White Storm, The | aka Cartel War (2013) Review

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Z Ravas
"The White Storm" Theatrical Poster

“The White Storm” Theatrical Poster

AKA: Metamorphosis
Director: Benny Chan
Cast: Louis Koo, Nick Cheung, Lau Ching Wan, Yolanda Yuan Quan, Lo Hoi Pang, Alex Fong Lik Sun, Berg Ng Ting Yip, Hou Yong, Elanne Kong, Ken Lo
Running Time: 140 min.

By HKFanatic

It might sound hard to believe now, but there was a time when director Benny Chan was considered a great hope for Hong Kong cinema. Halfway through the Nineties, when other filmmakers like John Woo and Ringo Lam were vacating the island for Hollywood pastures, Chan stood his ground: his film Big Bullet, released just one year before the 1997 handover, adhered resolutely to the staples of Hong Kong cinema. In other words, it was an explosive action flick about hardboiled cops. Even as the years wore on and Chan was forced to work with pop stars to keep up with the times (see: Gen-X Cops), his movies felt as though they had at least one foot remaining in the old-school style, with their practical action and flashy camerawork.

Then something changed. Fans are still not sure what went wrong, but the consensus seems to be that Benny Chan’s last truly good movie was 2004’s New Police Story and the filmmaker has been on a decline ever since. Chan reached his nadir with 2010’s City Under Siege, a film so bizarre it feels beamed in from another planet. It’s hard to believe an actor as popular as Aaron Kwok signed on to a picture about circus performers granted superpowers after being doused with a chemical developed by the Japanese during World War II, but he did – and it was unspeakably awful.

All of this is partially why Benny Chan’s 2013 effort The White Storm appeared so promising. The film was touted as a loving tribute to the heroic bloodshed films of yesteryear, and it was set to unite Benny Chan with two of the strongest actors working in Hong Kong today: Lau Ching Wan (Big Bullet) and Nick Cheung (The Beast Stalker). The questionable talents of Louis Koo (Flash Point) were along for the ride but this seemed a necessary concession in order to ensure a box office return.

So far so good. The movie’s story might be best described as A Better Tomorrow meets Infernal Affairs, with a dash of John Woo’s unheralded masterpiece Bullet in the Head. Our three leads play best friends since childhood, who also happen to be members of the Hong Kong police department’s Narcotics Division. The difference is that Lau Ching Wan and Nick Cheung are superior officers while Louis Koo has spent years deep undercover, spending his time cavorting with drug dealers when he’d rather be at home doting on his pregnant wife. Koo desperately begs to be pulled out of the field, but Wan assures him he needs Koo for one last (and dangerous) mission to apprehend one of Southeast Asia’s most powerful drug lords, the Eight-Faced Buddha.

Needless to say, everything goes to hell…but it takes a long time getting there. Inexplicably, Benny Chan has afforded a lengthy 140 minute runtime to what is a boilerplate cops-and-robbers tale. Most of that runtime is eaten up by teary-eyed melodrama, as though Chan was under the impression that everyone loved the A Better Tomorrow series for its scenes of manly men crying. Unsurprisingly, Lau Ching Wan delivers the best performance here as the loyal and steadfast officer and friend, while Louis Koo is more or less adequate as the ‘undercover cop who’s about to have a nervous breakdown,’ though it’s difficult to ignore that Tony Leung Chiu-wai did the same role more convincingly in Infernal Affairs. Nick Cheung is afforded the flashiest part by far, and he seems to be having fun when the second half of the film tosses its twists and turns, as improbable as they are, at the viewer.

Naturally, action fans would be able to forgive a convoluted storyline and emotional histrionics if The White Storm delivered on the bread and butter of heroic bloodshed films: intricately choreographed and balletic violence. Sadly, the vast majority of action in The White Storm is shot and cut in a way that’s virtually indistinguishable from your average Hollywood journeyman director. An opening clash between cops and drug dealers on the streets of Hong Kong goes by without a single noteworthy moment. Things pick up significantly around the middle of the film when the Eight-Faced Buddha attacks our heroes with a gatling gun attached to a helicopter, but here it’s the sheer scale of the slaughter – the number of bodies and vehicles devastated by bullets – that makes an impression, rather than anything Benny Chan is doing behind the camera. It’s a bravado sequence, no doubt, but it’d feel just as at home in an Expendables movie.

The finale offers Benny Chan, as well as our three main characters, a chance to redeem themselves. After all, how many ‘tragic hero’ films save the best for last and unleash a climactic gun battle for the ages? Chan even finds the perfect location for his shootout: the sleek and gaudy backroom of a Macau casino. Unfortunately, even this finale ends up disappointing, as Lau Ching Wan and company spend the first half of the fight literally standing in a circle and firing at the bad guys as though the plot has inexplicably made them bulletproof. It’s a far cry from the days when Chow Yun-fat would dive through the air or slide down a railing in the midst of battle. All in all, this climax brought three words to mind: Johnnie To lite.

Speaking of Johnnie To: almost a decade ago, the talented filmmaker released a little film called Exiled. Featuring some of the best acting talent in Hong Kong (including The White Storm’s Nick Cheung), the film managed to pay homage to vintage Hong Kong action cinema while delivering a fun and smart piece of genre entertainment. It’s a shame that, so many years on, a filmmaker like Benny Chan can’t deliver a comparable tribute to the pistol opera genre fans know and love; but for whatever reason, Chan has seemed behind the curve for awhile now. His upcoming 2016 effort The Deadly Reclaim will see the director pair up with action choreographer Sammo Hung; perhaps working with one of the all-time greats will reignite some spark in the commercial filmmaker. In the meantime, The White Storm is a night’s passable entertainment, but only for the most forgiving of Hong Kong cinema buffs. As both an action film and a tip of the hat to the heroic bloodshed genre, The White Storm registers as a missed opportunity.

HKFanatic’s Rating: 6/10

Posted in All, Chinese, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , |

Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 5: Final Episode (1974) Review

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Kelly Warner
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 5" Blu-ray Cover

"Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 5" Blu-ray Cover

Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Writer: Koichi Iiboshi, Koji Takada
Producer: Goro Kusakabe
Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Akira Kobayashi, Kinya Kitaoji, Joe Shishido, Junkichi Orimoto, Kunie Tanaka, Shingo Yamashirom Hiroki Matsukata, Goichi Yamada, Goro Ibuki, Nobuo Kaneko, Asao Uchida, Isao Konami
Running Time: 98 min.

By Kyle Warner

The Battles Without Honor and Humanity series was hugely successful when they were first released in the early 1970’s and the films remain highly regarded today. The series turned supporting actor Bunta Sugawara into a star and paved a way to greatness for director Kinji Fukasaku. Many other members of the cast and crew also went on to enjoy future success as a result of working on the series. If there’s one name that I feel has been unfairly overlooked in the legacy of the series, it’s screenwriter Kazuo Kasahara – but maybe that’s not a surprise, since screenwriters who don’t also double as directors rarely get the credit they deserve. With a dedication for research that’s more comparable to a journalist chasing a story instead of a screenwriter putting together an action movie, Kasahara’s attention to detail and realism pairs up perfectly with Fukasaku’s unflinching direction. They’re two sides of the same coin that made the Battles series so great.

Watching Police Tactics, it seems clear that at least Kasahara felt that film was the end of the story. The finale of Police Tactics gives some closure to various conflicts while also making its viewpoint on the yakuza in Hiroshima abundantly clear. Fans watching the films today know that there’s a fifth entry titled Final Episode, so despite that feeling of finality in Police Tactics there’s still obviously more to the story. There would be no more Battles for Kazuo Kasahara, though. He stuck to his guns, feeling that the story was done and stepped aside (the writer also admitted to being burnt-out from the hectic schedule of research and writing Battles Without Honor and Humanity — the four Battles films he wrote were all released over the span of just twelve months). In his place, Toei hired veteran screenwriter Koji Takada (The Streetfighter), who sought to stay true to the world Kasahara had helped create while also bringing some of his own flavor to the mix.

