A Japanese boxer stages a dramatic and dangerous comeback after suffering brain damage in the ring.

Ranks No. 82 in Kinema Jumpo’s Top 100 Japanese Films of All Time Poll in 1999.

Dotsuitarunen (Knockout) (1989) -- Junji Sakamoto.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1h 49mn
Size: 	1.79 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	616x432 ~> 730x432
Aspect ratio:  	1.690
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	1 950 Kbps
BPP: 	0.305
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch AC-3 @ 384 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/254262C3C75227B/Dotsuitarunen_(Knockout)_(1989)_–_Junji_Sakamoto.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English (muxed)

The post Junji Sakamoto – Dotsuitarunen AKA Knockout (1989) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

While on his daily route as the driver of the local school bus, Michio Nishiumi sees his own infant son kidnapped from the vehicle by a masked assailant with a gun. A ransom is demanded, but the boy dies. Michio wants and needs his revenge.

Quote:
Japanese director Junji Sakamoto’s “Tokarev” spins a riveting tale of a mild-mannered suburbanite driven to kamikaze-like extremes by his obsessive desire for revenge. Invigorated by stylish direction, startling shifts in rhythm and a cataclysmic final showdown… Psychological twists are as bizarre as they are unpredictable, with the characters’ impulsive behavior well played by a cast that invests heavily in piercing gazes and strong silences. Tension is strung out to maximum effect with the aid of Shigeru Umebayashi’s somber synth music, a diverse bag of editing tricks and some gorgeous slow-motion work.

1.56GB | 1h 42m | 865×468 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/BAC33F8C6AF3387/Tokarev.1994.DVDRip.x264-FuFu.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/5E9D5C141AD60E1/Tokarev.1994.DVDRip.x264.srt

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Junji Sakamoto – Tokarefu AKA Tokarev (1994) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

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.

None of this sounded promising going in, but “Zatoichi” is a better film than expected. Fans can rightly complain, however, that it lacks much of the rude swagger of the original series as well as its feats of legerdemain, such as Ichi slicing and dicing various airborne objects.

Sakamoto has compensated with the sort of spare, striking stylistics and strong, elemental emotions found in Yoji Yamada’s acclaimed samurai trilogy, particularly the 2006 “Bushi no Ichibun” (“Love and Honor”), whose swordsman hero, played by SMAPster Takuya Kimura, was also sightless. At the same time, the film is loaded with action sequences that try to be more hard-breathing, blood-soaked substance than choreographed, CG-assisted style — though the whole idea of one blind swordsman, however accomplished, taking on hordes of sighted opponents is frankly fantastic.

The story begins with Ichi pledging to his wife Tane (Satomi Ishihara) that an upcoming fight will be his last. At its end, with Ichi bloody but triumphant, a cowardly late-comer rushes in to stab him, but Tane unwittingly steps in between Ichi and the blade. The late-comer flees, Tane dies — and Ichi is left seething with grief and anger.

Instead of hunting down the killer, Ichi returns to his native village, where he finds a home with his friend Ryuji (Takashi Sorimachi), a humble farmer, and his family. There he leads a quiet life while becoming close to Ryuji’s young son Goro (Seishiro Kato) and big-hearted mother (Chieko Baisho), who cares for him as if he were her own flesh and blood.

But the local big man, Tendo (Tatsuya Nakadai), is despotic and ruthless. Together with corrupt local officials, he and his minions run roughshod over the villagers, using any means necessary to enforce obedience and compliance — from threats to murder. Zatoichi is finally stirred reluctantly to action, but Tendo proves to be a wily and dangerous opponent.

Shingo confessed that he had never seen Katsu’s Zatoichi films prior to taking the role — which may be heresy to the series’ fans, but at least enabled him to bring a fresh perspective to the character instead being overly influenced by Katsu’s charisma.

He plays Zatoichi with a headlong, physically risky commitment. Watching him slip and slide on the snow with his eyes closed as he battles dozens of opponents, I imagined the bumps and bruises he must have accumulated in the retakes. Emotionally, he is all there as well, minus the goofy smirks of his usual on-air persona, though his performance is on the sweaty and over-wrought side, as though he were channeling Toshiro Mifune instead of Katsu.

Meanwhile, Nakadai elevates the film beyond the genre standard with his over-sized, hollow-eyed presence. His Tendo is not only intelligent and amoral in the usual villainous mode, but also scarily remote, unknowable and capricious — more like a demon god than a man.

1.54GB | 2:12:03 | 672 x 288 | avi

https://nitro.download/view/25AA40242E51C5B/Zatoichi.The.Last.2010.DVDRip.XviD-MNAUCE.avi
http://nitroflare.com/view/C349C1ECC51B579/Zatoichi.The.Last.2010.DVDRip.XviD-MNAUCE.srt

Language:Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Junji Sakamoto – Zatôichi: The Last (2010) first appeared on Cinema of the World.