Our Blu-ray/DVD release list for January packs a mean punch!

Posted on December 30, 2014 by JJ Bona
Once Upon A Time in Shanghai | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Once Upon A Time in Shanghai | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

A fresh New Year means new goals to pursue, new adventures to enjoy, new people to meet and new memories to create. Most importantly, it means adding some new titles to your Blu-ray & DVD collection – so let us help you with this priority!

The month of January is jam-packed with titles that every martial arts/Asian/Action film enthusiast will appreciate: The Sword of Doom, Once Upon a Time in Shanghai, Revenge of the Green Dragons, Falcon Rising, Why Don’t You Play in Hell? and much more!

If you’re interested in purchasing any of the titles, we’re hoping you’ll click on our Amazon.com links to support cityonfire.com!

The Sword of Doom: January 6, 2015

Criterion presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Kihachi Okamoto’s The Sword of Doom. Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune (Seven Samurai) star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman plying his craft during the turbulent final days of shogunate rule in Japan, Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without remorse or mercy. It is a way of life that ultimately leads to madness. Features: HD digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack (Blu-ray edition); commentary by historian Stephen Prince; trailer; essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien.

The Guest: January 6, 2015

Universal presents the Blu-ray & DVD for The Guest, directed by Adam Wingard (You’re Next) and starring Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley and Maika Monroe. A soldier (Stevens) introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence. See for yourself why The Guest has received critical acclaim by both critics and audiences everywhere (except us).

The Art of War: January 13, 2015

Warner presents the Blu-ray for The Art of War, starring Wesley Snipes (The Blade Trilogy), Marie Matiko (The Corruptor), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat), Michael Biehn (Terminator), Donald Sutherland (Hunger Games), James Hong (Big Trouble in Little China), Glen Chin (Knock-Off) and Ron Yuan (The Girl from the Naked Eye).

The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power: January 13, 2015

Universal Presents the Blu-ray & DVD for The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, starring Victor Webster as Mathayus. The Scorpion King 4 features a medley of  real-life fighters: Roy “Big Country” Nelson, Royce Gracie, Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, and Eve Torres. The film also stars Rutger Hauer, Michael Biehn, Barry Bostwick, Lou Ferrigno, Ellen Hollman, M. Emmet Walsh, and Will Kemp.

Once Upon a Time in Shanghai: January 13, 2015

Well Go USA presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Once Upon a Time in Shanghai, a martial arts film directed by Wong Ching Po (Let’s Go!) with action choreography from the legendary Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix). The plot involves a laborer who moves to Shanghai in the hope of becoming rich, but ends up using his kung fu skills to survive. The cast includes Phillip Ng (Bodyguards & Assassins), Andy On (Special Identity), Luxia Jiang (True Legend) and Sammo Hung (Kill Zone). Don’t miss our review.

Weapon of Choice: January 13, 2015

Anderson Digital presents the DVD for Weapon of Choice (aka Fist to Fist 2), starring Master Jino Kang, who holds a black belt in Hapkido, Tae Kwon Do, Kyokoshin-Kai Karate and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. The film follows (read our review) a retired assassin named Jack Lee (Kang) who must rescue his “daughter” (Kelly Lou Dennis) from a notorious crime boss (Douglas Olsson) and his crew of gangster hitmen. With a little help from a lovely rogue cop (Katherine Celio), Jack becomes a one-man kill squad who is determined to get his daughter back by any means necessary.

Revenge of the Green Dragons: January 13, 2015

Lionsgate presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Revenge of the Green Dragons, an action-drama about Chinese gangs in New York, directed by Hong Kong filmmakers Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs) and Andrew Loo (It Had To Be You!); and produced by Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street). Revenge of the Green Dragons stars Justin Chon (21 & Over), Kevin Wu (YouTube’s KevJumba), Harry Shum Jr. (Glee), Ron Yuan (Girl from the Naked Eye), and Eugenia Yuan (daughter of Come Drink With Me’s Cheng Pei-Pei), Jon Kit Lee (The Corruptor) and Ray Liotta (Goodfellas).

Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman: January 20, 2015

Screen Media presents the DVD for Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman, directed by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, the Chilean action filmmaker responsible for Marko Zaror’s Mandrill, Mirageman, Kiltro and the upcoming Redeemer. Timid, video game-loving DJ Santiago (Matías Oviedo) seemingly digs his own grave when he agrees to bring a violent criminal kingpin the head of Machine Gun Woman (Fernanda Urrejola).