Final Episode is my least favorite entry in the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series for a few reasons. I call attention to the change in screenwriters first because it’s the most obvious one to me. Koji Takada’s a good writer but I feel like his script for Final Episode features too many starts and stops, making for a film with a weird sense of pacing. Much of Final Episode is based around the idea of the movers and shakers in the yakuza getting locked up and the trouble the subordinates get into while their leaders are away. But because the bosses have been the only characters to really latch onto for much of the series, their absence is a little too noticeable when they’re locked up. Some of the developments in the story are based on truth and can’t be helped — but too often the audience, like the characters, is left waiting impatiently for the more memorable characters to get out of jail and take control again.

After the major conflict in Hiroshima between rival yakuza clans has finally died down, Takeda (Akira Kobayashi) is intent on turning his yakuza family into a political party with legitimate business partners and aboveboard dealings. Dubbed the Tensei Coalition, Takeda successfully unites multiple yakuza with hopes that they may make money together without the usual hazards that plagued the life of crime. However, the unity in Tensei doesn’t last. Takeda is arrested and must serve time in prison after guns are discovered at one of his offices. Before he’s taken away, Takeda names the young Matsumura (Kinya Kitaoji) to be his acting successor. A smart young man with a good eye for business, Matsumura represents the future of the yakuza. Naturally the old-school yakuza see him as a threat. As soon as Takeda is away, Matsumura’s closest rival Otomo (Jo Shishido) stirs up discontent and secretly plots to murder the youthful upstart.

Final Episode is full of familiar faces, though not always in ways you’d expect or approve of. While multiple supporting actors return in the Battles series playing different characters, none are as noticeable and distracting as Kinya Kitaoji. Previously playing the crazed lead in Hiroshima Death Match, Kitaoji plays the polar opposite to that character in Final Episode, but that can’t change the fact that he’s still a very recognizable face playing two different people in a series that’s already complex and occasionally difficult to follow. Hiroki Matsukata also returns to the series in what I believe is his third character, but Matsukata is more of a chameleon than Kitaoji and this repeat in casting isn’t as immediately obvious. Similar to how Kitaoji took over Hiroshima Death Match, he’s also the central character in Final Episode. Unlike Hiroshima Death Match, Final Episode makes better use of Bunta Sugawara’s Hirono, though he may even see less screentime this time around. Not entering the story until about a third of the way through the picture, Hirono is a character often spoken of but rarely seen. By film five, Hirono’s developed the reputation of a troublemaker, so everyone fears his eventual release from prison and whether he will disturb the fragile peace that Tensei is working towards. I personally would’ve liked to have seen more of Sugawara in the film, but I liked how Final Episode treated his character like a sleeping dragon, causing tough guys to quake in their boots when debating who should be the one that confronts him.

The series began in the aftermath of WWII and Final Episode takes place in 1970, bringing the story closer to the time when the films were actually made. What that also means is that the characters who were young in the first film are now old men doing war with the younger generations. While Hirono and other familiar characters are locked away on various criminal charges for much of the story, the film needed someone to represent the old guard, and who better than the puffy-faced genre icon Jo Shishido? Less than a decade removed from Branded to Kill, Shishido looks rough and old in the part of Otomo, playing the gangster drunk and covered with sweat in nearly every scene. He’s a welcome addition to the great cast and it’s too bad that this is the only Battles film the actor appears in.

By the end of the film, many of the characters are dead, some have retired, and others are set to walk a path to presumed fortune and glory. Ultimately though, little has changed. One of the final scenes in the series features young yakuza killing each other in the street. It’s bloody, it’s chaotic, and it’s pointless. Who are they? Doesn’t matter. Why are they fighting? Doesn’t matter. What did the bloodshed achieve? Nothing at all. Whatever Tensei has done to try to change their image as bloodthirsty thugs, the way of the yakuza is still ultimately about young men dying for the pride of their elders. In the end, most the men we’ve followed over the decades are dead and buried, and the survivors feel disenchanted with their entire way of life. The series is known as cool and chaotic, but Final Episode surprises by offering up a more reflective and melancholy finale.

Final Episode may be my least favorite of the five original Battles Without Honor and Humanity films but that doesn’t make it a bad film. The film’s major failings are that the bumpy pace keeps it from being a breathlessly entertaining crime thriller and too often our favorite characters are left out of the central conflict. The rest of the film brings just about everything you expect from the series; the realistic look at a life of crime, the complicated relationships between sworn brothers, and the way that violence between a few greedy men impacted an entire city. Though not the series’ finest entry, Final Episode does put a fitting cap on the story, making for one of the best film series ever produced.

The Arrow Video Blu-ray for Final Episode is perhaps the best looking and sounding disc in their new Battles Without Honor and Humanity box set. For special features on this disc, Arrow gives us a new 18 minute interview with screenwriter Koji Takada, a gallery of posters from the series, and the film’s original trailer. I quite liked the interview with Takada. In fact, I think it’s probably the best interview on the set. Takada explains how he took over writing responsibilities from Kasahara and how they shared research. He shares some views on things he liked and disliked about Kasahara’s previous entries, making for a very honest and entertaining interview.

Kyle Warner’s Rating: 7.5/10

Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , |

The Mo Brothers are cookin’ up a sequel to ‘Macabre’

Posted on January 2, 2016 by JJ Bona
"Macabre" Indonesian Theatrical Poster

"Macabre" Indonesian Theatrical Poster

Following on from 2009’s Macabre (aka Rumah Dara), The Mo Brothers (Killers) have hinted on Instagram (see image) that a sequel is in the works (via Paul Bramhall).

The original Macabre revolved around an awkward pack of people enjoying road trip until they come across a young woman who had just been robbed and left stranded on the side of the road. After much speculation, the group decides to give her a lift home and, well… let’s just say that all bloody hell breaks loose!

The Mo Brothers are currently hard at work on the highly-anticpated Headshot, which stars Iko Uwais (The Raid), Chelsea Elizabeth Islan (Refrain), Julie Estelle (The Raid 2, Macabre) and Sunny Pang (The Collector).

We’ll keep you updated on Macabre 2 as we hear more.

Posted in News |

Cityonfire.com’s ‘Memories of the Sword’ Blu-ray Giveaway! – WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

Posted on January 1, 2016 by JJ Bona
Memories of the Sword | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Memories of the Sword | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Cityonfire.com and Well Go USA are giving away 3 Blu-ray copies of Memories of the Sword to three lucky Cityonfire visitors. To enter, simply add a comment to this post and describe, in your own words, this video.

We will be selecting a winner at random. Be sure to include your email address in the appropriate field so we can contact you for your home address. Additionally, you must ‘Like Us‘ on cityonfire.com’s Facebook by clicking here.

The Blu-ray & DVD for Memories of the Sword (read our review) will be officially released on January 5, 2016. We will announce the 3 winners on January 6, 2016.

CONTEST DISCLAIMER: You must enter by January 6, 2016 to qualify. U.S. residents only please. We sincerely apologize to our non-U.S. visitors. Winners must respond with their mailing address within 48 hours, otherwise you will automatically be disqualified. No exceptions. Contest is subject to change without notice.

WINNERS: Ben, Alice H. and Sam Ng.

Posted in News | Tagged |

Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale, The (2015) Review

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Paul Bramhall
"The Tiger: An Old Hunters Tale" Korean Theatrical Poster

“The Tiger: An Old Hunters Tale” Korean Theatrical Poster

AKA: The Tiger
Director: Park Hoon-Jung
Cast: Choi Min-Sik, Jeong Man-Sik, Kim Sang-Ho, Sung Yoo-Bin, Ren Osugi, Jung Suk-Won, Ra Mi-Ran, Yoo Jae-Myung, Kim Hong-Fa, Woo Jung-Kook
Running Time: 139 min.

By Paul Bramhall

In 2015 Korean history was a hot topic, mainly due to President Park Geun-hye’s hugely unpopular decision to replace all high school history text books, currently produced by private publishers, with anonymously written government-issued ones by 2017. The decision is largely looked at as one which will whitewash much of the countries less pleasant history, and lead to an education system much like Japan’s, in which anything that presents the country in a negative light will be conveniently glazed over. While the newly authored books are still being written, it seems that the current trend for historical revisionism in Korea has already become apparent in its mainstream cinematic output.

Recent productions such as Ode to my Father, The Admiral: Roaring Currents, and Northern Limit Line, all play fast and loose with historical facts to paint a picture of a Korean national identity which is unwaveringly patriotic and pure of heart. How long this trend will continue for is difficult to answer, however with two of the three titles mentioned holding their place in the top five most successful Korean movies of all time, it’s safe to say it’ll continue for a while.

