"Actor: Takeshi"

• The Water Margin - Season 1 - | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  The Water Margin is a sprawling Chinese television series from 1977 that tells the story of a group of legendary heroes who battled corruption at the time of the Sung dynasty 1,000 years ago. Made in two seasons of 13 episodes and shown on BBC television in a dubbed version narrated by Burt Kwouk, the central figure is Lin Chung (Atsuo Nakamura), an army officer who comes, Robin Hood-style, to lead a rebellion against the evil Kao Chiu (Kai Satu). The result plays like something somewhere between Seven Samurai and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Though not without humour, this is a much more serious saga than Monkey (1978), adapted by the same team and similarly a hit for the BBC. Bolstered by wirework in the excellent fight scenes, this is traditional Kurosawa-influenced adventure, a saga of rebels against an oppressive empire with as much appeal to Star Wars fans as to martial arts devotees. Each episode tells a self-contained tale within the wider framework and the strong production values and compelling storytelling are not too compromised by the dubbing, which is carefully done to a high standard. This is a lavishly made TV epic that remains hugely entertaining a quarter-century after it first aired. On the DVD: The Water Margin is presented in a beautifully designed fold-out package with a small poster and an episode guide leaflet. The 13 43-minute-long episodes are spread across six DVDs. The extras are identical throughout, apart from episode-specific photo galleries, reflecting the fact that each disc is also sold separately. There are 16 character profiles, synopses of all 26 episodes, production notes and previews of the Monkey DVDs and Blake's Seven videos. Other than the restoration of some violence, the episodes are exactly as they were shown on the BBC; there's no option to watch the original Chinese versions. The sound is unexceptional mono, the picture grainy, a little soft and shows some print damage. Unfortunately the 4:3 transfers also demonstrate obvious pixilation in fast moving and visually complex scenes, the quality being more like digital TV than state-of-the-art DVD. --Gary S Dalkin

• Princess From The Moon | DVD | (13/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  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...

• The Water Margin - Season 2 - | DVD | (17/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  `Do not despise the snake for having no horns for who is to say it will not become a dragon?' Undoubtedly the ""Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"" of its day the classic cult TV series 'The Water Margin' is a timeless epic and very much a touchstone for anybody who grew up in the mid- to late-70s. Now for the first time ever the entire 26-episode series is being made available on DVD in a choice of two box sets or individual box sets courtesy of Fabulous Films/Fremantle Home Ent

• Death Note Vol.5 | DVD | (01/06/2009) from £13.48   |  Saving you £6.51 (48.29%)   |  RRP £19.99

  When Mello realizes that he may be Kira's next target he bursts into the SPK headquarters to retrieve a picture of himself--and gives Near a piece of information that may prove to be an invaluable advantage: some of the Death Note rules are fake. With this information in hand Near's suspicions of the task force and Light in particular become certainties. Now that he's in the spotlight once more Light decides it's time to recruit some new disciples...

• House Of Flying Daggers | UMD | (05/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  No one uses colour like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who has some lethal kung fu moves of her own. In the guise of an aspiring rebel, Jin escorts Mei through gorgeous forests and fields that become bloody battlegrounds as soldiers try to kill them both. While arrows and spears of bamboo fly through the air, Mei, Jin, and Leo turn against each other in surprising ways, driven by passion and honour. Zhang's previous action/art film, Hero, sometimes sacrificed momentum for sheer visual beauty; House of Flying Daggers finds a more muscular balance of aesthetic splendour and dazzling swordplay. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

• Cyber City Oedo 808 | DVD | (05/03/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  1 : In the year 2808 three criminals are offered a choice: Spend the rest of their lives aboard a maximum-security prison or return to Earth as agents of the Cyber Police. Parole Violations will be rare as each criminal is fitted with a booby trapped high-explosive collar which operates on a 24 hour timer. If ever a check-in is missed the consequences would be well gruesome. For every criminal caught the agents receive a bounty that reduces their total sentence so some day they may walk free-again. Terrorists have taken control of the City's tallest space-scraper. Not only does the building hold the primary nodes for the city's computer grid but 50 000 people are still trapped inside! In principle the job is simple: Break into the most secure building in the city; find and eliminate the terrorists; rescue the hostages. But there's no time to waste because the collars have a 24-hour time limit and the clock is ticking. 2 : A member of the Cyber Police has turned traitor and sold confidential Police data to a mysterious customer who could destroy the Cyber Police forever. But before that can happen the heroes have 24 hours to uncover the plot. The trail leads to an illegal black market dealing in stolen body parts. Goggles is re-united with his ex-partner-in-crime and together they find themselves face-to-face with MOLCOS the military's ultimate killing machine. 3 : The Vampire Case. One by one genetics researchers are turning up dead - all have suspicious fang Wounds on their necks. The most recent victim Ichiro Edajima use his own blood to scrawl on a cryptic message on the wall and left notes to a very unusual retro-virus on his computer. The trail points to the top of the space elevator and the cryogenic suspension facility tethered there. But the frozen death of cryogenic sleep may not have any meaning for one of the undead...and vampires can be very hungry when they wake up.

