Re: Japanese Action Movies In Hindi Dubbed
Bok Mull
Yakuza tales drenched in revenge and bloody samurai epics are what most people think of when asked about their favorite Japanese action movies. They wouldn't be wrong, either, as both are essential components of the genre. Japan has one of the oldest film industries in the world, with Thomas Edison's kinetoscope first imported in 1896. Between 1909 and 1928, director Makino Shozo began pumping out films, popularizing period pieces known as jidaigeki.
You can't discuss action movies without mentioning Akira Kurosawa's 1954 masterpiece, "Seven Samurai." This Japanese opus is a near-perfect film, gripping you for its entire three-and-a-half-hour runtime. We're introduced to the rōnin Kambei (Takashi Shimura), who is called upon to aid a defenseless village against a group of bandits. From there, Kambei finds six ragtag samurai to help him as they prepare for war while training the townsfolk in combat.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a slicker movie than 1966's "Tokyo Drifter." Seijun Suzuki's unhinged yakuza delight was light years ahead of its time, incorporating bursts of color, surrealism, and, oddly enough, musical montages. "Tokyo Drifter" can sometimes feel like it has more style than substance, but can you fault Suzuki when everything looks so darn cool?
Akira Kurosawa made over 30 movies during his career, yet none were as profitable as his 1961 samurai hit, "Yojimbo." Kurosawa was a huge fan of Westerns, and you can definitely spot the John Ford influence in his lone hero wandering into a town and restoring order.
Few movies that clock in at four hours are as exhilarating as Sion Sono's upskirt epic, "Love Exposure." It's difficult to summarize this twisty action-comedy, as it can come across as a perverse, nonsensical tale. Yet, somehow, the scope of this film works, with an emotional payoff at the end that left me sobbing.
One of the most violent action movies ever made, "Ichi the Killer" is so depraved it was banned in several countries after its 2001 debut. Dismissed by critics as misogynistic, exploitative, and brutal, the film by director Takashi Miike does something quite clever: It doesn't take a moral stance on what's unfolding on screen. Instead, Miike forces his audience to ask themselves what their attitude is towards this savage tale.
If you're a fan of the "Kill Bill" saga, you must have heard of "Lady Snowblood." Quentin Tarantino borrowed heavily from this jidaigeki gem, with the iconic fight between the Bride (Uma Thurman) and O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) in "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" lifted almost beat-for-beat from the 1973 film.
The premise of the dystopian classic "Battle Royale" sounds very similar to the beloved "Hunger Games" franchise. Trust me when I tell you that this 2000 gem is infinitely more action-packed and brutal. According to "The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies," the film was deemed too disturbing at the time of its release, with censors fearing it would incite real-life violence among teens. However, director Kinji Fukasaku firmly believed that Japanese youth would benefit from the message of "Battle Royale," so he released an edited version to theaters for audiences 15 and up.
Borrowing elements from the French New Wave movement and inserting moments of sheer Luis Buuel-style absurdism, 1967's "Branded to Kill" earns Seijun Suzuki the spot as my favorite yakuza genre filmmaker.
You can't discuss Japanese action movies without mentioning Katsuhiro Otomo's 1988 masterpiece, "Akira." Considered one of the most important anime movies of all time, this cyberpunk classic has influenced filmmakers worldwide.
"Akira" was the first anime I ever saw, and to this day, it holds up. The amount of anxiety I feel, even during subsequent viewings, is simply unparalleled. Filled to the brim with insane imagery like the gigantic milk-oozing teddy bear that springs to life and the grotesque final act involving Tetsuo, this legendary anime is a nail-biting experience. "Akira" rocks, and while it's been endlessly imitated, there's nothing quite like it.
Kihachi Okamoto eschewed familiar jidaigeki tropes with the release of 1966's "The Sword of Doom," which presents us with the most amoral antihero in samurai movie history. Okamoto delivers irredeemable brutality in what can be seen as the antithesis to Akira Kurosawa's noble period epics.
If you're on the hunt for some truly bizarre yet action-packed movies, Sion Sono consistently delivers. Known for his cartoonish characters, bursts of color, and imaginative violence, the director is a cult figure in modern Japanese cinema. 2013's "Why Don't You Play in Hell?" serves as an excellent entry-point for those unfamiliar with Sono's work, as he strays further away from the experimental (think "Love Exposure") and dives deeper into comedy.
While Takeshi Kitano has directed some fantastic movies, he's best known as one of Japan's most celebrated comedians. Perhaps it's Kitano's background as a funnyman that instills such a refreshingly light-hearted aspect to 1993's "Sonatine." A yakuza flick that feels like the lovechild of Haruki Murakami and Martin Scorsese, "Sonatine" is reflective and existential, focusing more on the relationships of its characters than sheer explosive violence. That said, when he does hit you with bloodshed, it's detached, and that's precisely what makes it so shocking.