The Tiger has Choi Min-sik on patriotic duty again, after his star turn as the revered Admiral Yi Sun-shin in the previous years The Admiral: Roaring Currents. This time he’s under the direction of Park Hoon-jeong, the man responsible for writing and directing The New World (which also starred Min-sik), as well as penning the scripts for the likes of The Unjust and I Saw the Devil. Min-sik, as expected, proves to be the perfect fit for the role of a rugged tiger hunter, both conveying a sense of authority and world weariness from under his hulking frame, it’s difficult to imagine anyone else as the character.

The tale is set in 1935 under Japan’s occupation of Korea, and revolves around Min-sik’s hunter, who’s been retired since his wife passed away. The Japanese have set about killing every native Korean animal they can find, on the orders of a bloodthirsty commander played by Ren Osugi (recognizable from many pre-2000 Miike Takashi and Beat Takeshi movies), who has a particular liking for displaying stuffed Korean tigers. When the tiger population is completely wiped out except for one, a one-eyed male whose ferocity is legendary, Min-sik finds himself in a dilemma – let the Japanese eventually find and kill it, or give it the dignity of a Korean hunter sending it off into tiger heaven?

There are of course other plot threads introduced throughout, such as the son of Min-sik’s character wanting to marry a girl from the nearby town, however the narrative never strays far from the central goal of killing the tiger. This is of course the movies first big challenge, in that with such a simplistic plot, there is never any doubt that proceedings are going to finish with a Min-sik vs. tiger confrontation. Just like we know Titanic will end with it sinking, the important part becomes about the journey that will take us to that point. Weighing in with an epic 140 minute runtime, you’d hope that Hoon-jeong has a strong narrative structure in place to keep us gripped until the penultimate showdown.

Unfortunately, it becomes apparent some time before the mid-way point that this isn’t the case. Hoon-jeong weighs his script down with a numerous pieces of dialogue depicting Min-sik’s dedication to the mountain that he resides on, constantly mumbling such words of wisdom as “It’s up to the mountain now” and “We must respect the mountain”. The heaviness of his character is in stark contrast to the two dimensional treatment the Japanese antagonists are given. Once again, as was the issue with The Admiral: Roaring Currents, the Japanese are portrayed as almost cartoon like villains, and by the end of the movie are recklessly blowing up whole forests while murdering any animal they come across. The only Japanese character given even a hint of humanity, is a high ranking officer played by Jeong Sok-won, who’s looked down upon for being a native Korean. Subtly isn’t a word which applies to The Tiger.

From a technical standpoint however, the movie is a gorgeous affair, with stunning cinematography of the Korean mountains, and the tiger itself comes in the form a particularly impressive CGI creation. It’s not perfect, but the technology has certainly come a long way from the CGI tiger found in 2011’s War of the Arrows. While the tiger may look and move remarkably naturally, its instincts seem anything but, armed with an amazing ability to single out Japanese officers and subject them to the grizzliest deaths. The actions of the title animal become increasingly ridiculous, and equal parts laughable, the more the movie chugs towards its finale, as it gains the ability to rescue Koreans from a pack of hungry wolves, and seemingly drop by to visit Min-sik at will.

Working with such an epic scope appears to work against Hoon-jeong’s directorial style, as several other instances that stretch believability pop up with a disengaging regularity throughout. The reason behind the death of Min-sik’s wife isn’t revealed until around the mid-way point, however what should be a revelatory moment is quickly squandered by the contrived nature of the reveal. With the Japanese having spent so much time emphasising how vast the mountain area is, the sudden appearance of three key players convening in the same spot by chance goes against everything the narrative has established thus far. It’s moments like this which do damage to Min-sik’s dedicated performance, laden with a director who, while evidently a talented storyteller based on past efforts, seems to have bitten off more than he can chew here.

In the last hour things really go off the rails, as it consists of an increasingly frustrating series of false climaxes, each one seemingly bringing the movie to its close, before revealing that it’s still not over. By the time the Japanese army find themselves being stalked by the tiger, it almost feels like we’re watching a sequel to Predator. The beast is briefly glimpsed speeding through the shadows, and before you know it arms are being ripped off, bodies are randomly falling out of trees, and the only thing missing is Bill Duke turning up with a mini-gun. Even when the tiger has been riddled with countless bullets, it still seems relatively unfazed, like any true Korean tiger should be.

By this point it seems to have made the decision itself to die at the hands of a Korean, so strolls off to meet with Min-sik for a session of exchanging intense stares set to a sweeping choral soundtrack. In fact the choral soundtrack plays in every scene involving Min-sik and the tiger during the last hour, practically demanding that we feel their emotional connection to each other. Unfortunately, at least for a non-Korean audience, the feeling of forced emotions is one that permeates throughout the production. There are scenes at the beginning which seem like they were filmed purely to be used as flashback fodder later on, and sure enough they are. It’s this type of blatant commercial filmmaking that earmarks these recent Korean productions, which come with a checkbox list of histrionics, two dimensional foreign villains, and self-sacrificing heroes.

While The Tiger continues to deliver the high end production values we’ve become accustomed to from Korean cinema, it also long outstays its welcome. At one point, the Japanese commander yells at one of his soldiers – “How can it be such a hard battle?” With such an epic runtime, trying to get to the end of The Tiger will likely result in you asking yourself the same question.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 5/10

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged , |

Attack on Titan: Part 2 – End of the World (2015) Review

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Paul Bramhall
"Attack on Titan: Part 2" Japanese Theatrical Poster

"Attack on Titan: Part 2" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Shinji Higuchi
Writer: Yusuke Watanabe, Tomohiro Machiyama
Based on Manga by Hajime Isayama
Cast: Haruma Miura, Hiroki Hasegawa, Kiko Mizuhara, Kanata Hongo, Takahiro Miura, Nanami Sakuraba, Satoru Matsuo, Shu Watanabe, Ayame Misaki, Rina Takeda
Running Time: 90 min.

By Paul Bramhall

The second installment of Shinji Higuchi’s adaptation of the Attack on Titan manga reached Japanese cinema screens just a month after the first one came to the end of its run, aiming to pack a swift one-two punch of Titan mayhem. In my review for Part 1, I expressed the opinion that, by unashamedly stripping a multi-layered tale down to a pulpy adventure of humans trying to survive against bloodthirsty oversized zombies, the end result was surprisingly entertaining. By avoiding the typical issues that plague modern mainstream Japanese cinema, and simply concentrating on how much blood and terror could be splattered across the screen, for those unfamiliar with the manga at least, a good time could be had.

Attack on Titan: Part 2 clocks in at a compact 90 minutes, and so I was looking forward to returning to the grim world of the slow moving, permanently grinning Titans. I mention the 90 minute runtime, because from the word go we’re given an overly long recap of Part 1 which runs for over 5 minutes, making a short movie even shorter. I find it highly unlikely that anyone watching Part 2 will have left it so long that they’ll have forgotten everything that happened in Part 1 (which really, was just Titans eating people), so this recap seemed like a needless way to kick things off.

Sadly things don’t get any better, as once we finally settle into proceedings, it turns out that the first 20 minutes of the movie are spent discussing and arguing about the events which close out Part 1. As a note to this review, I’ll write it from the perspective of assuming the reader may not have seen Part 1 yet, so I’ll avoid mentioning any specific spoilers from the first installment (and if you fall into this category, also ensure you stay away from reading the IMDB cast list for Part 2, which unintentionally spoils some major plot points). What I gradually came to realize, with a sense of horror that was very different from what I was hoping for, is that Part 2 was turning out to be everything I was dreading Part 1 was going to be.

The cliffhanger revelation that Part 1 closed with quickly becomes a millstone around the neck of Part 2, as a grand total of half the movie is spent discussing it, with a mix of characters yelling and screaming at each other in a vastly irritating manner. Indeed the only appearance by any Titans in the first half is either through flashbacks to Part 1, or sightings of them in the distance, with the exception of a brief appearance by a new mega-Titan in one of the initial scenes. For a production which setup the expectation of providing plenty of Titan action from the first installment, 45 minutes becomes an almost terminal amount of time to wait for something interesting to happen.

