While Takashi Miike is probably most well known for his ultraviolent shock fest and cult favorite
Ichi the Killer (and other films that have since skewed what moviegoers previous thought of as "extreme"), today's Blu-ray release of
13 Assassins shows a more refined and restricted side of the director. The film is rated 'R', so he hasn't sold his soul to the tweener gods just yet, but fortunately it does open the film to a much wider audience, and is one any samurai film fan will can appreciate.
For the
13 Assassins Blu-ray review , staff reviewer Casey Broadwater commented, "it stays firmly within the conventions of the traditional samurai genre, but it does so extremely well, reminding us of why there are certain conventions in the first place. Put another way, this movie kicks all kinds of ass. Magolia's Blu-ray release looks and sounds great as well, so there's no reason not to pick this one up if you're interested in sword-swinging action."
When it comes to films about submarines, there are a few fan favorites (including
The Hunt for Red October and
U-571) that so the intensity that surround sticking a group of men in a tin can and sending them to the depths of the ocean. But at the end of the day, there is one film that can be considered the crème-de-la-crème of submarine films -
Das Boot. Today's Blu-ray release captures all 3.5 hours in magnificent high definition.
Staff reviewer Martin Liebman commented in his
Das Boot Blu-ray review , "Das Boot is certainly one of the great War pictures of them all, an important film that's far, far more than its admittedly enthralling superficialities. Sony's Blu-ray release of Das Boot isn't perfect, and it's sure to scare off audiences in search of a copy of the film that's looks shiny and new. The 1080p transfer is rough around the edges but holds up well enough, and the lossless soundtrack is loud and invigorating but not always perfectly clear."