"Actor: Shingo Tsurumi"

• The Age of Shadows | Blu Ray | (10/07/2017) from £8.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The latest from the award-winning Kim Jee-Woon, The Age of Shadows is a slick, suspension-fuelled espionage thriller featuring an all-star cast. Set in Japanese-occupied Korea of the 1920s, Song Kang-ho plays a Korean police captain in the Japanese police force with a special mission: infiltrate and deceive the armed resistance fighting for independence, lead by the charismatic Kim Woo-jin (Yoo Gong). With both men standing on opposing sides, each knowing the identity and intentions of the other, a cat-and-mouse game ensues - one in which not everyone will make it out alive. Also starring Byung-hun Lee and Ji-min Han, this is a blistering spectacle from a master filmmaker at the top of his game.

• The Age of Shadows | DVD | (10/07/2017) from £7.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The latest from the award-winning Kim Jee-Woon, The Age of Shadows is a slick, suspension-fuelled espionage thriller featuring an all-star cast. Set in Japanese-occupied Korea of the 1920s, Song Kang-ho plays a Korean police captain in the Japanese police force with a special mission: infiltrate and deceive the armed resistance fighting for independence, lead by the charismatic Kim Woo-jin (Yoo Gong). With both men standing on opposing sides, each knowing the identity and intentions of the other, a cat-and-mouse game ensues - one in which not everyone will make it out alive. Also starring Byung-hun Lee and Ji-min Han, this is a blistering spectacle from a master filmmaker at the top of his game.

• Dead or Alive Trilogy | Blu Ray | (27/03/2017) from £24.69   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Beginning with an explosive, six-minute montage of sex, drugs and violence, and ending with a phallus-headed battle robot taking flight, Takashi Miike's unforgettable Dead or Alive Trilogy features many of the director's most outrageous moments set alongside some of his most dramatically moving scenes. Made between 1999 and 2002, the Dead or Alive films cemented Miike's reputation overseas as one of the most provocative enfants terrible of Japanese cinema, yet also one of its most talented and innovative filmmakers. In Dead or Alive, tough gangster Ryuichi (Riki Takeuchi) and his ethnically Chinese gang make a play to take over the drug trade in Tokyo's Shinjuku district by massacring the competition. But he meets his match in detective Jojima (Show Aikawa), who will do everything to stop them. Dead or Alive 2: Birds casts Aikawa and Takeuchi together again, but as new characters, a pair of rival yakuza assassins who turn out to be childhood friends; after a botched hit, they flee together to the island where they grew up, and decide to devote their deadly skills to a more humanitarian cause. And in Dead or Alive: Final, Takeuchi and Aikawa are catapulted into a future Yokohama ruled by multilingual gangs and cyborg soldiers, where they once again butt heads in the action-packed and cyberpunk-tinged finale to the trilogy. Each of them unique in theme and tone, the Dead or Alive films showcase Miike at the peak of his strengths, creating three very distinct movies connected only by their two popular main actors, each film a separate yet superb example of crime drama, character study, and action filmmaking. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: High Definition digital transfers of all three films Original uncompressed stereo audio Optional English subtitles for all three films New interview with actor Riki Takeuchi New interview with actor Sho Aikawa New interview with producer and screenwriter Toshiki Kimura New audio commentary for Dead or Alive by Miike biographer Tom Mes Archive interviews with cast and crew Archive making-of featurettes for DOA2: Birds and DOA: Final Original theatrical trailers for all three films Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena

• Immortal Story | Blu Ray | (29/07/2024) from £11.80   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A story of lost lives and lost souls, writer/director Yonfan delivers one of his strongest studies of human fragility. The movie focuses on the relationship between a chanteuse and her Japanese lover from the time they first meet to the present day where she is now at rock bottom and he's a washed-up drug addict. With incredible performances from Sylvia Chang and Shingo Tsurumi, we act as a voyeur, dipping into their bleak, fragmented existences where others control their choices and the only the only light in their lives is their unbroken love.

• Dead Or Alive | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £5.49   |  Saving you £9.50 (63.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The director of Dead or Alive, Takashi Miike, made his name on the international scene with Audition, a chilling psychological thriller that builds from a quiet start towards a prolonged torture sequence almost too unbearable to watch. But such deliberate pacing isn't typical of Miike, whose movies often assault the viewer with an onslaught of slam-bang action that makes John Woo look like Eric Rohmer. Dead or Alive, his most successful cops-vs-yakuza thriller to date, kicks off with six non-stop minutes of machine gun-paced violence, sex and slaughter, all set to a pounding heavy-metal beat. Thereafter things calm down a little, though not much. Given Miike's penchant for murky, livid-toned visuals and skewed camera angles, it's not always too easy to work out exactly who's doing what to whom, but the general outline's clear enough. The Tokyo underworld is being torn apart by a turf war between the yakuza gangs and the invading Chinese triads. Ambitious yakuza member Ryuichi isn't above playing both sides off against each other in his bid for power, while police detective Jojima, himself none too scrupulous in his methods, is out to destroy the gangs. Into this conventional plot framework Miike piles enough warped characters and bizarre, twisted happenings to fuel half-a-dozen Tarantino movies, while cheerfully borrowing--and inflating--key moments from such hard-boiled gangster-noirs as The Big Heat and Kiss Me Deadly. One character deep-fries his own hand, a stripper is drowned in a paddling-pool filled with her own excrement, and the literally apocalyptic finale, the showdown to end all showdowns, will leave you gasping. The appallingly prolific Miike, who regularly makes about five movies a year, has since directed two sequels--the first only three months after the original.--Philip Kemp