The Pirates: January 20, 2015

Well Go USA presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Lee Suk-Hoon’s The Pirates, an action/adventure that tells the story of rival pirates who have the common goal of capturing a gray whale that has swallowed a precious royal stamp. The Pirates stars Kim Nam-Gil (Public Enemy Returns), Son Ye-Jin (The Tower), Sulli (Punch Lady), Lee Kyoung-Young (A Company Man), Yu Hae-Jin (The Unjust) and Oh Dal-Su (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance).

Falcon Rising: January 27, 2015

Anderson Merchandisers presents the DVD for Falcon Rising, directed by Ernie Barbarash (Assassination Games) and starring Michael Jai White (Blood and Bone, Black Dynamite). Also known as Favela or Codename Falcon 1, Falcon Rising follows an anti-hero named John “Falcon” Chapman (White) who travels to Brazil to find his sister’s killer. Along the way, he uncovers an underworld of vice and corruption, presided over by the Japanese mafia of all people.

Why Don’t You Play in Hell?: January 27, 2015

Drafthouse Films presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (read our review), directed by Sion Sono, the controversial and prolific director behind such Japanese-language films as Cold Fish, Love Exposure and Guilty of Romance. Why Don’t You Play In Hell? is an over-the-top mix of martial arts, comedy and gore.

Looking for new import releases?
If you’re looking for a new import release, please visit DDDhouse.com. The trusted retailer carries new and upcoming releases that are not yet available in North America.

Posted in News |

Man on High Heels (2014) Review

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Paul Bramhall
"Man on High Heels" Korean Theatrical Poster

“Man on High Heels” Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Jang Jin
Cast: Cha Seung-Won, Oh Jeong-Se, Lee Som, Go Kyung-Pyo, Shin Sung-Hun, Jo Bok-Rae
Running Time: 125 min.

By Paul Bramhall

In many ways the gangster genre is to the Korean movie industry what the heroic bloodshed genre was to the Hong Kong movie industry of the 90’s. Ever since Korean cinema gained international recognition in the late 90’s, every year we can be guaranteed a hard hitting slice of gangster violence and bloody backstabbing. While for many this might be all that’s needed, for those who long for a slightly different angle, director and writer Jang Jin looks to be delivering just that with his latest offering – Man on High Heels.

Jin is a prolific director who’s worked in various genres, but to western audiences the title which will likely be most familiar is 2001’s Guns and Talks, which featured a young Won Bin in a quirky tale of four hitmen living together. With Man on High Heels, we get a typical tale of a cop on the tail of a pair of gangster brothers, however what’s not so typical, is that the cop in question secretly harbors the desire to be a woman.

The above description may sound like the setup for another quirky take on a well established genre, but surprisingly, Jin boldly decides to play the whole thing completely straight (no pun intended). The challenge of portraying such a character is given to Cha Seung-won, who rises up to the part with aplomb. We’re introduced to his character as the epitome of masculinity – he never uses a gun, his body is covered in scars, he has steel pins in his arms and legs, to his colleagues he’s a cyborg, to criminals he’s a legend – basically, someone who doesn’t have an ounce of femininity in him.

Within the first 10 minutes he’s single handedly raided a karaoke room, seating 11 armed gangsters, in a scene which will make you realize that the carcasses of recently eaten crabs and lobsters can make just as effective weapons as knives and daggers. It’s a brutally choreographed sequence, one which has blood spraying everywhere and a massive amount of pain being dished out, but it also establishes the almost hyper reality that the movie sets itself in.

Seung-won is essentially a one-man army, an army that even the gangsters admire. In another scene one of the gangster brothers dreamily recalls the first time he encountered him. In the flashback Seung-won stands in a rain drenched street holding an umbrella, as a horde of umbrella wielding attackers charge towards him, everyone dressed in sharp black suites. He takes them down one by one in a flurry of kicks and punches (and umbrellas) to the face, before the scene comes to an end and the gangster wistfully recalls that he didn’t get a single drop of rain on him.

These scenes are a joy to behold, sharply choreographed and violent to the point of being over the top, the transition to Seung-won’s woes over his identity crisis should be laughable against such a backdrop of machismo. Somehow though, they’re not, thanks to the combination of Jin’s assured direction and Seung-won’s committed performance. When his associate takes him to a transgender club to help find his look as a woman, it’s a scene which could potentially derail everything in a lesser talents hands, but here it all just fits into place.

