Member daisho2004 Posted May 21, 2009 Member Share Posted May 21, 2009 This movie has been released this week: Editorial Reviews Product Description The Ginza Butterfly Nami (Meiko Kaji, returning to her role from the original) is back in a new story that finds her on the hunt for Hoshiden, the man who killed her gambler father when she was only a child. Arriving in Tokyo, Nami takes a job as a hostess in a swank Ginza club, all the while combing the back-alleys and gambling dens for news of Hoshiden s whereabouts. Local street entrepreneur Ryuji (the Street Fighter himself, Sonny Chiba) joins her in the search, and eventually in a bloody raid on the yakuza headquarters where Hoshiden now living incognito, under an assumed name is hiding out. SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE: New, fully restored, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer mastered in high-definition from Toei s original vault elements Japanese language with newly-translated, removable English subtitles New video interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi New video interview with Pinky Violence film expert J-Taro Sugisaku Original Japanese theatrical trailers for both films Reversible cover with original Japanese poster artwork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted May 24, 2009 Member Share Posted May 24, 2009 Have you seen these Daisho? They had these on vhs at a video store up in atlanta, kept passing them by for some other rentals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted May 24, 2009 Author Member Share Posted May 24, 2009 No I was hoping one of you Guys did to give me a review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted May 25, 2009 Administrator Share Posted May 25, 2009 I've had them for a while, but haven't watched them yet. It's not like I find new films with Sonny Chiba to watch on a regular basis. So sometimes when I find a new one, I kind of hang on to it, savor the excitement for a while before I watch it. However, the extras on these new official releases (part 1 and 2 just became available) are making them tempting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kaleyboy Posted May 25, 2009 Member Share Posted May 25, 2009 I'm waiting on delivery of these and some nikatsu action movies. I'll report back when I get them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted May 25, 2009 Administrator Share Posted May 25, 2009 I'm waiting on delivery of these and some nikatsu action movies. I'll report back when I get them. Cool. Please let us know if the extras make them worth double-dipping on these titles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted May 25, 2009 Author Member Share Posted May 25, 2009 kaleyboy: I just want to know how the movies are period! Are they worth getting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted May 25, 2009 Administrator Share Posted May 25, 2009 Now we're ALL waiting on their delivery to Kaleyboy's house! XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member HAZ Posted May 26, 2009 Member Share Posted May 26, 2009 Honestly, I've heard many times that both of these movies stink. They've been widely available for awhile thanks to bootleggers & I've always passed because they have such a bad rep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted May 26, 2009 Author Member Share Posted May 26, 2009 See that's why you gotta love Netflix they do get these movies once they have been given a legit release. for the most part and you can watch them and return them all in the same day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Honestly, I've heard many times that both of these movies stink. They've been widely available for awhile thanks to bootleggers & I've always passed because they have such a bad rep. How can anything with Meiko Kaji be bad? Her "I will avenge you pissed off stare" is unequalled. I just love her. I've been eyeing these films for a couple of years and eagerly awaiting Synapse Films' release this year, but don't have them yet. Look forward to Kaleyboy's comments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ToothbrushFu Posted May 27, 2009 Member Share Posted May 27, 2009 I've got the second one, so far unwatched. dvdpacific shipped the first one a week late so I can't watch them in order until that arrives. But yeah, (Meiko Kaji x 2) + (Sonny Chiba x 1) + (beers x 10) = best night of the month. The following morning... not so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kaleyboy Posted May 27, 2009 Member Share Posted May 27, 2009 First film is widescreen, nice clean print. Audio original japanese mono track. Subtitles are easy to read. Extras include audio commentary by chris D, 37 minute interview with the director, theatrical trailers, poster gallery and biography/filmograhpy of Meiko Kaji. Haven't had time to watch yet as it only just arrived. Will report features of 2nd film later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kaleyboy Posted May 27, 2009 Member Share Posted May 27, 2009 Okay, just checked 2nd movie, Ginza 2. Everything is same as film 1, except no commentary by chris D, it's same interview with the director re-used. In fact, all the extras are the same except for an interview with Taro Sugisaki. A bit disapointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted May 27, 2009 Administrator Share Posted May 27, 2009 Thanks Kaleyboy. The same interview on both discs? That's lame. Still, I'd like to see that, and check out Chris D's commentary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Please check out this YouTube clip from HKFlix's page for WGB 2. This is awesome!! http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.550178/qx/details.htm Just click on the film reel icon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted May 27, 2009 Member Share Posted May 27, 2009 i'm hesitant on both, everything i hear about them suggest very little action and a whole lot of talking. i actually had volume 2 downloaded a while ago without subs, i skimmed through to see if it was worth a try and it looked very slow and more comical than anything else. which is fine in itself, but it's just not what i want from a meiko kaji/sonny chiba movie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Watched WGB 2 over the weekend and LOVED IT! Again, the stunningly gorgeous Meiko Kaji was superb as Nami. The stories from WGB 1 and WGB 2 are not releated other than her character, Nami, is the same. However WGB 2 is in the same veign as #1, but IMO better than #1. In WGB 