• The Water Margin - Vol. 2 | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Nearly a thousand years ago in ancient China at the time of the Sung dynasty there was a cruel and corrupt government. These men riding are outlaws heroes driven to live in the water margins of Liang Shan Po far to the south of the capital. Each fights tyranny with a price on his head in a world very different from our own... Epsiodes 3 and 4.

• House Of Flying Daggers Steelbook | Blu Ray | (12/05/2014) from £26.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Hero director Zhang Yimou throws scene after stunning scene at you in House of Flying Daggers a dazzling epic of true heart-breaking action passionate romance OSCAR -nominated cinematography and serene beauty. Hoping she will lead them to her fellow assassins two captains (Takeshi Kaneshiro Andy Lau) hatch a plan to capture and trick Mei (Ziyi Zhang - Hero; Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) a beautiful dancer suspected of having ties to the House of Flying Daggers a powerful revolutionary faction. From there begins a lone trail of dangerous encounters impossible love triangles and plot twists in which people are rarely as they seem... With some of the most beautiful martial arts scenes ever filmed this is a visual masterpiece and a feast for the senses.

• Madadayo | DVD | (24/09/2007) from £8.79   |  Saving you £11.20 (127.42%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The main story of the film is based on the life of a Japanese academic and author Hyakken Uchida (1889-1971). The film opens with him resigning as a professor of German in the period immediately before the Second World War. The plot of the film is centered around his relationship with his former students who care for him in his old age. The title 'Not Yet' in English is an allusion to an ancient Japanese legend mentioned in one scene of the film of an old man who refuses to die. This story is constantly referred to in the movie as every year on the professor's birthday his students throw him a party in which they all ask him ""Mada kai?"" (""Are you ready?""). He responds by drinking a large ceremonial glass of beer and shouting ""Mada dayo!"" (""Not yet!"") implying that death may be near but life still goes on!

• Shinjuku Triad Society | DVD | (26/05/2003) from £9.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (50.05%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The first of three films linked by theme rather than by character or story which form Takashi Miike's acclaimed Triad Society trilogy (followed by 'Rainy Dog' and 'Ley Lines') 'Shinjuku Triad Society' charts the bloody gangland battle for control over Tokyo's seedy Sinjuku district. When the Dragon's Claw gang from Taiwan attempts a take-over of the dope extortion and gay prostitution rackets run by the ruling Japanese Yakuza a lone cop predicts carnage. In a crusade against t

• Death Note - Volume 1 (Episodes 1-8) | DVD | (28/04/2008) from £5.48   |  Saving you £14.51 (264.78%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Death Note is a Japanese manga series which centres around Light Yagami a student who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook which kills anyone whose name is written in it.

• Zatoichi (Collector's Edition) | DVD | (24/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Masterless samurai Zatoichi comes to a village that is on the brink of gang war. Always on the run and looking for the next dice game a blind masseur and swordsman soon finds himself a wanted man in town when he protects his landlord's nephew in a slaughter at the makeshift casino. At the same time two geishas come to town to seek revenge for the deaths of their family ten years previously. As they begin to hunt down those responsible Zatoichi and the geishas find themselves targets in a final bloody showdown... Resplendent with Takeshi Kitano's trademark blend of skewed social probing comedy and violence the famous Japanese Zatoichi character gets a new spin helping the film secure four awards at the Venice film festival in addition to the People's Choice award in Toronto.

• Death Note 2 - The Last Name | DVD | (13/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Light and L's psychological duel enters a new phase; whoever is careless for even a split second will lose! To complicate things further Rem another shinigami brings the second notebook and Misa Amane a Japanese pop star and Kira worshipper comes into possession of it. Now becoming a Kira herself she accepts an offer to have the Eyes of the Death. With the Eyes of the Death one can know the name of any person without being told. Misa and Light begin to work together to find the true name of L...

