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Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman - 25 Zatoichi films from 1962 to 1973 [Blu-ray]
(Kenji Misumi, Kazuo Mori, Tokuzo Tanaka, Kimiyoshi Yasuda, Kazuo Ikehiro, Akira Inoue , Satsuo Yamamoto, Kihachi Okamotom, Shintaro Katsu, 1962-1973)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Daiei Motion Picture Company (Daiei Studios) / Katsu Production Co. Ltd Video: Criterion Collection Spine #679
Discs: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Case: Custom Blu-ray case, with book:
Release date: November 26th, 2013
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.30:1 - 2.40:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: LPCM Audio Japanese 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles: English (SDH), none
Extras (all on disc 9): • The Blind Swordsman, a 1978 documentary about Zatoichi portrayer and filmmaker Shintaro Katsu, along with a new interview with its director, John Nathan (57:37) • Serialized Success (27:13) - new interview with Asian-film critic Tony Rayns• Trailers for all twenty-five films • PLUS: A book featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien; synopses of the films by critic, novelist, and musician Chris D.; “The Tale of Zatoichi,” the original short story by Kan Shimozawa; and twenty-five new illustrations inspired by the films, by twenty-five different artists Dual-Format; 18 DVDs with all the content of the 9 Blu-rays (total of 27 discs)
Bitrate: Sample (The Tale of Zatoichi)
Description: The colossally popular Zatoichi films make up the longest-running action series in Japanese history and created one of the screen’s great heroes: an itinerant blind masseur who also happens to be a lightning-fast swordsman. As this iconic figure, the charismatic and earthy Shintaro Katsu became an instant superstar, lending a larger-than-life presence to the thrilling adventures of a man who lives staunchly by a code of honor and delivers justice in every town and village he enters. The films that feature him are variously pulse-pounding, hilarious, stirring, and completely off-the-wall. This deluxe set features the string of twenty-five Zatoichi films made between 1962 and 1973, collected in one package for the first time.
The Films: "Zatoichi films are all pretty similar. There are gambling (dice) scenes, Zatoichi vs. large gang fighting scenes, massaging scenes (usually of beautiful women), Zatoichi eating and drinking scenes, bath scenes, travel sequences, often a scenes with a child (or children) - and they all wonderful." Yeah - we are big fans of Zatoichi here at DVDBeaver (pronounced za-toe-itchy as opposed to za-toy-chi). Before we settled into a 'style', many years ago - we did webpages for many of the HVe DVD titles from the early 2000s (and one Animeigo) including Zatoichi: Tale of the Blind Swordsman, Zatoichi Part 2:The Tale of the Zatoichi Continues, Zatoichi Part 3:New Tale of Zatoichi, Zatoichi # 9 - Adventures of Zatoichi, Zatoichi's Revenge ( #10 ), Zatoichi and the Doomed Man (#11), Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (#12), Zatoichi's Cane Sword (#15), Zatoichi Challenged (#17), Zatoichi and the Fugitives (#18), Samaritan Zatoichi (#19) and Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (#20). But I had not seen them all. Until now.
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Obviously, I will only give an overview as details on each specific image quality might take more than an entire page. Firstly, the entire package is 18 DVDs and 9 Blu-rays for a total of 27 discs. 8 Blu-rays have 3 films each, in series order, and the 9th BD disc has the 25th film and some supplements. All Blu-ray discs are dual-layered and the bitrate and specific technical statistics are posted above. Comparisons is still our favorite method of analysis for image quality so we have compared a dozen below to their Home Vision Entertainment DVD counterparts. The improvement is clearly evident - notable in color (only the first two of the series are in black and white), contrast, detail and a lack of artifacts, heaviness and flaring that pop-up on most of the Zatoichi-series SD transfers - if only minutely. The 1080P is pretty consistent and I only had an issue with #16 Zatoichi the Outlaw - which suffered a bit in the beginning 1/3 of the presentation looking poorer than the rest. This was definitely a source issue and I saw no untoward examples of digital manipulation. Most of the film visuals improve as the series number escalates. We are in-and-around 2.35:1 aspect ratio for all. There is some depth and as I stated in another Zatoichi review "One other consistent element is that they all are shot in glorious widescreen and contain some exquisite cinematography. I always find at least a couple of scenes in each film of this series to be quite breathtaking - certainly worthy of pondering over." It is possible that they could have looked even better with single disc transfers but that would make for quite a bulky package. I have gotten used to watching 3 in a row anyway. Bitrates are generally around 20 Mbps and support the films reasonably well. This Blu-ray package has no extravagant flaws, except noted on #16, and supplies pleasing, and occasionally, impressive HD presentations. I was vey happy with how this video looked and I expect most will agree.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
HVE - Region 1 - NTSC DVD TOP vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
More Blu-ray Captures
Audio :The film's audio is transferred via a linear PCM mono track (in original Japanese) at 1152 kbps. I would suggest that there seemed to be more inconsistencies here than with the video. A few of these openings can sound quite scratchy - one to the point of irritation. Generally though, flat and exporting some depth in the sword-wielding effects.
Aside from some exceptions (ex. Kunihiko Murai doing the score for Zatoichi at Large and Zatoichi in Desperation - as well, by the way, for films like Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell, Tampopo and Shogun Assassin) and Ichirô Saitô (The Tale of Zatoichi Continues, Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold and Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman's Pilgrimage and, more notably films like Ugetsu Monogatori!), the bulk of Zatoichi series has original music composed by Akira Ifukube. Included in his massive resume are cool films like The Mysterians and the original Godzilla (and other Godzilla features.) I think the musical scores are a big factor in the appeal and tempo of the films. Their measured pace (in times of calm) mimic the lead character and set a contemplative tone and then build tension in the pre-but-imminent battles - finally exploding in the kinetic energy of the fray. There are optional English subtitles and m y Oppo has identified it as all being a region 'A'-locked discs.
Extras : With 8 Blu-rays containing 3 films each - the extras are shared with the 25th film on the last, 9th, Blu-ray disc. The supplements included are John Nathan's hour long, 1978 documentary entitled The Blind Swordsman. It's a candid and less-glossy look at the professional and personal life of Shintaro Katsu, the star of the Zatoichi series. It is accompanied by a new interview with Nathan who shares his memories of Katsu and the making of his film. Serialized Success is a 27-minute new interview with Asian-film critic Tony Rayns who offers his thoughts on the popularity of the Zatoichi series, its main character and some of the key talents involved in making it. There are also trailers for all twenty-five films, plus the cool package (see photo above contains a book featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien; synopses of the films by critic, novelist, and musician Chris D.; “The Tale of Zatoichi,” the original short story by Kan Shimozawa; and twenty-five new illustrations inspired by the films, by twenty-five different artists. The package is 'Dual-Format' and includes 18 DVDs that have all the content of the 9 Blu-rays.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze November 15th, 2013
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. 60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD
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