7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A shogunate secret agent is sent to investigate a secret deal with a Dutch warship involving repeating rifles to be used in an uprising against the Shogun, but finds there's more going on than previously suspected.
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Tomoko Mayama, Gorô Mutsumi, Bin Amatsu, Jûkei FujiokaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 37% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.34:1
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 | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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).
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.
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 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.
(Still not reliable for this title)
賞金首 一瞬八人斬り / Shōkin kubi: Isshun hachi-nin giri
1972
五人の賞金稼ぎ / Gonin no shōkin kasegi
1969
I Love You, I Don't
1976
1988
Overdose
1983
1999
La Vallée
1972
벌새 / Beol-sae
2019
1978
1963
La luna
1979
Sous le soleil de Satan
1987
Da hong deng long gao gao gua
1991
2008
Dolor y gloria
2019
東京暮色
1957
Una mujer fantástica
2017
2015
The Real Emanuelle
1974
1966