Jin seems to be aiming at paying as much attention to the both the gangster storyline and Seung-won’s goal to have a sex-change operation, and he’s almost successful. Onscreen the gangster storyline is ultimately more prevalent than the transgender one, which if anything only makes the movie a more interesting beast. Should it be marketed as a transgender study, or a gangster flick? The decision to go for both is apparent even in the movies marketing, the Korean poster showing a roughed up Seung-won in a feminine blouse, easily making for one of the most unique viewing experiences in recent memory.

Jin deftly works in a healthy dose of black humor into proceedings. When Seung-won finally makes the decision to venture out into public in woman’s clothing, the elevator of his apartment breaks down, resulting in what he’d hoped would be a quiet ride having the small space gradually occupied by more and more passengers. As his phone rings and he answers with a male voice, causing everyone to turn around and stare, it may seem like a cheap laugh at people who choose to be transgender, but the look of hurt and embarrassment Seung-won portrays quickly gives the scene an unexpected poignancy.

It’s these moments, in which his expressions reveal a massive sense of vulnerability, and his body language an unmistakable femininity, that really make his performance stand out, as we’re suddenly witness to someone a world away from the one-man army image he’s built up of himself. An equally delicate touch is given to the flashback scenes of Seung-won’s childhood, in which he develops a same-sex relationship with another boy in his class, one which eventually leads to tragedy, but also ties into why he chooses to be seen as the epitome of masculinity. While a more scholarly reviewer may call foul on the presumption that being gay leads to transgender issues, or indeed vice versa, in the context of the story these elements all tie together.

Intended as a metaphor or not for the way people who are transgender constantly have to put aside their desire to fully transition to who they want to be, in the movie Seung-won finds that being a one-man army also brings with it a lot of grudges that aren’t easy to let go of, and needless to say for the finale those grudges come back with a vengeance. Traditionally in Asian cinema when a good guy enters the finale wearing white, whether it be Chow Yun Fat in The Killer, Jimmy Wang Yu in Golden Swallow, or any number of others, it means things are about to get bloody. It’s a credit to all involved that in the finale of Man on High Heels, the fact that the white Seung-won is wearing happens to be a ladies blouse couldn’t seem more appropriate, and what follows is one of the most bloody finale’s I’ve seen in a long time. For audiences who like their vengeance served without mercy, Man on High Heels delivers with an almost unapologetic delight.

Thankfully Jin respects the subject matter enough to not just forget about all that’s come before, and the final moments give a worthy emotional depth and respect to bring the movie to a close. All in all, Man on High Heels succeeds in its mission to blend a pair of unlikely storylines, and for that alone, it comes with a strong recommendation.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10

Posted in Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged |

Vigilante (1983) Review

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Z Ravas
"Vigilante" Theatrical Poster

“Vigilante” Theatrical Poster

AKA: Street Gang
Director: William Lustig
Cast: Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, Rutanya Alda, Don Blakely, Joseph Carberry, Willie Colón, Joe Spinell, Carol Lynley, Woody Strode, Vincent Beck, Bo Rucker, Frank Pesce, Steve James, Randy Jurgensen
Running Time: 90 min.

By HKFanatic

Vigilante opens with a scene of Fred Williamson (From Dusk Till Dawn, the original Inglorious Bastards) addressing a ‘neighborhood watch’-style meeting but more or less pointing his finger at the camera, as he explains how the streets have been taken over by gangs and it’s high time the community did something about it. If the police and the legal system can’t protect us, he argues, we’ve got to protect ourselves – by any means necessary. His speech is intercut with shots of concerned citizens practicing their aim at a firing range. This scene is completely awesome… and yet it has nothing to do with the rest of the movie.

Despite his considerable oratorical skills, Fred Williamson doesn’t seem to get his neighbors too excited about fighting crime. Vigilante is really concerned with Robert Forster’s character and his journey to take criminal punishment into his own hands. It’s a plot that will feel familiar to anyone who’s seen a Death Wish movie. Forster plays a factory worker who lives in a not-so-good neighborhood of New York but remains fairly ignorant to the violence that goes on outside his front door. All that changes until his wife and son are targeted by a vicious street gang. A lot of bad shit goes down and Forster eventually ends up in prison. It’s a short stay and once he’s back on the streets, he remembers Fred Williamson’s words and decides it’s high time for some vigilante-style justice.