When I say interesting, it’s unfortunate that the Titan’s really are the most interesting thing about Part 2. The characters are still the same from Part 1, although unforgivably Rina Takeda doesn’t return, however the pace and tone of the first installment really didn’t give us time to worry about caring or building a connection with the cast. Part 2 gives us too much time with them, and none of the performances are particularly noteworthy. Haruma Miura and Kanata Hongo return as the central pair of Eren and Armin, and both are ladened with considerably more dialogue heavy scenes than before. Sadly they only seem to have only 2 acting ranges – talk in a low tone for serious scenes, and yell at the top of your voice for scenes that need to emphasize drama.

Nobody else fares any better, with Kiko Mizuhara, playing a character that seemed so important in Part 1, all but sidelined for many of the crucial events that take place, and Satomi Ishihara’s quirky character of Part 1 here registering as a one note annoyance. Much of the blame can be put on the script, which appears to want to shoehorn in the underlying themes of the manga such as militarism and a distrust of the government, however the end result is that it all comes across very forced. Throwing such a talky opening 45 minutes at the audience was never going to work considering what’s come before, and it begs the question of why Higuchi didn’t attempt to spread out the more dialogue heavy segments across both parts.

Thankfully though, after a long wait we are finally given some Titan action, which comes in a three way battle between a trio of the mega Titans. I confess that it left me disappointed when, apart from a couple who are treated as collateral damage in the three way throwdown, the grey skinned sexless Titan’s that provided so much of the horror element in Part 1 are completely missing from Part 2. The origin of them is briefly explained away in an almost throwaway scene at the beginning of the movie, after which for whatever reason they seem to be considered as not worth focusing on anymore, so it becomes all about the mega Titans instead.

It’s ironic then, that the mega Titans are barely given any explanation whatsoever. We get a rudimentary understanding of what and who they are, however there are numerous head scratching aspects of their existence that are never answered. The biggest one being of why the huge skinless Titan, the image of which essentially defines the series, is about 5 times bigger than the other couple of mega Titans. In Part 1 it didn’t really matter, it moved along so briskly that such plot holes could be forgivingly overlooked, but here, if you’re going to spend 45 minutes talking, at least take a couple of them to explain why the most important part of the movie is the way it is.

On the technical side of things, the mega Titans do look great. Their skinless bodies, usually smoking from being so hot, successfully creating what’s certainly one of the most memorable creatures to grace screens in recent memory. There’s something quite primeval about their humanoid nature, which really makes them come across as much more terrifying than a fictional monster, and it’s a credit to Higuchi and his team that they’ve been able to conjure up such convincing onscreen creations.

Like the first half of the movie, the finale eventually also begins to feel needlessly protracted, especially with the element introduced of one Titan being a friend to the humans, effectively removing any sense of danger. When proceedings come to their explosive close, there’s a real lack of clarity on what’s actually been achieved. The smaller humanoid Titans are presumably still roaming around eating anyone in their path, which has always been the biggest danger, however this minor detail seems to have been forgotten in the closing scenes. Needless to say life was much simpler when it was just a case of humans versus oversized zombies.

Attack on Titan: Part 2 ultimately feels like an unnecessary filler to Part 1. Having watched both within a relatively short time period, it’s a struggle to see why they didn’t just make a single 3 hour movie, in which events could have progressed much more naturally than splitting them into two parts. Of course, by doing that they also would have made half the profit. The opening title of Attack on Titan: Part 2 doesn’t even appear on screen until the 20 minute mark, and looking back now, I think I would have been equally pleased if it had been the closing credits.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 4/10

Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews |

Jean-Claude Van Damme Collection | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

Posted on December 29, 2015 by JJ Bona
Jean-Claude Van Damme Collection | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

Jean-Claude Van Damme Collection | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2016

Mill Creek Entertainment presents the Blu-ray set for the Jean-Claude Van Damme 5 Movie Collection, which contains the following films on two discs:

Sheldon Lettich’s The Hard Corps (2006), Tsui Hark’s Double Team (1997), Ringo Lam’s Maximum Risk (1996), Mic Rodgers’ Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) and Simon Fellows’ Second in Command (2006).

This collection marks the Blu-ray debut of both The Hard Corps and Double Team.

Pre-order Jean-Claude Van Damme 5 Movie Collection from Amazon.com today!

Posted in DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles |

Deal on Fire! The Raid 2: Berandal | Blu-ray | Only $8.99 – Expires soon!

Posted on December 27, 2015 by JJ Bona
The Raid 2: Berandal | Blu-ray & DVD (Sony Pictures)

The Raid 2: Berandal | Blu-ray & DVD (Sony Pictures)

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Gareth Evans’ thrilling action film, The Raid 2: Berandal.

From Paul Bramhall’s review: “Evans has constructed a masterpiece here, which is every bit as much of a gangster movie as it is an action one. For those who are looking, there are subtle nods of the head to several of the classic Korean gangster movies, the Nikkatsu movies from the 60s, The Godfather, as well as a host of winks to talent he obviously has a lot of respect for such as Donnie Yen, John Woo, Panna Rittikrai, Takeshi Kitano, and in one scene I’d even say David Lynch. I’ll sign off there, now get out and see it.”

Order The Raid 2 from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |

Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 4: Police Tactics (1974) Review

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Kelly Warner
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 4" Blu-ray Cover

"Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 4" Blu-ray Cover

Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Writer: Koichi Iiboshi, Kazuo Kasahara
Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Akira Kobayashi, Takeshi Kato, Tatsuo Umemiya, Hiroki Matsukata, Nobuo Kaneko, Hideo Murota, Shingo Yamashiro, Kunie Tanaka, Shinichiro Mikami, Ichiro Ogura, Asao Koike, Asao Uchida, Harumi Sone, Tatsuo Endo
Running Time: 101 min.

By Kyle Warner

The Battles Without Honor and Humanity series is best viewed back-to-back and never is that more true than with Proxy War and Police Tactics. The events of Proxy War ignite a gangland war that’s left unfinished at the end of that film and intensifies in Police Tactics, drawing the ire of civilians and forcing the police to act.

In the years following the end of World War II, the yakuza weren’t only tolerated, they were occasionally celebrated and even employed by the most unlikely of establishments (including both the Japanese and American governments). By the 1960s, Japan had rebuilt its country both structurally and economically, and people wanted to enjoy this new era of normality. The country would soon host the Olympics in 1964, but here were the yakuza, a group of thugs that’d missed the memo that their time was over. The world had moved on and it was unsympathetic to the men it had once romanticized as chivalrous anti-heroes.

After the violence between yakuza claims the lives of innocent civilians, the people of Hiroshima demand that the police put an end to the slaughter. The police—largely depicted here as an anonymous force of law and order—start by just making things difficult for the yakuza: they monitor every stronghold to prevent violent raids and, most importantly, they strangle the yakuza’s cash flow by halting money collection runs. Despite all of this, the rival gangs remain in a constant state of conflict. The bosses try to keep their young soldiers in line, but too many false starts for ending the war have made everybody jumpy. Instead of a unified assault, the battles of Police Tactics are more like guerilla warfare, as one side attacks the other and waits for the inevitable retaliation.

Caught in the middle of all this is Hirono (Bunta Sugawara), who’s aligning himself with former enemies and plotting to kill his one-time superiors. Though Hirono is one of the few bosses willing to end the war himself, his men are too protective of him and constantly throw themselves into the fray in his stead. At one point a policeman sneers at Hirono about how he can eat well and sleep comfortably while his men barely scrape by. Hirono bursts out that they live by a code that the cops couldn’t understand. For the longest time, Hirono was the one character cynical enough and smart enough to “get it.” But if there’s anything that Battles Without Honor and Humanity wants to get across is that this all-important code doesn’t exist, at least not anymore.

Along with the original Battles Without Honor and Humanity, I count Police Tactics as one my very favorites of the series. And considering I think so highly of the series, I suppose that makes Police Tactics one of my favorite films regardless of country or genre. Of the sequels, Police Tactics is the most similar in tone and execution to the first movie, giving us a documentary-style gangster epic with enough plot threads to make your head spin. There’s also a considerable amount of dark comedy, something unexpected from the series but certainly welcome.

