Japanese Movie Mini Reviews

[Yihetuan]

Brass Knuckle Boys (2008) - Dir. Kankuro Kudo

I really wanted to like this as the premise seemed quite interesting and Aoi Miyazaki is a fantastic actress but it fell short of my expectations. There were some laugh out loud moments but overly long and the jokes were really hit or miss especially during the tedious road tour scenes.

 

[Yihetuan]

14 hours ago, Super Ninja said:

Are those set photos with original artwork?! Great stuff! Is it available on blu?

yes, Legend of the 8 Samurai is available on blu ray and 4K UHD in Japan (no English subs tho) and also in Germany on blu but again not English friendly. But I remember it used to be available on ADC with custom English subs, so I'm sure it's still out there if you know where to look.

[Super Ninja]

1 hour ago, Yihetuan said:

yes, Legend of the 8 Samurai is available on blu ray and 4K UHD in Japan (no English subs tho) and also in Germany on blu but again not English friendly. But I remember it used to be available on ADC with custom English subs, so I'm sure it's still out there if you know where to look.

That's bad news but thanks for the info, hope a Blu with English subs is in the plans. Never occured to me to look for it while visiting Tokyo, DVD shopping there can be quite exhausting if you want your movies subbed. Too bad so many of those fantastic Japanese and German releases don't come English friendly, that could only help the sales.

[Takuma]

22 hours ago, Super Ninja said:

Are those set photos with original artwork?! Great stuff! Is it available on blu?

Yep, sets and designs.

There's a BD and UHD in Japan, sans subs of course. I've been meaning to buy the latter.

Edit: oops Yihetuan already answered this.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Takuma

[Takuma]

Murder on the Last Train (終電車の死美人 ) (Japan, 1955) [TV] – 3/5
Good, if a bit dated true account crime drama based on book released Asahi Newspaper crime reporters. A group of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department detectives are assigned to investigate the case of a dead beauty on a train. The era being the 50s, they have to go to great lengths to even identify who the dead body is, and the people who might have associated with her, let alone who might have killed her and why. Though frequently singing praise to the police force, there are also interesting, almost documentary-like segments showing police work in impressive detail. The film also served as a predecessor to Toei's famed Police Department Story film series that was launched the following year. The concept would be the same, and most of the cast would return, although in namely different roles.

Police Department Story (警視庁物語　逃亡五分前) (Japan, 1956) [TV] – 2.5/5
The 1st film in the Police Department Story series, preceded by “pilot film” Murder on the Last Train (1955), which had already established the concept. What is new here is screenwriter Kimiyuki Hasegawa, a former Tokyo police coroner, who would more or less base the storylines on real crimes and realistic police work. The semi-documentary touch became the series’ trademark, and perhaps made it a predecessor to the 70s jitsuroku films as well. The series would run 24 films in 1956-1964, most of them B-features running approx. 60 min each, though there was also occasional 90 min entry as well. Sonny Chiba made his silver screen debut as one of the detectives in part 15 (he was also in parts 16 and 17). The series was followed by a TV show called Keiji-san in 1967-1968. This first film is not bad, but a little more straightforward than its predecessor or some of the later ones. Looking back at it now, 65 years after it was made, it has lost its sharpest edge, but it remains an entirely watchable police procedural.



Police Department Story 2 (警視庁物語 魔の最終列車) (Japan, 1956) [TV] – 2.5/5
A train arrives at the Shinagawa station with 3 dead guards and no money on board. Who did it? This moves a notch faster than the previous film, and has the usual 60 minute running time. This also features some good Tokyo location work that has appreciated in value over the decades. One thing that could be pointed out about the series is actor Rin’ichi Yamamoto. Most Toei fans are more than familiar with him as a slimy ninkyo villain, or a drunken hothead who might redeem himself at the end by joining Takakura or Tsurura in a fight. But he plays a detective in this series.

Police Department Story 3 (警視庁物語　追跡七十三時間) (Japan, 1956) [TV] – 2.5/5
Another good, if unspectacular police procedural with a neat 53 min running time. The detectives are after a robbery-murderer who is established to be left handed and having used a weapon stolen from a US military officer’s home. The investigation leads them to Ueno black market where more stolen items from the same source are for sale. Side note: Yamamoto wears a moustache in this one!

Police Department Story 4 (警視庁物語 白昼魔) (Japan, 1957) [TV] – 2.5/5
A rich gaijin gets shot dead by a car thief. The investigation leads the detectives after a bigger, organized theft gang. At 51 minutes this is the shortest entry in the series. The pace is expectedly good. It also expands a bit outside the central Tokyo when the murder suspect is found to be someone with an Osaka accent (in addition to loving for 8mm films, which serves as another clue). Cool title too: “Daytime Devil!” Side note: Yamamoto wears a moustache AND a hat!

Police Department Story 5 (警視庁物語 上野発五時三五分) (Japan, 1957) [TV] – 2/5
Director Shinji Murayama passed away earlier this year at the age of 98. He was a workman director who delivered detective, yakuza and drama films without much of a personal touch, some of them pretty good (e.g. The Navy, 1963; Bitches of the Night, 1966; True Account of Hishakaku - A Wolf's Honor and Humanity, 1974). This movie, his first in the series, unravels at leisure pace until an intense chase at 30 min electrifies it. Unfortunately the intensity does not last. This is not a bad film, almost on par with the earlier instalments, but for being a slightly lesser entry and rather outdated by today’s standards (stuff like this would become the standard on TV in the 60s) it shall settle for a lower rating.

[Takuma]

The Legend of Love and Sincerity (愛と誠) (Japan, 1974) [DVD] - 2/5
A somehow popular adaptation from Ikki Kajiwara's even more popular manga. Little girl Ai goes skiing and is about to commit a hit-a-tree suicide by accident when reluctant little boy Makoto comes to rescue. Fast forward 10 years and they meet again. Ai is now a daughter of high class family, Makoto a delinquent boy constantly fighting. Ai works her magic (her dad's money) to land Makoto in her school, but the boy can't behave, nor love. Repeat to the point of frustration until the film ends. The manga was a big hit among girls, reportedly for its strong female characters, but little of that is in evidence here. One must assume the audiences found their money’s worth in bad boy Makoto, played by rock star and idol Hideki Saijo. Saijo used his influence to have newcomer Ai Saotome selected as Ai (she took the character name as her professional name) from 40 000 candidates! Reportedly Shochiku’s regular actresses all turned the role down in fear of being lynched by jealous Saijo fan girls. It's impossible to tell if Saotome was the most talented applicant, but from looks of it she probably had the biggest bust (which would be revealed in the early 80s in Playboy and the Roman Porno film She Cat, directed by Toei's comic relief actor Shingo Yamashiro of all people). Takashi Miike adapted the manga into a musical film in 2012 – there's no singing or dancing in this original. Oh and for the non-Japanese readers, “Ai and Makoto” is the Japanese title, whereas the English title uses the literal meanings of their names (Ai = love, Makoto = sincerity).