Director William Lustig was famous in the 80’s for making squalid and gritty films set in the worst parts of New York City. In 1980, he unleashed Maniac on the world – one of the sleaziest horror films ever made, starring the great Joe Spinell (The Godfather: Part II, Rocky) in the lead role. Spinell has a short appearance in Vigilante, which Lustig made before embarking on the Maniac Cop series.

There are a few films from the 70’s and 80’s that make New York City during that era look like one of the worst places in America to live. Vigilante is one of them. The sky is gray, the streets are dirty, muggers and rapists lurk around every corner. There are only 2 cop cars on patrol on nights when the city needs 10. The legal system can’t do jack because of slimy lawyers and holier-than-thou judges. Watch Vigilante, and you start feeling the self-righteous anger of a concerned citizen – you really want to see Fred Williamson take out the trash. We are clearly in exploitation movie territory here. And you know what? It feels good!

The only thing that holds Vigilante back is the performances. Fred Williamson is great – it’s probably the most impressive performance of his career – but most everyone else in the cast is way too low-key. I know this isn’t exactly an Oscar-nomiated, A-grade film but come on: if your movie features little kids being shot down like animals, I want to see some intensity! Robert Forster and the actress who play his wife just don’t “bring it” during their dramatic scenes. When Forster is nearly assaulted in the prison showers by an inmate the size of a mountain, he fails to communicate the fear and trauma you would feel in such a situation.

During its last act, Vigilante becomes a nearly wordless action picture so I suppose the performances become less of an issue. There’s a car chase through the streets of Brooklyn that’s really quite spectacular considering the low-budget origins of the film. I doubt Lustig had permission to close off city blocks to shoot the chase but the filmmakers did a good job through careful editing. Nothing beats an old-school chase where the bottoms of cars are literally slamming against the pavement. One of my favorite moments of the film comes when Forster finally corrals the guy who killed his son and threatens to toss him from a great height to his death. “Go ahead, man!” the punk yells in Forster’s face. “It don’t mean shit to me!” Whoa. That’s some intense, nihilistic stuff right there.

Vigilante features great direction from William Lustig and a well-paced script full of memorable dialogue. The score by Jay Chattaway (Missing in Action, Silver Bullet) is funky and melodic; a good fit for the film. I just wanted more authenticity from some of the cast members. Even if it’s not a prestige picture, you need actors to sell the drama of the story. When characters remained unphased by even the most brutal of happenings, it just takes me out of the movie. Thankfully, Fred Williamson brought his A-game to this picture. He’s off the charts on the bad-ass scale, so I can at least recommend Vigilante if you like exploitative revenge movies (Death Wish, etc.). The video transfer on Blue Underground’s blu-ray release of the film is exceptional, as is always the case for Blue Underground.

HKFanatic’s Rating: 6.5/10

Posted in News, Other Movies, Reviews | Tagged , , , , |

Class of 1984 | Blu-ray (Shout! Factory)

Posted on December 22, 2014 by JJ Bona
Class of 1984 | Blu-ray & DVD (Shout! Factory)

Class of 1984 | Blu-ray & DVD (Shout! Factory)

RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2015

Shout! Factory presents the Blu-ray for the 1982 cult classic flick, Class of 1984, directed by Mark Lester (Commando).

Class of 1984 revolves around a newly hired music teacher at a troubled high school, where students have to pass through a metal detector due to problems with gangs, drugs and violence. The film stars Timothy Van Patten, Roddy McDowall, Stefan Arngrim, Lisa Langlois, Keith Knight, Neil Clifford and Michael J. Fox. Watch the trailer.

Pre-order Class of 1984 from Amazon.com today!

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

Blood Factor | DVD (Bayview Entertainment)

Posted on December 22, 2014 by JJ Bona
Blood Factor | DVD (Bayview Entertainment)

Blood Factor | DVD (Bayview Entertainment)

RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2015

Bayview Entertainment presents the DVD for the acclaimed indie actioner, Blood Factor (aka Blood Ties), directed by and starring Kely McClung (American Ninja 4: The Annihilation).