I want to give special mention to the film’s most memorable characters and performances, of which there are many. Nobuo Kaneko (Ikiru) has the duty of playing one of the most dislikable gangsters ever put on film. He may not be the most violent, nasty, rapey, or insane villain, but he exhibits every other unlikable quality of a man in power that should make Yamamori universally despised. He may get fewer scenes in Police Tactics but Kaneko has a way of lingering on in the viewer’s conscious long after the character has stepped off the stage. Also worthy of praise is Kunie Tanaka (All About Our House) who plays Yamamori’s right-hand-man Makihara. In the beginning, Makihara was a cowardly mouse but he evolves into a man of violence with a short temper, and Tanaka is completely believable throughout the transformation. Akira Kobayashi (Retaliation) plays a cool yakuza at odds with Hirono, though the two are very much alike. Hiroki Matsukata (13 Assassins) returns to the series as a different character, here playing the terminally ill yakuza Fujita. And of course at the center of it all is Bunta Sugawara (Street Mobster) in the role that would rewrite his career. For the longest time, Sugawara was a supporting player in the films meant to showcase other stars. Sensing that Sugawara could go darker and uglier than those film idols, the actor became a favorite of Kinji Fukasaku for the director’s new wave of crime pics. Battles Without Honor and Humanity was a huge success, catapulting many men to stardom, especially Fukasaku and Sugawara. Cool but also comfortable with the image of a bad guy, Sugawara owns the role of Shozo Hirono and it’s impossible to imagine anyone else in the part. The actor would go onto make many more films – some of them classics – but this is the role he’ll be remembered for.

Arrow Video has released the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series as a limited edition Blu-ray/DVD multi-format box set with new special features. Included on this disc is a 17 minute featurette called Remembering Kinji, where film critic Sadao Yamane and the director’s son Kenta Fukasaku (Battle Royale 2). Together they discuss Kinji Fukasaku’s artistic influences, his politics, and his impact. I enjoyed some of the insights here, particularly from Yamane. Also included is a 15 minute interview with assistant director Toru Dobashi, who shares some stories about Fukasaku’s work methods and memories from the set. Though there’s less to learn from Dobashi’s interview, it’s the more entertaining extra. Also included on the disc is the film’s original trailer.

In Proxy War it felt like cast and crew fully understood the beast they’d created. Things clicked. Nothing felt false. Proxy War was all about setting up the game, then Police Tactics comes in, flips the game board and laughs as all the pieces go flying. This film has all the chaotic violence that the series is known for as well as the well-researched, contemplative drama that’s often overlooked. Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics is fantastic.

Kyle Warner’s Rating: 9/10

Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , , |

Shaolin: The Blood Mission | aka The Fourth Largest Shaolin Temple (1984) Review

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Paul Bramhall
"Shaolin: The Blood Mission" Korean Theatrical Poster

“Shaolin: The Blood Mission” Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Park Woo-sang
Writer: Hong Chi-Yun
Cast: Hwang Jang Lee, Ho Kei Cheong, Suen Kwok Ming, Poon Cheung, Luo Hua-Sheng, Olivia Hung, Park Dong-yeol, Lee Jin-Yeong, Kim Ki-Bum
Running Time: 85 min.

By Paul Bramhall

The name of Korean director Park Woo-sang may not be immediately familiar to many, and understandably so. However once the filmmaker immigrated to America, he continued to direct under a different name – Richard Park – and for those who know their B-movie cinema, chances are that this alias should ring a bell. From the mid-80’s Park terrorized the B-movie circuit with such titles as L.A. Streetfighters, American Chinatown, and most famously thanks to the recent Drafthouse Films release, Miami Connection.

Before his immigration stateside though, under his original name of Park Woo-sang he directed a number of decent Korean kung fu movies. From the Korean version of Zatoichi, with the 1971 flick The Blind Swordsman, through to the likes of the Casanova Wong starring Strike of Thunderkick Tiger. Shaolin: The Blood Mission, was the last movie he made in Korea (the original Korean title is The Fourth Largest Shaolin Temple), and as with so many Korean kung fu movies of the era, it was bought up by Godfrey Ho and Tomas Tang’s IFD Films for international distribution, and given an English dub.

What separates Shaolin: The Blood Mission from many of the Korean productions that Ho and Tang bought up, is that it quickly becomes clear the movie is a co-production between Korea and Hong Kong, long before their interference. Numerous familiar faces from Hong Kong populate the production, such as Yen Shi Kwan is listed as action director, the main character is a monk played by Suen Kwok Ming, and Ho Kei Cheong appears as a prominent villain. Outside of the principal cast members though, the rest of the performers in Shaolin: The Blood Mission are exceptionally difficult to find any information on. Sites like the Korean Movie Database, the Hong Kong Movie Database, HKcinemagic, and IMDB all return blanks on elaborating beyond a handful of actors.

It’s a shame, because two of the unnamed members from the trio of monks that make up the protagonists are remarkably skilled, and appear to be Wushu practitioners. The guy who plays the shorter monk in particular is highly acrobatic, throwing in various exciting somersaults and flips whenever he’s in action. The third monk is the most muscular of the trio, but again moves with speed and displays some quality talent handling weapons. There’s also an additional character, a rebel who comes to the aide of the monks, who shows off a formidable range of kicks and has some great fast paced fight scenes. However all remain uncredited when exploring the usual avenues to look up information on these productions.

The movie itself starts off with a bang. Before the credits have even appeared, Hwang Jang Lee storms down the pathway leading up to the palace steps, carrying a cloth covered severed head in one hand, all set to the shower scene soundtrack from Psycho. It’s a double whammy, not only is it a great way to make an entrance, but it’s also a great way to start a movie! A familiar plot is soon revealed – there’s a list which details rebels against the Ching Dynasty, and Hwang Jang Lee is tasked to find it, of course leading to the Shaolin Temple which is believed to be harboring both rebels and the list in question.

After a failed directing gig at Shaw Brothers, Hwang worked almost exclusively in his native Korea from late 1982, before returning to Hong Kong and making Where’s Officer Tuba? with Sammo Hung in 1986. Even though many fans consider Korean productions to be a class below their Hong Kong equivalents, which to a large degree is true, what can’t be complained about is the screen time Hwang got in his Korean movies. While many Hong Kong productions would have him randomly pop up in the finale, as a previously hardly seen villain (see Ninja in the Dragons Den and Tower of Death for prime examples), his Korean productions usually had him in prominent roles. Shaolin: The Blood Mission is no different, giving his villain character plenty of opportunities to let loose with his famous kicks.

Korean movies are also known for their slightly left of field antics, and here fans of the wacky won’t be left disappointed. At one point Hwang and his villainous cohort, played by Ho Kei Cheong, are playing a game of chess. However it’s no ordinary game of chess, sitting in high chairs at either end of a huge board drawn onto the ground, scantily clad ladies wearing see through gowns are the pieces, and Hwang instructs his pieces to move by whipping the lady in question. The eliminated piece is usually greeted by being stabbed in the chest, hardly the gentleman’s game it has the reputation to be! There’s also a bizarre scene were the abbot of the temple reveals he’s been hiding a book for a number of years, by having it stitched into his back! Removing it involves a rather gory scene of him having his back sliced open to remove the book from under his skin, after which he promptly dies. If anything, it certainly ensures that the scenes between the fights never get dull.

Of course the fights are really what kung fu movies are all about, and Shaolin: The Blood Mission is a pleasant surprise in this department. After a rocky start, which almost seems like it’s going to be an intolerable comedy, things turn serious pretty quickly, and the action comes thick and fast. As mentioned, the monks appear to be being played by genuine Wushu practitioners, so plenty of acrobatics and weapons work are included in the fight sequences. I believe this is the only movie which really pits Hwang Jang Lee’s kicks against the flowery flourishes of the highly stylized but visually stunning Wushu. The contrast between his powerful and disciplined kicking, to the monks flips and fluidity of movement, makes for a number of unique and thrilling confrontations.

Both the three central monks and Hwang Jang Lee also get their own individual chances to shine. The monks in an exam which pits them against each other, allowing for both opponents to display their physical dexterity, and Hwang in one particular scene in which he wades through a small army of monks from the temple, dispatching them with some fierce footwork. Events transpire to culminate in a fantastic three on one, as a spear wielding Suen Kwok Ming, the acrobatic monk, and the boot-master rebel team up to take on Hwang’s ferocious villain. It’s a long and exhausting fight, one in which every performer gets to do their thing. What I particularly liked about it is that mid-way through, it appears that the good guys are gaining the advantage, at which point Hwang ramps up his kicking to the next level, and as a result the whole fight gets turned up a notch.

