"Actor: Takeshi"

• Fighting Elegy | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £10.59   |  Saving you £9.40 (88.76%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In Okayama in the mid 1930s Kiroku (Takahashi) attends high school and boards with a Catholic family whose daughter Michiko captures his heart. He must however hide his ardor and other aspects of his emerging sexuality focusing his energy on a gang he joins breaking school rules and getting into scuffles. He comes under the influence of a young tough nicknamed Terrapin and together they lead fights against rival gangs. Gradually Kiroku and Terrapin align themselves with the right-wing Kita Ikki and Kiroku becomes a stand-in for the attitudes of Japanese youth who embraced the imperialism leading to World War II... Screenplay adapted from Takashi Suzuki's novel by Kaneto Shindo (Onibaba Kuroneko).

• The Water Margin - Vol. 12 | DVD | (14/07/2003) from £13.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (7.15%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Episode titles included in this DVD are: A Concubine's Dowry Liang Shan Po And The Millionare.

• 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

• The Water Margin - Vol. 4 - Episodes 7 And 8 | DVD | (10/03/2003) 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... Episodes 7 and 8.

• Sol Bianca Parts 1 And 2 | DVD | (01/08/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  SOL BIANCA 1: A space pirate travels on his space ship with his five sisters. One day his sister met a boy named Rim who was on his way to attempt a coup d'etat against the military dictatorship. In exchange for promises to receive information about palace treasure the sisters go with Rim to his planet and here the space war begins... SOL BIANCA 2: Space pirate Sol Bianca is on a search mission for a very rare crystal. After a furious fight the five sisters succeed in gaining

• The Water Margin - Vol. 3 - Episodes 5 And 6 | DVD | (10/03/2003) from £4.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (201.00%)   |  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... Episodes 5 and 6.

• Minority Report/Johnny Mnemonic | DVD | (16/04/2007) from £10.78   |  Saving you £-1.79 (-19.90%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Minority Report (Dir. Steven Speilberg 2002): In this kinetic futuristic thriller from Steven Spielberg Tom Cruise plays John Anderton the head of Washington's Pre-Crime bureau an experimental government agency that uses precognitive humans to predict murders. Finding himself accused of a future homicide Anderton goes on the run and tries to stay one step ahead of his jet pack-assisted colleagues and an ambitious Federal agent (Colin Farrell). Adapted from a short story by Philip K. Dick Minority Report is one of Spielberg's most sheerly entertaining and deliriously imaginative movies. Johnny Mnemonic 1995): The 21st Century. Information is the ultimate commodity. The most valuable of information is transported in Mnemonic implants in the heads of professional couriers like Johnny who offer both security and confidentiality for the right price. But Johnny has paid a heavy price of his own - he's dumped his own memories to make room for the programmes he smuggles. To buy them back he agrees to deliver priceless data the most important data of the 21st Century data that has already set an army of professional killers on his trail. But the massive upload is too much for his brain and Johnny must find the secret codes to download the information - or die.

• The Water Margin - Vol. 5 | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £13.21   |  Saving you £1.78 (13.47%)   |  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... Episodes 9 and 10.

• Tokyo Bullet Reloaded - Black Angel / Score / Gonin | DVD | (01/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Black Angel: Ddirector Takashi Ishii continues to explore his distinct vision of Tokyo as a dark forbidding Technopolis a city of faceless chrome and marble structures cold lights and deep shadows. The Black Angel stars Riona Hazuki as Ikko the most powerful female action heroine ever to hit celluloid. At age 6 Ikko was safely put on a plane to Los Angeles by hitman Mayo but not before seeing her Yakuza boss father and mistress mother killed before her eyes. Flash forward 14 years. Ikko returns to Tokyo seeking revenge for the killings. She too calls herself the Black Angel styling herself after Mayo whom she remembers as a towering almost superhuman figure. When her target realises that she is after him and his gang he enlists the original Black Angel to wipe out Ikko and the stage is set for a violent reunion... (Dir. Takashi Ishii 1997) Gonin: Japanese Director Takashi Ishii's brutal hyperstylish hallucinogenic "" roller coaster"" of a movie takes a group of five desperate men through the robbery of a Yakuza gangster and the bloody revenge that follows. Ishii has assembled a cast of Japan's coolest actors including Naoto Takenaka (""Shall We Dance"") and the legendary 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano and his fluid sensual camera work creates sequences of unrivalled ballistic bloodshed. But what really raises this movie to a different level is the off-beat characters: 'Beat' Takeshi's sadistic portrayal of the one-eyed hitman gay hustlers and downtrodden ex-cops give 'Gonin' an eccentric film noir atmosphere that will blow you away. (Dir. Takashi Ishii 1995) Score: A gang of thieves come together for a jewellery heist one which they naturally carry out in their finest Reservoir Dogs outfits. All goes pretty much according to plan until a pair of psychotic highway robbers follow them to their hideout and attempt to part the gang from their loot... (Dir. Atsushi Muroga 1995)

