The Samurai

Starring:Peng Tien
Studio: Adv Films
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
Years ago, a samurai warrior defeated a Ninja master in mortal combat. Now, many years later, the son of the samurai is peacefully attending high school... peacefully, that is, until the two nubile young granddaughters of the defeated Ninja arrive seeking revenge! Fortunately, our hero has mastered all of the skills of his father's art... but unfortunately, the naughty ninjettes have discovered his one weakness! Can our chaste and honorable hero resist their nefarious plots and pulchritude or will the nasty ninja girls triumph? Is sex mightier than the sword? The entire Japanese educational system and most of the surrounding village gets leveled in THE SAMURAI!

Afro Samurai (Director's Cut)
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Afro Samurai (Director's Cut)
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson , Kelly Hu , Ron Perlman , Crystal Scales , and John Kassir
Director: Fuminori Kizaki
Manufacturer: Funimation Prod
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Afro Samurai

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ASIN: B000LP5FWC
Release Date: 2007-05-22

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The violent five-part adventure Afro Samurai marks both the increasing confluence of American and Japanese pop culture and the shift in Japanese depictions of African-Americans. The popularity of hip-hop in Japan has led to more positive images of blacks, including Takashi Okazaki's original manga. The "Director's Cut" contains an additional 15 minutes of footage, and is even gorier than the broadcast version on Spike TV. As a boy, Afro Samurai saw his father beheaded by the maniacal Justice. The murderer sought an ancient headband that marks the wearer as the #1 warrior in the world. As an adult, Afro seeks only revenge, cutting down anyone who blocks his path to Justice. Afro Samurai depicts a oddly anachronistic world that infuses cell phones, cigarette lighters, and cyber technology into traditional Japanese culture. The elongated character designs recall Peter Chung's Aeon Flux, and much of the series is rendered in moody grays, accented by gobbets of scarlet blood. Afro is such a taciturn figure, most of the dialogue goes to his motor-mouth comrade Ninja Ninja. This big budget production features an eclectic score by Wu-Tang Clan co-founder RZA and an A-list vocal cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson and Ron Perlman. But for all its elaborate production values and over-the-top fights, Afro Samurai suffers from a weakness at its core: Afro is so monosyllabic and cold-blooded, he's not very interesting. His inevitable duel-to-the-death with Justice lacks the emotional punch of Spike's face-off against Vicious in Cowboy Bebop or Kenshin's one-on-one with Shishio in Rurouni Kenshin. This extremely violent series is not for the faint of stomach. (Rated TV MA, suitable for ages 17 and older: graphic violence, profanity, sexual activity, grotesque imagery, nudity, risqué humor, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

Studio description

"Required Watching" - Stuff Magazine

Afro Samurai (voiced by Academy Award® nominated Samuel L. Jackson) is an epic tale of a black samurai's hunt for Justice (voiced by Ron Perlman: Hellboy, Alien Resurrection ) who murdered his father. With music score by The RZA ( Kill Bill , Wu Tang Clan) Afro Samurai blends traditional Japanese culture, funky technology and hip hop to create a brutally fresh entertainment experience.

Director's Cut features:

15 minutes of never-before-seen footage
Exclusive Manga art from Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki
Interview with Takashi Okazaki
RZA music production tour
In the booth: voice talent of Afro Samurai and Animation Production--GONZO Studios; Japan
Character commentary by Eric Calderon, North American producer

Director's Cut edition of Afro Samurai is a 2-disc set - 125 minutes - awesome packaging!

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Stills from Afro Samurai (click for larger image)

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More Stills (click for larger image)

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Hailed as the greatest film in the history of Japanese cinema, Seven Samurai is director Akira Kurosawa's undisputed masterpiece. Arguably the greatest of all jidai-gecki (or historical swordplay films), Kurosawa's classic 1954 action drama has never been surpassed in terms of sheer power of emotion, kinetic energy, and dynamic character development. The story is set during the civil unrest of 16th-century Japan, as the cowering residents of a small farming village are seeking protection against seasonal attacks by a band of marauding bandits. Offering mere handfuls of rice as payment, they hire seven unemployed "ronin" (masterless samurai), including a boastful swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who is actually a peasant farmer's son, desperately seeking glory, acceptance, and revenge against those who destroyed his family. Led by the calmly strategic Kambei (Takashi Shimura, star of Kurosawa's previous classic, Ikiru), the samurai form mutual bonds of honor and respect, but remain distant from the villagers, knowing that their assignment may prove to be fatal.

