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Nancy Lo on Hope (2026) ReviewIt’s about time there is a strong Asian female lead in a male dominated indus…
Paul Bramhall on Simon Lui, Hong Kong actor, writer and filmmaker known for ‘Troublesome Night’ and ‘Vulgaria’, passes away at 62Sounds like you're thinking of Simu Liu.
Ningen on Simon Lui, Hong Kong actor, writer and filmmaker known for ‘Troublesome Night’ and ‘Vulgaria’, passes away at 62Not to be confused with the guy who plays Shang-Chi.
JJ Bona on Hope (2026) ReviewLOL! What did you think of Yellow Sea and Chaser?
Ngok Fung Lui on Hope (2026) ReviewI hated this movie with a vengeance. I thought Supergirl was the worst movie…
Paul Bramhall on Hope (2026) Review"Did you stay throughout the credits?" Didn't the Marvel movies practically m…
JJ Bona on Hope (2026) ReviewNot as good as The Chaser or The Yellow Sea, but just as good as The Wailing.…
Asdf on GODZ-DAMN! Takashi Yamazaki’s ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ unleashes an absolutely MONSTROUS New TrailerNo. This first trailer ain't as exciting as the first teaser. Not a good sign…
Typo on Shaw Ménage à trois? Blu-rays for ‘Holy Flame of the Martial World’, ‘Deadly Duo’ & ‘Vengeance’ arriving in NovemberVengeance ! Yes! The twothers! NO!!!!
Ska Martes on Looking for love? New Featurette for Ke Huy Quan’s actioner ‘Love Hurts’ from ‘John Wick’ producer David LeitchI love Short round as much as anyone else. I think I was the same as him when…
Ska Martes on Simon Lui, Hong Kong actor, writer and filmmaker known for ‘Troublesome Night’ and ‘Vulgaria’, passes away at 62Vulgaria is an all time classic. The scene where Simon Lui and Chapman To go…
Paul Bramhall on Is Keanu Reeves going John Wick-sploitation? Keanu Reeves to star and produce an adaptation of ‘Kill Current’Was hoping this was going to be a sequel to Kill Line. :-)
DJAY on HEAD’d your way! Jimmy Wang Yu’s ‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ arriving on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-rayShaloin Soccer was already with uncut version years ago, so was SPL and Ong B…
Ska Martes on Chen Kuan-tai, martial artist and Shaw Brothers star of ‘Boxer from Shantung’ and ‘Flying Guillotine’, passes away at 80Absolutely. Thankfully the cultural appropriation crowd hasn't set their sigh…
Ska Martes on This collection is FAT! Details and Trailers for Shout’s ‘Chow Yun-fat Collection’ on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-rayI may or may not know some Cantonese/Mandarin because of work! In real life i…
STORMYBMAN on HEAD’d your way! Jimmy Wang Yu’s ‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ arriving on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-rayI've been waiting for this one a long time! YES!
Throwdown on This collection is FAT! Details and Trailers for Shout’s ‘Chow Yun-fat Collection’ on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-rayI'm impressed you can tell the difference - unfortunately like most Americans…
Throwdown on This collection is FAT! Details and Trailers for Shout’s ‘Chow Yun-fat Collection’ on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-raySuch a slept-on classic! I remember watching this right after my first ever v…
Throwdown on Chen Kuan-tai, martial artist and Shaw Brothers star of ‘Boxer from Shantung’ and ‘Flying Guillotine’, passes away at 80I'm still floored that Arrow went through the trouble of finding the original…
Ska Martes on Chen Kuan-tai, martial artist and Shaw Brothers star of ‘Boxer from Shantung’ and ‘Flying Guillotine’, passes away at 80in front of the camera there was definitely a drop off from Sammon circa 1991…
John N on Back-to-back action! Watch the Trailers for the microbudget martial arts thrillers ‘Five By Five’ and ‘Echo 8 Beyond’Watched the OG Echo 8 and yoooo this is lit.
