Doberman Cop (1977)

[Vegeta84]

Good news folks, Doberman Cop is finally get a top notch release in the US/UK market via arrow. Should be out June 20th. Love this Fukasaku classic. 

[Takuma]

Never before released on video outside of Japan, Doberman Cop is a unique entry in the career of director Kinji Fukasaku.

Pre-order your copy in the UK: http://bit.ly/2nNbK9r
North American pre-orders links should be live soon!
Release Dates: 26/27 June

Released just as the popularity of yakuza movies was waning in Japan, and as the country's film industry was undergoing some fundamental shifts, Doberman Cop is a unique entry in the career of director Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Cops vs Thugs), and reunited him with star Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba (The Street Fighter, Wolf Guy) in an American-style crime movie that mixes gunplay and pulp fiction with martial arts and lowbrow comedy to create one of their most entertaining films.

Based on a popular manga by "Buronson" (creator of Fist of the North Star), Doberman Cop follows the fish-out-of-water adventures of Joji Kano (Chiba), a tough-as-nails police officer from Okinawa who arrives in Tokyo's Kabuki-cho nightlife district to investigate the savage murder and mutilation of an island girl who had been working as a prostitute. Initially dismissed as a country bumpkin (complete with straw hat and live pig in tow!), Kano soon proves himself a more savvy detective than the local cops, and a tougher customer than anyone expected. As he probes deeper into the sleazy world of flesh-peddling, talent agency corruption and mob influence, Kano uncovers the shocking truth about the girl, her connection to a yakuza-turned-music manager (Hiroki Matsukata), and a savage serial killer who is burning women alive.

Made to appeal both to the youth market with its biker gangs and popular music, as well as to old-time yakuza movie fans, Doberman Cop is an surprising oddity in Fukasaku's career, his sole film adapted directly from a manga and never before released on video outside of Japan. Featuring Chiba at his charismatic best — channeling a Japanese Dirty Harry while doing all his own stunts — and Fukasaku at his most fun, deftly showcasing the combined talents of his "Piranha Army" stock company of actors and other regular players — Doberman Cop is a classic action comedy and a missing link in 1970's Japanese cinema deserving of rediscovery.

•High Definition digital transfer
•High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
•Original uncompressed mono audio
•Optional English subtitles
•Beyond the Film: Doberman Cop, a new video appreciation by Fukasaku biographer Sadao Yamane
•New video interview with actor Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba
•New video interview with screenwriter Koji Takada
•Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s book featuring new writing on the films by Patrick Macias

[Takuma]

Cool to see it coming, of course I'll be getting it. But it does seem a little odd choice considering there are bigger gems, both classics and undiscovered films, in both Chiba and Fukasaku's filmography IMO.

My mini-review in the Chiba thread:

 

[Vegeta84]

19 hours ago, Takuma said:

Cool to see it coming, of course I'll be getting it. But it does seem a little odd choice considering there are bigger gems, both classics and undiscovered films, in both Chiba and Fukasaku's filmography IMO.

My mini-review in the Chiba thread:

 

I'm hoping more Fukasaku and Chiba films will be coming from Arrow in the future. I'm almost certain Wolves, Pigs, & Men along with the Three New Battles Without Honor films have been licensed by Arrow. 

Still, I've always had an itch to scratch when it came to Doberman Cop.  The existing R1 which was in a combo pack was complete and utter shit. One of the worst DVD's I have ever watched. However, the one thing it did right was introduce me to Doberman Cop which ended up being a favorite.  Great soundtrack and some great scenes.  I really hope Arrow at some point will release a large chunk of Fukasaku's output. So many great films. 

[Tex Killer]

WIsh Arrow would do boxset of Chiba films...Wolf Guy is still £24.86, preordered it already and praying it drops a little bit...

Doberman Cop sounds like a fun flick, into shopping list too. But what I really wish Arrow would release some rare italo, disappoing news this month was argentos "bird". Good movie but several ok versions already exists...

 

 

[Takuma]

1 hour ago, Tex Killer said:

WIsh Arrow would do boxset of Chiba films...Wolf Guy is still £24.86, preordered it already and praying it drops a little bit...