• Doctor Wai | DVD | (17/01/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Showcasing once again the fighting power of Asian superstar Jet Li the Hong Kong box office smash Dr Wai is set in the early 20th century where Wai (Jet) embarks on an action packed quest in search of The Scriptures With No Words. Along with his trusty assistant Pao (Takeshi Kaneshiro) they encounter many obstacles on their way including the lovely-but-deadly Yu Fung (Rosamund Kwan) a top agent for the Japanese who is attracted to Dr Wai's boyish looks and lethal fighting skills of underworld gangster Ngai (Ngai Sing) who falls prey to the scriptures and transforms into a powerful monster to confront Jet in the final showdown. Ching Sui Tung Director of such classics as A Chinese Ghost Story The Heroic trio and The Executioners weaves his stylish magic set against magnificent backdrops delivering an epic action adventure in true Hong Kong style. There's also an excellent supporting role from super villain Billy Chow and more - Watch out Indiana Jones your Chinese cousin is on his way into town!

• The Dream Of Garuda | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A convicted rapist Ikuo released from prison goes in search of the woman he raped. He sees her in every woman he meets and after vicious attacks on two women he finally meets Mieko...

• Dragon Half - Vol. 1 - Episodes 1 And 2 | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Mink's mom is a dragon and her dad's a knight and that's just the beginning of her list of teenage anxieties! After all when you're part reptile and you're in love with a handsome singer who's also a dragon slayer you just know somebody's going to get burned! So what's a love-struck Dragon Half to do when the man of her dreams wants her head on a platter and Mom and Dad are too busy fighting to notice? Why go to his concert all on your own of course even if it does mean a long strange journey filled with sinister villains and bizarre encounters. It's a good thing Mink inherited wings and the ability to breathe fire from her mom's side of the family because when you're half-dragon you don't make friends easily.

• Hero | DVD | (08/11/2010) from £7.52   |  Saving you £2.47 (32.85%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A series of Rashomon-like flashback accounts shape the story of how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China.

• Battle Royale | DVD | (05/04/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This ultra violent satire from Japan tells of 42 teenagers taken to a remote island where they are told that if they wish to survive they must kill all of the others!

• Doctor Wai / Jet Li - The Kung Fu Years | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Dr Wai: Showcasing once again the fighting power of Asian superstar Jet Li this Hong Kong box office smash is set in the early 20th century where Wai (Jet) embarks on an action packed quest in search of The Scriptures With No Words. Along with his trusty assistant Pao (Takeshi Kaneshiro) they encounter many obstacles on their way including the lovely-but-deadly Yu Fung (Rosamund Kwan) a top agent for the Japanese who is attracted to Dr Wai's boyish looks and lethal fighting skills of underworld gangster Ngai (Ngai Sing) who falls prey to the scriptures and transforms into a powerful monster to confront Jet in the final showdown. Jet Li - The Kung Fu Years: An inside look at Jet's Kung Fu years with yet more Jet and more monks!

• The Water Margin - Vol. 10 | DVD | (09/06/2003) from £5.38   |  Saving you £9.61 (64.10%)   |  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... Episodes 19 and 20.

• Brother | DVD | (04/10/2010) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-4.24 (-26.50%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Written, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano, Brother is the story of a displaced yakuza gangster (Takeshi Kitano), whose crime family is annihilated in a Tokyo gang war, and who flies to LA in search of his brother.

• The Water Margin - Vol. 7 | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £6.73   |  Saving you £8.26 (122.73%)   |  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 13 and 14.

• Tokyo Bullet Reloaded - Black Angel 2 / Score 2 / Gonin 2 Subtitled) | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £18.39   |  Saving you £6.60 (35.89%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Some of the finest examples of Japanese action cinema available in one box set. Features: The Black Angel 2: 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. Gonin 2: Takashi Ishii's sequel

• The Water Margin - Vol. 9 | DVD | (09/06/2003) from £5.38   |  Saving you £9.61 (178.62%)   |  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 17 and 18.