The Legend of Love and Sincerity: Continuation (続愛と誠) (Japan, 1975) [DVD] – 3.5/5
A most pleasant surprise; a sequel that outdoes the original in every way. This is, in fact, a sukeban film. Makoto (Koji Nanjo) has transferred to a new school, a low level dump ruled by a sadistic girl gang. Ai follows Makoto to the new school and makes friends with sweet looking Yuki (excellent Yumi Takigawa from Toei’s School of the Holy Beast) who turns out to be a "shadow bancho" secretly leading the gang. Then we have a new teacher who tries to handle the situation by beating the hell out of the delinquent girls! He is, in fact, a proficient karate fighter! Though done by the same people as the first film, this is much more action packed and outrageous, often visually imaginative, and packed with those lovely images of badass (or just plain cute in case of Ai) girls walking the city streets. Oh, and this has just about the only scene I can recall of a schoolgirl driving a convertible! Very entertaining, if much lighter and less nihilist than Toei’s sukeban films. Side note: Fujiki TDC considered Takigawa’s character in this film and the source manga an important turning point in the sukeban genre's development from (primarily) porno in the early 70s to (primarily) mass idol entertainment in the 80s. Portrayed with sympathy, without sexualisation (the only character stripped naked and whipped in the film is Makoto) she appealed to the audiences, many of whom were girls of junior high or high school age.



The Legend of Love and Sincerity: Conclusion (愛と誠・完結篇) (Japan, 1976) [DVD] - 1.5/5
Disappointing conclusion follows on the previous film's gang action path, however, without the punch. This time Makoto is battling an eye-patched Jubei Yagyu wannabe in school while lonely Ai is crying alone on a beach, making this yet another love story without much of a concrete love story. With its male emphasis, it comes out much like Toei's delinquent boy actioners, only with thoroughly lackluster action and lack of exploitative thrills, perhaps the fault of director Hideo Nanbu (whose later credits include the sub-par martial arts film Karate Wars) who took over from Shigeyuki Yamane. Also worth nothing is that Makoto is played by a different actor in all three films, this time by relative newcomer actor/singer Ryu Kano.

She Cat (女猫) (Japan, 1983) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Sweet Shochiku idol Ai Saotome became a nationwide sweetheart at 15 when she starred in the The Legend of Love and Sincerity films (1974-1976). Though about innocent as they get, it was already obvious in those films she had more under her blouse than most girls of her - or any - age. Fast forward 8 years and she's in Weekly Playboy, and soon after, starring in a Roman Porno film, all following a career that went TV and never quite got out of there. She Cat comes under the command of Shingo Yamashiro, a veteran of 100 Toei yakuza films as comedic relief, and also the star of many of 70s sex comedies, here filming a script by fellow Toei director Makoto Naito (13 Steps of Maki) and enfant terrible Chiho Katsura (Assault! Jack the Ripper, House). Saotome is a female doc with a hidden past, and the yakuza after her head. Sex, drama, a bit of gunplay, a truly disgusting rape scene and some okama comedy follows in a very 80s package, delivered with an extended 90 min running time and marketed as a (relatively more) mainstream release. Biker / rocker / Toei star Kouichi Iwaki co-stars. Now, this isn't a particularly good film, but acknowledging the background makes it more interesting to see how things (and Ai's blouse) unfold on screen.



Meneko: Utsukushiki fukushusha (女猫 美しき復讐者) (Japan, 1992) [VoD] – 1.5/5
A very loose, direct-to-video remake of She Cat (1983). Female doc Kazumi Kawai starts investigating a suspicious death of an Indonesian woman who supposedly committed a suicide, but might have been murdered while being her patient. This is commendably different from the original, which may be the only praiseworthy thing about the thoroughly dull production. It omits both the supporting male gay characters and lesbianism, though there is sex and nudity. As with the ’83 film, the biggest interest lies in the casting, with the very pretty actress / idol / pop star Kawai substituting Saotome. Her career was literally short-lived: she jumped off a building in 1997, ending her life at just 32. She’s probably best remembered as one time Roman Porno star (Lusty Discipline in Uniform, 1982) after which she attempted a mainstream idol career with limited success. Curiously, the world has now lost both she cats since Saotome also met an untimely death (multiple organ failure in 2010, at the age of 51).

Note: the film's title is wrong in IMDb. It's "Meneko", not "Onna neko"



Welcome to Japan (WELCOME TO JAPAN 日の丸ランチボックス』) (Japan, 2019) [VOD] - 1.5/5
Painful political splatter satire and culinary exploration from Japan's not-most-sophisticated political critic Yoshihiro Nishimura. Olympics, immigration policy, hospitality, JK walks and right wingers (with Nishimura himself as ultranationalist leader with Yukio Mishima's photos plastered over his walls) all get their share as Nishimura follows the street battle between two lady warriors, one Japan's protector and the other a supposed evil foreign power. It's a numbing, amateurish mess with little of that professionalism that could be found in Nishimura's 80s, 90s or even 00s films. But there are occasional laugh-out-loud jabs at Japanese politics, a welcome return to CGI-free splatter (one particularly fun scene where Nishimura switches from actors to puppets between shots to allow for exploding heads) and what is probably a Japanese censorship milestone: Hiroko Yashiki's partial pubic hair is frequently displayed in what is a PG-12 rated film. The film was based on its star, idol / songwriter / singer / actress Ena Fujita’s 2018 music video Ienai koto wa uta no naka, which Nishimura directed.

Note: take this review and rating as "roughly indicative": I couldn't make it through the film without extensive fast-forwarding, and only wrote this because there isn't a single English language review on the net as of speaking.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Takuma

[One Armed Boxer]

2 hours ago, Takuma said:

I couldn't make it through the film without extensive fast-forwarding, and only wrote this because there isn't a single English language review on the net as of speaking.

& that's why the world will always need you @Takuma! Always enjoy reading your mini-reviews, and they've informed quite a few purchases in the past.

[Takuma]

27 minutes ago, One Armed Boxer said:

& that's why the world will always need you @Takuma! Always enjoy reading your mini-reviews, and they've informed quite a few purchases in the past.

Thanks! Always glad (and a little embarrassed) to hear someone is actually reading these

[One Armed Boxer]

36 minutes ago, Takuma said:

Thanks! Always glad (and a little embarrassed) to hear someone is actually reading these

If you ever want to know what it feels like to have no one reading your reviews just let me know.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

1 hour ago, One Armed Boxer said:

If you ever want to know what it feels like to have no one reading your reviews just let me know.

