5 comments about The Bushido Blade.

1. I am a big fan of samurai films and Japanese cinema. Toshiro Mifune is my favorite actor. I own about sixty or so samurai and/or mifune movies. With that said, I purchased Bushido Blade in hopes that it would be tolerable. I was sadly mistaken. Don't let your curiousity get the better of you and your money. The plot is missing, the acting is terrible (except for Mifune, who speaks English in this film without understanding the language, yet he is dubbed anyway), and the quality is unbearable. In one part, a US naval officer beats a samurai in a sword fight. Give me a break!



2. The meeting between Commodore Perry's flotilla, and the Japanese has always been one of the most fascinating events of history, as far as I am concerned. It really is a pity that it is something that has never been done well on film. This film is no exception. The first official contact between the United States and Japan is used here as a setting for a pulp adventure story. If you keep this in mind, and don't do into this with overly high expectations, this is a reasonably enjoyable picture. It's an adventure film, nothing more. But anyone who expects high art or historical accuracy is sure to be disappointed. I do wish, though, that someone would make a historically accurate film about this pivotal and fascinating historical event. It's a pity this film isn't that movie, since Richard Boone does make a good Commodore Perry.
   
   I must say a word, however, to those who sneer at the very idea that an American military officer of the 19th century could even hope to be a match for a samurai in swordsmanship. The idea is not as farfetched as you might imagine. In the first place, not all Western swords are the inferior trash imagined. Nor are katanas lightsabers. Some 19th century Western swords were mass produced blades of indifferent quality. Others were very well made weapons of very fine steel (and usually less brittle and prone to chipping than Japanese swords, even if they wouldn't hold an edge so well as a superbly made katana). Not every samurai's sword was a Masamune masterpiece. The Japanese, even in the feudal period, were no strangers to mass produced, lesser quality blades. Nor was every samurai a master swordsman (any more than every Wild West cowboy was an expert gunfighter). One must remember that for the samurai, the sword was only one of three major weapons, along with the bow, and the yari (a thrusting spear) -- and was in fact, the least of the three. In fact, the sword really did not even become the premier weapon of samurai culture and reach its cult status until the mid to late 17th century when the period of civil wars ended. It is instructive to note that the expression so associated with bushido is "the Way of the horse and bow", not "the Way of the sword." By the same token, Western military officers could also be master swordsmen. The sword had almost reached the very end of its use as a military weapon in the Western world, but it was not quite dead yet, and there were still a number of schools that instructed students in its use at that time. Nor are Western styles of swordsmanship so vastly inferior to the style of swordsmanship practiced in Japan. In general, the average samurai of the 19th century WAS indeed far more likely to be a master swordsman than the average Western military officer. But the idea that an American officer of that period couldn't possibly possess a level of skill with a blade equal to that of a 19th century samurai is not quite accurate either. Those who dismiss the western martial arts so blithely are usually those who know nothing about them.



3. In support of the previous reviewer's comments, those writers who sneer at the very idea that a western sabreur could triumph over a Samurai are being sadly and deludedly unpatriotic (not a quality usually associated with Americans, let it be said).
   
   In fact, there are a number of accounts dating from this period of Samurai being embarrassed by the skill of western opponents - and some of these are Japanese accounts. One may speculate that it was simple culture-shock, but it remains true all the same.
   
   As for the film, it's no great shakes, but the fight is credited to a Japanese fight director, and if this is the case he deserves brownie points for a decent bit of difficult choreography.



4. "A swashbuckling Samurai saga that beats SHOGUN!" - Star-Bulletin
   
   This grand statement must be about the heavily edited 2 hour version of Shogun. The original television miniseries is as much of a revelation compared to that film as eating sushi is to fish sticks from "The Gorton's Fisherman."
   
   "The Bushido Blade" stands as an utterly cheesy film in the genre filled with stiff and stuffy performances despite the star-studded cast, unremarkable and unmemorable visuals, and a rather generic story filled to the gills with clichés.
   
   All you have to do is sit through the first act to realize that you just opened a huge can of worms. The second act doesn't really do much to hold your attention while the third act felt, more or less, like a real letdown.
   
   Sure, the film was supposed to end tragically, in a way, but "The Last Samurai" did a much better job at it, even though it had its elements of Westernizing a story that is supposed to be richly Japanese.
   
   Even the Shogun miniseries had this problem of Westernizing, but efforts were made to keep that to a minimum to where the average viewer could experience a respectful depiction of Japanese culture while being able to understand the story (read the original novel if you want more depth of the culture through the eyes of a Westerner). Alas, "The Bushido Blade" makes no discernible effort to preserve such an experience; it is so lopsidedly Western that it seems to mock Eastern ideals.
   
