7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When we last saw the intrepid ninja Ishikawa Goemon (Raizo Ichikawa), he was about to be boiled alive. But a good ninja is both hard to find, and even harder to kill. With the help of the enigmatic Hattori Hanzo, Goemon lives to skulk another day, and sets his sights on bringing down the warlord who tried to turn him into soup -- Toyotomi Hideyoshi. And as always, in the background, the suble hand of Tokugawa Ieyasu is pulling strings as he plots to rule all of Japan!
Starring: Raizô Ichikawa, Ayako Wakao, Saburô Date, Chikako Hosokawa, Yoshirô KitaharaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 44% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.41:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 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 | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Radiance's
Shinobi set.
Years ago FUNimation, a label almost exclusively associated with anime, kind of unexpectedly released a live action film (albeit one steeped in an
intentionally cartoonish ambience) and I began my Goemon Blu-ray review of that release by kind of joking
about the many different cinematic versions of Robin Hood
(kind of hilariously, that link points to a version that came out after my Goemon review). I guess I could start this review
of
Radiance's release of the first three so-called Shinobi films by kind of joking about the many different cinematic versions of Goemon there
are, since these three films do indeed center on that legendary Japanese character, who, maybe just a bit like Robin Hood, seems to have been
culled
from both historical and fictional elements. There's still considerable scholarly debate about how "real" Robin Hood may or may not have been, but
there's little question that there was indeed a 16th century ninja named Ishikawa Goemon (Raizô Ichikawa), who really rather quite like the
behaviors
often attributed to Robin Hood and his Merry Men, "stole from the rich and gave to the poor". Rather interestingly, at least within the confines of
my
review queue, I'm also currently getting through the new Eureka! release of Prison Walls: Abashiri Prison I-III, another trilogy of Japanese films where several of the supplements discuss
the
incredibly rapid production pace for those particular films, all coming out within a year of each other. Something very similar was at play
with regard to these first three Shinobi outings (there were several more to follow, which one assumes Radiance may be bringing out at
some point), with all three debuting between December 1962 and December 1963.
Shinobi: Resurrection is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.41:1.Radiance's insert booklet only offers some generic verbiage in its transfer notes, as follows:
Each film in the Shinobi series was transferred in high definition by the Kadokawa Corporation and supplied to Radiance Films as high definition digital masters.Once again as with the first two films, this is a largely very appealing looking presentation, with the same well define contrast as with the first two outings, but also with the same general darkness that may lead to both crush and a lack of shadow definition in the nighttime scenes featuring ninja, which are actually quite prevalent in this particular film. Otherwise, though, detail levels are typically commendable, especially in close-ups, where even things like supposedly diseased teeth are evident (see screenhot 3). Minor damage can be spotted, as with the first two films. Grain resolves naturally throughout.
Shinobi: Resurrection features another DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track in the original Japanese. This was to my ears the best sounding of the three tracks in this set, with much less noticeable overall hiss and better reproduction of some of the high amplitude sound effects and almost screamed dialogue. As with the first two films, the entire track has a slightly boxy sound but no major problems. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.
Radiance has packaged these films with Band of Assassins and Revenge sharing a disc, and Resurrection on its own
separate disc, with the following supplements:
Disc One (Band of Assassins / Revenge)
- Shinobi: Band of Assassins (HD; 2:19)
- Shinobi 2: Revenge (HD; 2:19)
- Shinobi 3: Resurrection (HD; 2:31)
I mentioned in the Revenge Blu-ray review that there really wasn't much of a so-called "sophomore slump" with that second outing, but chances are some may find this film presents a bit of a junior slump, so to speak, though the downturn is arguably pretty slight and never debilitating. Technical merits are generally strong and the supplements appealing. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
続・忍びの者’ / Zoku shinobi no mono / Shinobi No Mono 2: Vengeance
1963
忍びの者 / Shinobi no mono / Ninja, A Band of Assassins
1962
賞金稼ぎ / Shōkin kasegi
1969
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
Standard Edition
1976
悪太郎伝 悪い星の下でも / Akutarô-den: Warui hoshi no shita demo
1965
Guang Dong shi hu yu hou wu hu / 廣東十虎與後五虎
1980
Lie mo zhe / 獵魔者
1982
Mai ming xiao zi / 賣命小子
1979
Jin bi tong / 金臂童
1979
1982
1977
Pas de roses pour OSS 117
1968
2011
Long men jin jian / Lung moon gam kim / 龍門金劍
1969
三匹の侍 / Sanbiki no samurai
1964
Fei dao shou / Fei do sau / 飛刀手
1969
Yu luo cha / Yuk law chaat / 玉羅刹
1968
夜の片鱗 / Yoru no henrin | Limited Edition
1964