Hey.... I read about 80-83,5% of both of y'alls reviews.... I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[DrNgor]

On 6/27/2021 at 8:44 AM, Takuma said:

Thanks! Always glad (and a little embarrassed) to hear someone is actually reading these

 

On 6/27/2021 at 9:21 AM, One Armed Boxer said:

If you ever want to know what it feels like to have no one reading your reviews just let me know.

I read both of your reviews. I admit that I fall behind on COF updates, but I do read and appreciate what you two do. I still need to print out my personal copy of "Japanese Cult Cinema vol. 2", just like I did for part one.  

[Takuma]

Tales of Japanese Chivalry (日本侠客伝) (Japan, 1964) [DVD] – 3/5
Part 1 in the long running ninkyo series. Quite curiously, this one is an ensemble piece with Kinnosuke Nakamura, Ken Takakura, Hiroki Matsukata and even Hiroyuki Nagato in equal parts. The series didn't become a Takakura vehicle until later on (this was made before the Abashiri Prison series elevated him to superstardom from spring 1965 on). Producer Shundo reportedly wanted Nakamura to be the star of the series, but Nakamura was unwilling to appear in yakuza films, and only reluctantly agreed to be part of the 1st film, partly explaining the film's structure. The film is a typical noble labourer gang vs. Toru Abe's rotten bastards tale, with Nakamura and Takakura emerging as saviours. It’s a famous entry in the genre, and one of the early ninkyo films that set the template hundreds more to come. Excessive melodrama (particularly at the end when Takakura's clansmen all meet their destinies at the same time in different places) aside it’s not bad. The last scene is particularly good. Ninkyo giant Masahiro Makino helms – he did the first 9 films in the series – with a notch more vitality than some of his other films.



Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Osaka Story (日本侠客伝 浪花篇) (Japan, 1965) [TV] - 2.5/5
Part 2. A slow-moving entry. One gets the feeling director Makino was more keen on depicting life in period setting than generating yakuza film thrills, which may explain why he is so highly regarded among action hating Japanese critics. However, there is a very good scene at the end. Quest star / veteran Tsuruta has just cold-bloodedly massacred half of an evil gang when young Takakura arrives the site. The accepting look and slight laugher he gives to the still almost wet-behind-ears Takakura, before the two men walk together to the surviving boss' headquarters, was a premonition of things to come. This is where the series begun to turn into a Takakura vehicle, even if Tsuruta still earned the top billing (despite only appearing in the last 30 minutes!). In a few years time, Takakura would have elevated himself to an equal of Tsuruta.

Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Kanto Story (日本侠客伝　関東篇) (Japan, 1965) [TV] - 3/5
Part 3. The best of the early instalments. Chris D. described this as seamlessly put together, and he was right. There is a charming old fashioned quality to the filmmaking, created by the images, music and a naive depiction of heroes of a bygone era, creating that Toei ninkyo film atmosphere. Makino also keeps things moving at a good pace, opting out of silly comedy, and saving Nagato from yet another doomed love sub plot. That being said, the character depth and storyline are nothing to be celebrated about, making this an exercise in style but not substance. The storyline here follows punkish Takakura helping fish dealer Minamida defend against yakuza Bin Amatsu. Tsuruta joins the resistance as venerable wanderer (still somewhat maintaining the status quo). The final melee, featuring more fishing equipment utilized as weapons than swords, has a touch of originality to it.

Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Duel at Kanda Festival (日本侠客伝 血斗神田祭り) (Japan, 1966) [TV] - 2/5
Part 4. The worst of the early instalments, incidentally one of the best regarded among Japanese critics. The film opens with some unwelcome comedy routines, followed by characters crying their eyes out for much of the rest of the film in a near endless array of sobbing scenes. Tsuruta does his last quest appearance until part 10. Two minor points of interest: ninkyo villain Rin'ichi Yamamoto is cast as a good guy for a change, and Hiroyuki Nagato delivers the film's best turn as a melancholic assassin (likewise cast against type). The titular Kanda festival is barely present in the film (in any meaningful way anyhow).



Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Duel at Thunder Gate (日本侠客伝 雷門の決斗) (Japan, 1966) [TV] - 2/5
Part 5. Takakura is the son of a noble oyabun running a theatre in Asakusa. Rotten Amatsu does his evil deeds and soon Takakura has to take his father's place. This is despite Takakura being a sailor rather than a full-fledged yakuza. This one has a good start, including Asao Uchida nicely cast against type as a good guy, and one particularly surprising plot turn that is better left unspoiled. The rest of the film fails to engage. Although reasonably serious without excess comedy or sobbing, the film feels routine, save for Amatsu's demise. One can once again draw some intended or accidental allegory from the films storyline (Takakura becoming a boss) and lack of major quest roles coinciding with Takakura's rocket rise in Toei ranks

[Takuma]

Song of the Night - Part 1

Yanagase Blues (柳ヶ瀬ブルース) (Japan, 1967) [TV] – 1.5/5
The first film in the Song of the Night series: an instantly forgettable tale of Shinjuku playboy bartender Tatsuo Umemiya hustling in the night. He sleeps with gangster Fumio Watanabe’s girl, which forces him to relocate to Yanagase in Gifu. There he comes across bar lady Yumiko Nogawa and old fart Junzaburo Ban, to both of whom love is just means to get rich. That’s about all I can remember about this remarkably tame film. Based on a popular Kenichi Mikawa song, this film started a long series of programmers that semi-thrived in the b-film slot under Toei’s double bill system. It wasn’t however until the 3rd entry, “Even if I Die”, that Toei came up with the “Song of the Night” moniker that linked the films into a single series. Norifumi Suzuki wrote in his book that these type of Umemiya / seducer films were in high demand, because they made ideal B-feature companions for the over-masculine ninkyo yakuza films (void of any sexuality or notable female characters) that were Toei’s A-films. But the sexy films remained notably tame most of the time, and like this one, were often void of any graphic nudity (Mako Midori’s sex melodramas tended to be more daring and twisted, however).

Sakariba Blues (盛り場ブルース) (Japan, 1968) [TV] – 3/5
Part 2, this time based on a Shinichi Mori song (he’s also a supporting actor in the film). Umemiya works for a hostess club that hires Nogawa, a woman who needs money for her husband who is waiting at home. Nobuo Kaneko plays two roles, and they are both rich pervert geezers! Spectacular production design and use of colours aside, this is pretty unmoving at first, but gains momentum from halfway on and ends up a dramatic tale of manipulation and love losing out to greed. Umemiya does his usual pimp / hustler / seducer role, which by 1968 was starting to turn into a one man genre of its own, ala Liam Neeson revenge films.



