"Actor: Shimada"

• Battle Royale - Two Disc Special Edition | DVD | (23/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £23.99

  With the Japanese currently leading the way in thought-provoking cinematic violence, it's only fitting that Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale is being touted as A Clockwork Orange for the 21st century. Based on the novel by Koshun Takami, the film opens with a series of fleeting images of unruly Japanese schoolkids, whose bad behaviour provides a justification for the "punishments" that will ensue. Once the prequel has been dispensed with, the classmates are drugged and awaken on an island where they find they have been fitted with dog collars that monitor their every move. Instructed by their old teacher ("Beat" Takeshi) with the aid of an upbeat MTV-style video, they are told of their fate: after an impartial Lottery they have been chosen to fight each other in a three-day, no-rules contest, the "Battle Royale". Their only chance of survival in the "Battle" is through the death of all their classmates. Some pupils embrace their mission with zeal, while others simply give up or try to become peacemakers and revolutionaries. However, the ultimate drive for survival comes from the desire to protect the one you love. Battle Royale works on many different levels, highlighting the authorities' desperation to enforce law and order and the alienation caused by the generation gap. Whether you view the film as an important social commentary or simply enjoy the adrenalin-fuelled violence, this is set to become cult viewing for the computer-game generation and beyond. On the DVD: Battle Royale comes out fighting in a special edition format only a few months after the initial DVD release became cult viewing. But don't get too excited about the new cut of the film, only a few additional scenes have been added and the alternate ending simply offers a series of Requiem sequences. Disc 2 contains a whole heap of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, unfortunately many of these tend to repeat material. The Q&A with the cast (in full costume) and the director is repeated in the Tokyo Film festival. The special effects comparison feature is a case of "spot the difference" the S-FX hardly being in the Star Wars league and the instructional video on how to direct a film proves that the DVD makers have tried to grasp irony and failed. The disc also includes trailers and text filmographies for "Beat" Takeshi and director Kinji Fukasaku along with a written statement by the master of extreme cinema. Lacking in commentary and substance this DVD is redeemed by a superior sound and visual print to its predecessors. –-Nikki Disney

• Undiscovered Tomb | DVD | (23/08/2004) from £6.33   |  Saving you £10.65 (318.86%)   |  RRP £13.99

  When the power of the Stone Warriors is coming back everyone will be crushed unless all unite! An expedition is embarked upon to uncover the tablets of Eternity which bear the promise of abnormally long lifespan. However with a prize as great as this many will fight and indeed kill for the treasure...

• Japanese Classics Of Horror And Fantasy | DVD | (30/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A box set containing some of the best horror and fantasy films ever produced in Japan! Portrait Of Hell Created by premier Japanese novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa (creator of Roshomon) 'Portrait of Hell' is a mesmerising look into humans creating hell on earth in their own unique ways. Must be seen to be believed! Illusion Of Blood From Shiro Toyoda director of the nightmarish 'Portrait Of Hell' comes a chilling story of love betrayal and vengeance. Tatsuya Nakadai stars as the selfish samurai Iyemon who after the loss of his lord has been left impoverished. He become outraged that his father-in-law intends to sell his two daughter's into prostitution. It is not love but respectability that Iyemon desires... Tokyo The Last Megalopolis When Masakado was executed for crimes against humanity over a thousand years ago his malevolent spirit refused to die with him merely becoming dormant and waiting for the chance to rise again. To disturb it is to awaken a terrible vengeance on the city of Tokyo. The demonic psychic Kato attempts to revive the slumbering evil and use its energy to plunge the city into a hell on Earth. It is up to a lone spiritual warrior Keiko a descendant of Masakado to stop the maniacal Kato before the spirit is released and the ancient curse is unleashed upon the world. Princess From The Moon Toshiro Mifune stars in this enchanting film based on the traditional Japanese fairytale 'Kaguya' as the male half of a country couple who find a baby girl in the bamboo and raise her as their own until the truth is revealed when she is taken back...

• That Swing | DVD | (11/06/2007) from £18.85   |  Saving you £-3.86 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Swing directed by one of the leading names in Japanese pink cinema Mitsuru Meike follows the story of a woman whose boring life takes a turn and becomes one of a world of sexual experimentation and partner swapping!

• No Way Back | DVD | (11/12/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

• Tokyo Decadence | DVD | (10/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A lonely fragile college student turned S & M prostitute endlessly searches for a love that will always elude her. Alone a brutalised and uncomprehending spirit adrift in the dehumanising hell of modern Tokyo she endures a succession of perverse encounters with ever-more depraved clients in a doomed quest for salvation and belonging...

• Chinese Heroes / Undiscovered Tomb / King Boxer | DVD | (14/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.99

  Chinese Heroes: At first they were blood brothers. In vengeance they were sworn enemies. Together they became heroes! Undiscovered Tomb: When the power of the Stone Warriors is coming back everyone will be crushed unless all unite! An expedition is embarked upon to uncover the tablets of Eternity which bear the promise of abnormally long lifespan. However with a prize as great as this many will fight and indeed kill for the treasure... Kingboxer: Two rival