Andrew Hernandez on Chen Kuan-tai, martial artist and Shaw Brothers star of ‘Boxer from Shantung’ and ‘Flying Guillotine’, passes away at 80Bruce Lee wasn’t ignored in HK because he wasn’t perusing a film career there…
Ska Martes on THESE GIRLS GOT BALLS! Watch the New Trailer for Stephen Chow’s ‘Kung Fu Soccer’Chow's next movie will either be a Kung Fu Hustle remake where the Axe gang a…
Ska Martes on Chen Kuan-tai, martial artist and Shaw Brothers star of ‘Boxer from Shantung’ and ‘Flying Guillotine’, passes away at 80That last paragraph made me realise we are the Hong Kong action cinema versio…
Nancy Lo on THE PERFECT WEAPON IS BACK! Martial arts star Jeff Speakman talks about his comeback film ‘Lost Echoes’Time for these old men to go to retirement homes and make room for the new fe…
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Tag Archives: Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi)
Outrage Coda | aka Outrage: Final Chapter (2017) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Writer: Takeshi Kitano Cast: Beat Takeshi, Nao Ohmori, Ken Mitsuishi, Ren Osugi, Tatsuo Nadaka, Ikuji Nakamura, Toshiyuki Nishida, Hakuryu, Sansei Shiomi, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Pierre Taki Running Time: 104 min. By Matija Makotoichi Tomic Even before he would go on to direct his senior citizen “yakuza” comedy Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen, easily his least memorable effort, Kitano said that the producers wanted him to make another Outrage … Continue reading
Mozu: The Movie (2015) Review
Director: Eiichiro Hasumi Cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Takeshi Kitano, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yoko Maki, Yusuke Iseya, Tori Matsuzaka, Hiroki Hasegawa, Fumiyo Kohinata, Sosuke Ikematsu, Atsushi Ito Running Time: 116 min. By Paul Bramhall Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano is easily one of the most recognizable faces in Japanese cinema, directing a number of movies that are rightfully considered masterpieces. When he acts, it’s usually also in his own productions, so whenever news emerges that … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hidetoshi Nishijima, Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi)
Beyond Outrage (2012) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Writer: Takeshi Kitano Cast: Beat Takeshi, Tomokazu Miura, Ryo Kase, Akira Nakao, Shigeru Koyama, Toshiyuki Nishida, Sansei Shiomi, Katsunori Takahashi, Fumiyo Kohinata, Yutaka Matsushige, Hideo Nakano, Kenta Kiritani, Hirofumi Arai, Tetsushi Tanaka Running Time: 112 min. By HKFanatic After delivering a modern update on the popular Zatoichi character in 2003, writer/director/actor Takeshi Kitano spent the rest of that decade on a detour into the world of avant … Continue reading
Gonin (1995) Review
AKA: The Five Director: Takashi Ishii Cast: Koichi Sato, Masahiro Motoki, Jinpachi Nezu, Kippei Shiina, Naoto Takenaka Running Time: 109 min. By Equinox21 In 1995, stylish director, Takashi Ishii, brought us a great crime/yakuza piece called Gonin (The Five). It revolved around a disco owner convincing 4 other guys to go along with him in a planned heist of the local Yakuza thugs for over 100 million yen (something like … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Takashi Ishii, Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi)
Outrage (2010) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Writer: Takeshi Kitano Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Kippei Shiina, Ryo Kase, Tomokazu Miura, Jun Kunimura, Tetta Sugimoto, Takashi Tsukamoto, Hideo Nakano, Renji Ishibashi, Fumiyo Kohinata Running Time: 109 min. By HKFanatic “Outrage” is Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano’s first Yakuza film in ten years (since 2000’s “Brother“). Kitano himself admitted he designed the film from the ground up to be a commercial crowd-pleaser, a goal that seems well within his … Continue reading
Battle Royale (2000) Review
