Production: Bci / Eclipse
Video: 1080p - 16:9
2.35 aspect ratio
Audio: Japanese: DD 2.0, DUB: English:
DD 2.0
Subtitles:
English, none
Disc: One Single-Layered Blu-Ray (25GBs)
Runtime: 87 minutes and 117 minutes respectively
Extras:
• none
Disc:
one 25GB Blu-ray Disc
Release Date: January 8th, 2008
Standard Blu-Ray case
Product Description:
Killing Machine (Shorinji Kempo) Sonny Chiba stars as Doshin So, a martial arts master who returns from the second World War after serving as an undercover spy. Upon his return, he finds that his family's land has been stolen. Doshin must take back the town from a group of black marketers and rebuild his life. 1975 - NR - 85 min. - Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) - In Japanese with English subtitles and English dubbed Audio track.
Shogun's Ninja (Ninja Bugeicho Momochi Sandayu)
Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord, sends his war
commander to the Momochi fort to destroy its clan and to
obtain its hidden gold. Two daggers tell where the
hidden gold is located. One is in the possession of the
head of the Momochi family, but who has the other. Wild
fight choreography and action ensue. 1981 - NR - 117
min. - Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) - In Japanese with
English Subtitles and English Audio track Starring
Hiroyuki Sanada, Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba, Asao Koike,
Etsuko Shihomi and Tetsuro Tamba. Directed by Norifumi
Suzuki
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The Films:
Sonny Chiba stars as Doshin So, a martial arts master who returns from the second world war after serving as an undercover spy. He wanders the streets helping the homeless and righting all the wrongs that took place while he was away - including riding the town of black marketers. He opens a Shaolin marts arts school which angers the existing men in power. In typical Chiba fashion it's time to make someone pay! |
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Japan 1581: By order of Prince Hideyoshi the gruesome Samurai Shogen (Sonny Chiba) smashes the Momochi clan. Little Takamaru is able to escape the massacre and flees to China. There he learns the art of fighting. 20 years later Takamaru (Hiroyuki “Henry” Sanada) returns to his home country. At a Ninja master he refines his technique. Takamaru unites the Ninjas. Together they want to bring down the tyrant. The time for revenge has come… A successful mixture of classic Jidai-Geki and Chambara (swordplay). Fulminant action and spectacular stunts take center stage. The actors act with swords, karate chops and exotic weaponry none too gently. A typical tale of vengeance, powerfully and spectacularly staged, in which Sonny Chiba impersonates the unscrupulous villain for once! |
The Video:
Like Sister Street Fighter I + II BCI/Eclipse have put two martial arts films on one side of a single-layered Blu-ray DVD entitling this one a "Sonny Chiba Double Feature".
Henrik and I actually compared two SD versions of (The) Killing Machine HERE and yes, the Blu-ray transfers improves upon that, with its 1080 resolution, in certain areas. But similar to my complaints of Sister Street Fighter I + II - there is extensive digital noise and the print used has marks and light scratches. The subtitle font is troublesome on both but I will mention that below. As a positive the image quality does improve quite a lot as the film runs along. The bitrate fluctuates anywhere between 9 - 24 mps but generally stays in the 15 and below rage. The Killing Machine never really exhibits a great deal of sharpness but that is more in the way it was originally shot. Colors are not significantly bright and contrast wavers a bit. Taking away the magnifying glass of criticism... it is quite watchable and the improved image does give it more of a 'theatrical' feel. I kinda like having this on Blu-ray as I get a kick out of watching the film every once in a while. It is fairly quintessential of the genre.
Shogun's Ninja definitely looks the superior of the two in this double feature. I don't have an SD of it to compare but it improves upon The Killing Machine in most areas - colors are brighter, the print is cleaner, digital noise is decreased and, (probably not due to the transfer) detail is sharper. Enjoyable about this Martial Arts film is the use of the widescreen frame to isolate characters for a greater dramatic effect. Daylight sequences are bright while contrast has raised itself to an acceptable level -
it is also fairly clean with only some single-frame blemishes. The biggest visual flaw is the noise but after that only rears its ugly head in darker scenes with extensive monochromatic areas.
Gary Tooze
Screen Captures
Killing Machine
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Screen Captures
Shogun's Ninja
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Audio and Subtitles:
Both films offer the same audio options; 2.0 channel (original?) Japanese tracks and English DUBs (also 2.0 channel). I don't usually test the DUBs on DVDs (always prefer the original audio if possible) but I did on both these and it raises the films nostalgia - in a sort of What's Up Tiger Lilly kind-of-way. Both audio track on both films where flat and clear - I never need to touch the volume control as levels were quite consistent. Both films are supported by the same, poor visual quality optional English subtitles. The font (thick white with black border - see sample included above for Shogun's Ninja) used was quite a poor choice. It is far too bold and although doesn't make it overly difficult to see - it could have been improved upon with a less pronounced choice.
I should note that Menus are not available on the fly as they are with most every other Blu-ray disc.
Extras:
There are no supplements at all. It probably doesn't pay to obtain them
so BCI would rather keep the price on the disc low.
Menus
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BOTTOM LINE: Once again I encourage BCI/Eclipse to continue to produce DVDs in this new format - hopefully escalating to even higher bitrates, better prints, dual-layers and on-the-fly menus etc. The best thing about this package is the price - $15. That's less than $8 per film in 1080P resolution. Fans of Killing Machine might consider this upgrade - or for those invested in Blu-ray that are keen on Chiba or the genre. Shogun's Ninja looks very good. Purchasers should be prepared though that although these look quite strong vs. SD they are still somewhat behind modern film Blu-ray transfers. It should be noted the age of the films and that this will probably be the last, and best, hard format for viewing them. The films themselves are probably a notch above typical examples of the genre although they maintain all the enjoyable stylistic features and fun-ness. Unfortunately they are not really comparable excepting they both star Chiba (one as the hero and the other a villain)
Gary Tooze
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