Song of the Night Night: Even if I Die (夜の歌謡シリーズ　命かれても) (Japan, 1968) [VoD] – 2/5
Part 3. This one took its premise from Shinichi Mori’s song Inochi karetemo. To be honest, I can no longer remember what the storyline was about, which should be quite telling of the film's (lack of) quality. More notable than the film was Toei’s marketing decision to start calling these a “Song of the Night” series from this film on, something that has caused a lot of confusion over the years. Even Toei’s own website mistook “Even if I Die” as the first Song of the Night film upon its DVD release. However, it had already been announced in the original 1968 publicity materials that this was part 3. More than anything, this exemplifies film marketing in the 1960s Japan. Selling films was the 1st, 2nd and 3rd priority, consistency was the 57th. Movies could be attached into a successful series as sequels, sequels could be advertised as openings of new series, and titles could be modified whenever they saw a commercial potential there (Teruo Ishii’s Abnormal Love series is another prime example). Fast forward half a century and even Toei themselves don’t remember what movie started the series…though they caught up in 2020 when the entire Song of the Night series was aired on Toei’s TV Channel, with Yanagase Blues once again identified as part 1 and Even if I Die part 3.

Song of the Night: Isazaki District Blues (夜の歌謡シリーズ　伊勢佐木町ブルース) (Japan, 1968) [VoD] – 1.5/5
An instantly forgettable part 4 with Tatsuo Umemiya pimping Junko Miyazono to old man Junzaburo Ban in frequently comedic scenes. It gets more serious during the 2nd half with just-out-of-prison Teruo Yoshida coming to redeem what he considers his. The rest of the film escaped my mind before I had time to write this. But one thing I do recall is Toei’s trusted evil foreigner Osman Yusuf appearing in the film… for about 3 seconds.

Song of the Night: Nagasaki Blues (夜の歌謡シリーズ　長崎ブルース) (1969) [VoD] – 3/5
Solid part 5. This was Hiroki Matsukata’s only appearance in the series. Pretty boy Hayato Tani arrives in Tokyo and gets scouted as male host / hooker by Matsukata. Tani’s big sis Junko Miyazono comes to rescue from Nagasaki, but fails to convince either one of the men to give up on their easy-money lifestyle. Matsukata then falls in love with Miyazono who already has a fiancé: small time gangster Tatsuo Umemiya. Then there’s Reiko Ohara as Matsukata’s young but wealthy customer who wants to own him. Good performances and a functional script by Kazuo Funahashi make this work, even if Ryuichi Takamori’s direction is mediocre. The most interesting thing about the film is how men are constantly treated as cheap merchandise and sex objects – something that usually only happened to women in Toei’s films.

Edited August 5, 2021 by Takuma

[Yihetuan]

I watched the second film (Return of Daimajin) in the Daimajin trilogy from the Arrow triple feature blu ray box set. Really nice box set with tons of extras but I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the audio commentary for the second film. It's provided by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp doing a joint audio commentary and they both go off tangent too much for my liking. This is understandable since their expertise lies elsewhere (pink films, Nikkatsu action cinema, etc) and not necessarily kaiju cinema, so it felt a bit of waste to be honest.

[Takuma]

Song of the Night - Part 2

Song of the Night: Harbour-Town Blues (夜の歌謡シリーズ　港町ブルース) (1969) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Part 6. Unremarkable but entirely watchable. Party girl Yumiko Nogawa wonders what to do with her life while dating guys left and right, and milking money out of old fool Hisao Toake. The fool’s son Kyosuke Machida also has the hots for Nogawa and wants to marry her. Enter conman Tatsuo Umemiya (in a sailor suit he bought from someone) who tells every girl they are the love of his life. And then there’s Yukie Kagawa who also wants her share of the old fool’s money. This one’s got some nostalgic 60s wild youth / young adults swing and a script by Masashige Narusawa (who wrote and directed the ninkyo masterpiece Flower Cards Chivalry, and penned countless Umemiya and Midori sex melodramas) – certainly not his best work but still better than average in the genre.

Song of the Night: Villain Blues (夜の歌謡シリーズ 港町ブルース) (Japan, 1969) [TV] -2.5/5
Part 7. Umemiya is a former bar barker gone photographer whose pride still hasn't recovered from a girl he couldn't conquer. Young bloke Tani is now doing rounds in the same circles Umemiya used to. He is constantly getting in trouble either because of a girl or competition, or both. Then he falls in love with Umemiya's sister. Meanwhile Umemiya has made a fan out of “don’t take no for an answer” Masumi Tachibana, much to the comical dismay of his mother. This film was based on a novel as opposed to a pop ballad, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. There’s plenty of story but not much plot to speak of, nor does the film capture the nocturnal atmosphere the way some other in the series do. But director Takamori keeps things moving fast, the Toei gang are all here doing their thing, and Tachibana flashes her boobs once or twice. As harmless time waster this is not half as bad as Chris D. suggested. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi is credited as the assistant director.

Song of the Night: Woman (夜の歌謡シリーズ　おんな) (Japan, 1969) [VoD] – 4/5
Part 8, a hugely atmospheric nocturnal drama about bar girl Yumiko Nogawa coming across night hustler Tatsuo Umemiya. The film opens with devastated Nogawa pulling a knife on Umemiya. "Go ahead, stab me. I'll give you a present, a worthless life" he says with tired voice, before the film cuts back to show how things got to this point. Turns out Nogawa used to work as a hostess for a mean mama Yasuko Matsui and Umemiya, then light-headed little sister Tachibana arrived to complicate things. This is a visually intoxicating, remarkably well written (by Masashige Narusawa) and atmospheric film with great performances. Umemiya in particular is excellent as impulsive and tragic sociopath who is not in full control of himself. He is, in fact, only keeping up appearances while being too weak to leave Matsui. Director Takamori deserves credit for not fucking this up. The only weakness is that the films 2nd half, while good, doesn't quite have the same momentum as the 1st. But this is still a very good film, easily the best in the series.



Song of the Night - Street Woman (夜の歌謡シリーズ 女のみち) (Japan, 1973) [TV] - 2/5
A little misleadingly titled 9th film. It could be a mistranslation of the Japanese title "A Woman's Path". Umemiya is a former racer seducing women with the help of desperate girlfriend Yutaka Nakajima, who poses as his sister. The first victim is Yukie Kagawa, who is seduced, slept with, and then dumped naked on the corridor next morning, to be "saved" by Ichiro Araki who then dumps her in a hostess bar he and Umemiya work for. Nakajima hangs with Umemiya until she's so hopeless she tries to kill them both. Ah, perhaps "Street Woman" was a less offensive title than "A Woman's Path" after all. The film's surplus of naked Kagawa (incl. topless catfight) plus the usual pretty production design help overcome what is otherwise an unremarkable effort with plentiful terrible comedy (by the musical group Pinkara Trio, whose song formed the film's basis, and who handpicked Nakajima for her debut role). Disappointing considering this was helmed by the king of breakneck entertainment Kazuhiko Yamaguchi during his sexploitation stint (1973-1974) between the Pinky Violence and karate eras. Note that this came 4 years after the previous instalment, while the previous 4 all came out in 1969.



