"Actor: Milfune Toshiro"

• The Samurai Collection | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Three features: 'Red Lion' 'Ambush At Blood Pass' and 'Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo'. Red Lion: With the winds of change sweeping through Japan overthrowing three centuries of Shogunate rule Gonzo (Toshiro Mifune) a peasant enlists in the Imperial Restoration Force which promises to reform the oppression of the past. Gonzo persuades his commander to lend him his Red Lion Mane a symbol of authority and rides into his old home town where he receives a hero's welcome. This tale both touching and hilarious traces the difficulties of a simple boastful humane man caught in the web of political intrigue. Casting a cold eye on politicians of all hues at its climax it achieves true tragic intensity. Ambush At Blood Pass: Yojimbo a ronin (Mifune) is secretly commissioned to travel to Sanshu Pass. This once crucial thoroughfare in the time of the warlords is now just a backroad used by outcasts. There he is to wait until an undisclosed event occurs. On his journey he rescues a woman from her violent husband and takes her away with him. They arrive at an inn run by an old man and his granddaughter. This place has become home to a bunch of misfits including a one-time physician (Katsu) a wandering gambler and an officer of the law together with his prisoner. A dramatic chain of events unfolds forcing the once hostile and untrusting characters to unite in a common cause: their own survival. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo: The gentle breeze the murmur of a babbling brook the scent of plums. These memories call Zatoichi the blind swordsman back to a once-loved village. But memories are deceptive and he arrives to find things much changed. The former boss Hyoroku has been reduced to a carver of statues of Jizo the Buddha of Healing and his daughter Umeno has become a hostess and as she describes herself one of the bad ones. Control of the village is split between a former travelling merchant Eboshiya and his son Masagoro. Eboshiya befriends Zatoichi and seeks his aid against Masagoro's minder the drunken samurai Yojimbo the crooked crook. When a masseur is killed amidst rumours that a large amount of gold has been secreted in the village the two factions begin to size each other up. It is at this point that Masagoro's younger son suddenly decides his father needs more protection and calls on the services of the contract killer Kuzuryu.

• Zatoichi | DVD | (20/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo The gentle breeze the murmur of a babbling brook the scent of plums. These memories call Zatoichi the blind swordsman back to a once-loved village. But memories are deceptive and he arrives to find things much changed. The former boss Hyoroku has been reduced to a carver of statues of Jizo the Buddha of Healing and his daughter Umeno has become a hostess and as she describes herself one of the bad ones. Control of the village is split between a former travelling merchant Eboshiya and his son Masagoro. Eboshiya befriends Zatoichi and seeks his aid against Masagoro's minder the drunken samurai Yojimbo the crooked crook. When a masseur is killed amidst rumours that a large amount of gold has been secreted in the village the two factions begin to size each other up. It is at this point that Masagoro's younger son suddenly decides his father needs more protection and calls on the services of the contract killer Kuzuryu... Zatoichi's Pilgrimage A girl is assaulted on the highway and Zatoichi is embarassed to find himself acting as midwife to a dying woman. Entrusted with the baby he embarks on a mission to the village of Dashu to deliver the baby to the father Satoro. When there he is waylaid and cheated by Seji a young stooge of the local gang whose ageing father is Dashu's law enforcement officer. To add to his miseries he is dogged by a boy who delights in stoning him and running away. Dashu's loan shark gamblers are on the point of seizing Satoro's sister Oyae to become a sex slave in forfeit for an unpaid debt and with the arrival of Satoro the town begins to heat up. In the process of resolving Oyae's financial difficulties Zatoichi reveals himself as master of a wide range of martial skills as well as finding time to teach certain hoodlums the intricacies of nude dancing... Zatoichi At The Blood Fest The endless travels of the blind swordsman have unexpectedly led him back to the town of Kasama. Zatoichi's arrival has coincided with a welcome home feast for Shinbei his childhood friend. Shinbei has returned home a successful businessman and pays the town's taxes which it cannot afford apparently due to the poor rice harvest. But Shinbei's motives are far from pure. With the peasants now in his debt he is free to plunder their quarry and to sell their stone across country. In order to save his hometown Zatoichi must confront his former friend and end the conspiracy of rice and stone. Zatoichi Meets The One Armed Swordsman A one-armed swordsman saves the life of a young boy sentenced to death for stopping an official procession. The local peasants however suffer in the aftermath as all are massacred and Zatoichi is caught up in the maelstrom...