" Legend of the Eight Samurai " Ventura (The Sonny China Collection) - Region 1

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Satomi hakken-den" or "Legend of the Eight Samurai")

directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Japan 1983

"The Star Wars of Samurai Films"

-Japanese Cinema Essential Handbook

Sonny Chiba plays a minor role in this and there is a lot of fantasy element, but samurai buffs will surely get a kick out of it. Another beautifully shot widescreen film with one-dimensional characters and some extended fight sequences. For fans of the genre, this is a definite keeper with multiple references to American blockbusters of the late 70's- lots of fun! out of

Gary W. Tooze

Theatrical Release: December 10th, 1983 - Tokyo

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DVD Review: Ventura (The Sonny China Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Ventura Distribution - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	2:16:04
Video	1.79:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.82 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Ventura Distribution Aspect Ratio: 1.79:1 Edition Details: • Widescreen 16X9 Trailers for 8 other Sonny China / Ventura DVD releases - Karate Bearfighter (3:04) - Killing Machine (3:02) - Karate Bullfighter (2:51) - Karate For Life (2:52) - Shogun's Samurai (3:06) - G.I. Samurai (3;19) - Ninja Wars (1:52) - Legend of the Eight Samurai (2:13) • 4 page liner notes by Patrick Macias DVD Release Date: February 8th, 2005 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

HD - sourced as Karate Bearfighter and Shogun's Samurai, but not quote up to their standard of image quality. Like Ninja Wars there is a thick black border around the entire image - thereby not utilizing the maximum horizontal resolution. Bottom line of this is that it is not bad at all. Lines are fairly crisp, the film is dark with no contrast boosting, skin tones look okay as do the subtitles. Only a 2.0 track but it is adequate. Standard liner notes and Chiba Collection trailers as extras. WE should be thankful for the HD-sourcing on this 20+ year old film. out of