Member HAZ Posted May 19, 2009 Member Share Posted May 19, 2009 It's finally coming! After hearing about this last year, I was wondering when it would finally come out! I caught "A Colt Is My Passport" last summer & was told about this collection. It was supposed to come out a while back & when I heard no other news, I was afraid it got dropped/shelved. The price point is amazing for Criterion. Five films are included, which have not appeared on dvd anywhere, at least to my knowledge. Colt is a great film. The others are I Am Waiting, The Rusty Knife, Take Aim At The Police Van, & Cruel Gun Story. The print of Colt was beat so it will be good to see it get the criterion treatment. Hopefully "Gangster VIP" will follow...Here is a link to the criterion site: http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/655 h Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted May 19, 2009 Member Share Posted May 19, 2009 Haz: I'm not at all familiar with these movies how would you rate them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member HAZ Posted May 19, 2009 Author Member Share Posted May 19, 2009 If you like Seijun Suzuki films, like Tokyo Drifter or Tattooed Life, then this should be right up your alley. Think Le Samourai, but in Japanese, and with Yakuza. Colt was cool. Very stylish. It's hard to rate the other films because they have been unavailable, even in Japan, on dvd. Joe Shishido (The guy with the cheek implants from Branded To Kill) stars in two of the films in the collection. There are big names involved in all of the films. I hope it leads to more Nikkatsu stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted May 19, 2009 Member Share Posted May 19, 2009 I'm pretty sure the movies in the box will be much less fanciful than the some of the previous Nikkatsu movies we've seen like Tokyo Drifter, Branded to Kill or Black Tight Killers (I've seen A Colt is My Passport, and it definitely doesn't play like any of those movies). They should play more like straight-forward noir. The two Nikkatsu being released by Kino tomorrow, 3 Seconds Before Explosion and Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards!, may have noir elements, but are more like the Nikkatsu movies we're more familiar with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted May 19, 2009 Member Share Posted May 19, 2009 thanks for the heads up, great news Colt Is My Passport does have some moments of stylization that are reminiscent of the more adventerous Suzuki films, but overall it plays things pretty straight. I'm inclined to agree with TDB's prediction, I think these will be more traditional noirs in the vein of Underworld Beauty. Nothing wrong with that of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted May 31, 2010 Member Share Posted May 31, 2010 Finally picked this set up-----nice to see at least SOME Criterion DVDs at a reasonable price. Great set----I really enjoyed Take Aim at the Police Van and Cruel Gun Story. But yes, the spagetti western influence of A Colt is My Passport really put that one over the top, and the last fifteen minutes of that movie is KICK ASS COOL!! I also have Tokyo Drifter, which is great, although that is an early Criterion and the print doesn't look very good. I've definitely got my appetite whetted for more of these "borderless action" movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted January 7, 2012 Member Share Posted January 7, 2012 I picked up the Criterion Blu Rays of Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill, and wow, they look great. I had never seen Branded to Kill before--that is one whacked-out movie . I'm getting a pretty good collection of Nikkatsu action---you can really see how these movies influenced HK movies. The more you see, the more you realize that there is a heck of a lot of cross-pollination between Hollywood westerns and noir, Italian westerns and action movies, Japanese Samurai and yakuza, and HK martial arts and heroic bloodshed movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member razorclam Posted January 7, 2012 Member Share Posted January 7, 2012 I got the Tokyo Drifter blu ray as well, but I haven't watched it. If you want to see a great one, check out Youth Of The Beast. Criterion released it a few years ago. I think it's one of the more entertaining Nikkatsu films that they have released. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted January 7, 2012 Member Share Posted January 7, 2012 Yep, I picked up Youth of the Beast last year, and I agree--that's a very good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member razorclam Posted January 7, 2012 Member Share Posted January 7, 2012 I love that at some point this actor, Jo Shishido, thought he would look cooler; if he looked like a squirel with nuts in his mouth. It's like Kenny Rogers thinking the world will take me seriously if I'm always surprised. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted January 7, 2012 Member Share Posted January 7, 2012 On the new Branded to Kill blu ray, there's a recent interview with Shishido and he talks about that. I was falling asleep and don't remember the whole thing, but he said when he started his career either he thought or people told him his face was too thin, so he went to a plastic surgeon and asked if he could get cheek implants. The doctor said he didn't think it was a good idea, but Shishido had him do it anyways! He said he immediately knew it was a mistake, and that he looked ridiculous from some angles, but for whatever reason he kept it like that. I'll have to watch the rest of that interview again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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