The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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DenPryan
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by DenPryan »

Perhaps the disc will be both versions?
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

DenPryan wrote: 13 Feb 2019, 15:32 Perhaps the disc will be both versions?
Hanging by a Thread? No, Arrow confirmed it's going to be a different disc for US and UK. They did the region code thing with the Seijun Suzuki set that featured "animal cruelty" (region B player plays a censored version, region A player uncensored) but they can't publish "child porn" in the UK with the excuse of it being region coded. They'd probably be in prison for that.
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

I love Marc's work. but right now I feel like quoting the former President of Finland and say "God Damn dumbfucks!" :lol:

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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by DenPryan »

ha-ha! :lol:
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

Does anyone have Samurai Reincarnation (1981) in their possession with the English dub? I'd appreciate if someone could check the "God will be cut" line and post it here word to word. It should be around 90 minutes into the film in the uncut 2 hour version (a lot earlier in the 88 min US version), spoken by Tetsuro Tamba after he has finished the sword, just after he collapses.

Wikipedia says "If you should encounter God, God will be cut." but I'd like to have a confirmation if that's exactly what's on the English dub or not?
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by DenPryan »

I think a Buddhist proverb is used here. "If you meet a buddha, kill him." The point is that the true buddha is inside you.
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by Guro Taku »

It's actually approximately at 1:24:43-1:24:49 on the R1 US DVD that runs 2:00:22. The exact line is: "Master Jubei... If you encounter God, God will be cut."
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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Guro Taku wrote: 10 Jul 2019, 20:00 It's actually approximately at 1:24:43-1:24:49 on the R1 US DVD that runs 2:00:22.
That's odd! I have the HK IVL DVD which runs 2:01:37 and the scene plays at 1:31:40

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At 1:24:43 there's the scene with Chiba and Sanada by the river.

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Guro Taku wrote: 10 Jul 2019, 20:00 The exact line is: "Master Jubei... If you encounter God, God will be cut."
Many thanks! I was asking because there are so many slightly different versions of the line... the one in Japanese in Samurai Reincarnation is a bit different from the one in Japanese in Kill Bill, and then there are all the English translations of both, and the English dub, too.
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

Toei will be releasing a Toei Action Film Collection with the Yakuza Deka films (4 movies) and the Yakuza Wolf films (2 movies) on DVD 2021/1/13. Oddly enough, it will be a single 3 disc set with two movies on each disc...

And yes, on DVD for heaven's sake! No BD! Despite all of these films streaming in HD on Amazon, and on TV in HD as well.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B08KK3CTZQ/
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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HungFist wrote: 06 Oct 2020, 11:52 Toei will be releasing a Toei Action Film Collection with the Yakuza Deka films (4 movies) and the Yakuza Wolf films (2 movies) on DVD 2021/1/13. Oddly enough, it will be a single 3 disc set with two movies on each disc...

And yes, on DVD for heaven's sake! No BD! Despite all of these films streaming in HD on Amazon, and on TV in HD as well.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B08KK3CTZQ/
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by Guro Taku »

HungFist wrote: 06 Oct 2020, 11:52And yes, on DVD for heaven's sake! No BD! Despite all of these films streaming in HD on Amazon, and on TV in HD as well.
What is it with Japan and their reluctance to release most things (everything except the biggest and newest blockbuster titles) on BD? They seem like the country most stubbornly clinging to DVD, not just in Asia but among all the countries whose cinematic output I am interested in. It starts to remind me a bit of how HK stuck to VCDs for a good while after DVDs had already become the standard everywhere else.

As for this release, it's nice that Toei are finally releasing some catalogue titles on physical media again, after having exclusively piped them to Toei Channel or amazon's JUNK FILM by Toei for a good while, but why would I buy this DVD set? HD transfers squashed onto double-feature DVDs. Utterly ridiculous. Do they think the only people interested in these films are 80 year old boomers who last saw them in theaters upon release and still only own a "DVD machine"?
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

Happy birthday Chiba! The man turned 82 today!

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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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Toei just announced they will be releasing The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge (逆襲!殺人拳) (1974) and Karate Warrios (子連れ殺人拳) (1976) on DVD in Japan in December 2021. More importantly, however, they will also be releasing the incredible The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (柳生一族の陰謀) (1978-1979) TV series on DVD in March (Vol. 1, with EP 1-19) and April (Vol. 2, with EP 20-39) 2022. This series is sometimes / often considered the greatest work of Chiba’s entire career.

- https://www.toei-video.co.jp/special/chibashinichi/

* if you’re wondering why The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge and Karate Warriors are coming as a pair, it’s because A) those are two films Toei had not yet released on DVD in Japan and B) in Japan Karate Warriors is (often, as in here) considered the 4th film in the Street Fighter series.

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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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HungFist wrote: 10 Sep 2021, 12:04 More importantly, however, they will also be releasing the incredible The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (柳生一族の陰謀) (1978-1979) TV series on DVD in March (Vol. 1, with EP 1-19) and April (Vol. 2, with EP 20-39) 2022. This series is sometimes / often considered the greatest work of Chiba’s entire career.
A spectacularly amateurish artwork for Vol. 1.

