NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (January 2023): Arrow have transferred Sonny Chiba's The Executioner Collection to Blu-ray. It consists of two films, The Executioner and The Executioner II: Karate Inferno, sharing one dual-layered Blu-ray disc. Both films were released in 1974 and directed by Teruo Ishii (Yakuza Law, Orgies of Edo, Blind Woman's Curse, Shogun’s Joy of Torture, Horrors of Malformed Men). The 1080P image is thick with a film-like richness. They looked very representative of the era and genre on my system.

NOTE: We have added 74 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original Japanese language for both films. The Executioner has an optional English DUB. Both films have plenty of fight sequences with exaggerated 'snaps and cracks' of karate blows and bones. The audio is flat supporting the higher-end but still carries modest depth via the uncompressed transfer. The score, for both films, was by Hajime Kaburagi's (Horrors of Malformed Men, The Sleeping Beast With, Retaliation, Blind Woman's Curse, Fairy in a Cage, Tokyo Drifter) adding drama and a funky flavor to the onscreen action. Audio is consistent and clean in both renderings. Arrow offer optional English translated subtitles (and an optional DUB titles on The Executioner) on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Arrow Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Chris Poggiali (co-author of These Fists Break Bricks: How Kung Fu Movies Swept America and Changed the World) and Marc Walkow on The Executioner. These guys are super-experts on the genre and have a lot to export about Chiba - his characteristic breathing and screaming during physical conflict. Plenty on Toei studios, director Teruo Ishii and tangential Japanese martial arts films from the era and beyond, the cast and much more. It's very professional and worth the indulgence. There is a 1/2 hour featurette entitled Sonny Chiba, Karate King, on the legendary Sonny Chiba, featuring Grady Hendrix, Tom Mes, Chris Poggiali, Marco Joachim and Seiji Anno, from the band Guitar Wolf. There are also original trailers in Japanese for The Executioner and English for both films. Included are image galleries for The Executioner and The Executioner II: Karate Inferno and the package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Lucas Peverill and for the first pressing there is an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by by Mark Schilling.

The Executioner Collection celebrates Shin’ichi ‘Sonny’ Chiba who we lost in 2021 at 82-years of age. He was one of the first actors to achieve stardom and acclaim because of his martial arts skills. His reputation evolved from Japan to the rest of the world. As many know, the Quentin Tarantino written True Romance had Christian Slater's character of Clarence Worley go to the theatre to see a Sonny Chiba triple feature; "The Streetfighter," "Return of the Streetfighter," and "Sister Streetfighter." Chiba had bit parts in Kill Bill: Volume 1, and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Late last year (2022), Shout! Factory released The Sonny Chiba Collection on Blu-ray with Yakuza Wolf, Yakuza Wolf 2, The Bodyguard (1973), Karate Killer (1973,) Shogun's Shadow, Samurai Reincarnation, Swords of Vengeance (1978) but it had neither of these two Executioner films. I enjoyed the first entry but the second has less martial arts fighting and more humor. Both films show full frontal nudity and odd eroticism usually surrounding voyeurism and looking up girl's skirts. Viewing these leaves no doubt as to Chiba's appeal. We can always count on Arrow - one of THE most consistent Blu-ray companies to produce another desirable set. Genre fans will be pleased with this package's transfers, commentary, booklet and more. Yes, recommended!

Gary Tooze