Black Operative Jack Davis is forced back into the game when his brother is kidnapped while working for a foreign embassy. From the shadow of the Washington Monument to the exotic streets of Bangkok, Jack uses his lethal skills to bring his brother back home. Watch the trailer.

Pre-order Blood Factor from Amazon.com today!

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

Don “The Dragon” Wilson takes on horror in the ‘The Horde’

Posted on December 20, 2014 by JJ Bona
"Out for Blood" Promotional Poster

"Out for Blood" Promotional Poster

Next year, horror and action will collide in Jared Cohn’s thriller, The Horde (not to be confused with the 2009 French film of the same name). The upcoming film follows a group of innocent people whose camping trip is cut short when they’re targeted by a swarm of mutated killers. Fortunately, their odds for survival are evened up when an ex-Navy Seal gets thrown into the mix.

The Horde stars martial artist Paul Logan (Ballistica), Costas Mandylor (Saw IV, Fist of the North Star), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Vernon Wells (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior), Nestor Serrano, Tiffany Brouwer, Sydney Sweeney, Nils Allen Stewart, Frankie Ray and Bobby C. King.

On a special note, be on the lookout for 11-time World Kickboxing Champion, Don “The Dragon” Wilson (Blood Fist). The martial arts Hall of Famer told cityonfire.com that he will have short, but memorable appearance in the film (click here for a set photo of Wilson with producer Gabriel Campisi).

Along with the Dragon’s The Martial Arts Kid and White Tiger, The Horde is scheduled to be released in 2015. We expect a trailer to hit soon. Stay tuned!

Posted in News |

Deal on Fire! Alien Anthology + Prometheus | Blu-ray | Only $19.98 – Expires soon!

Posted on December 20, 2014 by JJ Bona
"Alien Anthology + Prometheus" Blu-ray Covers

"Alien Anthology + Prometheus" Blu-ray Covers

Today’s Deal on Fire is for the Alien Anthology 6-Disc Blu-ray set, which includes Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection plus a log pile of extra features. In addition, you’ll also get the Prometheus Blu-ray! For about $4 a movie, this is one deal you don’t want to be alienated from!

Order the Alien Anthology + Prometheus Bundle from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |

‘New World’ director reunites with Choi Min-shik for ‘Big Tiger’

Posted on December 20, 2014 by JJ Bona
"Crying Fist" Korean Theatrical Poster

"Crying Fist" Korean Theatrical Poster

Earlier this month, production began on Big Tiger, an upcoming South Korean film directed by Park Hoon-jung (New World). According to FBA, Big Tiger is a period drama about a hunter who is enlisted to catch the last surviving tiger in the Korean peninsula during the Japanese occupation.

Park, who’s also known for writing the screenplays for Kim Ji-woon’s I Saw the Devil and Ryu Seung-Wan’s The Unjust, reunites with acting sensation Choi Min-shik (Old Boy, Crying Fist), who plays the lead to co-stars Jeong Man-Sik (Kundo), Kim Sang-Ho (Moss), Sung Yoo-Bin (Manhole) and Ren Osugi (Yellow Elephant).

Big Tiger is due for release mid-2015 release. Stay tuned for more updates!

Posted in News |

Dangerously Close | Blu-ray & DVD (Olive Films)

Posted on December 20, 2014 by JJ Bona
Dangerously Close | Blu-ray & DVD (Olive Films)

Dangerously Close | Blu-ray & DVD (Olive Films)

RELEASE DATE: February 24, 2015

Olive Films presents the Blu-ray & DVD for 1986’s Dangerously Close, directed by Albert Pyun (Cyborg).

A group of high school students who call themselves “The Sentinels” begin terrorizing classmates. Soon, one of their targets ends up brutally murdered. An editor of the school paper begins to investigate and “The Sentinels” become even more ruthless!

This cult favorite stars John Stockwell (director of the upcoming Kickboxer reboot), J. Eddie Peck (Blind Heat), Carey Lowell (License to Kill). Watch the trailer.

Pre-order Dangerously Close from Amazon.com today!

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

R100 | Blu-ray & DVD (Drafthouse Films)

Posted on December 19, 2014 by JJ Bona
"R100" Theatrical Poster

“R100” Theatrical Poster

RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2015

Draft House Films presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Hitoshi Matsumoto’s (Big Man Japan) R100 (read our review). The title of the film is a play on the Japanese rating system (R18 is equivalent to our NC-17), so “R100” should give you an idea of what to expect.