Song of the Night: Tearful Love (夜の歌謡シリーズ なみだ恋) (Japan, 1973) [TV] - 3/5
Part 10, with Nakajima again. Umemiya does not appear in this one. The base is an Aki Yashiro song written into a screenplay by Masashige Narusawa. Nakajima is a naïve good girl who helps young yakuza punk (Tani) who bumps into her with a gun in his hand and a bullet in his arm. She's working in her mom's hostess bar (one of the girls is played by Yumiko Katayama) populated by horny customers and the mom's boyfriend who also has his eye on Nakajima. Before the tale is over, poor Nakajima's been bullied, harassed and raped (more than once). The more subtle tones of Narusawa's better work are nowhere to be found here, but Nikkatsu Action refugee Buichi Saito helms the film with swift pace (it's only 73 min), plentiful nudity by everyone except Nakajima, and the series' trademark top notch cinematography and production design. An entertaining B-film, nothing more, nothing less (the A-film, btw, was Takakura's Third Generation Yamaguchi Gang, Toei's no.1 film of 1973).



A Blood Stained Love Affair (Yoru no enka: Shinobikoi) (夜の演歌 しのび恋) (Japan, 1974) [VoD] – 2.5/5
The last entry in the Song of the Night series, still with Nakajima as the heroine. She holds on to her clothes (it took a Yusaku Matsuda to make them gone some 5 years later), so the skin is on the supporting cast. Nakajima is a wanna-be model affiliated with club mama Naomi Shiraishi. Shiraishi is holding on to her toyboy Toshio Shiba by feeding him with money. The money comes from rich geezer Nobuo Kaneko, to whom Nakajima’s virginity is secretly sold. But then Shiba falls in love with Nakajima. Enter Tatsuo Umemiya, a sleazy photographer who takes photos and deflowers virgins, and we have a love pentagon. Unremarkable, but nevertheless watchable and trashy entry with plentiful sex and nudity. And it’s got a sex-crazed Mexican wrestler in it! Surprisingly, it was helmed by Yasuo Furuhata. Notice the title difference: this was called “Ballad of the Night” (Yoru no enka) instead of “Song of the Night” (Yoru no kayo). However, considering the cast, crew, and concept (“based” on a Aki Yashiro song), it’s safe to assume this was either the 11th and last “Song” film, or a failed reboot with a slightly altered title. Toei Channel’s homepage and TV ads suggests the former.

[Takuma]

Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Loyalty Offering Suicide (日本侠客伝 白刃の盃) (Japan, 1967) [TV] - 2/5
Part 6. A routine entry with Takakura an ex-yakuza who tries to lead honest life. Fuji is a sick sister who spends the entire film in hospital. Nagato is back the “doomed chap hopelessly in love” role, only to allow Takakura break his oath and grab the sword at the end. This film should've been better considering it was co-written by Norifumi Suzuki and Sadao Nakajima, both of whom were also making (admittedly not particularly memorable) ninkyo films of their own at the time.

Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Attack (日本侠客伝 斬り込み) (Japan, 1967) [TV] -3.5/5
Part 7, a charmingly naïve and old fashioned tale of honour and good deeds. Takakura is a single parent who goes nagurikomi on an evil gang, then flees with his kid. He seeks monetary assistance from noble boss Kenjiro Ishiyama, who helps generously. The boss' daughter, excessively lovely Fuji, becomes a foster mom to the kid. Nobuo Kaneko, the slimiest of the cowardly yakuza film bastards, is a nice guy gang mate who helps Takakura become a tekiya. Toei's regular bit player / dead corpse Takuzo Kawatani pops up as well, with his reportedly first spoken lines in a film (after having acted for 7 years). The best scene: Takakura has a street fight with Amatsu's hired hand Nagato, and they end up sharing a cell for one night. Of course, the men soon find something in common. At the end it’s time walk to Amatsu’s headquarters and tell him “shinde moraimasu!” One more thing: this film does better job than most at capturing its locale, the still developing streets of Shinjuku, lensed though a thick layer of nostalgia.



Tales of Japanese Chivalry: State of Severed Relations (日本侠客伝 絶縁状) (Japan, 1968) [TV] - 3/5
Part 8. This has one of the weakest openings in the series, full of talking heads, comic relief, and with little action of any sort. One would feel confident writing this off as a boring talk fest. Then something happens. Takakura, acting as a young substitute oyabun while the old man is in prison, says he's had it. Leading a yakuza clan isn't something he's made for. He'd rather go straight and do honest money in the construction business. The film then takes a turn to psychological character drama, with some great scenes with the anguished Takakura in the neon lit night. Yakuza collaborators Watanabe and Endo don't take it well, paving way to the inevitable conflict. Notable for being the only film in the series set in the contemporary 1960s.

Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Flower and Dragon (日本侠客伝 花と龍) (Japan, 1969) [TV] - 3.5/5
An often filmed gangster tale based on a 1953 novel, surfacing here as the 9th film in this series. Takakura is a young man who becomes affiliated with a number of hard working labourer gangs and eventually forms his own small family. He marries a member of the first gang, while developing a destiny kind of semi-platonic relationship with a dice dealer / tattoo artist Junko Fuji who works at evil Amatsu's gambling den. This is a fine film only suffering from the extent of its source material: even at 112 min the film sometimes feels like it's just scratching the surface. This is particularly regrettable regarding Takakura and Fuji's shared scenes, which are fabulous, but too few in number. Other highlights include Wakayama as the boss of the bosses, only appearing in one scene, and a terrific, unusual action finale where Takakura uses katana and spear while Fuji sings (and blasts bad guys off with a pistol). Toei had adapted the same novel twice before, in 1954 and 1965-1966, both times as two-part films, but I've not seen them to compare. This was Makino’s last and best film in the series.



Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Rising Dragon (日本侠客伝 昇り龍) (Japan, 1970) [TV] - 3/5
Part 10, a direct continuation to Flower and Dragon. Takakura has gone on to become a successful leader of his own family in Kyushu while leaving card dealer / tattoo artist Fuji behind with her feelings of unfulfilled love and comradeship. She's obsessed to have one last go at Takakura's skin. The film is certainly interesting, but despite focusing on the most interesting aspect of the tale, and being helmed by 60s ninkyo master Kosaku Yamashita, it comes out strangely unmoving. It's perhaps a combination of many things - the overly stoic Takakura set against Fuji's theatrics, captured on film in a non-sentimental fashion reminiscent of Tai Kato - that prevents the film from truly coming alive. It's hard to fault filmmakers for keeping melodrama at bay, especially after some of the earlier sobbing fests in the series, but one feels a bit more emotion would have been in place here. Perhaps a rewatch would reveal deeper levels.



