The story of Thirteen Assassins begins with a vassal of the Akashi clan committing seppuku in front of a daimyo’s house. As it turns out, it’s in protest to his lord raping and killing a girl and her samurai husband. This scandal is quickly covered up as the Akashi lord happens to be the Shogun’s younger brother. What makes matters worse is that this reckless scoundrel will be soon appointed to a higher political position which could prove to be detrimental for the entire Shogunate. In response to that, a plot is hatched: 13 assassins will undertake the suicide mission to murder him on his way back from Edo.

The movie can be roughly split in two parts. The first hour is purely character-driven, in a anti-establishment style that resembles Masaki Kobayashi and his masterful work in Seppuku and Samurai Rebellion. The last half hour is totally action-oriented as we see the Akashi clan entourage being trapped in a village and fighting to protect their lord, at which point one could be forgiven for thinking Seven Samurai and Akira Kurosawa.

This is really a very very good, if not a bit obscure, 60’s jidai-geki shot in black and white, which is the only medium that can truly do justice to the genre. Solid DP work with the classic Nipponese geometrical style in compositions, the remastered print is gorgeous to look at and Eiichi Kudo, who was an unknown quality for me so far, proves to be a very skillfull film-maker. The story carries familiar jidai-geki themes of the era; the oppression of the strong, old friends that have to face off, a vassal that sees how villainous his lord is yet he doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice his life for him. It’s not quite as elaborate and tragic as Kobayashi’s work and is pretty much abandoned after the first half hour where the emphasis shifts to the planning of the assassination, but it still provides a solid dramatic backdrop. The final battle could have been better though, not bad by any means but it won’t make any best-final-fights lists either.

Overall a very solid and commendable effort, beautiful to look at with a nice story and some action to go with it. Fans of the genre will definitely lap it up. (imdb)

Jusan-nin.no.shikaku.1963.1080p.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-SbR.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	2 h 5 min
Size: 	6.82 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1920x816 
Aspect ratio:  	2.35:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	7 542 kb/s
BPP: 	0.201
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch E-AC-3 @ 224 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/ACE0971BD21064B/Jusan-nin.no.shikaku.1963.1080p.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-SbR.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Eiichi Kudô – Jûsan-nin no shikaku AKA The Thirteen Assassins (1963) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Detective Seiji Otaki is determined to find the psychopathic killer of a young woman who was ostensibly a student but in reality a high-priced prostitute. Even though he has been taken off the case for beating up a suspect, he refuses to let it go and recruits his mistress to act as a decoy for the killer. Her involvement turns out to be a fatal mistake, and when her husband gets out of prison, Detective Otaki is in worse trouble than ever.

The Dropout (1982) 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DD+2.0 H.264.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 58 min
Size: 	12.0 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1920x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	14.2 Mb/s
BPP: 	0.285
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch E-AC-3 @ 224 kb/s (Japanese)

https://nitro.download/view/51714EECFE93FBE/The_Dropout_(1982)_1080p_AMZN_WEB-DL_DD+2.0_H.264.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Eiichi Kudô – Yaju-deka AKA The Dropout (1982) (HD) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Two Kyushu based yakuza groups are desperate for domination of the area. When more powerful yakuza groups get involved in their power struggle, a group of childhood friends, belonging to different yakuza families, are caught in the middle. Lies, deceit, and backstabbing are in play resulting in a bloodbath and a quest for revenge…

Cast: MATSUKATA Hiroki, NEZU Jinpachi, UZAKI Ryudo, MATSUZAKI Shigeru, NARITA Mikio

Quote:
Aftermath of Battles Without Honor and Humanity was the ninth and final film in the Battles series, and was the sole one not made by the original director, Kinji Fukasaku. Hiroki Matsukata is the only male star returning from previous installments with newcomers Jinpachi Neu, Mieko Harada and Rudo Uzaki pumping new blood into the proceedings as up-and-coming gangbangers. Although a good idea to have Kudo at the helm, a man responsible for what might be termed jitsuroku sanurai movies as well as several excellent yakuza sagas, the end result is somewhat uneven. Kudo elicits good performances from his young stars, but the writign is not quite up to the high standards of the previous Battles entries. Chris D – Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film

1.19GB | 2h 07m | 720×288 | avi

https://nitroflare.com/view/73822AAAF5345B5/Sono_go_no_jingi_naki_tatakai_(1979).avi
https://nitroflare.com/view/539314C41639CF7/Sono_go_no_jingi_naki_tatakai_(1979).srt

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Eiichi Kudo – Sono go no jingi naki tatakai AKA Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Aftermath (1979) first appeared on Cinema of the World.