Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Killer's Mission Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 25, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Radiance Films' release of The Bounty Hunter Trilogy.

There's a trend in many contemporary restaurants where "fusions" of different cultures' menus are combined to offer something new and ostensibly improved. For anyone who may be under the impression that this same general "mixing" approach is something recent, The Bounty Hunter Trilogy should provide a cinematic example that "fusions" have been around for quite some time. As commentator Tom Mes kind of jokingly refers to in his track on the first film in this set, anyone looking for historical accuracy in these films had best keep searching elsewhere, especially since production design elements can often weirdly interpolate "wrong" decades (or even centuries) into the proceedings. But even that "combo platter" may not be as viscerally noticeable as the often quite interesting ping ponging in all three films between "traditional" Japanese (quasi?) samurai outings, what might be generally termed Spaghetti Western elements, and, perhaps most intriguingly (and another way these films tend to bend perceived eras or at least genres to their own uses), a kind of James Bond- esque spy film aspect. It wouldn't be until 1972, the year of this trilogy's final entry, that star Tomisaburô Wakayama would start appearing as one of two legendary titular characters in what is arguably his better remembered series, Lone Wolf and Cub. While that might kind of unavoidably seem to make The Bounty Hunter Trilogy a "test run" of sorts, it probably really isn't, as this earlier triptych has its own distinct flavor (speaking of fusion menus).

In the "wait. . .you also get" category of cinematic references, Killer's Mission introduces bounty hunter Shikoro Ichibei (Tomisaburo Wakayama) who isn't above a bit of subterfuge in order to achieve his spying goals, which in this instance ends up offering Wakayama a kind of cheeky allusion to Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman, which any shinnichi worth his or her salt will probably know has a direct connection to the actor. Before that "inside joke" is delivered, though, Ichibei has already been seen assembling what might be termed the feudal Japanese equivalent of those great gizmos that Q would provide to Bond, James Bond.

As Tom Mes mentions in his commentary, any "historical accuracy" is probably tossed by the wayside early on, but the ostensible intrigue involves Dutch involvement in what might be thought of as a clan war between warring Japanese factions. Ichibei perhaps unsurprisingly turns out to not be the only one spying on the situation, and that brings a female operative named Kagero (Yumiko Nogawa) into the fray, though that's not to suggest that the "black ops" characters are limited to those two. This is an energetic and entertaining story that might raise a few eyebrows in terms of Ichibei's treatment of women in particular, but which offers Wakayama a real showcase for his rather unique persona.

Killer's Mission Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Killer's Mission is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.34:1. Radiance tends not to provide a ton of technical information on their releases, and that's once again the case with all three films in this set, which are lumped together in Radiance's insert booklet with the following very brief notes on the transfers:

Each film in The Bounty Hunter Trilogy was transferred in high definition by Toei Company Ltd and supplied to Radiance Films as high definition digital masters.

The Killer's Mission offers a generally very pleasing image quality that has some of its most pronounced positives in the robustness of the palette. Outdoor material in particular pops extremely well, with some nicely vivid blue skies and mostly natural looking skin tones. Many of what I assume were studio bound shots (including scenes supposedly aboard a Dutch ship) can look just slightly less well suffused when juxtaposed with the really luscious looking outdoor material. Grain is quite heavy at times, perhaps especially in the outdoor scenes since it's so easily spotted against bright skies which can take up at least the upper portion of the frame. Fine detail can ebb in some of the most dimly lit interior scenes. All three of the films in this set exhibit some very minor passing focus pulling issues which can obviously affect detail levels.

Killer's Mission Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unlike the two other films in this set which sport DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono audio, Killer's Mission features LPCM 2.0 Mono, for whatever that's worth. While there is really nothing overly problematic here, there is an unmistakably slightly boxy sound in a lot of the spoken material, including the opening narration. That said, some decently forceful ambient environmental effects like a torrential downpour fairly early in the story reverberate quite well and offer a secure midrange. While dynamic range seems just a tad tamped down due to the boxiness, dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Killer's Mission Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Tom Mes is another extremely informative listen from Mes, who also as he put its "unavoidably" gets into the two sequels as well as this particular film.


• Akihiko Ito (HD; 15:43) offers the film historian discussing the life and work of director Shigehiro Ozawa, while also touching on tangentially related subjects like the history of Toei. Subtitled in English.


• Trailer (HD; 3:13) overtly advertises "007 meets Spaghetti Western".

Killer's Mission Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Killer's Mission gets the series off to a great start, and it has some undeniably cheeky moments that give it a kind of weirdly comedic undertone, despite some of the potentially shocking violence (toward women in particular). Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements enjoyable. Recommended.