7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Reformed killer Tetsu's attempt to go straight is thwarted when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang.
Starring: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Hideaki Nitani, Ryûji Kita, Tsuyoshi YoshidaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 83% |
Surreal | 14% |
Crime | 11% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Japanese: LPCM Mono
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Japanese director Seijun Suzuki's "Tôkyô nagaremono" a.k.a. "Tokyo Drifter" (1966) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; new and exclusive video interview with director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu; and a video interview with director Seijun Suzuki recorded during a retrospective of his work by the Japan Foundation and Los Angeles Filmforum. The disc also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film critic Howard Hampton. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Tokyo jazz
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm low-contrast print. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Image System's DVNR was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.
Telecine supervisor: Lee Kline.
Telecine colorost: Joe Gawler/Technicolor, New York."
Anyone who has seen Tokyo Drifter only via Criterion's old non-anamorphic DVD release will be enormously impressed with its transition to Blu-ray. The film looks beautiful, boasting colors that I suspect will inspire a lot of people to begin researching Suzuki's early films.
Contrary to what has been said, the contrasty and oversaturated black and white prologue looks exactly as it should (and it is explained why by director Suzuki in one of the supplemental features on the disc). The rest of the film also looks very strong. When projected the image conveys substantial depth and very pleasing fluidity, while overall contrast levels, as wild as they may seem at times, are well balanced. What impresses the most, however, is the excellent color-scheme. The ambient reds, yellows, blues, and greens look fantastic (though our screencaptures do not fully convey how good they are, the trippy bar scenes truly look like psychedelic dreams). Detail is also dramatically improved, especially during close-ups, where various textures are now extremely easy to see. Some noise corrections have been performed, but film grain is very much intact and quite easy to see. Finally, the newly restored high-definition transfer is free of large cuts, damage marks, stains and warps. All in all, Criterion's presentation of Tokyo Drifter is competent and enormously pleasing. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Japanese LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"The monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the original soundtrack print. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated workstation."
The audio has decent depth and fluidity. Shigeyoshi Mine's unique score, in particular, gets a nice boost. The dialog is also stable and crisp. Occasionally, however, some extremely light hiss sneaks in. It is never distracting but its presence is felt. For the record, there are no sync issues, pops, or audio dropouts to report in this review. The English translation is very good.
Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter is one-of-a-kind psychedelic extravaganza in which style definitely outranks substance. But the film has a Texas-size heart and never even remotely takes itself seriously, which is why even the most bizarre sequences in it make sense. It is a beautiful and deliriously poetic film that should not be missed. As expected, Criterion's presentation of the film is competent and enormously pleasing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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