Someone out there really likes me and I don’t think it was Santa. Thankfully with time off during the holidays I have found the time to complete my viewing of another Ronin Entertainment DVD set starring Japanese film icon Sonny Chiba. The Samurai Collection Featuring Sonny Chiba offers three diverse samurai films spanning five years of Chiba’s career.
G.I. Samurai – I was excited to watch this one and made sure it was the first of the DVD set that I sat down and watched. It is a good thing because if I ended my review with this film it would have surely ended on a sweet and sour note. What a totally delightful piece of crap. It is so amazingly bad and wretched that it is instantly a classic. I had watched Sengoku Jieitai 1549 some time ago and thought it was also poor. Had I known that it had dramatically improved the incoherent mess that is G.I. Samurai I would have given it more credit. There was at least some attempt at providing a story and structure for the plot to follow. There are so many plot holes in G.I. Samurai that Swiss cheese is jealous. And yet, for what G.I. Samurai complete obliterates as far as structure it more than makes up for in sheer entertainment value. It is so implausible and wacky that you cannot help but be entertained by it.
Legend of the Eight Samurai – Things became much easier to follow when it came time to watch Legend of the Eight Samurai. Combining elements of fantasy and good old samurai action this film was carefully handled by the late great Kinji Fukasaku. An evil clan rises from the dead [because the good clans stay put and behave themselves] to fulfill a curse on the Satomi clan. In order to complete this curse they must kill all the family members of the clan. The escaped Princess Shizu enlists the help of eight samurai, all who possess magic crystals passed on to them by an ancient princess so they may protect her descendants. Chiba turns in a credible supporting role as Hiroyuki Sanada steals each scene he is in. Though I wish someone could explain to me why in the end he is fighting in an outfit that would make a dominatrix blush. Cover yourself up there young man. Both fantastic and entertaining Legend of the Eight Samurai is the most epic of the three. It’s only detrimental factor is the unusual 80s Top40 ballad that just doesn’t seem to fit the mold. Not your usual samurai film, Legend recognizes its predecessors but also embraces the glitz and glam of the 1980s. Colorful and cheeky, but perhaps a bit anti-climatic, Legend at least heads in the right direction.
Ninja Wars – Of the three films Ninja Wars is the truest to the spirit of samurai films not giving way to popular style or static narrative like the others in this set. Set during the warring states period Lord Danjo covets Lord Miyoshi’s wife, Lady Ukyo. The powerful sorcerer Kashin tells Danjo that whomever marries Ukyo will be ruler of Japan. Danjo and Kashin quickly devise a plan that will make Ukyo fall in love with him. Kashin’s disciples, the five magicians, kidnap Ukyo’s unknown twin sister, Kagaribi, of whom they will use her tears to make a love potion for Danjo to use on Ukyo. Kagaribi is a ninja and her heart belonged to Jotaro, who pursues her murderers with the help of a mysterious masked man and his fellow warriors. There is less in Ninja Wars that is accessible to viewers not already familiar with popular elements of Japanese film such the exploitation of females. If there is anywhere where the non-initiated are going to stumble it will be there. However, the blood does flow freely and despite only a couple jumps in logic and narrative structurally Ninja Wars is a sound samurai tale with plenty of beheadings and ‘colorful’ deaths.
Sonny Chiba takes a back seat to the young star power of Hiroyuki Sanada in Legend of the Eight Samurai and Ninja Wars. I would have just accepted it as a studio using Chiba’s name to put bums in seats until I found out more about both film’s young lead, Hiroyuki. I will divulge in you all that I didn’t realize whom Hiroyuki was until I perused his IMDB page. Feeling slightly foolish I can understand now why this young man dominated the screen and was such a huge presence in those films. Other than Hiroyuki, Chiba is the dominant character in G.I. Samurai and another noteworthy performance is that of Noriko Watanabe who in her debut role in Ninja Wars had to tackle three character roles.
Each film offers their own unique perspective on the samurai genre and brings an array of qualities and entertainment values for the viewer. It is a must have for someone looking for films that bend the rules and walk from the rigid path of samurai lore.
To their credit Ronin brings another quality box set to the DVD market. All three discs are individually packaged in slim-cases and presented in a rather nice cardboard box. Presentation counts and Ronin continues to impress with quality packaging in their early releases. The transfers are great. All three films are clear and don't show their age. the subtitles are clear and legible and do not confound the viewer. As long as Ronin continues this great work I will look forward to more releases from them.
Recommended.
Format: Color, Subtitled, Anamorphic Widescreen, NTSC, R1
Language: Japanese w/ English Subtitles
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