Kurosawa masterfully composed his shots to emphasize these group dynamics, and Seven Samurai is a textbook study of the director's signature techniques, including extensive use of telephoto lenses to compress action, delineate character relationships, and intensify motion. While the climactic battle against raiding thieves remains one of the most breathtaking sequences ever filmed, Seven Samurai is most triumphant as a peerless example of character development, requiring all of its 2-hour, 37-minute running time to illuminate every essential detail of villagers and samurai alike, including an abundance of humor as Kambei's defense plan unfolds. In terms of its overall impact, Seven Samurai spawned dozens of copycat films (notably the American Western remake The Magnificent Seven) and cannot be adequately summarized by even the most comprehensive synopsis; it must be seen to be fully appreciated, and the Criterion Collection's 2006 DVD reissue is an essential addition to any definitive home-video library. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVDs
According to the accompanying booklet, "the picture has been slightly window-boxed (in correct original 1.33:1 aspect ratio) to ensure that the maximum image is visible on all monitors." The two-disc format was necessary "to maintain optimal image quality throughout the compression process," with dual-layered DVD-9's encoded "at the highest possible bit rate for the quantity of material included." The picture and sound quality are simply amazing compared to Criterion's one-disc release from 1998. The all-new, fully restored high-definition digital transfer takes full advantage of HD's clarity and crispness, resulting in picture detail far surpassing the previous DVD. This also applies to the soundtrack, presented in optional Dolby surround in addition to the remastered original mono track. The new transfer "was mastered in 2k resolution from a duplicate negative created with wetgate processing from the original fine-grain master positive" (the film's original negative is no longer available), and "several different digital hardware and software solutions were utilized for flicker, instability, dirt, scratch, and grain management."

The complete 207-minute film is accompanied by two full-length commentary tracks, including a new track combining the critical insights of film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Price (author of The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa), Tony Rayns, and the dean of Japanese film experts, Donald Richie (author of The Films of Akira Kurosawa). Each scholar is given approximately 40 minutes of film-time, and their commentaries represent a unique opportunity to appreciate Seven Samurai from distinct yet complementary critical perspectives. The commentary by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck (from Criterion's original 1988 laserdisc release) remains useful as a thorough analysis of Seven Samurai, primarily in terms of visual composition.

Amazon.com

While Japan undergoes tumultuous transition to a more Westernized society in 1876-77, The Last Samurai gives epic sweep to an intimate story of cultures at a crossroads. In America, tormented Civil War veteran Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is coerced by a mercenary officer (Tony Goldwyn) to train the Japanese Emperor's troops in the use of modern weaponry. Opposing this "progress" is a rebellion of samurai warriors, holding fast to their traditions of honor despite strategic disadvantage. As a captive of the samurai leader (Ken Watanabe), Algren learns, appreciates, and adopts the samurai code, switching sides for a climactic battle that will put everyone's honor to the ultimate test. All of which makes director Edward Zwick's noble epic eminently worthwhile, even if its Hollywood trappings (including an all-too-conventional ending) prevent it from being the masterpiece that Zwick and screenwriter John Logan clearly wanted it to be. Instead, The Last Samurai is an elegant mainstream adventure, impressive in all aspects of its production. It may not engage the emotions as effectively as Logan's script for Gladiator, but like Cruise's character, it finds its own quality of honor. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Epic Action Drama. Set in Japan during the 1870s, The Last Samurai tells the story of Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a respected American military officer hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the country's first army in the art of modern warfare. As the Emperor attempts to eradicate the ancient Imperial Samurai warriors in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly government policies, Algren finds himself unexpectedly impressed and influenced by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his own sense of honor to guide him.
Running Time: 154 min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

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Ghost Dog - The Way of the Samurai
Starring: Forest Whitaker , John Tormey , Cliff Gorman , Dennis Liu , and Frank Minucci
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Dead Man
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ASIN: B00005QCVX
Release Date: 2001-08-14

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Forest Whitaker makes an unlikely modern samurai with his laser-sighted pistols, shabby street clothes, and oddly graceful gait--but then Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is an unusual film. Quirky, contemplative, and at times absurd, it's just the kind offbeat vision we've come to expect from the fiercely independent Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise, Dead Man). Whitaker is Ghost Dog, a mysterious New York hit man who lives simply on a tenement rooftop and follows a code of behavior outlined in Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai (passages of this book are interspersed throughout the film). When the local mob marks him for death in a complicated code of Mafiosi-style honor, Ghost Dog sends a cryptic message to his foes. "That's poetry. The poetry of war," remarks mobster Henry Silva, with sudden respect upon reading the verse. He could be describing the ethereal beauty of Jarmusch's vision, full of wonderful imagery (a night drive across town seems to float in time) and off-center humor. Though it briefly stalls in a series of assassinations (Jarmusch is no action director), it settles back into character-driven drama in a quietly epic showdown, equal parts samurai adventure, spaghetti western, and existential crime movie. The film is likely too unconventional and offbeat for general audiences, but cult-movie buffs and Jarmusch fans will appreciate his idiosyncratic vision. He finds a strange sense of honor in the clash of Old World traditions, and salutes his heroes with a skewed but sincere respect. --Sean Axmaker

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The Last Samurai [Blu-ray]
Starring: William Atherton , Sr. Ray Godshall , Tony Goldwyn , Togo Igawa , and Shane Kosugi
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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ASIN: B000JUB7LW
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Description

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Samurai Jack - Seasons 1-3
Starring: Mako , Rob Paulsen , Sab Shimono , Jeff Bennett , and Lauren Tom
Director: Robert Alvarez (II) , Randy Myers , Genndy Tartakovsky , and Robert Renzetti
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EGDAFM
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Description

3-Pack of Samurai Jack: The Complete Seasons 1-3.

