6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Shinichi Tachibana returns to his old stomping grounds of Nagasaki and finds himself drawn back into the yakuza world.
Starring: Naoki Sugiura, Kunie Tanaka, Kanjûrô Arashi, Tôru Abe, Ken TakakuraForeign | 100% |
Crime | 21% |
Action | 5% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Japanese: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Prison Walls: Abashiri Prison I-III.
There seems to be a general consensus based both upon some supplements included with this release as well as any number of other online data
sources
that The Defiant Ones* served as an inspiration for
at
least the first Abashiri Prison film. But as some of those same supplements make clear, that perceived cinematic "connection" really only
pertains to
the last third or so of the first film in a rather celebrated franchise, and in this case without some of the potent subtext of the well remembered
Stanley Kramer film
featuring Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier. As tangential as The Defiant Ones may therefore be, evidently the idea
of two escaped prisoners shackled to each other and on the run provided some kind of interest for audiences, since this 1965 adaptation
of
a novel by Hajime Itō led to a glut of sequels (the first two of which are included in this set), while an earlier 1959 adaptation of the novel (which
I'm
assuming did not feature two escaped prisoners shackled to each other) seems to have been more or less buried by the vagaries of time
and tide. The supplements on this set get into the unexpected success of Abashiri Prison, a success which perhaps surprisingly was more
abundant with some of the sequels than with the first outing, and not only without that oft mentioned "sophomore slump", but an audience reaction
that was evidently more favorably inclined toward both the second and (perhaps especially) third films.
*Note: The link points to a UK Blu-ray release.
Abashiri Prison III is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment's Masters of Cinema imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. There's no technical information provided on this release that I could find in the insert booklet, other than standard verbiage alerting the still uneducated about why there are "black bars" and another warning about 4K UHD setups in particular which may have "motion smoothing" defaults. The back cover offers only a generic "1080p HD presentation of all three films from restorations of the original film elements supplied by Toei". Color timing is improved in this third film when compared to the somewhat sickly looking second outing, with less of a jaundiced appearance in flesh tones, but still some of the same generally excellent support for primaries in particular. Outdoor material can pop agreeably a lot of the time, but can occasionally look a bit wan, with kind of pale greenish rather than bright blue skies. Some night material is bathed in blue and has some murky shadow definition. In an anomaly similar to what I mentioned in Another Abashiri Prison Story Blu-ray review, there is some anamorphic weirdness on occasion here where the entire frame looks like it was but through the M.C. Escher machine, leading to noticeable tilting or slanting (see screenshot 7). There are recurrent signs of age related wear and tear, but rather minor and almost subliminal at times. Grain resolves naturally throughout. My score is 3.75.
Abashiri Prison III features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track in the original Japanese. There's just a bit of crackling and a pretty harsh / bright sounding high end as this track gets going, perhaps due at least in part to the theme music being "recycled". Later cues, including some choral music, tend to sound a bit warmer and less problematic on the high end. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Eureka has packaged this set with the first two films on Disc One and the third film on Disc Two. The supplements, including the commentaries, can
be
far ranging (i.e., not necessarily limited solely to any given film), and so I'm including the complete array of supplements below.
Disc One ( Abashiri Prison and Abashiri Prison II)
- Audio Commentary by Tom Mes
- Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:45)
- Audio Commentary by Chris Poggiali
- Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:50)
Some of the participants in the supplements included in this set mention this third outing as their favorite, though it's another film that seems positively divorced from the first aside from its focal character. The use of blackface is probably going to cause reactions for better or worse, though in that regard, it's kind of interesting to think of Ishii perhaps reaching for some kind of "racial" content to mimic the potent subtext of The Defiant Ones. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements well done. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
続・網走番外地 / Zoku Abashiri bangaichi | Masters of Cinema
1965
網走番外地 / Abashiri bangaichi | Masters of Cinema
1965
Jingi no hakaba
1975
Mottomo kiken na yuugi / 最も危険な遊戯 / Games of Maximum Risk
1978
現代やくざ 人斬り与太 / Gendai yakuza: hito-kiri yota
1972
暗戰2 / Am zin 2
2001
Minagoroshi no kenjû
1967
1968
1968
2000
ドーベルマン刑事 / Doberuman deka
1977
省港旗兵 / Shěng gǎng qí bīng
1984
독전 / Dokjeon
2018
フェラーリの鷹 / Poliziotto Sprint
1977
1968
1968
Fango bollente
1975
8時間の恐怖 / Hachijikan no kyôfu
1957
1969
1968