Director: Kinji Fukasaku Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Masanobu Ando, Takeshi Kitano, Kou Shibasaki, Chiaki Kuriyama, Yuko Miyamura, Yuuki Masuda, Sousuke Takaoka Running Time: 114 min. By JJ Hatfield “Battle Royale” is very interesting – interesting beyond the usual curiosity and opinions about books and films. What is most interesting is that those who have not read the book nor viewed the movies are the same ones who … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Reviews
Tagged Aki Maeda, Chiaki Kuriyama, Kinji Fukasaku, Masanobu Ando, Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi), Tatsuya Fujiwara
Kids Return (1996) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Writer: Takeshi Kitano Producers: Masayuki Mori, Yasushi Tsuge, Takio Yoshida Cast: Masanobu Ando, Ken Kaneko, Leo Morimoto, Hatsuo Yamaya, Mitsuko Oka, Ryo Ishibashi, Susumu Terajima, Koichi Shigehisa, Michisuke Kashiwaya, Yuko Daike, Atsuki Ueda, Ren Osugi, Masami Shimojoe Running Time: 108 min. By Equinox21 Kids Return was not even close to being my favorite Takeshi Kitano movie, but it wasn’t bad in the least. It didn’t really even … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Reviews
Tagged Masanobu Ando, Ryo Ishibashi, Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi)
Boiling Point (1990) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Cast: Masahiko Ono, Yuriko Ishida, Takahito Iguchi, Minoru Iizuka, Makoto Ashikawa, Hisashi Igawa, Bengal, Johnny Ohkura, Katsuo Tokashiki, Takeshi Kitano Running Time: 98 min. By The Reviewer With No Name Boiling Point seems to be one of the lesser liked/known of films in Kitano’s filmography (It’s actually the last Kitano film I’ve seen so far besides Dolls and Zatoichi), that I can’t really understand. Most people just … Continue reading
Zatoichi | aka The Blind Swordsman Zatoichi (2003) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Yui Natsukawa, Michiyo Ookusu, Gadarukanaru Taka, Yuuko Daike, Daigor Tachibana, Ittoku Kishibe, Saburo Ishikura Running Time: 116 min. By Equinox21 I’m very pleased to say that Zatoichi did not let me down. I was afraid that not having any previous knowledge about the franchise and seeing a Kitano movie that didn’t involve yakuza vs. cops would make it a less enjoyable experience … Continue reading
Getting Any? (1995) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Writer: Takeshi Kitano Producer: Masayuki Mori, Hisao Nabeshima, Takio Yoshida Cast: Moeko Ezawa, Hakuryu, Tokie Hidari, Yojin Hino, Minoru Iizuka, Takeshi Kitano, Akiji Kobayashi, Yuuji Minakata, Masumi Okada, Ren Osugi, Shintaro Takado, Susumu Terajima, Kanji Tsuda, Yuurei Yanagi, Tetsuya Yuuki Running Time: 105 Min. By Mairosu It’s often said that the western world doesn’t know real Beat Takeshi. To us, the mention of his name is usually … Continue reading
Fireworks | aka Hana-Bi (1997) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima, Tetsu Watanabe, Hakuryu, Yasuei Yakushiji, Taro Istumi, Kenichi Yajima, Makoto Ashikaw Running Time: 103 min. By Equinox21 Hana-bi was the first Takeshi Kitano film (directed) I’d seen. I really wish I’d waited until I’d seen some of his others first, because none of the others even compare. As much as I love all his films, Hana-bi was heads … Continue reading
Sonatine (1993) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Writer: Takeshi Kitano Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Aya Kikumai, Tetsu Watanabe, Masanobu Katsumura, Susumu Terajima, Ren Ohsugi, Eiji Minakata, Rome Kanda, Houka Kinoshita Running Time: 90 min. By Len One word: Genius. I could write 400 words on how much I love this film and it still wouldn’t be enough. To me, this represents all that is good in Kitano’s cinema. Kitano plays Murakawa, a respected leader of … Continue reading
Violent Cop (1989) Review
Director: Takeshi Kitano Writer: Takeshi Kitano Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa, Shiro Sano, Shigeru Hiraizumi, Mikiko Otonashi, Hakuryu, Ittoku Kishibe, Ken Yoshizawa, Hiroyuki Katsube, Noboru Hamada, Yuuki Kawai, Ritsuko Amano, Taro Ishida, Katsuki Muramatsu Running Time: 103 min. By Len Flawed but promising would be the two adjectives I’d use to describe Takeshi Kitano’s directing debut. While watching this film, some characteristics that we have gotten used to … Continue reading




























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