• Chungking Express | DVD | (09/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Chungking Express tells two stories loosely connected by a Hong Kong snack bar. In one, a cop who's been recently dumped by his girlfriend becomes obsessed with the expiry dates on cans of pineapple; he's constantly distracted as he tries to track down a drug dealer in a blonde wig (played by Brigitte Lin, best known from Swordsman II and The Bride with White Hair). Meanwhile, another cop who's recently been dumped by his girlfriend (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, from John Woo's Hard-Boiled and A Bullet in the Head) mopes around his apartment, talking to his sponge and other domestic objects. He catches the eye of a shop girl (Hong Kong pop star Faye Wang) who secretly breaks in and cleans his apartment. If you're beginning to suspect that neither of these stories has a conventional plot, you're correct. What Chungking Express does have is loads of energy and a gorgeous visual style that never gets in the way of engaging with the charming characters. The film was shot on the fly by hip director Wong Kar-Wai (Happy Together, Ashes of Time), using only available lighting and found locations. The movie's loose, improvisational feel is closer to Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless than any recent film--and that's high praise. Quirky, funny, and extremely engaging, Chungking Express manages to be experimental and completely accessible at the same time. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

• Chungking Express | Blu Ray | (26/01/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Chungking Express is the ultra-stylish film by internationally acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai. Using gorgeous Hong Kong stars and perfect pop music 'Chungking Express' tells two stories of lovelorn cops dangerous drug smugglers and California dreamers. The first story takes place in the infamous Chungking Mansions as melancholic Cop No 223 meets a mysterious woman in a wig and dark glasses in a late night bar little dreaming she's a big-time heroin smuggler up to her neck in trouble. The second story is set around the Midnight Express fast-food joint where Cop No 663 played by Hong Kong heart-throb Tony Leung orders his dinner each night. So broken-up over an air hostess who's flown away 663 fails to notice that the girl who serves his food (Hong Kong rock star Faye Wong) has a massive crush on him. Until to the soundtrack of California Dreaming she takes drastic action to mend his broken heart...

• Samurai Warriors (Sengoku Mosou) - Complete Season 1 Collection & Special OVA | Blu Ray | (06/03/2017) from £47.23   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the hit video game, this dramatic re-imagining of one of Japan's most revered historical periods drops audiences into the middle of an epic battle royal. Great warriors and dashing rogues from cherished Japanese tales come to life in this rousing series. Follow along as your favorite hacking, slashing characters from the video game meet once more on the field of battle. Every deadly move you perfected in the game is recreated in the action-packed anime experience that is Samurai Warriors! Includes bonus OVA episode Samurai Warriors Special - Legend of the Sanada

• Violent Cop | DVD | (05/01/2010) from £13.24   |  Saving you £6.75 (50.98%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Japanese superstar Beat Takeshi Kitano makes his directorial debut in this critically acclaimed action film in which he also stars as Azuma an urban cop at the end of his rope. Not above using violent tactics in order to punish the lawless Azuma's daily routine involves a new partner and a mentally challenged sister. When his violent ways cause the death of a friend his short fuse comes dangerously close to reaching its' end...

• Tokyo Raiders | DVD | (21/05/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Tokyo Raiders stars Tony Leung (well known from such Hong Kong action movies as Hard-Boiled and Bullet in the Head) along with pop stars Ekin Cheng and Kelly Chen. When Macy (Chen) gets jilted at the altar in Las Vegas, she returns to Hong Kong to find her fiancé has disappeared--but in his apartment she finds Yung (Cheng), an interior decorator with surprising kung fu skills. Together they go to Japan, where they meet up with Lin (Leung), a private detective with an entourage of kung fu babes and stories that don't quite add up. From there, the plot gets more and more incomprehensible. It has something to do with counterfeit yen and a twisty series of double-crosses, but Tokyo Raiders is really about hip clothes and martial arts razzle-dazzle, all framed by the worst dubbed dialogue you've ever heard--sort of a Hong Kong version of The Mod Squad. Leung has demonstrated his acting chops in films like Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love, but he can't make this silliness sound sensible. Still, the actors are sexy, the fight scenes are splashy (if a little confusing), and the movie never wastes too much time getting from one action sequence to the next. A chase that starts out on a motorised skateboard and ends up on a trailer truck hauling new cars is particularly entertaining. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

• Black Angel 2 | DVD | (05/08/2002) from £11.98   |  Saving you £8.01 (66.86%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Takashi Ishii continues to explore the dark side of Tokyo in this sequel to Black Angel. This time Yuki Amami plays Mayu an assasin who becomes involved in a tangled web of friendship and revenge that can only end in despair. Ishii's direction makes for a dark gritty and intense move using violence as an expression of anguish.

• K-20 - The Legend Of The Black Mask | DVD | (10/01/2011) from £7.27   |  Saving you £8.72 (119.94%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It's 1949 and World War II never happened. Nikola Tesla has just won a Nobel Prize rather than dying in obscurity and the Japanese Empire is an undying aristocracy where the rich sip tea out of bone china while the poor die in the gutters. K-20 the Fiend with Twenty Faces steals from the rich and gives to himself. But now on the eve of the marriage between society princess Yoko Hashiba and chief of police Kogoro Akechi the fiend frames simple circus acrobat Hekichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) for his crimes and the poor sap is arrested and sentenced to death. But he escapes at the last minute and assumes the guise of K-20 in order to clear his good name.