In this audaciously kinky, meta-comedic thriller, a lonely father with a secret taste for S&M (Nao Ohmori, best known for his titular turn in Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer) finds himself pursued by a gang of ruthless dominatrices. Don’t miss the trailer.

Pre-order R100 from Amazon.com today!

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

Robert Rodriguez to conquer Live-action ‘Fire and Ice’

Posted on December 19, 2014 by JJ Bona
"Fire and Ice" Theatrical Poster

"Fire and Ice" Theatrical Poster

Looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Legend of Conan may have some tough competition. According to Deadline, Robert Rodriguez (Machete) will be directing a Live-action version of Ralph Bakshi’s 1983 animated cult classic, Fire And Ice.

The original – based on characters created by legendary fiction artist Frank Frazetta – is a fantasy tale that took place during a time where savage warriors, horrific monsters and luscious maidens battled for the soul of a civilization. The feature was produced using rotoscoping, a process where scenes were shot in live action and then traced onto animation cels, giving the animation a seamless, life-like motion.

We’ll keep you updated as we hear more about Fire and Ice. Stay tuned!

Posted in News |

Traffickers (2012) Review

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Kelly Warner
"Traffickers" Korean Theatrical Poster

“Traffickers” Korean Theatrical Poster

AKA: Traffikers
Director: Kim Hong-Sun
Producer: Won Hyun-Jae
Cast: Im Chang-Jung, Daniel Choi, Jo Yoon-Hee, Oh Dal-Su, Jo Dal-Hwan, Jung Ji-Yoon
Running Time: 111 min.

By Kelly Warner

They say that truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense. What they left out is that films based on a true story also have to make sense, regardless of whether that ruins the truthiness of the tale (my spellcheck didn’t even blink at the word ‘truthiness’ – a sign of the coming Apocalypse, I’m sure). To make a true story more understandable or presentable, it’s not uncommon to add a bit of dramatization. I’m not going to pretend to be familiar with the true story that inspired the film Traffickers, however I feel it’s pretty safe to assume that writer/director Hong-seon Kim and co. added their fair share of fictional drama to the story. What’s interesting is that they managed to put much of this theatrical drama in all the wrong places. I’d bet the headlines that detailed the true account were already difficult to believe, but all the filmmakers did was make the pill even harder to swallow.

The film is about organ traffickers. A young woman named Yoo-ri (played by Yun-hie Jo) is trying to save her father but the hospitals aren’t helping, so she turns to the black market. She’s told to take a boat to China where her father’s new organs will be waiting for him and doctors will be prepped for surgery. Meanwhile, on the same boat ride, the organ traffickers abduct a woman in a wheelchair and bring her to a vacant sauna to remove her organs.

There are so many twists along the way, most of which seemed rather absurd, so describing anymore of the plot would be a wasted effort. In many ways, that’s what the whole film feels like: a wasted effort. There are good performances here, there’s a nasty backbone for a story, and a few interesting new ideas, but it all amounts to so very little.

This is the sort of the film that says, Here, this is our plot, but don’t get too attached because it’s gonna change in a couple minutes anyway. A new, improbable twist is added every five or ten minutes. Instead of making the film complex it only manages to make things confusing and/or silly. Some twists just do not work and one wishes director Kim had played it straight and made a gritty thriller instead of… whatever this is.

It would help if there was a single character that I felt something for. Yoo-ri, the woman who’s trying to save her father, knows she’s doing something wrong but she only cares about her father’s life and not the victim. I can’t exactly root for her. I expect the film wants us to get behind the leader of the organ traffickers Young-gyu (played by Chang Jung Lim, who gives a strong performance). Before the end of the film Young-gyu does his best to do the right things, but his chosen profession still makes him a horrible human being. Even if we can get beyond the fact that Young-gyu regularly smuggles organs and other contraband, his personal life is also bothersome. In one of the film’s more puzzling sub-plots, Young-gyu is in love with Yoo-ri. But it’s not a casual attraction – he’s basically her stalker. Because she smiled at him, he assumes she’s leading him on. What’s more, when she repeatedly tells him to buzz off, he gets angry and demands an apology, one she repeatedly feels she has to give. Ugly, stupid people.

