Saturday, May 16, 2009

At long last...

The Criterion / Eclipse Nikkatsu Action box set has been announced!



This release has been in the works, in one way or another, for over a year and a half and it's a relief to finally see it written up online. The long road to holding it in my hands will finally end in late August.

For many Japanese films fans - basically anybody who was unable to attend any of the Nikkatsu Action screening series' dates last year - this will be their first opportunity to see every one of these five films, each of which is fantastic. I can't wait to read about peoples' reactions to A Colt is My Passport and, especially, Cruel Gun Story, a fantastic Japanese riff on Stanley Kubrick's The Killing which probably less than ten people outside of Japan have seen at this moment in time. Soon, that will all change.

6 Comments:

Blogger Aria said...

Thank you for relaying the information: you've just made my day!

1:23 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

super news. can't wait for it to come out.

2:24 PM  
Blogger Y. Datura said...

Awesome!!! I hope Gangster VIP is next for the DVD treatment - I desperately want to see it again!

5:06 PM  
Blogger Rebenga Mann said...

With this, Detective Bureau 2-3 and 3 Seconds Before Explosion, I'd say that Nikkatsu is finally getting some love in the west.

Out of all the upcoming Criterions, this is the one I'm most excited about!

9:44 PM  
Blogger Marc said...

Hooray - glad that everybody is so happy for these discs. I'm glad that the Eclipse label is finally starting to uncover some real rarities, rather than just lesser-known films by already-famous directors.

Regarding GANGSTER VIP, the films unfortunately remain unlicensed in the U.S., at least for the moment. Nikkatsu is actively seeking a buyer, but I think they still want to keep the entire film series all together. And with a label like Criterion, they'd rather release just the first film instead of the entire run. So keep your fingers crossed that someone like Synapse or Kino might pick them up.

8:27 AM  
Blogger Chris Casey said...

This is wonderful news!!
I am especially excited about this set containing A COLT IS MY PASSPORT and CRUEL GUN STORY!
I am one of those ten people you mentioned that has seen the latter film (repeatedly!). ha ha!
All of the films in this set are truly glittering gems; but, the two I mentioned above are the shiniest!

6:14 PM  

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