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- https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09FJPH1D5/

And yes, I believe it really will be that low resolution. I saw The Gorilla 7 DVD set in a shop and the cover looked like crap. The explanation here is that while "Toei releases" (sales agency), these come via a company called Best Field (publisher). They've been putting out a lot of Toei stuff in the recent years. The only releases that I own are The Bodyguard DVD set and New Seven Color Mask DVD set. They also had some cover art issues (though not that bad) but the content on the discs was fine.
- https://www.bestfield.com/product-list?c=toei&q=

There is another topic of concern besides the artwork. The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy is currently airing on Jidai Geki Channel on TV and while the HD image looks nice, the audio track has a lot of hiss on it (a lot more than the old SD broadcastings on Toei Channel had). Also, the opening credits sequence has been shortened. The original airings apparently had sponsor info played at the end of the opening credits, while the later Toei Channel SD airing deleted the sponsor info but left the footage otherwise intact, resulting in a super-epic musical interlude. The Jidai Geki Channel HD version cuts that part out entirely.

Will either of those be fixed for this DVD release remains to be seen. Also what about Toei Channel? Surely they will air the show in HD at some point as well. They already showed the two follow-up shows Yagyu abaretabi (1980-1981) and Yagyu Jubei abaretabi (1982-1983) in HD this and last year, but bizarrely skipped the first show. Perhaps they sold the HD premiere rights to Jidai Geki Channel?

Speaking of Yagyu abaretabi, Best Field also announced they will be releasing that on DVD on May 11, 2022. It will be a 6 disc set will all 26 episodes.
- https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09RK3VYCP/
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

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Coming from Shout! Factory in November, it seems (no official announcement yet).
- https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=354546

The images in the cover are from (clockwise, from top):
Yakuza Wolf 1
Yakuza Wolf 2
Bodyguard Kiba
Shogun's Shadow
The Fall of Ako Castle
Samurai Reincarnation
Bodyguard Kiba 2

... if I'm not mistaken.
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by Killer Meteor »

I'm excited just for the Bodyguard Kibas if nothing else!
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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I've never seen any of those before - interesting :)
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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HungFist wrote: 05 Feb 2022, 14:22 A spectacularly amateurish artwork for Vol. 1.

Image
- https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09FJPH1D5/

And yes, I believe it really will be that low resolution. I saw The Gorilla 7 DVD set in a shop and the cover looked like crap. The explanation here is that while "Toei releases" (sales agency), these come via a company called Best Field (publisher). They've been putting out a lot of Toei stuff in the recent years. The only releases that I own are The Bodyguard DVD set and New Seven Color Mask DVD set. They also had some cover art issues (though not that bad) but the content on the discs was fine.
- https://www.bestfield.com/product-list?c=toei&q=
Vol. 2 came out as well
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HungFist wrote: 05 Feb 2022, 14:22There is another topic of concern besides the artwork. The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy is currently airing on Jidai Geki Channel on TV and while the HD image looks nice, the audio track has a lot of hiss on it (a lot more than the old SD broadcastings on Toei Channel had). Also, the opening credits sequence has been shortened. The original airings apparently had sponsor info played at the end of the opening credits, while the later Toei Channel SD airing deleted the sponsor info but left the footage otherwise intact, resulting in a super-epic musical interlude. The Jidai Geki Channel HD version cuts that part out entirely.

Will either of those be fixed for this DVD release remains to be seen. Also what about Toei Channel? Surely they will air the show in HD at some point as well. They already showed the two follow-up shows Yagyu abaretabi (1980-1981) and Yagyu Jubei abaretabi (1982-1983) in HD this and last year, but bizarrely skipped the first show. Perhaps they sold the HD premiere rights to Jidai Geki Channel?
I forgot to post an update on this. A friend picked the DVD set up and said the audio is still crap, however, the opening credits play in full.

Toei Channel has still not aired this.
HungFist wrote: 05 Feb 2022, 14:22Speaking of Yagyu abaretabi, Best Field also announced they will be releasing that on DVD on May 11, 2022. It will be a 6 disc set will all 26 episodes.
- https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09RK3VYCP/
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They also released Yagyu Jubei abaretabi
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

Super stoked that Toei has finally scanned Dash to the Sun (太陽に突っ走れ) (1966) in HD and will be airing it next month!
- https://www.toeich.jp/program/1T0000015983/202211

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Also video ad in YouTube:
https://youtu.be/bJnKv76HI4A
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

Looks like The Executioner and Karate Inferno are coming from Arrow.
BarnDoor wrote:Arrow releasing Sonny Chiba's Karate Inferno (AKA The Executioner):

https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/karate-i ... 0xmda4nde3

Bit of confusion I think, because the listing describes the plot of the first film, known as The Executioner, whereas the sequel is known as Karate Inferno (The Executioner 2). Hopefully Arrow release both.
Via BD forum

I think the BBFC listing really is for the first film. Although the title says "Karate Inferno", the examination details say "The Executioner", the plot description seems to be for the first film, and the running time (86m 38s) matches my Toei Channel recording of the first film (86m 39s) rather than Karate Inferno (85m 41s). Also, shouldn't Karate Inferno pass as "15" nowadays? I could be wrong though. In any case, they're probably releasing both.