You're using the wrong vendor

This is where your money should go:

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&keyword=wol&product_id=932

[Tex Killer]

40 minutes ago, Takuma said:

You're using the wrong vendor

This is where your money should go:

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&keyword=wol&product_id=932

Well, there is plenty of time to cancel it if price looks too filthy on release date. But I like amazon coz shipping is quite cheap when combine orders...

[De Ming Li]

For Amazon, usually what is the maximum number of DVD/blu rays you can fit into one shipping order? The most I've ordered for one shipping is only two, I know it depends on the size and bulk of the set but just wondering......

[Takuma]

1 hour ago, Tex Killer said:

Well, there is plenty of time to cancel it if price looks too filthy on release date. But I like amazon coz shipping is quite cheap when combine orders...

With Arrow the shipping should be pretty cheap too, and for expensive items you get free worldwide shipping. Plus you get 10% of the price back as reward points every time. And most importantly, you'll be supporting Arrow with the full amount. When you order from Amazon they take a big share of the price and Arrow no doubt makes much less money per each sold title than if you ordered directly from them.

[Tex Killer]

7 hours ago, Takuma said:

With Arrow the shipping should be pretty cheap too, and for expensive items you get free worldwide shipping. Plus you get 10% of the price back as reward points every time. And most importantly, you'll be supporting Arrow with the full amount. When you order from Amazon they take a big share of the price and Arrow no doubt makes much less money per each sold title than if you ordered directly from them.

I see that but trouble with arrow they do not release that much interesting stuff anymore. Chibas yes but not much else..I have no interest to buy umpteenth time "phenomena" or "bird with crystal plumage". Or american horror of unknown titles for me. Last year was good with giallo but this this year so far is not. While direct support is good, at least there should be fair hope some of rare stuff surface. 88films do that, more Shaws to come and their Italian line is far more exciting than Arrows

[One Armed Boxer]

On ‎19‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 2:47 PM, Takuma said:

You're using the wrong vendor

This is where your money should go:

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&keyword=wol&product_id=932

Confirm my money has gone...

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 3/19/2017 at 7:23 AM, Takuma said:

With Arrow the shipping should be pretty cheap too, and for expensive items you get free worldwide shipping. Plus you get 10% of the price back as reward points every time. And most importantly, you'll be supporting Arrow with the full amount. When you order from Amazon they take a big share of the price and Arrow no doubt makes much less money per each sold title than if you ordered directly from them.

I always order directly from Arrow too, and I've found the shipping prices to be good, and never received anything damaged.

On 3/19/2017 at 8:12 AM, Tex Killer said:

I see that but trouble with arrow they do not release that much interesting stuff anymore. Chibas yes but not much else..I have no interest to buy umpteenth time "phenomena" or "bird with crystal plumage". Or american horror of unknown titles for me. Last year was good with giallo but this this year so far is not. While direct support is good, at least there should be fair hope some of rare stuff surface. 88films do that, more Shaws to come and their Italian line is far more exciting than Arrows

@Tex Killer his point was that if you ARE ordering Arrow stuff, getting it directly from them is probably the best option.

I understand your frustration with releases of titles you already have, but... you don't have WOLFGUY yet on Blu-ray, that's for sure!

[Tex Killer]

20 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

I always order directly from Arrow too, and I've found the shipping prices to be good, and never received anything damaged.

@Tex Killer his point was that if you ARE ordering Arrow stuff, getting it directly from them is probably the best option.

I understand your frustration with releases of titles you already have, but... you don't have WOLFGUY yet on Blu-ray, that's for sure!

true, no wolf guy yet but gonna get it for sure....But to be honest even as love chiba and no antifeeling for Arrow in this case I rather use amazon so can combine other orders too. As you probably know shipping costs increase very few after 1st item@same order...

[KUNG FU BOB]

I hear you brother. Do what works best for you!

Somewhat off-topic, but Arrow related... their recent release of THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977 original) is outstanding. The movie is still so powerful, and Papa Jupiter's rants are as crazy as they were the first time I heard them (the character is memorably played by James Whitworth).