Dal-su Oh plays one of the film’s most despicable characters, the doctor whose job it is to extract the organs from the team’s victims. Despite how repulsive the surgeon is, I found he was the closest thing to a complete character in the movie. He’s a monster, but he knows he’s a monster, and the film doesn’t expect you to think he’s anything more. It’s the only true character in the whole film and another good performance from a talented actor.

There is a sequence in the film where Yoo-ri is on the boat and finds herself unknowingly helping the husband of the woman who’s been abducted search for his lost wife. However contrived that sounds, it’s actually the closest the movie comes to having some real tension. Yoo-ri wants to save her father and she also wants to save this woman and she doesn’t know that one could cancel out the other. Instead of mining the sequence for all it’s worth the filmmakers allow it to fizzle out before the suspense ever really kicks in.

This is a movie that repeatedly fails to recognize the potential in its own ideas and jumps onto the next one before finishing with the last one. Wasted potential… and a waste of time.

Kelly Warner’s Rating: 3/10

Posted in Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged |

Lionsgate gives Stallone, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger and Lundgren a Blu-ray cover makeover!

Posted on December 18, 2014 by JJ Bona
Stallone, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger and Lundgren get a makeover.

Stallone, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger and Lundgren get a makeover.

On February 24th, Lionsgate Home Entertainment is re-releasing the Blu-rays for 1982’s First Blood, 1990’s Total Recall, and 1992’s Universal Solider. All three titles will also come equipped with Digital HD versions for your portable devices.

Pop art enthusiasts will notice the new packaging, which feature semi-original artwork from their iconic theatrical posters. We’re assuming that it’s only the covers that have changed, so expect the same AV quality if you already own these titles.

Are more makeovers like these going to happen? Stay tuned to find out. Until then, these titles are currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Posted in News |

Deal on Fire! Gamera: Ultimate Collections | Blu-ray | Only $8.99 – Expires soon!

Posted on December 18, 2014 by JJ Bona
Gamera: Ultimate Collections | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

Gamera: Ultimate Collections | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2014

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray set for the Gamera: Ultimate Collection Vol. 1, which features Gamera: The Giant Monster (1965), Gamera vs. Barugon (1966), Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967) and Gamera vs. Viras (1968).

Also on sale is the Blu-ray set for the Gamera: Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, which includes Gamera vs. Guiron (1969), Gamera vs. Jiger (1970), Gamera vs. Zigra (1971) and Gamera: Super Monster (1980).

Order the Gamera: Ultimate Collections from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |

Lupin the Third (2014) Review

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Paul Bramhall
"Lupin the Third" International Theatrical Poster

“Lupin the Third” International Theatrical Poster

AKA: Lupin III
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Writer: Mataichiro Yamamoto, Monkey Punch
Cast: Shun Oguri, Meisa Kuroki, Gou Ayano, Tadanobu Asano, Tetsuji Tamayama, Vithaya Pansringarm, Rhatha Phongam, Thanayong Wongtrakul, Kim Jun, Jerry Yan, Nirut Sirichanya, Nick Tate, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Yuka Nakayama
Running Time: 133 min.

By Paul Bramhall

When director Ryuhei Kitamura hit the scene in 2000 with his low budget zombie kung fu hybrid, Versus, critics were quick to announce the arrival of a new talent on the Japanese movie scene, and it was easy to see why. Versus had a certain energy about it that belied its humble budget, and it was great to see Japan once again returning to the fight movies that guys like Sonny Chiba and Yasuaki Kurata had made famous during the 70’s.

However, given access to bigger budgets and brought into the fold of the Japanese studio system, Kitamura seemed to lose his creative voice in the movies that came out after, whether it be mis-fires like Alive, or trying to put his own spin on one of Japan’s most recognizable icons with Godzilla: Final Wars. In the late 2000’s he decided to leave Japanese shores and head to the US, during which time he made Midnight Meat Train and No One Lives, both serviceable horror thrillers, before finally returning once again to Japan with the 2014 release of Lupin the Third.

Lupin the Third is one of Japan’s most enduring and well known Manga characters, a half French half Japanese thief who robs from the rich, his zany adventures have been entertaining audiences for close to 50 years. Bringing the character to the screen in a live-action movie was no doubt always going to be a challenge, but if anyone would be up to the task, it makes sense that the responsibility was given to Kitamura. It’s a shame then, that instead of plugging into the Manga and trying to bring it to life, the final product comes across as a poorly executed retread of the 2012 Korean blockbuster The Thieves.