   Then again, what more could you expect with this kind of film from the likes of Rankin-Bass?
   
   I KID YOU NOT!
   
   This film was produced by the same group of guys who also brought you the famous stop-motion "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" from the 1960s and the animated "Thundercats" from the 1980s! Even the music is Rankin-Bass fare, being composed by none other than Maury Laws!
   
   This film made one thing utterly clear: Arthur Rankin, Jr., who served as producer, should have stuck with making children's fare.
   
   Rankin-Bass did a better job of bring Yukon Cornelius to life in stop-motion than Commodore Matthew Perry in live action (ironic, considering that Richard Boone, the actor to play the part, succumbed to lung cancer shortly after the film was made).



5. How can you make a movie with the extra cool Toshirô Mifune... and have it be this bad?

No comments about Fall Guy.

5 comments about Karate for Life - The Sonny Chiba Collection.

1. Sosai Masutatsu Oyama.....the legendary Japanese Karate Master who revolutionized Karate forever........The Japanese Famous Anime Karate Baka Ichidai has been released in Japan for decade. The story of Kyokushin Kaikan and its history. Ever since the Anime has been released in Japan, it has gained such popularity and fame of this Mas Oyama's Karate all over the nation. Today, it is THE most popular, and most practiced Japanese Karate Style in Japan, and world wide. Mas Oyama has passed away back in 1994. This film is based on his life, and character. This complete the trilogy which are both entertaining, and now classic. However, it is NOT a biography film. The Media 8, the Japanese Kyokushin Kaikan film production has produced tons of film about Mas Oyama as well as Every single All Japan, and World Open tournament footage which is only available in Japan. The latest Asian number one hit movie "Fighter in the Wind" from Korea is the closest it can get if you would like to see the biography based movie of Mas Oyama. However, it is not 100% accurate for some reason. It plays a little politic and prejudice. After all it is a movie, and has to entertain the audience. The "Figther in the Wind" is currently only availabe in Korea, but soon I hopt to hit USA. OSU~!!!



2. Good service.
   Thanks



3. This thing is a WEIRD movie. It has a bunch of wrestlers for Sonny to go up against. His partner is like the king of Judo and I have to say they could have did without him. Same actors as all of the movies. But this one is just better than the last 2 in the trilogy. The final fight is freaking awesome even with that same camera man who seems to be shaking it up and down. The best of the trilogy and some how the weirdest with these wrestling death matches.
   
   The picture quality is good btu does have horizontal lines that do distort the picture. Still pretty good picture quality though. Percectly widescreened, good sound, very good subtitles, and some really good liner notes just like the other 2 movies.



4. Sonny Chiba takes on the role of Mas Oyama, one of the most famous karateka in history. His career? Dojo duels by day, moonlighting as an enforcer for the mob at night. His reputation earns him a ticket to Okinawa, where he is supposed to participate in fixed matches against American fighters. His pride and determination to prove his style cause problems when he refuses to lay down. Of course, organized criminals come to collect when their winnings begin to slip away. Matters escalate and, well, if you like Sonny Chiba, you can imagine how things go from there!



5. I have to say, out of all the sonny chiba collections I have seen so far,this one is the best. This movie bascically is the last sequel to the trilogy of oyama's portrayal. Sonny chiba gives his best performance.
   
   The movie starts off when oyama (sonny chiba)tries to prove to a secondary school that his art, which is contact karate, must be the only art that schools should be studying. Masters or sensei's already know that he is a fearless fighter. He has a rap sheet of hurting people and animals,such as bulls and bears.
   
   He then begins to prove himself by beating the crap out one hundred students. It was funny to see the plan a way to cheat by spreading oil on the dojo floor to beat oyama, but he still overcame them. He then defeated the master and prove himself.
   
   The story actually begins when oyama is bribed sigining a contract to fight in a wrestling match. He later finds out that the fights were fixed where he would have to loose. So he decides to quit. But comes back when he came into conflict with a sick woman that was in desperate need for medical insurance. oyama begged the contracters that they pay him in advance,so he can save the young girl. When the fight begin, the challenger tried to kill oyama. Oyama had no choice but to use karate in order to pertect himself.The contracters was angry and killed the woman that oyama was trying to save. Oyama and his judo sidekick Futysaia went on a massive rampage in a impressive climatic all out karate expo.
   
   The movie itself is incredible. The picture quailty on this disk is great. To see a movie this old in a smooth widescreen presentation is truly remararkable.

3 comments about Immortal Combat.