• Dead or Alive Trilogy | DVD | (27/03/2017) from £8.50   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Beginning with an explosive, six-minute montage of sex, drugs and violence, and ending with a phallus-headed battle robot taking flight, Takashi Miike's unforgettable Dead or Alive Trilogy features many of the director's most outrageous moments set alongside some of his most dramatically moving scenes. Made between 1999 and 2002, the Dead or Alive films cemented Miike's reputation overseas as one of the most provocative enfants terrible of Japanese cinema, yet also one of its most talented and innovative filmmakers. In Dead or Alive, tough gangster Ryuichi (Riki Takeuchi) and his ethnically Chinese gang make a play to take over the drug trade in Tokyo's Shinjuku district by massacring the competition. But he meets his match in detective Jojima (Show Aikawa), who will do everything to stop them. Dead or Alive 2: Birds casts Aikawa and Takeuchi together again, but as new characters, a pair of rival yakuza assassins who turn out to be childhood friends; after a botched hit, they flee together to the island where they grew up, and decide to devote their deadly skills to a more humanitarian cause. And in Dead or Alive: Final, Takeuchi and Aikawa are catapulted into a future Yokohama ruled by multilingual gangs and cyborg soldiers, where they once again butt heads in the action-packed and cyberpunk-tinged finale to the trilogy. Each of them unique in theme and tone, the Dead or Alive films showcase Miike at the peak of his strengths, creating three very distinct movies connected only by their two popular main actors, each film a separate yet superb example of crime drama, character study, and action filmmaking. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: High Definition digital transfers of all three films Original stereo audio Optional English subtitles for all three films New interview with actor Riki Takeuchi New interview with actor Sho Aikawa New interview with producer and screenwriter Toshiki Kimura New audio commentary for Dead or Alive by Miike biographer Tom Mes Archive interviews with cast and crew Archive making-of featurettes for DOA2: Birds and DOA: Final Original theatrical trailers for all three films Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Kat Ellinger

• Yakuza Weapon (2011) (Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (07/05/2012) from £8.49   |  Saving you £11.50 (135.45%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Working as a hard-to-kill mercenary in South America, ex-yakuza Shozo Iwaki (Tak Sakaguchi) is informed of the death of his gang boss father, Kenzo (Akaji Maro). Returning home after four years, Shozo discovers that his father's number-one man, Kurawaki (Shingo Tsurumi), has double-crossed and assassinated Kenzo, leaving Shozo not only in charge of what little remains of the Iwaki Family, but also burning with the desire for vengeance. After a titanic battle in which an entire building is levelled, both Shozo and Kurawaki are left barely alive, Shozo missing an arm and a leg.Despite his debilitating wounds, the nearly superhuman Shozo clings to life, and wakes up in a mysterious medical facility with an M61 Vulcan cannon in place of his right arm, and a rocket launcher where his left leg used to be! Although confused by his new body and tormented by the pain it brings him, Shozo quickly learns to love his weaponized frame, and makes himself ready for a rematch with Kurawaki, who also has some mechanical improvements of his own.But before that, Shozo must also deal with Tetsuo (Jun Murakami), his former best friend who's fallen into drugs and hard times, and has been coerced by the Kurawaki gang to find and kill Shozo! Nearly a match for Shozo's strength and fighting ability, Tetsuo also has a mechanical secret: his younger sister Sumire (Cay Izumi), who's been transformed into a naked weapon, using the same technology that gave Shozo his arm and leg! But can Shozo bring himself to destroy his own best friend, the only thing standing between him and final vengeance?Co-directed by Yudai Yamaguchi and Tak Sakaguchi, who between them have created crazy, action-filled comedies like Battlefield Baseball, Meatball Machine, Mutant Girls Squad and Deadball, and featuring action direction by Yuji Shimomura (Death Trance, Versus, Shinobi), special makeup effects by Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police, Helldriver) and based on an adult comic by Ken Ishikawa, who co-created Cutie Honey, Getter Robot and many other famous series, Yakuza Weapon is a wild combination of hard-boiled gangster action, manga-style comedy and splatterific special effects.

