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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
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Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years Vol. 2 Border Crossings: The Crime and Action Movies [Blu-ray]
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The Sleeping Beast Within
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Smashing the 0-Line
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Tokyo Knights
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The Man with a Shotgun
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Description: Available for home-viewing for the very first time ever outside of Japan, this collection of bleak crime thrillers, brash mob dramas and exuberant action movies, made across the first five years of Seijun Suzuki's career within Nikkatsu's Borderless Action (mukokuseki akushon) line, presents a heady mix that laid the ground for what was to come.
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The Sleeping Beast Within (1960) is a gripping crime
thriller that sees a newspaper reporter's search for his
girlfriend's missing father lead him into heart of the
criminal underworld of Yokohama s Chinatown. Its companion
piece, Smashing the 0-Line (1960), follows two
reporters descent into a scabrous demimonde of drug and
human trafficking. In Eight Hours of Terror (1957), a
bus making its precarious way across a winding mountain road
picks up some unwelcome passengers. In Tokyo Knights
(1961), a college student takes over the family business in
the field of organised crime, while The Man with A
Shotgun (1961) marks Suzuki's first entry into the
territory of the borderless Japanese Western.
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The Film:
Eight Hours of Terror (Hachijikan no kyōfu) is a 1957 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki. It is a thriller film with gangster film elements, based partly on John Ford's Stagecoach.
Excerpt from Wikipedia located HEREThe Sleeping Beast Within: A businessman returns from an extended trip, but something seems off. Criminal operations and religious cults come into play, while the man's daughter and her journalist boyfriend race to find the truth.
Excerpt from IMDb located HERESmashing the 0-Line: Two reporters of divergent morals investigate a drug ring, delving deeper into the underworld in the process.
Excerpt from IMDb located HERETokyo Knights: When his father falls over a cliff to his death, Koji (Wada Koji) is called back to Tokyo from his American high school. The plan is that he will take over the family construction company currently being run by his stepmother and a general manager. He has no trouble becoming a popular student in his new Catholic high school as he is an ace Rugby player, an excellent fencer, can beat up several guys as once, and revives the school's moribund jazz band with his skill on the piano. What begins as a typical high school comedy, with a bit of social satire rolled in, keeps morphing into something else as director Suzuki Seijun seems to be having fun mixing genres.
Excerpt from Wade Sowers review at letterboxed.com located HEREThe Man with a Shotgun: Ryoji, a wanderer, arrives in a remote mountain town, carrying a shotgun and claiming to be a hunter. He quickly becomes embroiled in a web of trouble surrounding the town's mill.
Excerpt from IMDb located HEREImage : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.
Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years Vol. 2 Border Crossings: The Crime and Action Movies is simultaneously released on Blu-ray in UK and North America by Arrow. It stacked in dual-layered territory to house the 3 black and white, and two colors, films and some supplements. Bitrates are modest at around 20 mbps and there is softness that appears inherent. The Sleeping Beast Within may be the haziest but it wasn't bothersome in my viewing. The 1080P supports the films in the 2.35:1 frame (1.33 for 1957's Eight Hours of Terror).
There is some minor frame-specific damage (see sample below). Generally, they are very watchable and look similar to others from the studio and era. There is some heavy texture and no bothersome noise. These Blu-rays offers a lot of value and it's easy to accept the less-than-stellar video - as each film appears to be a good replication of the source. The HD resolution escalate the visuals well beyond SD. The screen captures should give you a good idea of the image quality.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Eight Hours of Terror
The Sleeping Beast Within
Arrow use a linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) for all 5 films. They are flat with a pinch of depth. There is some sharp aggression but it is fairly modest in terms of being dynamic. The scores are, respectively, by Takio Niki, Hajime Kaburagi's (Retaliation, Blind Woman's Curse, Fairy in a Cage, Tokyo Drifter), Taiichirô Kosugi, Seitarô Ômori, and Masayoshi Ikeda (Kanto Wanderer). All audio sounds reasonably supportive - occasionally rough-around-the-edges but consistent enough not to make issue. There are optional English subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A' + 'B'.
Extras :
Extras include an
audio commentary by critic and author of Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema, Jasper Sharp on Smashing the 0-Line. It is excellent in detailing the Japanese studios, Suzuki and many facets of, what is often referred to as, the Nikkatsu Noir genre - a very educational and interesting talk. Also on the first Blu-ray is 50-minutes of Tony Rayns on the Crime and Action Movies. He discusses the background to the films, their place within Suzuki’s career and the talent involved with them. It is at his usual professional level of competence. There are also trailers for the latest four films and stills galleries for all five. The package offers a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys and a whopping 60-page illustrated collector's book featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp.
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Blu-ray Two
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BOTTOM LINE:
Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years Vol. 2 Border Crossings: The
Crime and Action Movies is another fabulous package by Arrow.
These are such infectious films - following right in the
mould of Eclipse's
Nikkatsu Noir with its late fifties early sixties
crime-dramas by the likes of Suzuki - and we get five of
them (with Tokyo Knights being less typical with some
humor but still retaining action-mystery-crime elements) on
two
Blu-rays! The a/v quality is more modest but that is reflected in the value
of simply being able to see these films in 1080P. I thoroughly
enjoyed Smashing the 0-Line as well as
1957's Eight Hours of Terror and
The Man with a Shotgun - essential examples of the studios
charismatic and identifiable style with frequent crime
narratives and femme fatale characters. I can thoroughly
recommend especially for this keen on this genre of Japanese cinema. I can't wait
for more! A very strong
endorsement!
Gary Tooze
April 7th, 2018