[Takuma]

 

[Takuma]

I received my Doberman Cop BD yesterday and watched the extras. Much like on the Wolfguy BD, the Chiba interview is actually less interesting than the other extras. The (screenwriter) Koji Takada interview is quite excellent with some funny and very honest comments about filmmaking back in the 60s and 70s. The introduction to the film by Sadao Yamane is also excellent, with him explaining how the film industry and distribution system in Japan was changing around the time Doberman Cop was released.

I took a quick glance at the film transfer as well and spotted no evident problems.

The new cover art, for once, is pretty good, better than the original poster actually.

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 7/6/2017 at 1:58 PM, Takuma said:

I received my Doberman Cop BD yesterday and watched the extras. Much like on the Wolfguy BD, the Chiba interview is actually less interesting than the other extras. The (screenwriter) Koji Takada interview is quite excellent with some funny and very honest comments about filmmaking back in the 60s and 70s. The introduction to the film by Sadao Yamane is also excellent, with him explaining how the film industry and distribution system in Japan was changing around the time Doberman Cop was released.

I took a quick glance at the film transfer as well and spotted no evident problems.

The new cover art, for once, is pretty good, better than the original poster actually.

Looking forward to getting this release.

I agree- the cover art is extremely cool!

Arrow Films made a text error in their DOBERMAN COP booklet that omitted the names of the top four leads from the cast. Marc Walkow, the gentleman responsible for producing the special features for the release posted about it on Face Book. Here's his post and the photos attached...

"Last month's Arrow Video release of Sonny Chiba's DOBERMAN COP was landmark in many ways: first time it's come out overseas, new extras, and a great addition to the existing, subtitled Fukasaku canon.

Unfortunately, due to a designer mix-up, there was a major error in the booklet. Arrow isn't able to reprint the book, but I'm including a jpeg in this post which can help to correct the mistake. If you download the small cast list PDF here, color print it, and cut out the image, it ought to fit perfectly onto page 5, the cast credits list. (See additional photo for where it goes.) It's not perfect, but since it was the main four cast members' names who were omitted, I'm glad I can help people to make even this jury-rigged fix. Hope you enjoy the disc, and please share this "hack" with anybody else who you feel might need it. - Mark Walkow"

 

 

[mpm74]

Here's Kyle Warner's review for DOBERMAN COP:

http://cityonfire.com/doberman-cop-review-1977-doberman-deka-kinji-fukasaku-sonny-chiba-arrow-blu-ray/

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 8/17/2017 at 4:04 AM, mpm74 said:

Here's Kyle Warner's review for DOBERMAN COP:

http://cityonfire.com/doberman-cop-review-1977-doberman-deka-kinji-fukasaku-sonny-chiba-arrow-blu-ray/

Good review.

My Blu-ray should be arriving this week or soon after, and I'm overdue for a re-watch of the film.

[lilmanjs]

3 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

Good review.

My Blu-ray should be arriving this week or soon after, and I'm overdue for a re-watch of the film.

Looks fantastic on both formats. I finally got the chance to watch the blu-ray last night. Having never seen the movie before buying, I was really surprised at how good it is. I've only heard bad things about it, but at least it isn't as bad as the V-Cinema movie.

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 8/18/2017 at 1:55 PM, lilmanjs said:

Looks fantastic on both formats. I finally got the chance to watch the blu-ray last night. Having never seen the movie before buying, I was really surprised at how good it is. I've only heard bad things about it, but at least it isn't as bad as the V-Cinema movie.

"Isn't as bad as..."? Not exactly glowing praise. I think it's got a lot going for it, and enjoyed it much more this time than I did watching what-I-seem-to-recall being a very dark DVD print previously.

Loved the special features too!

Speaking of which... when I was praising the Arrow releases of this and WOLF GUY on Face Book, special feature producer Marc Walkow had this to say...

"Thanks Kungfubob! Much appreciated. And to all, if you want to see more films like these in special editions like these, best thing is to let your voices be heard by Arrow. You can write Kevin Lambert <kevin@arrowfilms.co.uk> and cc Francesco Simeoni <francesco@arrowfilms.co.uk> with a polite note telling them that you bought these discs, love them, and would buy more. Sad to say, there's nothing else like this on the current schedule that I'm aware of, nor have I been hired for any further gigs at the moment. So the more they hear from folks that they should be acquiring more of these films, and the more they hear that you enjoy the supplements I put together with folks like Patrick Macias and Tom Mes and others, the more likely they are to do something about it. Thanks again to all."

