Samurai Wolf 1&2 - Blu-ray Review

Michael Scott

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Samurai Wolf 1&2


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Movie: :4stars:
Video: :4.5stars:
Audio: :3.5stars:
Extras: :2.5stars:
Final Score: :4stars:




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Movie

While most modern audiences remember Hong Kong cinema as ruler of the Asian cinema marketplace for the better part of the last century (at least the 1960s through 2010s), but Japanese Samurai films were some of the most popular competitors back in the 1960s. Between Shaw Brothers films, Spaghetti Westerns and Japanese Samurai/Ninja films, it was a glorified smorgasbord of hacking, slashing and shooting fun for the masses. Naturally you’re going to remember films like Yojimbo or Seven Samurai when you think of Samurai flicks, but a close second to directors like Akira Kurowas were those directed by Hideo Gosha, a long running Japanese director with a knack for the bloody (Violent Streets is widely considered one of the best Yakuza movies of all time), and Film Movement has given us 2K restorations and remasters of two his most popular films here today.

Samurai Wolf : :4stars:
Gosha’s Samurai flicks were less stylized and less heroic than Kurosawa’s entries. He had quirky humor and a cynical outlook on both heroes and villains alike. He utilized the same tropes and period piece drams that Kurosawa did, but instead of lionizing most of the protagonists, he portrayed the Samurai as “the guys with the swords”. Meaning, their code of chivalry was something to spit upon, and whatever warlord hired them out was good enough for them.

One of these Ronin samurai was a man named Kiba (Ferocious Wolf), a Samurai who ate where he wanted, killed who he wanted, and generally made his way in life by being the tough guy who everyone feared. He is passing through a little village with not a coin in his pocket for even the smallest of meals when he runs across a trio of Samurai slaughtering the messengers of the Shogun. Dragging their bodies into town so that they could be identified, he’s hired by the blind owner of the town named Chise, who just so happens to run the outpost as a sort of Japanese “pony express” station for the Shogun. Her problem is that another outpost owner down the road wants to put her out of business and take over her outpost, and he’s been hiring ruffians and samurai to harass her messengers. To make matters worse, she has a giant shipment of gold for the Shogun passing through in a few days, and she’s worried that her competition is going to ruin things for her by stealing the gold.

Agreeing to help the beautiful widow, Kiba starts training the petty guards to take care of themselves, only to find out that he MAY have bitten off more than he can chew. The competition has decided to hire a Samurai assassin that holds a secret that may shock the entire outpost to their core.

If you haven’t guessed, Samurai Wolf sounds a LOOOOT like a spaghetti western. In fact, it’s not nearly so much a traditional Kurosawa style Japanese flick, but rather an Italian western with rice and noodles instead of spaghetti. It literally smells and bleeds like a Sergio Leone film with swords, including a myriad of sub plots, betrayal, and general slaughter that western audiences can latch onto comfortably.

I personally haven’t seen Samurai Wolf in about 20+ years, but as a huge fan of Samurai flicks AND Spaghetti Westerns, I’m pleased to announce that it holds up quite nicely after almost 60 years. There’s some quick cut edits that are abrasive, and the romance between Kiba and Chise is a bit forced (buy hey, they were all forced in that era), but the overall story is quite fun, and the action cinematography is just breathtaking. Single cut scenes for fights, with great choreography and some of the best katana blade work I’ve seen.

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Samurai Wolf 2: Hell Cut : :4stars:
Produced and released one year later, Samurai Wolf 2 bears no real resemblance to the first film outside of Kiba (once again Isao Natsuyagi) coming back as the main character. Kiba is once again skipping around the countryside when he comes across a mentally challenged woman being assaulted by 3 men. Naturally stepping in and laying waste to the scumbags, Kiba rescues the young lady and sends her on her way after the men swear revenge on him.

After that little jaunt Kiba comes across a prison convoy where he finds a prisoner who is the spitting image of his own father that died years ago. Knowing that it’s not ACTUALLY his father, Kiba still can’t get over the fact that he looks so much like him to the point where Kiba simply follows the convoy for the warm feelings of the memories of his own father. And it’s probably not a bad idea that he stuck around, as the convoy is attacked by men who want to kill said father figure. Turns out that this man, Magobei, was part of a clan that found a hidden gold mine, and the other members framed Magobei and tried to get him killed. Seems like they couldn’t wait for the magistrate to mete out justice, so they end up attacking the convoy and bringing down the wrath of Kiba on their head.

