"Actor: Takashi Shimura"

• Zatoichi At The Blood Fest | DVD | (02/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The endless travels of the blind swordsman have unexpectedly led him back to the town of Kasama. A chance meeting with a girl Omiyo stirs up memories when Zatoichi learns that they were both raised by the same woman. He is invited to stay with Omiyo and her grandfather Sakubei who remembers Zatoichi as a boy. 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 w

• The Bullet Train | DVD | (19/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A madman (Ken Takakura) plants a bomb on one of Japan's prestigioss Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Hakata the Hikari 109. Threatening to blow it up unless his demands are met if the train slows below 80km/h it will be destroyed. While the police try to track down the culprit it's up to a heroic train conductor (Sonny Chiba) to find the bomb and disarm it in time... Pre-dating ""Speed"" (and its Korean homage ""Tube"") by almost two decades ""Bullet Train"" is gripping edge of

• Seven Samurai | DVD | (22/11/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Unanimously hailed as one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of the motion picture, Seven Samurai has inspired countless films modelled after its basic premise. But Akira Kurosawas classic 1954 action drama has never been surpassed in terms of sheer power of emotion, kinetic energy, and dynamic character development. The story is set in the 1600s, when the residents of a small Japanese village are seeking protection against repeated attacks by a band of marauding thieves. Offering mere handfuls of rice as payment, they hire seven unemployed "ronin" (masterless samurai), including a boastful swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who is actually a farmers son desperately seeking glory and acceptance. The samurai get acquainted with but remain distant from the villagers, knowing that their assignment may prove to be fatal. The climactic battle with the raiding thieves remains one of the most breathtaking sequences ever filmed. Its poetry in hyperactive motion and one of Kurosawas crowning cinematic achievements. This is not a film that can be well served by any synopsis; it must be seen to be appreciated and belongs on the short list of any definitive home-video library. --Jeff Shannon