So please, people, you read the above? We're living in a world where you can reach out to the right people and be heard with the ease of pulling your phone out of your pocket- no stamp or stationary necessary. So during a commercial break from your favorite show, while riding the bus, or even during a bathroom break, please send Arrow Video a nice message telling them you love these releases and would support more of them (especially with Marc Walkow, Tom Mes and Patrick Macias produced extras).

Be a part of making it happen. Thanks!

Viva Chiba! Viva Chiba! Viva Chiba!

[Tosh]

I have to say I'm digging the artwork for this one but I'm going to have to tell Mr Walkow to give the KFBob treatment on the next Chiba release, I saw this years ago on some shit release(or boot), think it was so bad it was almost unwatchable so I don't remember to much about it, looking forward to pick this up.

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 9/6/2017 at 8:37 AM, Tosh said:

I have to say I'm digging the artwork for this one but I'm going to have to tell Mr Walkow to give the KFBob treatment on the next Chiba release, I saw this years ago on some shit release(or boot), think it was so bad it was almost unwatchable so I don't remember to much about it, looking forward to pick this up.

Heh heh... thanks man. Yeah, I really dig this cover art.

It's much better than that dark-ass boot that was floating around would have you believe.

[Vegeta84]

On 9/4/2017 at 8:32 AM, KUNG FU BOB said:

"Isn't as bad as..."? Not exactly glowing praise. I think it's got a lot going for it, and enjoyed it much more this time than I did watching what-I-seem-to-recall being a very dark DVD print previously.

Loved the special features too!

Speaking of which... when I was praising the Arrow releases of this and WOLF GUY on Face Book, special feature producer Marc Walkow had this to say...

"Thanks Kungfubob! Much appreciated. And to all, if you want to see more films like these in special editions like these, best thing is to let your voices be heard by Arrow. You can write Kevin Lambert <kevin@arrowfilms.co.uk> and cc Francesco Simeoni <francesco@arrowfilms.co.uk> with a polite note telling them that you bought these discs, love them, and would buy more. Sad to say, there's nothing else like this on the current schedule that I'm aware of, nor have I been hired for any further gigs at the moment. So the more they hear from folks that they should be acquiring more of these films, and the more they hear that you enjoy the supplements I put together with folks like Patrick Macias and Tom Mes and others, the more likely they are to do something about it. Thanks again to all."

So please, people, you read the above? We're living in a world where you can reach out to the right people and be heard with the ease of pulling your phone out of your pocket- no stamp or stationary necessary. So during a commercial break from your favorite show, while riding the bus, or even during a bathroom break, please send Arrow Video a nice message telling them you love these releases and would support more of them (especially with Marc Walkow, Tom Mes and Patrick Macias produced extras).

Be a part of making it happen. Thanks!

Viva Chiba! Viva Chiba! Viva Chiba!

What's weird is that Marc Walkow had said that Arrow had gotten the rights to 11 Toei films, and only 6 have been released so far.  There was supposed to be one from 1964 and 1978.  Not sure what might have happened, as he makes it seem like they aren't happening anymore. 

[KUNG FU BOB]

4 minutes ago, Vegeta84 said:

What's weird is that Marc Walkow had said that Arrow had gotten the rights to 11 Toei films, and only 6 have been released so far.  There was supposed to be one from 1964 and 1978.  Not sure what might have happened, as he makes it seem like they aren't happening anymore. 

He said "there's nothing else like this on the current schedule that I'm aware of", but that doesn't mean they haven't procured the rights to other films. They may put off releasing similar titles if they aren't getting decent sales (I've heard that WOLF GUY did not sell well), or possibly release them without any special features. Either of these possibilities would be a shame. Please, all you guys and gals, as I said in my post above (all info needed is included within the post), write to Arrow and tell them you want more, and express your feelings about the extras. Ten years ago when I first found and joined the forum we were all wishing that the companies releasing Asian cinema titles would listen to us fans. Well, now they are (at least to a much greater degree), so lets speak up and be heard.  More Chiba titles, and more Japanese classics and cult classics!