Graveyards of Honor Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Graveyards of Honor Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 23, 2020

There have been all sorts of remakes through the years, ranging from the slavishly duplicative (as — at least in theory — Psycho and Psycho) to the other side of the spectrum, where two properties may indeed share the same name and even the same source, but which may otherwise differ rather radically. That’s probably the case with regard to Kinji Fukasaku’s Graveyard of Honor from 1975 and Takashi Miike’s Graveyard of Honor from 2002. Both films are ostensibly culled from a novel by a real life yakuza named Gorô Fujita, though I haven’t been able to authoritatively determine whether he’s the same Gorô Fujita who was evidently a 19th century samurai also known as Saitō Hajime (all of the online biographical data I’ve been able to find about this particular person does not mention any writing having been done by him, and this individual seems to have been a policeman rather than a member of the yakuza). One way or the other, the Gorô Fujita who was a writer was also responsible for the source material that became Gangster VIP , and the fact that both that film and the Kinji Fukasaku version of Graveyard of Honor star Tetsuya Watari playing roles that are at least somewhat similar, may tend to link the two films together for some fans. The Miike film, like so many by this provocative Japanese auteur, is decidedly more sui generis despite having ostensible links to both the source material and the prior film.

For reviews of the two films in this set, please click on the following links:

Graveyard of Honor Blu-ray review

Graveyard of Honor Blu-ray review

Graveyards of Honor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Graveyards of Honor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Graveyards of Honor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements accompanying each film are detailed in the above linked reviews. This is another very handsomely packaged release from Arrow that comes in a sturdy chipboard slipbox that also includes a hefty booklet with another great essay by Jasper Sharp, cast and crew information and technical data.

Graveyards of Honor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arrow continues to deliver well conceived collections for fans, and this is a fascinating "two fer" that offers a pair of radically different films supposedly based on the same material. Handsomely packaged, with generally solid technical merits and Arrow's traditionally well appointed supplemental packages, Graveyards of Honor comes Recommended.