A brand new restoration of the film which started Kiyoshi Kurosawa's career in horror! Before becoming one of Japan's most well-known horror directors through films like Cure, Pulse and Creepy, Kiyoshi Kurosawa started off his career in horror with 1992's The Guard from Underground, the final film of the Directors Company'. Kiyoshi Kurosawa here fashions a dark tale that is both a sharp satire of corporate life and a B-movie thriller. A former sumo wrestler now working as a security guard goes on a murderous rampage in the company that's employed him.
A mercenary kung fu fighter is hired by both Yakuza and Mafia as they plot to kidnap the daughter of an oil magnate. However when each gang refuses to meet his asking price the master switches sides and is hired to protect the woman at all costs... Excellent martial arts action from the first in the series of 'Streetfighter' movies that made Sonny Chiba lately referencing his own reputation with a cameo in Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' an international star.
The Killing Machine (Dir. Norifumi Suzuki 1975): Sonny Chiba stars as real life master Doshin So originator of Shorinji Kenpo who comes to the aid of orphans and a young girl forced into prostitution in post-war Japan. However corrupt authorities are unwilling to allow him to open a martial arts school and the stage is set for a bloody showdown... Yakuza Deka (Dir. Yukio Noda 1970): Tough thriller starring the inimitable unstoppable force of Japanese action cinema
The year is 2034 and the face of terrorism has changed. Two years have passed since Motoko Kusanagi departed Section 9, Japan's elite anti-terrorism unit. After a wave of audacious ghost hacks, the Section 9 team's investigations lead them to an ultra-wizard hacker named the Puppeteer. Meanwhile Batou encounters Motoko once more. She warns him to Stay away from the Solid State Society. No one is above suspicion in this feature length continuation of the Ghost in the Shell saga from the acclaimed Production IG Studio (Kill Bill, Ghost In The Shell 1 & 2, Blood The Last Vampire)
When a wealthy foundry owner and bullying patriarch decides to move his entire family from Tokyo to Brazil to escape the nuclear holocaust which he fears is imminent his family tries to have him declared mentally incompetent... Made at the height of the Cold War when the superpowers were engaged in series of nuclear tests this blazing attack on complacency was one of the director's most deeply-felt but least commercially successful films. Nonetheless it deserves to be more widely
This 220 minute beautifully composed black & white film explores a transcendent story of redemption. On what seemed to be a normal morning in southwest Japan a crazed killer apparently without motive hijacks a city bus. In the ensuing carnage only three people survive - the driver a schoolgirl and her older brother. After a long period away the traumatized bus driver returns to his family only to find his wife has left him. The two students have withdrawn further into silence si
The skilful blending of drawn animation and computer-generated imagery excited anime fans when this science fiction mystery was released in 1995: many enthusiasts believe Ghost suggests what the future of anime will be, at least in the short term. The film is set in the not-too-distant future, when an unnamed government uses lifelike cyborgs or "enhanced" humans for undercover work. One of the key cyborgs is The Major, Motoko Kusanagi, who resembles a cross between The Terminator and a Playboy centrefold. She finds herself caught up in a tangled web of espionage and counterespionage as she searches for the mysterious superhacker known as "The Puppet Master." Mamoru Oshii directs with a staccato rhythm, alternating sequences of rapid-fire action (car chases, gun battles, explosions) with static dialogue scenes that allow the characters to sort out the vaguely mystical and rather convoluted plot. Kusanagi's final quote from I Corinthians suggests that electronic evolution may compliment and eventually supplant organic evolution. The minor nudity, profanity, and considerable violence would earn Ghost in the Shell at least a PG rating. --Charles Solomon
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....
The year is 2030 and an influx of refuges have effortlessly transformed themselves into a terrorist organization known as the Individual Eleven. With a sadistic intent of mass destruction, will they triumph in victory or discover the gloomy pitfalls of defeat?
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
Sonny Chiba stars as real life master Doshin So originator of Shorinji Kenpo who comes to the aid of orphans and a young girl forced into prostitution in post-war Japan. However corrupt authorities are unwilling to allow him to open a martial arts school and the stage is set for a bloody showdown... Regarded by action aficionados as ranking alongside the very finest films cult martial arts hero Sonny Chiba produced during his 70s heyday ""The Killing Machine"" features some of the
Japan is plunged into chaos upon the appearance of a giant monster.
When machines learn to feel, who decides what is human? It is the year 2032 and Earth is a world where the few remaining humans coexist with artificial replicants, cyborgs and robots. Batou, a cyborg detective and his partner, Togusa are charged with investigating the bizarre case of a malfunctioning female sex droid that has murdered its owner. As they delve deeper into the investigation they are forced to confront violent Yakuza thugs, devious hackers, influential government bureaucrats and powerful corporate criminals. Painstakingly created by Production IG and director, Mamoru Oshii (G.I.T.S, Avalon, Patlabor) Innocence seamlessly combines groundbreaking 2-D and 3-D CG animation techniques to produce an action-packed, sci-fi fable of a solitary cyborg struggling to retain what's left of his humanity in a world where the human soul is gradually fading into obscurity.
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