Oh, and did I mention that the master of the men who were assaulting the mentally challenged girl at the beginning of the movie is out to make Kiba pay? Yeah, he wants to duel Kiba to see who is the better swordsman, and of course don’t forget that the mentally challenged girl happens to be the daughter of the man who wants Magobei murdered. Yeah, it’s a giant cluster bomb of crossed wires, people wanting each other dead, and poor Kiba is caught in the middle.

Samurai Wolf 2 is a much bleaker and less “funny” movie than Samurai Wolf was. The first flick had some cheeky humor, and Kiba was a glib and wisecracking “good guy who acts tough”. This time around he’s stuck right in the middle of betrayal and darkness, testing his ability to see the good in people, even though he’s on the path to becoming these people himself. It’s kind of amusing that Kiba calls himself a “ferocious wolf”, but in reality he’s the only one in the entire movie set that isn’t actually a bad guy at heart (well, Chise could be the other one), and he’s stuck trying to defend the innocent with hardened bad guys telling him that he’s going to end up like them some day (and there’s no evidence that Kiba won’t judging by what happens around and to him). All in all, Samurai Wolf 2 is another fun entry that has better action, better character development, but is still slightly less enjoyable than the first movie (only by a hair, as I’m grading them identically with the star rating).




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video: :4.5stars:
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Film Movement boasts a 2K restoration for both films, and by all accounts, both films look amazing on Blu-ray. Shot within a year of each other on nearly identical camera systems, the brace of films look really good in 2.39:1 framed AVC Blu-rays. Put on a single BD-50 with a fluctuating bitrate of 25-35 mbps on average (some higher and lower split second spikes and valleys), the films showcase some wonderful black levels and a rich textured visual detail level. You can see every bit of blood gushing onto the victim’s bodies, every fiber on the Kimono's worn by Chise and the other “working” girls. There’s that typical creaminess that tends to wash out background details on far reaching background objects (such as when Kiba walks into the sunset at the end of Samurai Wolf, but the grain levels are wonderfully rendered and leaves nothing the imagination. Not perfect as there is some aging present, but I didn’t see any major artifacting or print damage/debris that is worth noting









Audio: :3.5stars:
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The LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks are a bit rougher than video, but nothing that isn’t indicative of the time. Back in the 1960s Japanese tracks like this were a bit harsh, with a decent amount of distortion whenever anytime someone yells or screams, plus a tinny and rough sound to the score. It’s not horrible by any means, as you can hear everything quite nicely, deep rich baritone Japanese voices included. There’s enough clarity that you could actually hear the whirring of the reels spinning in the background during a few quiet scenes either. Neither film’s audio quality will ever win any awards, but they are certainly more than workable.












Extras: :2.5stars:
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NEW 2K RESTORATIONS OF BOTH FILMS
Outlaw Director - Hideo Gosha featurette with Tomoe Gosha
• Audio commentary by Chris Poggiali, co-author of These Fists Break Bricks
• 20-page booklet with a new essay by Robin Gatto, author of Hideo Gosha, cinéaste sans maître
















Final Score: :4stars:


In a world where Kurosawa immediately goes to Eureka or Criterion, it’s nice to see legendary director Hideo Gosha get some love by Film Movement (Violent Streets the uncut version came out a few days ago, look forward to that review as well), and with some great new video encodes. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of classic Samurai flicks and/or Spaghetti Westerns.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Isao Natsuyagi, Junkichi Orimoto, Yoshirô Aoki, Kyôichi Satô, Ryôhei Uchida, Ichirô Nakatani
Directed by: Hideo Gosha
Written by: Hideo Gosha, Kei Tasaka, Noribumi Suzuki
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 AVC
Audio: Japanese: LPCM 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English
Studio: Film Movement
Rated: NR
Runtime: 74 minutes / 72 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: May 16th, 2023
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Recommendation: Great Watches

 
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tripplej

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Thanks for the review. Never heard of this but will check it out.
 
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