rather understandably the first person to come to mind. Mifune's raw,...
- 8/15/2010
- by David Ehrlich
- Cinematical
2009 has been a great year for the release of vintage Japanese films on North American DVD. One of the more unique and unexpected Japanese releases of the year is AnimEigo's four disc collector's set of the sentimental Tora-san comedies from Shochiku. Although these films are generally unknown to Western audiences, AnimEigo's immaculate box set should turn many skeptics into converts.
Volume One of the Tora-san collector's set covers the first four films: Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp (1969), Tora-san's Cherished Mother (1969), Tora-san, His Tender Love (1970), and Tora-san's Grand Scheme (1970). Unbelievably, forty-eight of Tora-san films were made. Each film stars Kiyoshi Atsumi, who played the smash-faced yakuza drifter named Torajiro Kuruma (aka Tora-san). Yoji Yamada directed all but two of the films. Torajiro Kuruma is a two-sided character. On one hand, he is a bumbling tough guy whose non-stop banter about farting and peeing are a constant source of amusement. In addition to being a comical character,...
Volume One of the Tora-san collector's set covers the first four films: Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp (1969), Tora-san's Cherished Mother (1969), Tora-san, His Tender Love (1970), and Tora-san's Grand Scheme (1970). Unbelievably, forty-eight of Tora-san films were made. Each film stars Kiyoshi Atsumi, who played the smash-faced yakuza drifter named Torajiro Kuruma (aka Tora-san). Yoji Yamada directed all but two of the films. Torajiro Kuruma is a two-sided character. On one hand, he is a bumbling tough guy whose non-stop banter about farting and peeing are a constant source of amusement. In addition to being a comical character,...
- 11/21/2009
- Screen Anarchy
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