Tokyo Fist Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Tokyo Fist Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 8, 2020

Note: This version of this film is available as part of Solid Metal Nightmares: The Films of Shinya Tsukamoto.

There are two names which American film fans may need either outright introductions to or at least reminders about when coming to Solid Metal Nightmares: The Films of Shinya Tsukamoto. The first name is that of Shinya Tsukamoto himself, a fascinating cult figure with a rather long and impressive filmography as a producer, director, actor, writer, editor, cinematographer, production designer and art director (one assumes if the IMDb had a tab for craft services contributions, he'd be listed there, too), but who is still kind of curiously unknown by the general public at large on this side of the pond. The other name that may come into play with regard to this handsome new set released for the North American market by Arrow is Third Window Films, a label that releases Blu-rays in the United Kingdom and which has in fact put out previous editions of several of the Tsukamoto films Arrow has included in this set. For that reason, fans or at least those interested in “comparison studies” are encouraged to visit our listings for the Third Window Films’ releases of Tetsuo: The Iron Man / Tetsuo II: Body Hammer, Tokyo Fist, Bullet Ballet, A Snake of June, and Kotoko, not just for Svet Atanasov’s thoughts about each of the films, but also to be able to do side by side looks at screenshots as well as to size up supplemental features on each release. (A sixth film offered in this set from Arrow, The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo, looks like it's included as a supplement on Third Windows' double feature offering the two Tetsuo films.) The Arrow set does at least offer ten films in one nicely aggregated and designed package which includes a rather beautiful hardback book, which may at least recommend the set to those trying to save a little shelf space, if nothing else.

There’s a rather startling change of pace in at least some ways with Tokyo Fist, with none of the “metallic human” elements of Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Tetsuo II: Body Hammer and/or The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo, but with arguably as much viscerally disturbing imagery, imagery that is perhaps that much more viscerally disturbing imagery given that this film plays out in a more ostensibly “real” ambience. The film is in essence a ménage à trois involving hapless insurance salesman Tsuda Yoshiharu (Shinya Tsukamoto), his friend Kojima Takuji (Kōji Tsukamoto, real life brother of Shinya) and Hizuru (Kahori Fujii), who begins the film as Tsuda's wife but who soon attracts the amorous attention of Kojima.

This is certainly light years ahead of either of the Tetsuo films in terms of offering more "human" characters (in more ways than one), and there's some really interesting subtext here concerning Japanese ideals of masculinity. But Tsukamoto simply seems to like seeing bodies getting immolated, and if this particular film doesn't exploit metal piercing skin, it certainly doesn't shirk from pretty graphic representations of physical violence and injuries resulting from more "traditional" smackdowns in a boxing arena.

There's a certain voyeuristic quality to aspects of Tokyo Fist, as can perhaps be inferred from a couple of screenshots accompanying this review, but even aside from purely presentational moments like these, Tsukamoto employs his camera itself as almost a spy drone hovering around the characters. It is deliberately askew a lot of the time, and gives this film a weird, manic energy that is quite distinctive.

Tokyo Fist Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tokyo Fist is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert book offers only very generic data on all of the transfers in this set, with aspect ratios (at times misstated) and audio data detailed, and with a simple statement that the "high definition masters were provided by Nikkatsu Corporation". Svet's review of this film came out in 2014, and without any other information to the contrary, I'm assuming that this presentation was culled from the same master that Third Window Films utilized. This presentation arguably immediately ups the resolution with regard to the two Tetsuo films, but as Tom Mes gets into in his commentary, Tsukamoto seems to associate deep blue tones with urban settings, and as can be seen in many of the screenshots accompanying this review, this film is virtually drowning in that tone, something which can at least slightly mask fine detail levels at times. Some of Tsukamoto's stylistic proclivities don't always support even general detail levels (see screenshot 8 for one example). On the whole, though, this is a well detailed and organic looking presentation, though, again, Tsukamoto's prevalent use of handheld imagery and other less than stable framings can add to the sense of a slightly soft appearance at times. Grain is appropriately gritty a lot of the time, but I noticed no real resolution issues at all.

Tokyo Fist Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tokyo Fist features both DTS-HD Master Audio Mono and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks in the original Japanese. Both of these tracks offer excellent fidelity and a good accounting of Tsukamoto's patented blend of weird sound design interspersed with at least relatively more "normal" dialogue scenes, but I was actually quite surprised by the added depth and width of the 2.0 offering. Amplitude seems just slightly hotter on that track as well. I noticed no issues with regard to any age related wear and tear on either track.

Tokyo Fist Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As can be seen in the last screenshot accompanying this review, this disc offers two films. I'm listing all of the supplements on the disc, since while some supplements are ostensibly specific to one feature, there's still a certain amount of spillover.

• Audio Commentary on Tokyo Fist by Tom Mes


• Audio Commentary on Bullet Ballet by Tom Mes


• Archival Interviews with Shinya Tsukamoto can offer interstitial text questions followed by Tsukamoto's answers. In Japanese with English subtitles:

  Tokyo Fist (1080p; 18:11)

  
  

  Bullet Ballet 1 (1080i; 34:35)

  
  

  Bullet Ballet 2 (1080p; 14:39)

  
  

  Tokyo Fist and Bullet Ballet (1080p; 3:25)

  
  

  General Thoughts (1080p; 4:20)

• Tokyo Fist Music Performance (1080p; 4:14)


• Bullet Ballet Music Video (1080p; 3:07)


• Trailers

  Tokyo Fist Original Japanese Trailer (1080p; 00:37)

  
  

  Bullet Ballet Original Japanese Trailer (1080p; 00:57)

  
  

  Tokyo Fist UK Trailer (1080p; 2:32)

  
  

  Bullet Ballet UK Trailer (1080p; 2:25)

• Image Galleries

  Tokyo Fist (1080p; 6:40)

  
  

  Bullet Ballet (1080p; 5:00)

Tokyo Fist Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tokyo Fist finds Tsukamoto delving into ostensibly more "real" situations after the gonzo aspects of the two Tetsuo films, but there's still an undeniably surreal, hallucinogenic element to Tsukamoto's presentational offerings in both the visual and audio side of things. This is another Tsukamoto film which is probably not going to be for the general public at large, but for those with an adventurous sense who don't mind bizarre imagery which can be disturbingly graphic, Tokyo Fist is another unforgettable entry in Tsukamoto's filmography. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplementary package very well done. Recommended.