Any good violent Japanese action films?2006/8/31 03:43 Either period films with swordplay or modern films with gunplay? Uncensored versions I can get in Region 1? Not interested in "shocking" films ala Takahashi Miike/Ichi the Killer.by Martin Burlock
BR!!!2006/9/5 13:50 Battle Royal is diffenitly cool. It is voilent, but it isn't like doom where that all that goes on. The basis of it is in the future japan has become like Compton/Watts or the Bronx. The government fix that problem with a lottery where the wining class gets to fight each other to the death. I cools because it shows how easily people who are friends can easily turn on each other when the "seed of mistrust" is planted. There is a love story in it, but it is mostly a fight for survival. You get to find out why some of the students are the way they are and why something happen and don't happened between each of them. Very good movie in my opinion.by Ajrate this post as useful
films2006/9/10 18:00 Check out Tokyo Fist by Shinya Tsukamoto. He's an amazing director, especially if you can handle your action in a more artsy, avant-garde kind of depiction.
Otherwise, Makai Tenshou is a cool period piece by the director of Battle Royale.
Also, there are some great Miike flicks that sound like they'd be right up your alley (ie- not just shock value), especially if you like Yakuza stuff. Dead or Alive, Full Metal Yakuza, and Deadlly Outalw: Rikka are all films you might enjoy and not even realize they're by a man often recognized for his over-the-top values.
Finally, if you want classic, really well-done but not necessarly blood-stained Yakuza films, check out most work by the late and fucking great Seijun Suzuki. My favorite has to be Branded to Kill.by ryanrate this post as useful
Kitano2009/1/3 01:29 Any film by Takeshi Kitano os filled with violence. Google his name and add "imdb" to the end of the search to find his movies. He's got tons of gangster movies and you'll recognize him as the evil teacher from the original battle royale.
I agree with the above suggestion to avoid battle royale II, it sucked, it was easily the worst japanese movie i've ever seen.by winterwolfrate this post as useful
Negative Happy Chainsaw2011/9/20 10:15 ...a real treat, not horror, mainly action and quite a nice little romance going as well. And I know that this is Japan-guide not Korea-guide (if there is one), but Arahan is a great film along those lines, the korean action films are quite high quality, eg Mighty Princess, the 3 Mr Kims, better than Chinese IMO.by Lazy Pious (guest)rate this post as useful
Re: Any good violent Japanese action films?2011/9/27 23:00 I personally like Tokyo Gore Police, but that is probably more shocking rather than just violence.
I do also happen to like the Samurai trilogy by Hiroshi Inagaki. It is based on Musashi Miyamoto. :) It is composed of 3 movies, and is just stunning in storyline and directing. ^_^by MimiruRileyrate this post as useful
by derboo - October 2012; special thanks go to Tatsujin, who collected many examples over at the Assemblergames.com forums, giving me the idea to gather more stuff, but unfortunately couldn't be reached anymore at the time this page was compiled. Other sources include a Japanese Geocities page, tvtropes, Recorded Amiga Games, Game Front, The Amazing Archipictor and the Silent Hill Heaven forum. Contributions by, in no particular order: Ryusenshi, Paul, Lord Toon, Alejandro Curini, Glen, Nedflandeurse, Larry Bundy Jr, Jake Quickel, Trickless, Gilder, ReyVGM, stefanl, lanceboyle94, Snarboo, The Green Herring, starscream, Sketcz, nickz, MP83, spirasen, DPB, corsair, drsparkle, sogetsu, saucedupone, gboukensha, diebussy, acidonia, youlote, kjn, Lee, Weasel, Probable Muppet, veggieh8r, bluemoon, DerZocker, imhotep, BulletMagnet, cafeine, Gendo Ikari, hereforbrendabakke, soleyu, retroman, cowboyrocket, wxbryant, PooshhMao, freegamer, barbarus, johnmoran, cowboycrocket, adaml, 00agent, tenfresh, BdR, Derek Yu, Alex Rushdy, Phil Theobald
Imagine you're a game producer in the late 1980s, a week before the deadline and you still haven't got a cover for your game. Exhausted from crunchtime, you tell your illustrator to just rip off some Schwarzenegger action movie to get the job done. Careful, your subordinate might take the order all too literally! When artwork in video games seems to look too realistic to be actually drawn by the artist, then it actually might be too realistic, as many vintage games have stolen images from movies, album covers, paintings and even other games. The subject here aren't simply inspired designs or characters (in that case, we'd be here all day just counting the games influenced by Nausica, Hokuto no Ken or Alien), but actual specific images that might have been traced, digitized or just used as direct reference. Many of them come from print material that went with the games' releases (covers, flyers, manuals, etc.), but the last two pages are reserved exclusively for in-game references. Some of these are well known, others more obscure, but they all have something in common: They would likely have gotten their artists sued if the original images' copyright holders had ever seen them; a gallery of litigations that could have been, so to speak.
7fc3f7cf58