Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 30, 2016

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.

Reviews of the three films in this set can be accessed via the following links:

Tokyo Mighty Guy Blu-ray review

Danger Pays Blu-ray review

Murder Unincorporated Blu-ray review

Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality is assessed in the above referenced reviews.

Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality is assessed in the above referenced reviews.

Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction to the Diamond Guys (1080p; 20:20) features brief but enjoyable profiles of Jo Shishido and Akira Kobayashi, both with some fun commentary by Jasper Sharp.


• Trailers

  Tokyo Mighty Guy (1080p; 3:47)

  Danger Pays (1080p; 3:51)

  Murder Unincorporated (1080p; 4:11)

• Galleries

  Tokyo Mighty Guy (1080p)

  Danger Pays (1080p)

  Murder Unincorporated (1080p)

Additionally, trailers for the film in Arrow's Outlaw: Gangster VIP Collection set. Finally, the insert booklet contains several good essays and production stills.

Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is frankly one of the odder "triple features" in recent memory, and none of the films in this set really fits snugly into traditional action- adventure (and/or crime laden) Nikkatsu fare. However, perhaps for that very reason all three have something a bit unusual to offer, and fans of cult Japanese cinema will probably find a few nuggets of enjoyment scattered throughout these quickly (and cheaply) produced genre offerings. Technical merits have occasional obstacles, but taken as a whole (and especially for lovers of Japanese cinema), Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volume 2 comes Recommended.