Throw in rebels getting blown up with dynamite, monks being impaled by flaming arrows, and a chicken losing its head, and Shaolin: The Blood Mission certainly lives up to its title. There are some deaths that would even make Chang Cheh proud, a compliment that any kung fu movie should be happy to receive. While the dubbing and editing of the plot may sometimes leave you scratching your head, no doubt due to Godfrey Ho’s involvement rather than any fault of the original production, there’s enough solid fight action on display to more than warrant a watch. If you’ve contemplated watching Shaolin: The Blood Mission before but decided to give it a miss, hopefully this review will make you re-consider, but if it doesn’t, I’ll ask the same question that at one point the Abbot asks the monks – “Are you totally out of your skull?”

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7.5/10

Posted in All, Chinese, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged , , |

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) Review

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Paul Bramhall
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Korean Theatrical Poster

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Korean Theatrical Poster

AKA: Star Wars: Episode VII
Director: J. J. Abrams
Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Max von Sydow, Joonas Suotamo, Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian
Running Time: 135 min.

By Paul Bramhall

As the latest installment of the much loved Star Wars franchise hits cinemas in December 2015, the first under the distribution on Walt Disney Pictures, the internet can expect to become awash with reviews from every angle possible. Most of them will be likely scrutinized by the series’ diehard fan base just as much as the movie itself, so the very act of writing one is willingly putting ones self in the line of fire of the Star Wars faithful. I myself got to witness The Force Awakens on its opening night in Manila, played to an audience who enthusiastically cheered and whooped throughout its 135 minute runtime, so thought I’d pin a target to myself and offer up my own opinion.

It seems nostalgia plays an important part for many who’ll be going to see The Force Awakens, just as it did for the ill-fated prequel trilogy which kicked off back in 1999 with The Phantom Menace. I was 18 when that movie came out, but even then upon watching it in the cinema, there was no doubt in my mind that what I’d just witnessed was pretty awful. The soulless CGI landscapes, the clunky script, Jar Jar Binks, and the over reliance on playing up the light sabers iconic image as the coolest thing about Star Wars. As a child of the early 80’s, of course I also got to experience the original trilogy on VHS, and one of my childhood birthday parties even included a screening of Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. I still remember this movie being more entertaining than The Phantom Menace.

Now, 10 years since the last movie was released in the form of Revenge of the Sith, The Force Awakens begins a new trilogy that forms a direct continuation of the original three movies, bringing back Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill. Oh, and Chewbacca.

For readers of cityonfire, including myself, there was a particular interest shown in the casting of Indonesian action stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian of Merantau and The Raid movies fame. It’s not a spoiler to say that they appear onscreen for about 30 seconds. Yayan gets a few lines, but Iko doesn’t get to say (or do) anything. For those hoping to see some Star Wars Silat action, you’ll come away disappointed. But don’t worry, there’s still Beyond Skyline to look forward to. Of course Asia’s biggest action star, Donnie Yen, is also currently in the process of filming the Star Wars spin-off movie, Rogue One, which I’m sure will involve him throwing a few kicks.

What you may be surprised to hear though, is that I actually drew a sigh of relief when Iko and Yayan didn’t get to show off their impressive skills, as it simply wouldn’t have fit in with the story. One of the biggest mistakes the prequels made was their emphasis on the action. With the release of The Matrix, the sudden interest in kung fu saw an increased emphasis on Ray Park’s Darth Maul and his double bladed light saber. However Star Wars was never just about light saber fights and TIE fighter battles, it was about the characters taking part in those battles, and what was at stake as a result of them. That’s what really made the original trilogy become so fondly remembered.

Abrams has realized that in a way that Lucas failed to do when he returned, and in The Force Awakens the grand spectacle is secondary to the relationship between the two main characters – a disillusioned storm trooper played by John Boyega, and a scavenger with no family played by Daisy Ridley. These two innocent players get embroiled in events out of their control when they end up in possession of an android (the ball shaped robot seen in all of the publicity for the movie), which contains a map showing the location of Luke Skywalker, who has long been a recluse. Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, a character who idolizes Darth Vader, is also after the map, and soon everyone from Han Solo to Princess Leia is caught up in the fight to get their hands on it.

That’s the in-a-nutshell plot of The Force Awakens, and to go into any further detail would be heading into spoiler territory, something which should be avoided for such an anticipated movie. But it’s fair to say that Boyega and Ridley anchor the movie in a way that makes everything happening seem relatable, taking us along for the ride with them every step of the way as they’re overwhelmed, embattled, and ultimately empowered. It’s a satisfying journey, strongly bolstered by a fantastic performance by Harrison Ford, and despite having significantly less screen time, Carrie Fisher as well. Driver really nails the role of Kylo Ren, at once appearing to be completely ruthless, but at the same time convincingly showing his vulnerability in the subtlest of ways.

I mentioned earlier that the grand spectacle is secondary, and one of the best things about the action in The Force Awakens is the way the light saber is used very sparingly. The prequels had so many people swinging light sabers left right and center, that the iconic weapon no longer seemed special anymore. The Force Awakens goes a long way to rectifying that, with the light saber perhaps for the first time being conveyed as a weapon that feels both tangible and dangerous. Here there are no villains getting cleanly chopped in half, instead the saber is able to both draw blood and to burn, and the few scenes that they’re used in aren’t wasted. It’s very much a case of quality over quantity.

There are of course plentiful aerial battles between the TIE fighters and the X-wings, all of which are filmed in such a way that captures the excitement and thrill of being part of such a battle. However despite all of the impressive action scenes, what stands out the most about The Force Awakens is just how much of a real movie it is. The cinematography is stunning, with a huge and welcome reliance on practical effects, real filming locations, and wide angle lensing. The score offers up both plenty of new tracks, as well as worthy nods to the famous score of old. The characters are all well rounded and fleshed out, and again, just as many of the more colorful aliens are actors wearing prosthetics as they are CGI creations. Perhaps most importantly of all, the script works, acknowledging what’s come before while also paving the way for the movies ahead.

While critics could easily beat up on The Force Awakens, based on the fact that the plot could essentially be taken as a re-boot of A New Hope, it does little to diminish its entertainment value. Based on how big a Star Wars fan the reviewer is, you’ll most likely see reviews concluding in a hundred different ways. For me, I wanted an unpretentious piece of sci-fi action cinema, and that’s exactly what I got.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8.5/10

Posted in All, Asian Related, News, Reviews | Tagged , |

Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 3: Proxy War (1973) Review

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Kelly Warner
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 3" Blu-ray Cover

“Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 3” Blu-ray Cover

Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Akira Kobayashi, Takeshi Kato, Mikio Narita, Kunie Tanaka, Nobuo Kaneko, Shingo Yamashiro, Nobuo Kaneko, Tsunehiko Watase, Hideo Murota, Tatsuo Umemiya, Asao Uchida, Tatsuo Endo
Running Time: 102 min.

By Kelly Warner

Hiroshima Death Match is a strong film and a fine example of the yakuza film genre. However, it was little more than a side-story in the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series and didn’t do much to advance the series’ overarching narrative. In the third Battles film, Proxy War, things get back on track. We return our focus to Bunta Sugawara’s gangster Hirono and the brutal power plays between rival gangs in 1960’s Japan.

An aging yakuza boss is set to retire and everyone’s fighting for position so that they may be chosen as his successor. It’s like a political race but with even more backstabbing. Hirono supports Uchimoto (Takeshi Kato) for the soon-to-be absent position of boss. It’s a win-win situation for Hirono if Uchimoto gets the job; Uchimoto seems to have the right priorities and he’ll be sure to remember those who helped him get the post, especially Hirono. And while Uchimoto is far from perfect (the ambitious yakuza exchanges oaths of loyalty with virtually everyone, which essentially makes his word worthless) at least he’s better than the alternative: Hirono’s former boss, Yamamori (Nobuo Kaneko). Unfortunately, Uchimoto falls out of favor with the men making the decisions and the torch is ultimately passed to Yamamori.

