When it was announced that Takeshi “Beat” Kitano was taking on one of Japan’s best loved mythical heroes, film fans around the world sat up and took notice. It’s not long before our hero is working his way on the inside, killing anyone who comes between him and the head of this sinister syndicate. He also learns that the local village is suffering under the brutal thumb of these thugs. We begin with one of the more unusual and unknown titles in the set:Īs he travels around the countryside, the famed blind swordsman Zatoichi encounters a pair of geishas who were orphaned by the awful Ginzo gang. Perhaps the best way to gauge this conflict is to rate each film individually, before addressing the actual product and presentation. what a small but very vocal contingency of home video nerds demand. In fact, it raises a question of what consumers want from their Blu-ray collection vs. Whether or not they have a point goes beyond the issue of each of the films (which are, in general, some of the best in the genre). While it’s wonderful to finally see these four films – the new releases include The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi, Hero, Iron Monkey, and The Legend on Drunken Master on the technologically advanced system, some are grousing over the various flaws they find in the transfers and audio specs provided. Indeed, any company that claims attention to be catering to the purist but then fails to fulfill their most-wanted wish list of disc mandates is just asking for trouble – and that’s what’s happening with Miramax right now. While DVD is often seen as a consumer friendly format, the new high definition dynamic is viewed as the territory of the true film preservationist – and each new release is viewed with a jaundiced, jaded eye. Now Blu-ray has come along and with it a bevy of new digital reproduction issues. For the most part, the business model dictated otherwise, while some outsider distributors gladly fed the geek fervor. They wanted the original film left intact – uncut, uncensored, un-manipulated by Hollywood studios, and most importantly, un-dubbed by usually over the top Western actors. By the time DVD rolled around in the ’90s, fans were no longer happy just getting their hands on certain celebrated efforts. While it was commonplace within the major metropolitan markets of the 1970s (thanks in no small part to Bruce Lee), it wasn’t until home video, and the ready availability of titles, that the real upswing started. It’s astonishing to think how far the martial arts movie has come in the last 30 years.
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