• The Black Angel | DVD | (25/02/2002) from £12.90   |  Saving you £-2.91 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Takashi Ishi's visually stylish The Black Angel is a fascinating cross between Japanese gangster film and Jacobean revenge tragedy. Sent away to the US after the slaughter of her parents by rivals led by her half-sister Chaiko, Ikko (Riona Hazuki) returns determined to reclaim her yakuza kingdom. Ikko is obsessed with childish memories of Mayo the hitwoman, the original Black Angel, entrusted with getting her out of the country. The intervening 14 years have been hard on Mayo--being the Black Angel is tough on the nerves--and she is hired to kill Ikko, not realising they have met before. This is a tragic film in which three strong women are destined to destroy each other through the trickery of male betrayal; from the beginning, as a child is smuggled away and a mother told the infant is dead, it is clear that we are in a land of myth, with no happy endings. A night time Tokyo of bright lights and dark shadows, of dead-end corridors and escalators that lead you only to your death, is provided as a moody backdrop. Takashi's inventive set pieces of mood and action include a shootout in a strip club set to Verdi's Requiem. On the DVD: The Black Angel is presented on disc in widescreen, while the moody, atmospheric score is done full justice by the Dolby Digital soundtrack. The only special features are filmographies and biographies, production stills and the theatrical trailer. --Roz Kaveney

• The Spiral | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  An autopsy case draws Dr Mitsuo Ando into the world of Sadako the restless spirit as he seeks to resolve the mystery of her curse and its effects. As in 'The Ring' after viewing the tape he has seven days before Sadako's curse comes into effect. Delving deeply Ando is horrified to discover Sadako's true intentions. This discovery causes him to face an agonising decision as to whether he will make the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the world from falling into darkness....

• Asian Shockers | DVD | (20/06/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

• Gun Crazy | DVD | (18/10/2004) from £24.65   |  Saving you £-4.66 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Director Atsushi Muroga's female-action-hero movie series 'Gun Crazy' tweaks the standard spaghetti-western formula by transposing the action to Japan and centering each of the shootout adventures on a different female gunslinger. In the first movie of the series 'A Woman From Nowhere' Japanese supermodel Ryoko Yonekura stars as the gun-toting heroine Saki who travels the countryside on her motorcycle seeking vengeance on a violent crime syndicate led by the ruthless Tojo (Shingo Tsurumi). The police won't arrest him and the military won't go near him but Saki knows you don't send a man to do a woman's job!

• Yakuza Weapon (2011) (DVD) | DVD | (07/05/2012) from £9.98   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Working as a hard-to-kill mercenary in South America, ex-yakuza Shozo Iwaki (Tak Sakaguchi) is informed of the death of his gang boss father, Kenzo (Akaji Maro). Returning home after four years, Shozo discovers that his father's number-one man, Kurawaki (Shingo Tsurumi), has double-crossed and assassinated Kenzo, leaving Shozo not only in charge of what little remains of the Iwaki Family, but also burning with the desire for vengeance. After a titanic battle in which an entire building is levelled, both Shozo and Kurawaki are left barely alive, Shozo missing an arm and a leg.Despite his debilitating wounds, the nearly superhuman Shozo clings to life, and wakes up in a mysterious medical facility with an M61 Vulcan cannon in place of his right arm, and a rocket launcher where his left leg used to be! Although confused by his new body and tormented by the pain it brings him, Shozo quickly learns to love his weaponized frame, and makes himself ready for a rematch with Kurawaki, who also has some mechanical improvements of his own.But before that, Shozo must also deal with Tetsuo (Jun Murakami), his former best friend who's fallen into drugs and hard times, and has been coerced by the Kurawaki gang to find and kill Shozo! Nearly a match for Shozo's strength and fighting ability, Tetsuo also has a mechanical secret: his younger sister Sumire (Cay Izumi), who's been transformed into a naked weapon, using the same technology that gave Shozo his arm and leg! But can Shozo bring himself to destroy his own best friend, the only thing standing between him and final vengeance?Co-directed by Yudai Yamaguchi and Tak Sakaguchi, who between them have created crazy, action-filled comedies like Battlefield Baseball, Meatball Machine, Mutant Girls Squad and Deadball, and featuring action direction by Yuji Shimomura (Death Trance, Versus, Shinobi), special makeup effects by Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police, Helldriver) and based on an adult comic by Ken Ishikawa, who co-created Cutie Honey, Getter Robot and many other famous series, Yakuza Weapon is a wild combination of hard-boiled gangster action, manga-style comedy and splatterific special effects.

• Hayabusa | DVD | (14/05/2012) from £9.43   |  Saving you £3.56 (37.75%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Based on an incredible true story, Hayabusa tells the story of the eponymous unmanned spacecraft that embarked on an impossible seven-year mission to land on a distant asteroid and collect samples that could possibly unlock the secrets behind the origins of the universe. But disaster strikes when the spacecraft experiences multiple system failures on its way back to Earth and the scientists at JAXA, the Japanese space agency, must scramble to save the multi-billion dollar mission and its precious cargo.

• Freezer | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

• Freezer | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £6.89   |  Saving you £8.10 (54.00%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Freezer is a disturbing thriller from director Takashi Ishii about Chihiro a woman trying to escape the memories of being raped by three men while they filmed the incident. She leaves her hometown to start a new life and five years later is a professional working in Tokyo engaged to one of her colleagues Yusuke. Without warning one of the rapists appears and threatens to turn her life into a living hell with news that the other two are on their way with the videotape of the rape