1. Overall, I think that this is a great movie when you judge it for what it was. An action movie with a lot of fight scenes and it doesnt pretend to be anything else. Both Piper and Chiba were great in the fight scenes, and had the script although could have been a bit better, wasnt actually that bad. The only problem was that 1 or 2 scenes were badly written, For instance, the scene where Ms. Keeler is caught trespassing and Piper comes to her rescue was annoyingly bad and unnecessary overall. The one surprising thing was the supporting acting was fairly good, with the exception of Deron McBee who needs to go back to American Gladiators. The acting by Piper was quite good as always and i would love to see what he could do with a good script and cast.The best example of Pipers acting was at the beginning of the movie in the inital fight scene which was well choreographed, and quite comical with the addition of Chiba. Overall, I can't say it's one of the best movies ever made, but, as an action movie it's Really good. And anyone who si a fan of They Live will love this.



2. Don't listen to that ludicrous 5 star rating, this film is among the worst ever in the world of the martial arts. Roddy Piper just blows and it contains the most poorly choreographed fights I've ever seen for this reason. Chiba gets a chance to show off some impressive swordfighting but that's the only good scene in the whole damned thing and It's about 2 mins long. To see Chiba do something decent check out The Streetfighter.



3. . . . is what should read above the title. But, unfortunatly, the acadamy does not think the same way that I do. I believe that this is Roddy Piper's best movie, even better than They Live (which also is great, I suggest you give it a look). Sonny Chiba is great, the story is great, the fighting is great, everything about this movie is, well . . . incredable. Pick this up before it is gone, you will not be unhappy with your selection.

No comments about The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

1 comments about Dragon Princess (Dub).

1. This film is not so worth watching when compare with sister streetfighter, but the last scene can still impress the fans of Shiomi! But if U want to get the similar feeling of "sister streetfighter", it may not be the best choice!

1 comments about Return of the Warriors.

1. This is a good set of old school kung-fu. I ordered this for myself but when I got it I found that I already have all these movies except for about three. I plan to give this away for a present to one of my friends. I just wanted to list the movies for the next person who might want to buy this set. I will not review the movies, just give the titles.
   1. Screaming Tiger. 2. Sister Street Fighter. 3. Street fighter. 4. Return Of The Street Fighter. 5. Street Fighter's Last Revenge. 6. Dragon Princess. 7. Karate Warriors. 8. Rage Of The Dragon. 9. The Crippled Masters. 10. Ninja Turf. 11. Dragon On Fire. 12. Golden Dragon. 13. Return Of The Tiger. 14. 36 Crazy Fists. 15. Blind Fists Of Bruce. 16. Black Dragon. 17. The Deadly Kick. 18. The Fists Of Bruce Lee. 19. Tattoo Connection. 20. Militant Eagle.

5 comments about Shogun's Ninja.

1. Why was this movie so terrible? It started at first glance; the title. A Shogun is Japanese, whereas a Ninja is Chinese. A Shogun would never associate with a ninja, as ninja are without honor. A Shogun would only associate with Samurai.

   Now we can get past this glaring error to the cheesy schlock that was the rest of this movie. From the soundtrack reminiscent of lower quality 70's porno flicks, to the unentertaining, poorly choreographed battles, poor acting, etc... do not waste precious minutes of your life watching this movie. After watching this movie I am honor-bound to commit Seppuku. Goodbye, cruel world.




2. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the story. I've seen it in the cinema in the 80's and I still love it. But the issue why I gave low ratings is because of the DVD. This is the first time I've seen a DVD where the makers of it, puts watermark images of the company in various scene in the movie. Talk about advertising!
   
   Second, on the cover, it was written that the movie has undergone digital transfer. The only thing that I think, where the movie got it "digital transfer" is from a poor quality VHS tape to DVD. This is absurd! Even the soundtracks bear the quality of a bad tape recording.
   
   I've watch other Sonny Chiba's movies from the 80's in DVD format like Ninja Wars and GI Samurai aka Time Slip and both quality is what a DVD should be. This one is clearly an attempt to make a quick money at the fans of the man.
   
   The first 2 reviews, refers to other movies and not the one in question. To Amazon, please remove this item from your listing.



3. Arguably one of the best and most violent martial arts films of its time, 'The Street Fighter" starring Sonny Chiba was the first film to be given a "X" rating because of its violent content. In a time when the majority of martial arts films were pretty much the same, "Street Fighter" featured some of the most violent images ever showcased in martial arts cinema. The movie stars Chiba as a ruthless assassin who as described by Christian Slater in True Romance, "pretty much gets paid to f--k guys up". This double-feature DVD not only includes the original uncut Sonny Chiba classic in its original widescreen format but also includes its first sequel. While it is light on special features, this is one of the best versions of either movie you can find on DVD. Not for the weak of heart.