Tales of Japanese Chivalry - Sword (日本侠客伝 刃) (Japan, 1971) [TV] - 2/5
Part 11, the last film in the series. Takakura is a good-for-nothing loner who high jacks a postal van, then ends up working for the delivery company after having a manly fistfight with the other employees and impressing the boss. A good-hearted geisha takes care of him before the salary comes, sparking Takakura cry like a baby when confronted by such kindness. Of course he gets to pay back when her brother is found to be working for postal nemesis Amatsu but wishing to escape the gang. Yes, it's all as silly as it sounds, not helped by Takakura's hairdo, which looks like something a 60s student boy half-hippie might wear, or alternatively a fluffy bird's nest. It wouldn't be wrong to consider that a merit, however. The other positive is the many spaghetti western esque wide shots in empty wastelands, giving this film a distinct look in the series.

[Takuma]

A Fugitive from the Past (飢餓海峡) (Japan, 1965) [TV] - 4.5/5
A criminally neglected, Criterion-worthy crime epic set against genuine backdrops. Three criminals lead by Inugai (Rentaro Mikuni) commit a robbery-arson-murder in a small Hokkaido town and escape with the cover of a typhoon that spreads the fire (based on 1954 Iwanai fire that destroyed 3000+ buildings) and leaves the shores with floating dead bodies (based on the 1958 Toyamaru ferry disaster with 1100+ casualties). A senior detective (Junzaburo Ban) however discovers bodies whose injuries suggest a crime rather than a natural disaster, and begins tracing down the criminals. His best lead is a prostitute that sheltered Inugai, but won't talk to the cops. The film then does something nothing short of revolutionary as it turns its focus to her struggle out of the post-war slums and completely ignores the crime plot! It takes more than 45 minutes before any of the prior main characters surface again. The film is ambitious to a fault, with a brilliant novel-based screenplay, terrific performances by Mikuni, Ban and Ken Takakura (who doesn't appear until 2 hours into the 183 min film) and striking B&W cinematography with extreme close-ups and plentiful use of negative image, not to mention the Rashomon-esque storytelling where truth always depends on the teller's perspective. This was voted as the 3rd best Japanese film ever made in 1999 by Japan biggest film journal Kinema Junpo.



In the Realm of the Senses (愛のコリーダ) (France, 1976) [DCP] – 3/5
Nagisa Oshima's famed arthouse porno about mad love, with enough sex to make the audience wish the characters would take a break and go for a walk instead. And once in a while they do, generating some of the film's best scenes. Poignant and poetic (the musical score is particularly beautiful), it's also repetitive and frankly immature with its endless hard-core close ups - certainly a product of its time with Oshima and Wakamatsu making the most of the film being a French production. This remains heavily censored in Japan to this day (*), with fogging applied to cover genitals - pubic hair has been freed, however (**). This was the 3rd of the four best known Abe Sada true account adaptations, following Teruo Ishii Love & Crime (1969) and Noboru Tanaka's A Woman Called Abe Sada (1975), and pre-dating Nobuhiko Obayashi's Sada (1998).

* Reviewed here: 2021 Japanese nationwide theatrical re-release DCP.
** I had already caught this uncut on Finnish national TV over 20 years ago, when I was a kid.

Circuit Nurse (サーキット・ナース) (Japan, 1988) [TV] - 2/5
An extremely dated sci-fi / computer thriller scripted by young Yuji Sakamoto (he would later become a successful TV drama writer). The setting is post apocalyptic future where a “computer nurse” (idol Keiko Hirata) stationed in an industrial complex is trying to keep a computer system free of viruses. She will have to engage in battle against viruses like Amiga 6000, a vicious online attacker hacking into her soul, and faceless cyborgs! She also strips down to black bra and panties for no apparent reason. Shot on video, made for TV, running less than an hour, and full of extremely primitive CGI graphics used throughout the film, it’s a film that sounds more fun than it is. It may offer a few nostalgic laughs for computer nerds, but little else. The musical score sounds like it was composed by 80s AI, too. For better similar films, see Noboru Tanaka’s computer thriller Monster Woman '88 (1988), Masato Harada’s industrial mecha sci-fi Gunhed (1989) and of course Ghost in the Shell (1994), which cover most of what’s on display here.



Hardcore (ハード・コア) (Japan, 2018) [VoD] – 2/5
Nobuhiro Yamashita went from a master of minimalist slacker comedies to a brilliant mainstream filmmaker in the early 2000s. And now it's time to forget about him. This is a manga based drama about two men head-butted by life, who find a robot who becomes the third member of the group. The robot, of course, is mute, huge, and rarely does anything but stand still, producing some dry Yamashitan humour. But these laughs are few and far between in a drama that feels like it could have been directed by anyone, with little cinematic touch in evidence, and worse yet, following a protagonist who isn't as much a lovable slacker but a violent, unpredictable man drawn to extreme right wing politics. Skip this, and watch Ramblers (2003) for the 11th time instead.

Romance Doll (ロマンスドール) (Japan, 2020) [TV] – 2/5
Yuki Tanada's breezy Round Trip to Heart (2015) was a pleasant surprise. She doesn't reach the same level with her latest film. Shy sex doll designer Issei Takahashi models his latest product’s bosom after Yu Aoi, who mistakenly thinks she's contributing breast cancer patients. An offbeat love story follows. Unfortunately the film can't avoid the usual pitfalls of modern Japanese cinema: too many “ordinary dull life” scenes (a misguided idea of realism or character depth) only interrupted by sudden sappy melodrama (I can't even remember the last time I saw a Japanese love story where [SPOILER] somebody wasn't terminally ill[/END OF SPOILER]). Aoi, whose quirky on-screen persona and acting talent made her a star 20 years ago, is the best thing about the film. She shows some of that old magic (not her breasts) here.