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Samurai 7 - The Complete Series
Starring: R. Bruce Elliott , Christopher Sabat , Sean Teague , Bob Carter , and Greg Ayres
Director: Toshifumi Takizawa
Manufacturer: Funimation Prod
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000LP5FXQ
Release Date: 2007-03-27

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The broadcast series Samurai 7 (2004) borrows the premise of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954): driven to desperation by bandits who steal their crops, the inhabitants of a small village hire unemployed samurai to defend them. With nothing to offer as wages but their precious rice, the villagers recruit warriors poor enough to accept the dishonor of working for peasants. Samurai 7 moves the story into the future: the bandits and some of the samurai are mecha. The grim ronin Kambei leads the viewers in the defense of their village, then tackles the forces of the orchidaceous emperor Ukyo. Kambei and his mismatched band attack the Capitol,Ukyo's equivalent of the Death Star. The warriors perform gravity-defying leaps, as they slash through steel plating, deflect bullets, and split laser beams with their swords in a climactic battle that occupies most of the last three episodes. The drawn/CG combinations reveal why Samurai 7 cost a reported ¥32,500,000 (nearly $300,000) per episode, an extremely high price by Japanese standards.

Widely acclaimed as a masterpiece of world cinema, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai stressed the shared humanity of the peasants, the samurai, and even the bandits; the often grotesque people and mecha in this sci-fi adventure lack that essential bond. Samurai 7 offers plenty of over-the-top battle sequences for viewers who enjoy a mixture of feudal and futuristic daring-do. But its meandering plot, stock heroes, and tin pot villains have very little to do with its supposed model. (Rated TV PG, suitable for ages 12 and older: violence, brief nudity, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

Description

Legendary Epic Reborn!

This 7-disc set contains the enitre Samurai 7 saga - over 11 hours of action!

Product Description

HD DVD - The Last Samurai Actors: Ken Watanabe, Tom Cruise, William Atherton, Chad Lindberg, Ray Godshall Sr. Directors: Edward Zwick Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only) Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Studio: Warner Home Video DVD Release Date: April 18, 2006 DVD Features: Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French Available Audio Tracks: English (), French (), Spanish () 1080p High Definition 16x9 Dolby Digital-Plus English 5.1, Dolby Digital-Plus Francais 5.1, Dolby Digital-Plus Espanol 2.0 Commentary by director Edward Zwick Deleted scenes with commentary History vs. Hollywood: The Last Samurai {History Channel Documentary Tom Cruise: A Warrior's Journey Edward Zwick: Director's Video Journal Making an Epic: A Conversation with Edward Zwick and Tom Cruise A World of Detail: production design with Lilly Kilvert Silk and Armor: costume design with Ngila Dickson Imperial Army Basic Training From Soldier to Samurai: the weapons Japan premieres {Tokyo & Kyoto red carpet) Theatrical trailer

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Shogun Assassin
Starring: Shogun Assassin , and Masahiro Tomikawa
Manufacturer: Animeigo
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Shogun Assassin Part 2: Lightning Swords
Shogun Assassin 2 - Lightning Swords of Death
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ASIN: B000FDECGA
Release Date: 2006-07-11

Description

In a time of evil and tyranny, a stone-faced ronin wanders the countryside with his young son (and a weapon-filled baby cart), hunted by the merciless minions of an evil Shogun.

Once a noble samurai, he is now the most feared assassin in Japan, known only as Lone Wolf.

Starring the legendary Tomisaburo Wakayama, Shogun Assassin is perhaps the most famous samurai film in the Western world. Created by editing together the first two Kozure Ookami (Lone Wolf & Cub) films, Shogun Assassin has sliced through pop culture much like the Lone Wolf slices through evildoers, influencing everything from GZA's 1995 Liquid Swords album to Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume 2. A quarter-century after its initial release, it remains one of the most deliriously violent and action-packed films of all time!

Now available for the first time in North America, Academy Award-winnning director Robert Houston's legendary epic has been reconstructed for this official release from new digital transfers of the original Lone Wolf & Cub films.

DVD Features:
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen
Dubbed in English

Bonus Material Includes:
Original Theatrical Trailers
Daigoro's History Lesson
Restoration Gallery
Program Notes

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