Ryuhei
Kitamura - it's a name that I pay big attention to. When
I saw Versus I simply couldn't believe it, a hugely stylised
martial arts action based low budget movie featuring zombies
and high levels of gore. I thought I'd died and gone to
heaven but sadly no, my addled frame was somehow still in
existence. I'd merely discovered Japan's most exciting,
visually based director instead.
When I discovered that Kitamura had another film now available
on dvd I rushed out to the big city to recieve a copy (not
many directors I'll do that for I can tell ya). Sadly the
region 2 release contains the international version only
which runs at just over two hours whereas the Japanese release
runs for an additional 20 minutes. Not all is lost since
not only have I ordered the region 3 release earlier today
(which contains dts sound and English subs) but from what
I understand the extras on that region 3 release are not
subtitled, meaning that this region 2 is a perfect compliment
disc for that reason alone. As far as I'm aware, Azumi and
Versus are his only two films available for purchase so
far? A shame.
Kitamura's Azumi is an epic adaption of a Japanese manga
character and stars the beautiful Aya Ueto as the deadly
female assassin. At first, I was concerned by the seemingly
too glossy look of the picture but it actually suits the
subject manner and characters (who can jump and leap Crouching
Dragon style) perfectly. The director pulls out all of his
tricks on this one - slow mo and high speed photography,
stunning pan arounds during a duel (this time vertically!!),
crane usage, some highly original use of cgi and the usual
stunning visuals all grabbing the attention of your eyes.
Not to mention a fascinating classical/electric guitar soundtrack
and the brilliant use of complete and utter silence during
some sequences also making a large impact.
Make no mistake about it, Azumi is the most action packed
sword fighting film that I have EVER seen, it just doesn't
seem to relent throughout. Despite an overly sugarly sweet
first 15 minutes (which really did have me worried), it
soon kicks in with numerous stunning fantasy action sequences.
The plot is fairly simplistic as we watch Azumi and several
others on their crusade to assassinate the dangerous warlords
of Japan in order to avert the high deathcount from needless
conflicts. The film doesn't show all of the warlords on
the list meeting their ends so the path is left open for
a probable sequel. Something which Kitamura will probably
deliver after his forthcoming Godzilla (!!) and Versus 2
movies.
This region 2 disc carries a pleasingly solid 1,85:1 anamorphic
print with strong vibrant colours and burnt in English subs
but the sound is a disappointing 2.0 Dolby only. As already
mentioned, this is the two hour international cut, the Japanese
release runs for much longer. I've got this personal rule
with extras, if they run for at least the same time as the
film itself, they deserve full marks. I've only had the
chance to watch the first 15 minutes of one of the disc's
featurettes but it looked fascinating, I even got to see
Aya Ueto in tears after being hurt in an accident on her
first day of filming. Optimum Asia's disc features:
- Fighting On The Edge (41 mins)
- Battle On The Wild Side (85 mins)
- Trailers and tv spots
A generous and perfectly decent region 2 release from Optimum
Asia, it's just a great pity that it doesn't feature surround
sound and the longer cut of Kitamura's film. Still a recommended
release although the smart money probably says to go for
the region 3 release instead. I don't think that this film
is even available on dvd in the US at the time of writing
this review? This is a film that every fan of violent fantasy
sword fighting flicks and the incredible (and much loved)
Versus needs to own in their film collection. Ryuhei Kitamura
is a fucking god amongst modern day directors!!! More dvd
releases please....
A
Footnote from B$B:
Well,
that'll teach me to take internet "facts" at face
value. The region 3 release of Azumi contains exactly the
same cut as the region 2 equivalent - there's no difference
at all. But not all is lost since the region 3'er contains
a blistering dts soundtrack and the film was worth upgrading
for that reason alone.