Maniac Driver (マニアック・ドライバー) (Japan, 2021) [Yubari Fanta 2021] – 3/5
Kurando Mitsutake's madcap giallo pastiche, jam-packed with sleaze. It opens with a leather-gloved, motorbike helmet wearing killer stalking a naked woman who is touching herself in the shower. He proceeds to ram a knife through her breast, after slicing her nipple in two. Mitsutake isn't challenging Deep Red here, but rather Strip Nude for Your Killer. The film originated as a pink film production, from which Mitsutake walked out, but shot the script as it was with all sex intact. The storyline follows a taxi driver looking for people to kill. Maniac and its remake, New York Ripper and other gialli, Evil Dead Trap and even Naomi Tani films are present here, though it's debatable how pure a giallo tribute is a film that reveals the killer's identity immediately and lacks mystery. The film feats in low-budget aesthetics (the colour use is pure 70s Argento, but comes out more like Hobo with a Shotgun due to low production values) and ridiculously overdone exploitation (the samurai fight is rather dumb), but also features hugely atmospheric quiet moments and a kick-ass score. It’s such sincere exploitation you can't help but to enjoy it. Only if Mitsutake had refrained from having the killer appear butt naked behind a victim's door and and then chase her while rock music plays and his balls are hanging out, the suspense might have been on a whole different level.

[DrNgor]

Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z (2013) - Oooooooooooo....kay. So this is like the Toei Tokusatsu equivalent of The Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame, but with a story told over the course of 90 minutes instead of five-and-a-half hours. Basically, Space Sheriff Gavan has to team up with Kamen Rider Wizard (and Kamen Rider Beast) and three Super Sentai teams--Gokaiger (aka Power Rangers Super Megaforce); Go-Busters (Power Rangers Beast Morphers); and Kyoryuger (Power Rangers Dino Charge)--in order to keep a bunch of monsters from resurrecting the Dark Lord Psycho (yes, that's the main villian's name) and causing our universe to be sucked into another universe and thus destroyed. Once we reach the third act, oodles and oodles of previous incarnations of each of the three franchises show up to assist our main heroes. At one point, the Gokaiger crew are given little metal toys of previous Metal Heroes in order to transform into them and use their weapons against their opponents. During the climax, the original Kamen Rider and Super Sentai heroes show up and participate in the brawl. The final fight is a mixture of Megazord madness and spaceships and metal dragons and super weapons being fired at Earth and God-knows-what. There is some martial arts here and there--there's a fight scene about every five minutes--and some of the actors and stuntmen have some good moves, although Toshihiro Ogura's choreography isn't at the level of Koichi Sakamoto. I'm sure if you're a 10-year-old Japanese boy who was watching one or two of these franchises at the time--or a Western Otaku who has accompanied any of these three franchises over the years--you'll find something to like. Otherwise, you'll probably won't enjoy watching what is essentially a 90-minute toy commercial.

[Yihetuan]

The Avengers aka Tenbatsu ya Kurenai Yami no Shimatsu Jou [2003] TV Asahi 10 episode series

Pretty standard fare set in Edo era feudal Japan about a group of "divine retribution" paid killers who dispense justice for aggrieved victims. Much like the more famous Hissatsu series but on a much lower scale, budget and frankly nowhere as good. Features your typical gimmick characters such as a killer who wields a spinning top weapon, a female character who specializes in twin daggers, another assassin who only uses karate to kill, etc.

https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm24207007

The version I watched was with English subtitles and ripped from a local Hawaiian station. Sadly, KIKU-TV stopped airing Japanese programming earlier this year after a nearly 40 year run.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Yihetuan

[Takuma]

Brutal Tales of Chivalry: Lion’s Honor and Humanity (昭和残侠伝 唐獅子仁義) (Japan, 1969) [TV] – 3/5
Part 5 in the Brutal Tales of Chivalry aka Tales of the Last Showa Yakuza series. This has a great start with Takakura and Ikebe having a swordfight in the moonlight. Takakura has just avenged his dead boss, and Ikebe is under an obligation to avenge the man Takakura just killed. The two men agree to hold no grudge over the result of the fight; after all, it's nothing personal. Five years later Takakura is out of prison. He's sheltered by kind geisha Fuji, who is also connected to a certain yakuza-turned-alcoholic-gambler who lost an arm in a fight 5 years ago! This is a solid ninkyo film. The main plot (noble boss Shimura harassed by villains without honor or humanity) and side plot (a young guy in love with Fuji's sister, who is being sold to the evil oyabun) are standard stuff, but the execution is slick, the brief comedy relief (Kyosuke Machida as a 3rd rate assassin for hire) more clever than usual, sobbing often found in director Makino’s films non-existent, and the Takakura vs. Ikebe honour/humanity dilemma more satisfyingly handled than in some other films. Perhaps the rating should be even higher.

Brutal Tales of Chivalry: Killer Lion (昭和残侠伝 人斬り唐獅子) (Japan, 1969) [TV] – 3/5
Part 6. A pretty good instalment that some might argue is great. There's an interesting variation to the usual ninkyo formula when it is hero Takakura, rather than guest star Ikebe, who is obliged to fight an honourable man (Oki) and carry the burden of the carnage. This leads to a particularly good scene where Takakura has to confront Oki's wife in a quiet, melancholic fall setting. This was the only film in the series by Kosaku Yamashita, to whom 1969 seemed to be a turning point. He delivered his best film, Biographies of a Gambling Room, but also begun to tone down the cinematic and emotional delivery in many of his other films, bringing his style closer to that of Tai Kato. That approach is evident here, making the film either more or less effective depending on how you see it. The rather worn genre formula, even with the fore-mentioned twist and otherwise solid execution, makes me lean on the latter.

Brutal Tales of Chivalry: I Sincerely Want to Kill You (昭和残侠伝 死んで貰います) (Japan, 1970) [TV] – 2.5/5
Part 7. Geisha girl Fuji consoles Takakura under a big tree after losing his money to crooked card dealer Rin’ichi Yamamoto. Opening credits pass in the rain. Then Takakura walks back into the gambling den and shovels his sword through Yamamoto's hand. Years pass in prison. When finally released, Takakura tries honest living with brother Ikebe and of course goes to meet Fuji again. A beautiful opening in this one, one that carries the entire first half. Unfortunately much potential is left unutilized. Yamamoto returns, but only does one scene as disgraced, tragic villain before resorting to one-dimensional evil antics. Geisha Fuji is so naive one wonders if the character has brain damage. And Makino helms in his usual slow-paced fashion - even the compulsory "final walk" is so slow one starts wondering if the film is playing in slow-motion. The violent climax is good and Takakura delivers the titular phrase “Shinde moraimasu!” Not a bad film, but the opening promised more.

