Mayumi Nagisa Movies
- 1976
This Japanese cult film still finds its way onto TV from time to time. The film's titular hero, one of the best assassins in Tokyo, finds that a contract has been taken on his own life -- and he must outwit the bad guys to survive. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
Legendary director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale, The Black Lizard) takes the helm for this stylish and violent take on the life of a lower echelon yakuza thug striving to survive in a Tokyo where the rules are constantly changing. Thuggish Isamu Okita (Bunta Sugawara) has a bad reputation for his short temper and bad habit of flying off the handle. When he returns to the streets after a harrowing stint in jail, the ever-changing climate finds him struggling to survive. When adaptation to the new way of gang life proves futile for ex-con Isamu, the misfit forms his own gang with the intention of getting revenge on those who wronged him in the past. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
The blind swordsman Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) goes up against an ambitious crime boss who isn't above kidnapping and murder. He must rescue a fireworks specialist who has been kidnapped for his expertise with gunpowder as a weapon. This film tells us something of the origins of Zatoichi's training in martial arts, as a way of compensating for his blindness, and his preferred method of using darkness as a weapon against sighted opponents. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shintaro Katsu, Naoko Kubo, (more)