2, Nami is in search of the yakuza gambler/boss that killed her father so she can avenge his murder. Nami's father was a gambler and she traveled with him to the gambling houses as a young girl. In turn, she became a skilled gambler when she reached adulthood. This of course helps her deal with yakuza thugs when she needs to, and then leads to the pre-finale card match with the yakuza boss she's looking for. The card match is awesome and suspenseful, which then leads to the finale with both Kaji and Chiba exacting their revenge. Sonny Chiba is also excellent in this movie. We don't see much of him in the first half, but after his character, Ryuji, gets more involved with Nami, we see more of him in the second half. One thing that I found annoying was that he was given a stutter. Why his character had a stutter is beyond me. It didn't make any sense whatsoever. But that's a minor gripe overall. I loved watching Chiba and Kaji together. They were awesome! I thought Kaji was especially gorgeous in this film. In most of the film, she's in a kimono as opposed to regular clothes of the time (1973). There were times where I thought her character should have been a little tougher and would have preferred to see her pull out her short sword, or katana for that matter, as opposed to pulling out a pistol from her kimono. It just didn't match or look right. In WGB 1, Nami was more of a badass and didn't take much crap from people, more so than in WGB 2. Again, another minor gripe for WGB 2. I thought the finale in WGB 2 was better than in #1. The finale in WGB 2 with Chiba is just classic Kaji revenge! These films are not for the casual Japanese movie watcher expecting to see something similar to LADY SNOWBLOOD. Both WGB 1 & 2 are specific Japanese cult cinema classics in the "pinky violence" genre. Both films are written and directed so that the story leads up to the finale. There are a lot of things that go on in both films that Kaji does and says, along with other good guys and the bad guys, that a casual viewer will not pick up. For example, in both films, Kaji goes through a formal introduction of herself in a kneeling, bowing position and in a louder, stern voice. This is specific to the Yakuza code and commentator Chris D. talks about this in both WGB 1 and in BLIND WOMAN'S CURSE [there's no Chris D commentary in WGB 2]. So, I highly recommend both WGB 1 and 2 to members who have watched a lot of Japanese cult cinema and understand yakuza, samurai, and to some extent Japanese customs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DeathShrike Posted July 7, 2009 Member Share Posted July 7, 2009 I really enjoyed the first one. Despite not being an action movie really, I thought the characters and story were compelling enough. The second one's story was too muddled, with too many characters, and too much comic relief to sustain it's largely action-less runtime. It's always nice to see Sonny Chiba, but I can only recommend the first one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted August 26, 2009 Member Share Posted August 26, 2009 Watched WGB 2 over the weekend and LOVED IT! Again, the stunningly gorgeous Meiko Kaji was superb as Nami. The stories from WGB 1 and WGB 2 are not releated other than her character, Nami, is the same. However WGB 2 is in the same veign as #1, but IMO better than #1. ........! I thought Kaji was especially gorgeous in this film. In most of the film, she's in a kimono as opposed to regular clothes of the time (1973). There were times where I thought her character should have been a little tougher and would have preferred to see her pull out her short sword, or katana for that matter, as opposed to pulling out a pistol from her kimono. It just didn't match or look right. In WGB 1, Nami was more of a badass and didn't take much crap from people, more so than in WGB 2. Again, another minor gripe for WGB 2. I thought the finale in WGB 2 was better than in #1. The finale in WGB 2 with Chiba is just classic Kaji revenge! These films are not for the casual Japanese movie watcher expecting to see something similar to LADY SNOWBLOOD. Both WGB 1 & 2 are specific Japanese cult cinema classics in the "pinky violence" genre. Both films are written and directed so that the story leads up to the finale. There are a lot of things that go on in both films that Kaji does and says, along with other good guys and the bad guys, that a casual viewer will not pick up. For example, in both films, Kaji goes through a formal introduction of herself in a kneeling, bowing position and in a louder, stern voice. This is specific to the Yakuza code and commentator Chris D. talks about this in both WGB 1 and in BLIND WOMAN'S CURSE [there's no Chris D commentary in WGB 2]. So, I highly recommend both WGB 1 and 2 to members who have watched a lot of Japanese cult cinema and understand yakuza, samurai, and to some extent Japanese customs. Great review, WuxiaFan, and I agree on almost all points. I knew going in that these weren't wall-to-wall action flicks, so I wasn't put off by that. But yeah, I found these to be very enjoyable, drama/gangster/hipster 70's movies, with some nice swordfighting action at the end. I thought these had great musical scores, and were very nicely filmed---the fact that they shot on location in the Ginza area really added a nice element of realism---I really felt like I got a window on that subculture in Japan in the early 70's. Meiko Kaji definitely has screen presence, that's for sure. I would also probably agree with you that I liked WGB 2 just a bit more. I loved the dramatic opening scene on the bridge leading into the credit sequence, and I also thought the final fight along with Chiba was a bit of an improvement----but overall I'd rank the two movies about the same. Also, I'm not a big fan of the graphic violence/exploitation stuff, and these movies didn't go too far in that direction. Very fun, well-made, change-of-pace movies for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted August 27, 2009 Member Share Posted August 27, 2009 I need to see these, I've passed them up a few times for rentals, now I wish I'd checked them out, to many movies - so little time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted August 30, 2009 Author Member Share Posted August 30, 2009 He is the Video clip from YouTube its the end of the Movie so it is a Spoiler! Looks really good! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtfKPbGIbKU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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