Brutal Tales of Chivalry: Torn Parasol (昭和残侠伝 破れ傘) (USA, 1972) [TV] – 3/5
Part 9, the last film in the series and an end of an era. This arrived in theatres on Dec. 30, 1972, after all other Toei ninkyo series had already come to their end earlier in 1972 (Red Peony Gambler, Gambling Den, Abashiri Prison) or 1971 (Tales of Japanese Yakuza, Tales of Japan's Chivalrous Women). Only a few standalone films would be produced after this (Battles without Honor and Humanity would premiere 2 weeks later on Jan. 13. 1973, starting a new era). Not surprisingly, Toei crammed most of their major stars into this one, with Takakura, Ikebe, Tsuruta and Ando leading the pack. Only if they had invested as much into the plot. There are several good scenes (e.g. Takakura buying a girl's freedom by letting boss Tsurura strike a knife through his palm) somewhat loosely tied to each other. A point of interest is veteran composter (over 400 film credits since the 1940s) Chuji Kinoshita's cool score, with its riffs and rock music influences that weren't typically heard in ninkyo films. Perhaps it was a fitting end to the series, and in line with the times (the same day this film premiered Toho released Hanzo the Razor with its groovy blaxploitation esque score).



Others

Kaibyo Saga sodo (怪猫佐賀騒動) (Japan, 1981) [TV] – 2.5/5
Reiko Ike faces feline vengeance in a minor late career highlight, a jidai geki horror movie made for TV. It may have been her last starring role, following career decay after the mid-70s (her drug and gambling arrests didn't help) and a minor comeback in the late 70s, mainly on TV. This film was loosely based on Nabeshima sodo, one of the many kaibyou (monster cat or cursed cat) tales, which are a subgenre of their own in Japanese horror. Ike is the jealous lover of Saga lord Sawashima (Kimiyuki Araya) who's laid his eye on a new girl (Sanae Takada), the recently engaged sister of a local daimyo. The lord's power-hungry retainer (Akira Nakao) sees his opportynity to plot the lord's downfall, and together with partner-in-crime Sawanoi (Moeko Ezawa) feeds Ike with lies about the girl until jealousy takes the murderous better of her. But then a black cat licks the victim's blood and absorbs the vengeful spirit. This is a little tamer than some the wilder Japanese TV entertainments of the time (e.g. Nihon meisaku kaidan gekijo, 1979), drawing the line to butt, side boob and a few severed limbs in brief action sequences. It's nice to see Ike in a lead role, even if she's now assigned to the jealous, murderous lover part, and overacts the hell out of it. Japanese ghosts aren't a genre of my experience or enthusiasm, for which reason I cannot give a fair assessment, but the film should not be too bad among its kind.



Gunhed (ガンヘッド) (Japan, 1989) [VoD] - 2.5/5
Masato Harada's notoriously incoherent cyberpunk piece. In the year 2038, post robot war apocalypse, a bunch of space pirates land an island once controlled by an A.I. computer system that wiped out the island’s human population and then just stood idle for decades (probably). Their attempt to steal valuable tech gets a nasty turn when the A.I. wakes up and starts defending its island. Their only hope is to rebuild a battle tank called Gunhed, whose remains remain on the island. The storyline is difficult to follow, there is absolutely zero chemistry between the main characters, and even action is incoherently put together. Mickey Curtis, the only worthwhile cast member, is killed off in the very beginning. But there's no denying the film is absolutely packed with cool cyberpunk imagery, much of it derived from anime and the films of James Cameron (both Terminator and Aliens), but much of it also becoming representative of the genre by itself. The spoken language is 50/50 English and Japanese, each cast member speaking their lines in their native language save for the fully bilingual Curtis.

Boryoku muso: Subliminal War (暴力無双 －サブリミナル・ウォー－) (Japan, 2021) [TV] – 1/5
A new Versus follow-up by director Hideo Sakaki, who played the villain in the original. Few people know this exists, and it would probably be best if it remained that way. Good news first: Sakaki has brought back the original cast, himself and Sakaguchi included. They're playing former assassins suddenly summoned by a mysterious melody, to fight! And fight they do, with plenty of martial arts skill on display. Sakaki has also done the entire film with practical effects, explosions included. Then the bad: everything else. This is one of those many postmodern “lol lol, we're being self-conscious silly, lol lol" movies that make you want to pull your own head off and throw it out of the window. Two of the most annoying examples are a guy in green riddler costume and a dude doing Hamlet (badly) throughout the film. It's the cinematic definition of self-ironic schmuck, and constantly gets on the way of the action. A far cry from the honest wackiness, energy and style of the original, especially disappointing considering Sakaki actually has talent as a director (see his 2017 indie drama / neo-noir Alley Cat). Oh and btw, this runs only 47 minutes.

[DrNgor]

13 hours ago, Takuma said:

Gunhed (ガンヘッド) (Japan, 1989) [VoD] - 2.5/5
Masato Harada's notoriously incoherent cyberpunk piece. In the year 2038, post robot war apocalypse, a bunch of space pirates land an island once controlled by an A.I. computer system that wiped out the island’s human population and then just stood idle for decades (probably). Their attempt to steal valuable tech gets a nasty turn when the A.I. wakes up and starts defending its island. Their only hope is to rebuild a battle tank called Gunhed, whose remains remain on the island. The storyline is difficult to follow, there is absolutely zero chemistry between the main characters, and even action is incoherently put together. Mickey Curtis, the only worthwhile cast member, is killed off in the very beginning. But there's no denying the film is absolutely packed with cool cyberpunk imagery, much of it derived from anime and the films of James Cameron (both Terminator and Aliens), but much of it also becoming representative of the genre by itself. The spoken language is 50/50 English and Japanese, each cast member speaking their lines in their native language save for the fully bilingual Curtis.

Apparently the script for this started life as Godzilla 2, a runner-up in a screenplay contest that Toho held in the mid-80s. The winner became Godzilla vs. Biollante. The original idea, written by James Bannon, had Godzilla fighting an A.I. system a lá Skynet in a post-apocalyptic future, which employed different robotic vehicles to fight the Big G.

[Super Ninja]

On 10/20/2021 at 6:03 PM, Takuma said:

Boryoku muso: Subliminal War (暴力無双 －サブリミナル・ウォー－) (Japan, 2021) [TV] – 1/5

Where can this be seen? 

[Takuma]

2 hours ago, Super Ninja said:

Where can this be seen? 

I watched it on TV. It's also streaming in Japan on Amazon, YouTube etc, and out on DVD

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0964526BW/

[DrNgor]

On 10/20/2021 at 1:03 PM, Takuma said:

Kaibyo Saga sodo (怪猫佐賀騒動) (Japan, 1981) [TV] – 2.5/5
Reiko Ike faces feline vengeance in a minor late career highlight, a jidai geki horror movie made for TV... But then a black cat licks the victim's blood and absorbs the vengeful spirit.

The film Black Cat Mansion, which I mentioned in the October Horror Thread, also has a scene like that.

[Super Ninja]

12 hours ago, Takuma said:

I watched it on TV. It's also streaming in Japan on Amazon, YouTube etc, and out on DVD

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0964526BW/

Thanks. Quite pricey for a one star movie, I'll see if I can stream it anyway.