Action

  • Motohiro Torii – Sanbiki no mesubachi AKA Three Pretty Devils (1970)

    1961-1970ActionComedyJapanMotohiro Torii

    Quote:
    A trio of teenaged tarts try to earn money through shoplifting and prostitution scams and get into trouble deep. Hilarious scenes where the girls try to pick up gaijin at Osaka’s World Expo 70. A colorful kaleidoscope of nudity, violence, drama, yakuza machinations and music, with cameos by transvestite (transsexual?) singer/actor Ikehata Shinnosuke (aka “Peter”, see here and there), who still acts today and did voiceover for Death Note: The Last Name (!?) and Wada “Akko” Akiko who beats up yakuza thugs and croons the film’s theme song.Read More »

  • Frank Wisbar – Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben AKA Stalingrad-Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever (1959)

    1951-1960ActionFrank WisbarGermanyWar

    Synopsis:
    Set just outside Stalingrad in the winter of 1942, this compelling wartime drama tells the tale of a contingent of German soldiers caught in a Russian vise. Headed by Gen. Paulus (Wilhelm Borchert), the other officers and foot soldiers are slowly surrounded by Russian troops on the offensive. The battles that ensue as a result of the entrapment are depicted via the experiences of individual officers and enlisted men — the full story emerges through the eyes of each of these soldiers. There is also a subsidiary tale about a friendship between a Russian woman (Sonia Zieman) and a German officer that ultimately saves the man’s life.Read More »

  • Yasuharu Hasebe – Ryuketsu No Koso AKA Blood For Blood / Bloody Feud (1971)

    1971-1980ActionAsianJapanYasuharu Hasebe

    Late Nikkatsu Action – One of Hasebe’s last for the studio before the Roman Porno films genre became their mainstay.

    Nikkatsu Classic Library wrote:
    The Akiba and Shimura crime families run the streets of “K City.” With the construction of new buildings and new factories underway, the city has sprouted into a boomtown and business is good. Two of the most infamous mobs of Tokyo take notice and want a piece of the pie. As out-of-town yakuza flood the city overnight, the crime boss of the Akiba family, Tezuka (Jo Shishido), is released from prison after a five year sentence. He does not like the “change” he sees.Read More »

  • John Boorman – The Emerald Forest (1985)

    1981-1990ActionDramaJohn BoormanUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis by Hal Erickson
    The Emerald Forest is based on a true story, as related by Los Angeles Times correspondent Leonard Greenwood. Powers Boothe stars as Bill Markham, a US engineer working on a dam project in the Amazonian jungles. Bill’s young son, Tomme (played by director John Boorman’s son Charley Boorman) is kidnapped in the rain forest by a tribe called “The Invisible People” because of their skills at camouflage – a group that has reportedly never experienced contact with Caucasians. Read More »

  • Ted Post – Magnum Force (1973)

    1971-1980ActionCrimeTed PostUSA

    Quote:
    San Francisco Police Inspector ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan and his new partner, Early Smith have been temporarily reassigned from Homicide to Stakeout Duty. You Meanwhile, those of the city’s criminals who manage to avoid punishment by the courts are nevertheless being killed by unknown assassins. Callahan begins to investigate the murders despite orders from his superior officer, Lieutenant Briggs. A man has to know his limitations…Read More »

  • Gianfranco Parolini – Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte AKA If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968)

    1961-1970ActionEuro WesternsGianfranco ParoliniItalyWestern

    Synopsis:
    After a stagecoach is robbed and the passengers murdered, a long and tangled series of surprise attacks a murderous double-crosses leaves the coach’s strongbox in the hands of the killer Lasky. It is up to the legendary hero Sartana to track down the missing money and determine just who is ultimately behind the grisly robberies and killings.Read More »

  • Junji Sakamoto – Zatôichi: The Last (2010)

    2001-2010ActionAsianJapanJunji Sakamoto

    MARK SCHILLING wrote:
    Junji Sakamoto’s “Zatoichi: The Last,” the latest revival, doesn’t feature Katsu, who died in 1997 after a wild, riotous life. Instead it stars the hyper SMAP singer Shingo Katori, who has mostly appeared on the big screen in comedies (“The Uchoten Hotel”) or kiddie actioners (“Saiyuki”).

    Also, instead of portraying Ichi as an outcast and loner, the film gives him a wife, friends, a community — and strong feelings for all of them.Read More »

  • Mio Ezaki – Macao no Ryu AKA The Dragon of Macao (1965)

    1961-1970ActionCrimeJapanMio Ezaki

    Story
    Ryu (Akira Kobayashi) sets foot on the Yokohama port with a suitcase filled with 300 thousand dollars. He was sent by a jewelry company in Hong Kong to retrieve a certain diamond that was stolen from them. The “Himalayan Star” is worth couple hundred million yen and unbeknown to Ryu, it now lays in the hands of Aizu (Jo Shishido), the infamous ”Pirate of the Tokyo Bay.”Read More »

  • Charles Crichton – Against the Wind (1948)

    United Kingdom1941-1950ActionCharles CrichtonWar
    Against the Wind (1948)
    Against the Wind (1948)

    Philip Elliot, refugee Belgian priest, reports to a secret school in London for spies and saboteurs behind German lines. After training, he and two others parachute into Belgium to help destroy a records office. This mission leads to German capture of an important resistance leader; four more agents (Emile, Max, Scotty, and Michele) go in on a rescue mission. But one of them is a traitor; and other things go wrong…Read More »

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