Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Murder Unincorporated Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 30, 2016

Note: This film is available as part of Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2.

It’s kind of interesting that around the same time Hollywood studios were forsaking their old “contract star” system, at least with regard to feature films, the Japanese studio Nikkatsu was building up its roster of performers “bound” to the corporation. When television started making in roads on audience numbers, and anti-monopoly efforts divested studios of their theaters, suddenly a lot of American actors (or at least actors attempting to work in America) found themselves “free agents”, as it were. Some, like Burt Lancaster, rather easily made the transition to managing their own careers outside of studio supervision, while others weren’t quite able to make the jump into unmonitored waters (so to speak). Nikkatsu may not have spent tons of money on its so-called “Diamond” line of action-adventure (ish) films, but it managed to keep a stable of beloved performers regularly employed for several years. This second volume of Nikkatsu Diamond features from Arrow (Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Vol 1 appeared a few months ago) offers three lightweight but generally enjoyable films that are often bright and breezy if not especially memorable.

Murder Unincorporated is probably the goofiest film of the three in this new set, with a convoluted but easily understandable plot that at least tangentially presages efforts like the Shaw Brothers’ The Five Deadly Venoms, with a bunch of variously skilled hitmen going after each other. Murder Unincorporated is manifestly different, of course, being set in contemporary (i.e., mid sixties) times and tending to emphasize humor with an action setting rather than hewing closely to a more dramatic adventure tone. That said, the fact that a group of hitmen belong to a “club” called The Five Rays may raise a few eyebrows, especially when another “bad guy” starts offing them. Though the film plays its cards at least somewhat close to its vest in the early going, it’s not hard to figure out that star Jo Shishido is the supposedly “mysterious” Joe of Spades, the mastermind behind it all. Murder Unincorporated is in some ways the most “traditional” crime offering of the three in this set, but it’s all infused with an almost Keystone Cops (or perhaps more appropriately Keystone Criminals) affinity for physical schtick.

Murder Unincorporated Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

All three films in Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 are presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 2.42:1 (for Danger Pays and Murder Unincorporated) and 2.50:1 (for Tokyo Mighty Guy). Frankly all three of these films could be graded across the general 3.0 — 3.5 spectrum, but I've given Tokyo Mighty Guy a 3.0 and the other two a 3.5 to differentiate some subtle but noticeable differences between them. Because a contrast and compare is probably the best way to describe these, I recommend those interested to parse all of the screenshots of the three film reviews as well as the set review. Tokyo Mighty Guy is the least pleasing of the three transfers, with faded elements that tip toward the brown side of things, and rather shallow densities at times that tend to keep the palette from popping very vividly. Some long day for night sequences feature actually pretty commendable shadow detail but are subtly skewed toward blue, something that also attends some similar sequences in Murder Unincorporated. Danger Pays actually shows a slight bluish tint through large swaths of the film, though it's notable that a long sequence bathed in red light doesn't really tip very drastically toward purple as might be expected. Murder Unincorporated also suffers from some noticeable horizontal wobble. Elements in all three films show various signs of age related wear and tear, but all three are certainly watchable given reasonable expectations. Grain, while somewhat heavy at times, resolves naturally across all three films, and even with all three placed on one BD-50, there are no noticeable compression artifacts at play.

Murder Unincorporated Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All three films in this set feature LPCM mono tracks in the original Japanese, and unfortunately all three suffer from at least some distortion. It's worst on Tokyo Mighty Guy, where the opening fanfare and jaunty credits tune are hobbled by not just typical distortion but regular crackling. This abates somewhat after the opening few minutes, but is still noticeable throughout the presentation, especially during music cues or when higher frequencies are being utilized. Danger Pays and Murder Unincorporated also offer slight distortion, especially in the opening moments, but overall sound at least incrementally better. Danger Pays can sound a bit brittle on the high end, and dialogue is occasionally boxy. Murder Unincorporated is the best sounding of the three, and it features one of the most winning scores, a kind of quasi-jazzy affair with walking bass lines and lots of snare drums. It appears that at least parts of the films were post-looped, and so there are occasional sync issues with regard to lip movements and what's actually being spoken.

Murder Unincorporated Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All three films included in Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 are on one Blu-ray disc, along with supplements. A complete list of supplements is included in the Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 Blu-ray review. Supplements directly related to this film are:

• Trailer (1080p; 4:11)


• Gallery (1080p)

Murder Unincorporated Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For me personally Murder Unincorporated was the most consistently enjoyable of the three films in this set, perhaps chiefly because of some its more gonzo proclivities. The humor is often just flat out silly in this film, but for those willing to just sit back and enjoy the "stupidity", the film is quite a bit of fun. This also has the best looking video and sounding audio in the set.