XX: Beautiful Hunter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

XX: Beautiful Hunter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 18, 2025

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal collection from Arrow Video.

In 1976 folks in the United States were celebrating the bicentennial anniversary celebration of a famous revolution, but another revolution of a technological rather than a political variety was just beginning to unfold across the ocean in Japan at virtually the same time. That was the year that VHS began its scrappy upstart status against Betamax in a format war which in its day was probably at least as notorious as the one that decades later marked the rollout of high definition home video with competing HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats. Betamax of course ultimately lost that battle (rather incredibly both Betamax player and VCR production extended well into the 21st century, despite having been supplanted by disc formats), and by the time Toei had the bright idea to start producing direct to video releases in 1989, VHS was the dominant format. In a way it's kind of fascinating to compare and contrast Toei's decision to provide "product" to its chain of video stores with the way the major Hollywood studios used to provide feature films for the theater chains they owned until United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. forced the studios to divest those properties in 1948. One way or the other, despite economic tribulations in Japan which had severely impacted (theatrically exhibited) movie attendance, the direct to video market exploded for Toei, so much so that other major (and minor) Japanese studios soon followed suit by offering their own straight to video productions, though Toei had actually trademarked the term V-Cinema to describe their product. This collection of V-Cinema outings from Arrow includes a nonet of titles that tend to feature hardscrabble criminal types, including the film that started the whole V-Cinema craze, Crime Hunter: Bullets of Rage.

If you're like I am (and you don't have to admit it if you are), you may laugh out loud at the title of Patrick Macias' video essay included on this disc, They Brought Back the Sleaze. "Sleaze" may at least help to define V-Cinema in general, though in this particular case that attribution may be due in part to that XX in the title, which may itself hint at the same kind of Pinku eiga ambience that informs Female Prisoner Scorpion: Death Threat. The supplements on this disc touch on both Pinku eiga, at least insofar as it is understood within the confines of Nikkatsu's output, but also saliently Nikkatsu's so-called Roman Porno films. XX: Beautiful Hunter's director Masaru Konuma had in fact made his name helming many Roman Porno productions for Nikkatsu, but probably just as interesting for trivia buffs will be the fact that this film was written by Hiroshi Takahashi, who would go on to Ringu. As is discussed in some of the supplements, this film's tale of a female assassin name Shion (Makiko Kuno) may recall somewhat similar efforts like La Femme Nikita. Suffice it to say that Shion engages in any number of situations that Nikita might not.

XX: Beautiful Hunter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

XX: Beautiful Hunter is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Arrow lumps all of the films together in their page devoted to the presentations in this set's insert booklet, as follows:

The films in this collection represent a period of film production in Japan in the late 1980s and early 1990s where films were made by the Toei Company specifically for home video. Beginning with Crime Hunter: Bullets of Rage, these "V-Cinema" titles were produced quickly and inexpensively, but afforded filmmakers significant freedom when it came to censorship, resulting in riskier content than what had been produced for cinema distribution.

As such, the modest origins of these titles can be seen in these presentations. All films have been remastered by the Toei Company in high definition and are presented in the 1.33:1 home video format of the time.

This is one of the more consistently appealing transfers in the set, though it can be hobbled by some of the same lack of shadow definition and just slightly blue undertone in dark scenes that show up in some of the other presentations. Detail levels are generally very good throughout, with the possible exception of the very darkest scenes. The palette is nicely suffused and looks natural throughout, again with the possible exception of the slightly blue looking nighttime material. A few outdoor location shots look considerably fuzzier than the bulk of the presentation. Grain can be heavy but resolves without any major issues. Minor age related wear and tear can be spotted.

XX: Beautiful Hunter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

XX: Beautiful Hunter features LPCM 2.0 audio in the original Japanese. Once again there just isn't an overly elaborate sound design on tap here, but both action sequences, including some gunfire, as well as a number of outdoor moments provide opportunities for ambient environmental effects. Otherwise, this is another dialogue heavy production, and all spoken material is delivered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

XX: Beautiful Hunter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Sacred and the Profane (HD; 17:39) is an interview with the film's writer Hiroshi Takahashi. Subtitled In English.


• They Brought Back the Sleaze (HD; 19:01) is an appreciation of the film by Patrick Macias.


• Trailer (HD; 1:18)


• Introduction by Masaki Tanioka (HD; 4:03) is accessible under the Play Film menu and is authored to lead directly to the feature. Subtitled in English.

Somewhat interestingly, this is the only film in Arrow's set granted its own disc (one might have reasonably thought they would have singled out Crime Hunter: Bullets of Rage for that "honor". That said, for that reason, this keepcase's reversible sleeve actually offers an alternate cover for this film, one with the decidedly more provocative photo which is also reproduced on the art card enclosed in the keepcase.

XX: Beautiful Hunter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm frankly not one who "thrills" to depiction of sexual degradation of women and/or S&M, but there were/obviously fans galore for just such fare as evidenced by everything from Roman Porno to, well, V-Cinema. This has probably the best overall video and audio quality of the set, and the supplements are also excellent, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.