As is usual in the Battles Without Honor Humanity series, things always get worse. Not only is Yamamori intolerable thanks to his rapidly inflating ego, but now Uchimoto wants revenge. Uchimoto blames Hirono for him not getting named successor to the throne and he’d be just fine with seeing both Hirono and Yamamori dead and buried. So begins a war between rival gangs in post-war Hiroshima.

Unlike the previous entries in the Battles series which settled disputes with violence in the streets, much of Proxy War is about scheming and posturing. When Uchimoto becomes associated with the powerful Akashi family (led by Tetsuro Tamba), Yamamori scrambles to align himself with Akashi’s biggest rival, the Shinwa Group. The alliances between yakuza groups mean very little and the oaths of loyalty between individuals mean even less. Naïve young men die for greedy old men who worry about their wounded pride. Throughout the film, Tetsuro Tamba’s character remains untouchable and rarely seen; he’s largely responsible for this war and he never even gets his hands dirty.

Proxy War is the most deliberately paced entry of the five film series. As the yakuza get richer and expand (Japan also saw great economic growth in this time), they also grow more cautious, preferring to handle situations with mediators at a dinner table instead of in a dark alley with a knife. Director Kinji Fukasaku surprises with not only showing some restraint in Proxy War but also providing some of the series’ best visuals.

Filmmakers often say that the most difficult scenes to direct are those with multiple characters seated around a table. Well, Proxy War is chockful of such scenes. The cast and screenwriter Kazuo Kasahara make the dialogue-driven table scenes dramatically compelling while director Fukasaku and cinematographer Sadaji Yoshida provide appealing visuals. Fukasaku’s use of widescreen filming techniques is on full display here, filling every inch of the frame with movement and color. You can watch these scenes multiple times and focus on something different each time because every actor is doing something, unwilling to go unnoticed even when the scene is being powered by someone else. Fukusaku told his actors that they were all main characters in these films and that feels especially true in these dialogue-driven group scenes.

Throughout the series, composer Toshiaki Tsushima provided iconic music that underlined all of the action and drama on-screen. Japanese cinema has featured the music of many great composers and while Tsushima isn’t a name that immediately comes up, his score for Battles is. It’s iconic, the sort of thing that’s become ingrained in pop culture (in Japan more than the West, obviously). Rarely does a director’s vision and a composer’s music match so perfectly.

The Proxy War Blu-ray from Arrow Video has a couple new special features exclusive to their Battles Without Honor and Humanity set. In the good old days of the Japanese studio system, the directors, stars, and crew hung out with each other after long work days in their own special social circles. Secrets of the Piranha Army puts the spotlight on the bad boys of Toei’s stable of character actors who formed the Piranha Army, a club for actors that were not invited to the other social circles because of their reputation as angry drunks. It’s an amusing 35 minute featurette, as it sounds like these actors behaved much like the yakuza characters they played on-screen (please note: this featurette has some spoilers for later films in the series). Also included is Tales of a Bit Player, a 10 minute interview with actor/stuntman Akira Murota who played multiple supporting roles throughout the Battles series (he’s more recognizable as the silent samurai who monitors Tom Cruise’s character in The Last Samurai, a film that Murota speaks briefly about here). Though it’s shorter, I actually enjoyed the Murota interview more than the Piranha Army featurette. Both are worth watching for fans looking to know more about the men who worked on the series.

Proxy War has enough going on to easily fill a three hour film. The fact that Fukasaku and Kasahara delivered their story in under two hours is kind of amazing. It’s a tight film with not a single wasted scene or subplot. Proxy War may lack some of the chaotic madness seen in the first two films but it makes up for that with a clear vision and a deftly plotted screenplay. Many critics consider Proxy War to be the best film in the series. It’s not my favorite Battles film but it ranks up there pretty high. After the sidestep in Hiroshima Death Match, Proxy War has the series coming together with a clear goal in mind going forward.

Kelly Warner’s Rating: 8.5/10

Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , |

Enter the Invincible Hero | aka Secret Bandit of Black Leopard (1981) Review

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Paul Bramhall
"Enter the Invincible Hero" Korean Theatrical Poster

“Enter the Invincible Hero” Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Kim Si-hyun
Cast: Dragon Lee (Mun Kyong-sok), Casanova Wong, Chui Man Fooi, Lee Ye Min, Cheung Ching Kwok, Gam Hei Wang, Seo Jeong Ah, Chen Shao Lung
Running Time: 100 min.

By Paul Bramhall

Deciphering who directed what and when in the old school Korean kung fu genre is a head scratching exercise at the best of times. It’s common knowledge that many of the countries’ contributions to the genre were bought up by Godfrey Ho and Thomas Tang for overseas distribution, then given completely new titles and dubbed in English. Movies like Magnificent Wonderman from Shaolin and Strike of Thunderkick Tiger being prime examples. With Dragon Lee though, there’s an extra level of complexity added. Marketed as Korea’s answer to Bruce Lee, Ho and Tang knew a money maker when they saw one. As a result, not only did they buy the rights to Lee’s older Korean movies, but they also made some new ones with him as well.

With Tang acting as producer and Ho as director, a Dragon Lee movie like The Dragon, The Hero (aka Dragon on Fire) was a genuine production by the pair, and also starred the likes of John Liu and Philip Ko. Usually they would shoot in Korea and use mostly Korean crews to save costs, however it was Ho and Tang at the helm. So not only do you have all of the movies Ho had nothing to do with, stuck with a credit sequence which states ‘Directed by Godfrey Ho’, you also have some movies that actually were directed by him, just to complicate things even more.

Enter the Invincible Hero is of course one of the movies which states it was directed by Ho, however it seems in this case that it is in fact an all Korean production. Originally titled Secret Bandit of Black Leopard, it was directed by Kim Si-hyun, the man behind various Hwang In-sik movies such as The Close Kung Fu Encounter and Tomb for a Strongman.

What makes Enter the Invincible Hero worthy of note is that it features both Dragon Lee and Casanova Wong, both of whom share Bruce Lee connections. While Dragon Lee was marketed as the Korean Bruce Lee, starring in exploitation fare like The Clones of Bruce Lee and Last Fist of Fury, Wong famously shot a fight scene in a greenhouse against fellow Korean Kim Tai-jung. What makes the scene so unique is that it appeared in both Bruce Lee’s uncompleted final movie, Game of Death, when it was released in Asia in 1978, and also in the English language version of the sequel, Tower of Death, in 1981 (the same year Enter the Invincible Hero was released).

For reasons we’ll probably never know, Enter the Invincible Hero opens with a title sequence that plays over a fight scene between Dragon Lee and Choi Min-kyu, which is blatantly from a completely different movie. The giveaway sign is that Min-kyu is wearing a modern style yellow vest which practically yells 1970’s, and then as soon as the credits come to a close, it cuts to a period setting of a group of men riding horses through the countryside. What movie the opening is taken from I’m unable to identify, but it’s not the only time it happens. Later on Casanova Wong appears in a flashback scene which is also clearly from a different movie, that bizarrely ends with Wong balancing a bad guy by his head on the tip of his foot, before abruptly cutting off. Strange.

All of this is ok though, because it’s a Dragon Lee flick, and like most Dragon Lee flicks, he plays a kind of wondering nomad. Decked out in a white t-shirt and black pants, which seemed to be his wardrobe for an inordinate amount of his movies, soon enough he’s hoping to acquire some gainful employment from a well to do father and daughter. Of course, there’s some trouble from an unscrupulous gang of characters led by Choi Min-kyu.

While the 70’s style yellow vest from the credits has gone, Min-kyu’s attire is no less striking. He storms around shirtless for the most part, and whenever he has a scene the camera pays extra attention to his grossly protruding outie belly button. It’s clearly prosthetic, but seems to have some connection to his power, and whenever he gets angry he has a pendant around his neck that starts flashing, accompanied by shots which zoom in and out on the belly button. I finished a previous paragraph with the word strange, so I won’t do it again, but I’d like to.