4. Critiquing the plot of this movie is pointless,likewise the acting,writing,cinematography etc. It's just one great fight scene after another. All the extraneous elements,such as the aforementioned few, are boiled away,leaving the distilled, pure essence of martial arts movies. But a little known fact is that Chiba studied directly under MAS OYAMA, creator of kyokushinkai karate. This is one nasty art. It cultivates the spirit but also emphasizes raw destructive power. The teacher character in the movie is an homage to Oyama, a genuine Master in the world of martial arts. So, at least one of the characters is based on a real person. Pretty cool!



5. I wouldn't recommend paying 12+ dollars for it like i did(stupid major electronic store)..but getting it on here for less than $5 is worth it.There are plenty of ninja in it(if i remember correctly) and sonny chiba is cool as always...go ahead and buy it if you like real Japanese flicks.

No comments about Dragon Princess 16x9 Version.

2 comments about Women Who Kick Butt 10 Movie Pack.

1. When I saw this DVD boxed set, I got the sneaking suspicion that a production company was simply trying to unload some excess inventory. But I decided to get it, because I love female action heroes, and it was a pretty good deal- ten movies for under twenty bucks. Well the results, as it turned out, were somewhat uneven. There are some good ones (Sister Street Fighter in particular is loaded with great action scenes) and some that were simply awful (Street Angels had very little action and must have had a budget of about ten bucks), while others had their own merits (TNT Jackson is simply hilarious, a blaxploitation kung fu movie in which the fighters don't even come close to hitting each other!). All in all, the movies have their moments, but if you're into badass action movies with female leads, then I suggest going the Hong Kong "bullets and breasts" route, or maybe tracking down some Russ Meyer movies.



2. BRENTWOOD 10 Movie Packs offer a variety of cinematic genres at bargain prices. Video transfers of their "B" movies are pretty decent, as is sound. The manufacturer's hinged boxes house DVDs adequately, but be careful the hinged sections don't pull away from the main spine! They're not that easy to reassemble.
   
   HIGHLIGHTS of the WOMEN WHO KICK BUTT 10 Movie Pack:
   
   The pickin's here are slim for all save fans of female martial arts films...
   
   THE FIRING LINE-- A whiny bleach-blonde helicoptor pilot takes to the ground to fight a guerilla war in the Philippino jungles.
   
   FLIGHT TO DANGER-- Stars its lady co-directors in a story of a martial arts team transporting a mysterious box they received in Paris that's sought by gangster types.
   
   GET CHRISTIE LOVE!-- Blaxploitation comes to television. Example of a short-lived TV series about an African-American female undercover cop, her white dyspeptic boss and the cases she gets involved in.
   
   SISTER STREET FIGHTER-- The best title in the set is this vintage Japanese martial arts film that teams Sonny Chiba with Etsuko Shihomi. Never mind the plot... enjoy the action!
   
   T.N.T. JACKSON-- Scripted by longtime Roger Coman acting favorite Dick Miller (he was "The Little Shop of Horrors" customer who ate flowers), and featuring former Playboy Playmate Jeannie Bell as a karate expert who searches Hong Kong for her brother's killer.
   
   If martial arts action is your thing, then THE TEN FACES OF SONNY CHIBA (also from BRENTWOOD) is just what you're looking for!
   
   .
   Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
   
   (1.9) Death Run to Istanbul (1993) - Sunny Doench/Alex Jigalin/Owen Rutledge
   
   (3.1) Emmanuelle, Queen of the Desert (Italy-1982) - Laura Gemser/Angelo Infanti
   
   (2.9) The Firing Line (USA/Philippines-1991) - Shannon Tweed/Reb Brown/Kahlena Marie
   
   (4.1) Flight to Danger (1995) - Sara Matthews/Gina Jourard/Lynn Eglash Renaud
   
   (4.9) Get Christie Love! (TV-1974) - Teresa Graves/Harry Guardino/Paul Stevens
   
   (2.7) High Kicks (1993) - Sandy Kay/Michael Bavaro/Kevin Knotts/Louis Lombardi
   
   (3.1) Leaving Scars (1997) - Lisa Boyle/Robin Downs/Jonathan Slater
   
   (5.7) Sister Street Fighter (Japan-1974) - Sonny Chiba/Etsuko Shihomi/Hiroshi Miyauchi
   
   (3.2) Street Angels (1993) - George Saunders/Dee Hengstler/Gwen Somers/Honey Lauren
   
   (4.0) T.N.T. Jackson (USA/Philippines-1975) - Jeannie Bell/Stan Shaw/Pat Anderson/Ken Metcalf