"Actor: Akira Tani"

• Retaliation | Blu Ray | (11/05/2015) from £35.74   |  Saving you £-15.75 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In 1969 future sexploitation specialist Yasuharu Hasebe (Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter) teamed up with the inimitable Jô Shishido (Tokyo Drifter Branded to Kill) for a follow up to their yakuza hit Massacre Gun. A tale of gang warfare that features a raft of the period’s most iconic stars Akira Kobayashi (Battles Without Honor and Humanity The Flowers and the Angry Waves) is a yakuza lieutenant who emerges from jail to find his gang dispersed and his aging boss in his sickbed. Shishido is the rival waiting to kill him and a young Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood) is the girl caught in the crossfire. Gritty and cynical Retaliation is a hardboiled precursor to Kinji Fukasaku’s revisionist yakuza pictures of the 1970s. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: Limited Edition Blu-ray (3000 copies only) Restored High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation on Blu-ray for the first time in the world! Original uncompressed mono PCM audio Newly translated English subtitles Brand new interview with star Jô Shishido Interview with renowned critic and historian Tony Rayns Original theatrical trailer Gallery featuring rare promotional images Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp newly illustrated by Ian MacEwan and featuring original archive stills

• New Directors from Japan - Dual Format DVD/Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (24/11/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

• Musashi Miyamoto | DVD | (21/05/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Samurai Trilogy is based around the life of the historical character Musashi Miyamoto. Born around 1584 he perfected the technique of two sword fighting as well as developing into a considerable Zen black ink artist. Having fought his first duel at the age of thirteen he was involved in 60 other engagements before his death in 1645. Several versions of his life have been produced for cinema and television in Japan but none more prestigious than Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1955 it was also Toho's first foray into colour. The first episode of the trilogy covers Miyamoto's formative years as he emerges from rural obscurity to search for fame and glory in civil war but returns home a broken man. Brought back to sanity through the love of a warm hearted girl she persuades him to place himself under the spiritual guidance of an unorthodox Buddhist priest. His methods of teaching the ways of enlightenment would make the fiercest of Zen masters seem positively gentle. Gaining in spiritual stature and insight Miyamoto is forced to choose between settling for domestic happiness or continuing his search for perfection in the art of the sword.