I don’t know what it is with old school Korean kung fu movies and belly buttons. In Revenge of the Drunken Master there’s a whole fight scene which involves Eagle Han trying to stick his finger into the belly button of Johnny Chan, as it would exert some kind of power over him. Thankfully the belly button obsession is no longer a part of Korean cinema. Other body parts also get some worthy attention, there’s a barrel bellied villain, whose special move is to thrust his chest into whoever it is he’s fighting, and we also get a hunchback villain who incorporates the hunch into his fighting style. I don’t know who it is that plays the hunchback, however despite the comedic nature of his fights, the guy has some mean kicks which definitely impress.

Dragon Lee of course is the hero of the piece. Soon he’s wooing the father’s daughter, which naturally involves a scene of her bathing naked, and vowing to bring justice to the villains that are hassling them. The plot is remarkably similar to another Dragon Lee movie, Dragon’s Snake Fist, and while sources sight this movie as being made a couple of years prior, in 1979, I question if in fact they were made at the same time. In one scene Lee even has the same amusing Taekwondo uniform on, adorned with a badge of an oversized cartoonish yellow fist, that he wears in Dragon’s Snake Fist.

Like all Dragon Lee movies, the quality of the action ultimately dictates whether it’s worthy of a watch or not. Thankfully, Enter the Invincible Hero is a superior entry into Lee’s filmography. The fights come thick and fast, and Lee’s movements are sharp and crisp, often against multiple attackers at the same time. There’s a great fight involving chopsticks, and events build up to an extended finale that sees him taking on Min-kyu (who meets a grizzly end involving his belly button), a small legion of lackeys, a pair of beefed up bodybuilders, and Casanova Wong.

The prospect of Dragon Lee versus Casanova Wong should be enough to get any kung fu fans attention, and it doesn’t disappoint. The pair go at it for 5 minutes, and the fight is set to a soundtrack of drums, played in the rhythm of a heartbeat, which really adds to the tension of their showdown. What’s so great about it is that throughout the movie, there’s never any doubt Lee is going to come out victorious in the various fight scenes, even when he’s up against the more highly skilled fighters. However against Wong’s tornado like kicks, the whole scene has Lee visibly on the defensive, as he’s bombarded with a literal barrage of blows from every direction.

It adds a welcome element of danger, and is in no way a disservice to the other fight scenes that have come before, rather it is what a final fight should be – a showdown that takes things to the next level, pitting the hero against someone that outmatches him. While there are fans out there who dismiss the entire filmographies of any actor that was classed as a Bruce Lee clone, movies like Enter the Invincible Hero prove that, for those that do, they’d be robbing themselves of some solid kung fu entertainment. Perhaps just lose the whole belly button thing.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10

Posted in All, Bruceploitation, Chinese, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged , , |

Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 2: Hiroshima Death Match (1973) Review

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Kelly Warner
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 2" Blu-ray Cover

“Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 2” Blu-ray Cover

AKA: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Kinya Kitaoji, Sonny Chiba, Bunta Sugawara, Meiko Kaji, Mikio Narita, Hiroshi Nawa, Asao Koike, Shingo Yamashiro, Hideo Murota, Tatsuo Endo, Yoshi Kato, Kinji Nakamura, Gin Maeda, Nobuo Kaneko, Toshie Kimura
Running Time: 100 min.

By Kelly Warner

After the huge financial success of Battles Without Honor and Humanity in January 1973, two sequels were fast-tracked and released that same year. Based on a true story supposedly discovered while researching the first film, Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Hiroshima Death Match (aka Deadly Fight in Hiroshima) could be considered the odd duck in the Battles series in that it’s the only one that doesn’t have Bunta Sugawara as the film’s lead. While Suguawara receives first billing in the opening credits, Hiroshima Death Match undeniably belongs to Kinya Kitaoji (Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor) and Sonny Chiba (Kill Bill) who play a pair of lunatic yakuza at each other’s throats.

The story told in Hiroshima Death Match takes place both during the first film’s story and shortly after it. Down-and-out loser Yamanaka (Kinya Kitaoji) is a man with a death wish and a short fuse. Like others in the Battles series, he’s a man left without a purpose after the end of World War II. During the war, Yamanaka tried to be a kamikaze pilot but was too young for the program at the time. Now he carries himself in a similar manner, like a man who hopes to go out in a violent blaze of glory. After the unemployed Yamanaka eats at a restaurant without paying, the local thug Katsutoshi (Sonny Chiba) beats him to a pulp. Yamanaka vows revenge against Katsutoshi and all his men, which only makes the beating even worse. Other yakuza intervene and eventually nurse Yamanaka back to health. From there, Yamanaka joins the yakuza as an assassin and waits for the opportunity to put Katsutoshi in his crosshairs.

Yamanaka may be the center of the story but it’s Katsutoshi that kicks the film into gear. Sonny Chiba plays the villainous Katsutoshi over-the-top and potentially insane, often with one hand on a weapon and the other gripping his crotch. Representing the disrespectful hooligans that the yakuza have devolved into, Katsutoshi burns bridges wherever he goes and disrupts the fragile peace between yakuza families when he grasps at more power.

In the time since the original film, Bunta Sugawara’s Hirono has gone off on his own. Working out of a scrapyard, Hirono tries to stay true to his ideals, but he must decide whether to swallow his pride and accept easy money when opportunity comes knocking. Hirono doesn’t have nearly as much to do this time around and that’s too bad, but at least the film finds a believable way of fitting him into the story.

Added to Hiroshima Death Match is a romance subplot that provides the film with some much-needed humanity and also grants a few extra unexpected twists to the plot. Yamanaka falls for beautiful Yasuko (Stray Cat Rock’s Meiko Kaji), though their relationship is a complicated one as her uncle is also Yamanaka’s boss. Kaji’s role is one of the only notable female characters in the entire series – right or wrong, Battles Without Honor and Humanity is a story about the boys – and she makes good use of the material given to her here.

One of the things that Hiroshima Death Match emphasizes is how disposable the young yakuza are to their superiors. Similar to the role of the kamikaze pilot that Yamanaka once longed to be, his boss repeatedly sends him off on dangerous missions fully expecting that he may never return. Yamanaka, like fellow yakuza and the wartime soldiers before him, is used and abused by an unsympathetic system. Hiroshima Death Match’s final scene is one of the most powerful finales in the five film series, hitting home everything about the yakuza that director Kinji Fukasaku meant to convey.

The film may have a different central focus than the original but Kinji Fukasaku’s visual style returns intact. The action is messy and bloody (somehow even more violent than the first Battles), opting to avoid perfect shootouts and skilled sword techniques, regardless of how badass any of the characters are supposed to be. On the Blu-ray from Arrow Video, the new special feature included on this disc is a brief interview with Ryuzo Ueno, the series’ fight coordinator. It’s a surprisingly funny and enjoyable interview, with Ueno providing many short stories about how he got into filmmaking and his work on Battles Without Honor and Humanity. When you’re going through the set’s extras, be sure to remember Ueno’s interview.

Hiroshima Death Match has a narrower focus than the first film and is less chaotic as a result. It may not be as fascinating as the original Battles but there’s so much to like here, particularly the character-driven story performed by a stellar cast. Sonny Chiba brings madness to his bad guy role. Bunta Sugawara brings his signature cool. Nobuo Kaneko returns as the weaselly Yamamori. Meiko Kaji provides warmth and humanity. And Kinya Kitaoji gives us a complex man that’s been through the gutter before being given a gun and a reason to use it. Rage and love drive Kitaoji’s Yamanaka, making him a dangerous man that you want to like but just can’t fully trust. While Hiroshima Death Match may be remembered as the film that focused on a side-story instead of the main character of the series, at least it gave us a complicated and memorable character in his place.

Kelly Warner’s Rating: 8/10

Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , |

Home Invasion | DVD (Sony Entertainment)

Posted on December 10, 2015 by JJ Bona
Home Invasion | DVD (Sony Entertainment)

Home Invasion | DVD (Sony Entertainment)

RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2016

Sony Entertainment presents the DVD for Home Invasion, a taut psychological thriller starring Natasha Henstridge (Maximum Risk), Jason Patric (Narc) and martial arts star, Scott Adkins (Close Range).

When a wealthy woman and her stepson are targeted by a trio of expert thieves in their remote mansion, her only form of help comes from a call with a security systems specialist. But as the intruders become increasingly hostile and the connection wavers, will she trust him to be her eyes and navigate her to safety? | Watch the trailer.

Pre-order Home Invasion from Amazon.com.

Posted in DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Other Notable Titles |
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