It would probably take up the rest of the review to list all of the identical similarities that exist both in the plot and the characters, from the pan-Asian cast to whole plot revelations (most glaringly, a character who we believe to be a bad guy is eventually revealed to be not what he seems, and ends up teaming up with his former cohorts to take on a bigger threat who was responsible for his fathers death many years ago). It’s ironic that a movie about thieves would steal so many ideas from another, but this is the least of Kitamura’s problems.

The plot is ridiculously convoluted, but goes something like this. Lupin, played by Shun Oguri of Crows Zero fame, is part of a group of thieves called The Works. Other members are played by sassy cat burglar Kuroki Meisa, and Shuichi Yamaguchi. For the sake of appealing to Korean and Chinese audiences as well, we also have Kim Joon, most well known for his role in the Boys Over Flowers K-drama, and Jerry Yan from Chinese boyband F4, thrown into the mix. Oh, and a samurai character called Goemon joins them somewhere along the way, played by Go Ayano, for no other reason than he’s obviously also from the Manga.

They decide to steal a priceless piece of jewelry, but Yan betrays the group, killing the father figure of The Works, and reveals his plan to sell it to an evil Thai antique collector played by Nirut Sirichanya. He’s protected by a couple of Asian cinemas recent bad guy recruits – Thanayong Wongtrakul, who is instantly recognizable as the Vietnamese knife fighter from A Man from Nowhere, and Rhatha Phongam, who played the scantily clad fighter No. 20 in Tom Yum Goong 2. On top of all this, you have Tadanobu Asano playing the Japanese inspector on the tail of Lupin the Third, who teams up with a Thai colonel played by Vithaya Pansringarm, fresh from playing roles in both Benny Chan’s The White Storm and Isaac Florentine’s Ninja: Shadow of a Tear.

Nothing really makes any sense, with the nonsensical nature of the plot climaxing when the stolen item is put up for official public auction in front of a large audience (!?). But at 133 minutes, the plodding script certainly tries to make things seem cohesive through several needlessly lengthy scenes of characters explaining what’s going on to each other. It’s almost like Kitamura forgot he’s working in a visual medium, and that he could actually explain events that are going on by showing us them, rather than watching two characters sit across a table talking to each other in scenes which lack any kind of tension or immediacy.

Another big issue with having characters constantly explaining the plot to each other is that, for reasons unknown, over 90% of the movies dialogue is spoken in English. While I have nothing but admiration for non-native English speakers completing a whole movie in a language not their own, unfortunately there are too many times when it just doesn’t work. The intonation of words is off on more than one occasion, sometimes the punctuation of sentences is missing all together, and most of all, too often the actors look like they’re concentrating on getting their lines correct, rather than delivering the emotion that’s behind them. Of everyone, it’s Jerry Yan who comes off the worse, at one point delivering a particularly important line by splitting it up into three disastrous stop – start sentences, which makes the whole scene laughably bad.

Lupin the Third crams in a lot of action into its bloated runtime, as it should, but again it’s all poorly recycled from other sources. The need for many of Japan’s mainstream movies to be TV friendly, so that they can be shown as holiday specials for all the family on the studio owned TV channels, further proving to be a detriment to a once great movie industry. The result here is that we’re essentially left with the Hallmark Channel versions of the back seat car fight from The Raid 2, the Donnie Yen vs. Wu Jing fight from Sha Po Lang, and the car chase from The Matrix Reloaded. There’s barely a drop of blood, or indeed a single ounce of anger, on display anywhere. It’s a shame that Japan’s mainstream output has become so diluted that it’s now just a limp wristed reflection of what it once was.

Still, even without the need to remain as safe as possible, Kitamura make some mistakes of his own. At one point he takes separate fight scenes involving two characters taking on multiple attackers, and plays them out split-screen. Which one are you supposed to look at!? Thankfully you wouldn’t be missing much if you decided not to look at either, but it’s this kind of bad film making which proves that Kitamura seems to have lost touch with what makes a good movie. Top all this off with a completely mis-placed mellow jazz soundtrack, that even plays over some of the action scenes, and ultimately what’s supposed to be an exciting live action version of a fast paced and eclectic Manga, is yet another watered down, overly drawn out, damp squib of wasted time and talent from Japan.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 3/10

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