≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Not Worth Your Time, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Daisuke Itô
Year: 1970
Rating:
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
One of the best bets in film is any Japanese movie from the 60s or early 70s set during either the Edo period of the Meiji period. It’s astonishing to me how consistent the acting, art design, and writing is in those flicks.
But there’s […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Year: 1963
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
Within the first five seconds of Zatoichi On The Road, you know you’re in good hands. Director Kimiyoshi Yasuda starts the picture in darkness. You hear a sound, which you quickly identify as the shaking of gambling dice. Then a voice: “Game.” The first image […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Drama
Director: Noribumi Suzuki
Year: 1968
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
The second installment of the Red Peony Gambler series is not quite as surefooted as the first, but it recovers nicely for a powerful finish.
In the first installment of Red Peony Gambler, plot, character, and theme were almost flawlessly integrated, but that isn’t true […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Essential, Japan, Pinku Eiga, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Drama/ Pinku Eiga
Director: Yoshihiro Ishikawa
Year: 1968
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE
I have to admit, when I saw that Female Demon Ohyaku was going to be in black and white, my heart sank.
I figured that since Female Demon Ohyaku was a forerunner to the Pinku Eiga (pinky violence) genre, the levels of […]
≡ Category: Action, Japan, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay
Director: Kazuo Ikehiro
Year: 1972
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Trail of Blood is the first installment of the Mikogami Trilogy, and it’s so thin, you kind of wonder how they managed to stretch the series for two more films.
When Jokichi of Mikogami (Yoshio Harada), a wandering ronin, meets a similarly damaged woman (Sanae Kitabayashi) […]
≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Drama, Exploitation, Fantasy, Horror, Japan, Pinku Eiga, Swordplay, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Swordplay, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Tokuzô Tanaka
Year: 1963
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
Tane: We’ve both done bad things to make a living.
Ichi: Life’s dirt sticks to everyone. To me, you’re the same old Tane.
Tane: Ichi, you say such cruel things.
Ichi: What?
Tane: I’m glad you lost your eye-sight, so you can’t see what I’ve become.
The Ichi series has […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Swordplay, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Year: 1971
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
The Ginza district in Tokyo in the 70s is much like red light districts anywhere. People live by their wits and the predominant ethic is hustle or be hustled. In such circumstances, when kindness is extended to a stranger, bonds are formed.
Such is the experience […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Tokuzô Tanaka
Year: 1963
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Nemuri Kyoshiro (Raizô Ichikawa) is a different kind of hero. Most lead characters in Japanese chambara series fall into one of two categories: either they have had their world ripped out from under them so completely that they have no recourse but to pursue […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Highly Recommended, Japan, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Nobuo Nakagawa
Year: 1969
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIE
I have a special affection for Hong Kong flicks from the late 80s and early 90s, but if I let myself admit it, the ratio of quality to quantity is rather low, better than action films from the United States perhaps, but nothing […]