Anyway, great to see these coming. Both are pretty awesome films, and Toei has fresh scans available. Just need a disc with a proper bitrate.

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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

And it is official. Coming in January.

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https://www.arrowfilms.com/blu-ray/the- ... 17605.html
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by saltysam »

Will be ordering the above and the upcoming Shout! set, i've seen the Executioner movies before but none of the ones on the Shout!.
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by HungFist »

I'm fashionably late with the news, but let's post it here too.

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https://www.arrowfilms.com/blu-ray/the- ... 49987.html
Release Date: 17 April 2023

Brand new 2K restorations of The Street Fighter and Return of the Street Fighter from 2K scans of the original camera negatives by Arrow Films
Newly remastered High Definition presentation of The Street Fighter's Last Revenge by Arrow Films
High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentations
Original lossless mono Japanese and English versions for all three films
Optional English subtitles for the Japanese soundtracks and optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella

Disc 1: The Street Fighter

Brand new 2K restorations of the original Japanese and American versions of the film from the original camera negatives
Brand new audio commentary by Asian film specialists Andrew Heskins and James Mudge of easternkicks.com
Street Fighting Man, a 30-minute interview with Sonny Chiba
Cutting Moments, interview with director Jack Sholder discussing his role in creating the legend of Sonny Chiba
Original Japanese and U.S. theatrical trailers
Image gallery

Disc 2: Return of the Street Fighter

Brand new 2K restorations of the original Japanese and American versions of the film from the original camera negatives
Brand new audio commentary by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts
Original Japanese theatrical trailer and U.S. teaser and theatrical trailers
Image gallery

Disc 3: The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge

High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the original Japanese and American versions of the film
Original Japanese and U.S. theatrical trailers
Image gallery

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Mark Schilling and Chris Poggiali



Very interesting that Arrow seems to have done new scans from the original Japanese camera negatives for the first two films... even though Toei's own 2K masters are only a couple of years old. Nice to see that they are also including the US versions which will probably be the same Warner prints that Shout released (with burnt in English opening credits etc.).

Sadly it appears they have not done a new scan for the 3rd film, which is most in need of a new scan since Toei's HD master is ancient (it was done about 10 years before parts 1&2). It's still going to be much better than the Shout presentation which had several minutes worth of really low quality SD inserts in the Japanese version of the film (the US print was both censored for violence and modified for plot by removing and re-arranging scenes). Speaking of the 3rd film, that's a totally underrated entry full of style and really witty dialogue (that was completely lost in the English dub). And Reiko and Etsuko!

******************************************************

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https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/the-bullet-train/
24th April 2023

Limited Edition slipcase featuring new artwork by Tony Stella [2000 copies]
1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K restoration of the original film elements
Original Japanese theatrical version and alternate dubbed International version included
Optional English subtitles
Brand new audio commentary by Jasper Sharp and Tom Mes
Brand new interview with author / critic Kim Newman
Brand new interview with Tony Rayns
"Big Movie, Big Panic: Junya Sato on The Bullet Train" archival featurette
Trailers
A limited edition collectors booklet featuring a new essay by film writer Barry Forshaw [2000 copies]


This should be the new 4K scan that Toei did last year. I already recorded it from TV but will be purchasing this of course! There's an old US Twilight Time BD which I never got because the image was bizarrely soft despite being a genuine HD.

******************************************************

And speaking of Region A Bullet Train, Discotek also has this coming:

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https://twitter.com/discotekmedia/statu ... 3142154240
Guro Taku
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

Post by Guro Taku »

HungFist wrote: 31 Jan 2023, 14:56Very interesting that Arrow seems to have done new scans from the original Japanese camera negatives for the first two films... even though Toei's own 2K masters are only a couple of years old.
Isn't that how we got those atrocious Female Prisoner Scorpion transfers? Or did they just do their own color "correction" for those?
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Re: The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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Guro Taku wrote: 01 Feb 2023, 19:34
HungFist wrote: 31 Jan 2023, 14:56Very interesting that Arrow seems to have done new scans from the original Japanese camera negatives for the first two films... even though Toei's own 2K masters are only a couple of years old.
Isn't that how we got those atrocious Female Prisoner Scorpion transfers? Or did they just do their own color "correction" for those?
There's a couple of differences.
1) I don't think they were allowed anywhere near the OCNs with Sasori, but instead were provided the worst 35mm prints Toei had and hence the outcome. My guess is the prints had turned all pink, and Arrow "corrected" them to blue.
2) I'm pretty confident they've learned their lesson.
3) Decent Toei HD scans already exist for these films, so Arrow must think they are able to improve upon them (though I'm still suspicious about this... Maybe I'm misunderstanding the announcement and they mean they've done additional remastering on Toei's OCN scans rather than their own new scans... which is what they've been doing with Toei films recently)

Well, we will see, but I'm pretty confident about this set.
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