"Actor: Hiroshi Tanaka"

• ONIBABA (Masters of Cinema) (Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (25/02/2013) from £12.65   |  Saving you £7.34 (58.02%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Kaneto Shindo, one of Japan's most prolific directors, received his biggest international success with the release of Onibaba (The Demoness) in 1964. Its depiction of violence and graphic sexuality was unprecedented at the time of release. Shindo managed - through his own production company Kindai Eiga Kyokai - to bypass the strict, self-regulated Japanese film industry and pave the way for such films as Yasuzo Masumura's Mojuu (1969) and Nagisa Oshima's In the Realm of the Senses (1976). Onibaba (or Onibabaa, in its alternate spelling) is set during a brutal period in history, a Japan ravaged by civil war between rivaling shogunates. Weary from combat, samurai are drawn towards the seven-foot high susuki grass fields to hide and rest themselves, whereupon they are ambushed and murdered by a ruthless mother (Nobuko Otowa) and daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) team. The women throw the samurai bodies into a pit, and barter their armour and weapons for food. When Hachi (Kei Sato), a neighbour returning from the wars, brings bad news, he threatens the women's partnership. Erotically charged and steeped in the symbolism and superstition of its Buddhist and Shinto roots, Kaneto Shindo's Onibaba is in part a modern parable on consumerism, a study of the destructiveness of sexual desire and - filmed within a claustrophobic sea of grass - one of the most striking and unique films of Japan's last half-century, winning Kiyomi Kuroda the Blue Ribbon Award for Cinematography in 1965. The memorably frenetic drumming soundtrack was scored by long-time Shindo collaborator Hikaru Hayashi. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Onibaba for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK. Special Features: Gorgeous New 1080p HD Transfer Full-length Director's Audio Commentary by Director Kaneto Shindo and the Stars of the Film, Kei Sato, and Jitsuko Yoshimura Video Introduction by Alex Cox 8mm Footage (40-minutes) Shot on Location by Lead Actor Kei Sato Optional English Subtitles Original Theatrical Trailer Production Stills and Promotional Art Gallery 36-Page Booklet with a New Essay by Doug Cummings - An English translation of the original short Buddhist fable that inspired the film and a statement from Writer/Director Kaneto Shindo about why he made Onibaba

• Akira | Blu Ray | (27/06/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £27.99

  Neo-Tokyo 2019. The city is being rebuilt post World War III. Kaneda and Tetsuo two high school drop outs stumble on a secret government project to develop new weapons - telekinetic humans. Tetsuo learns of the existence of his 'peer' Akira the project's most powerful subject and determines to challenge him...

• Akira | DVD | (27/06/2011) from £6.93   |  Saving you £13.06 (188.46%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Neo-Tokyo 2019. The city is well on the way to rebuilding after World War III. The central characters Kaneda and Tetsuo two high school drop-outs are members of a joy-riding motorcycle gang. In the opening scene Kaneda and Tetsuo stumble upon a secret government project to develop telekinetic humans apparently for use as weapons. Tetsuo learns of the existence of his 'peer' Akira the project's most powerful subject and determines to challenge him...

• Ninja In The Dragon's Den | DVD | (25/03/2002) from £21.78   |  Saving you £1.20 (6.39%)   |  RRP £19.99

  'Ninja In The Dragon's Den' is a major Asian box-office smash hit from the acclaimed producer of 'Snake In The Eagle's Shadow' and 'Drunken Master'. This epic action adventure was shot in Japan by world renowned action director Corey Yuen (Lethal Weapon 4 Romeo Must Die Kiss of the Dragon) starring martial arts sensations Hiroyuki Sanada and Conan Lee.

• Akira - (Ultimate Collection) (Two Discs) | DVD | (23/06/2003) from £44.99   |  Saving you £-22.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Artist-writer Katsuhiro Omoto began telling the story of Akira as a comic book series in 1982 but took a break from 1986 to 1988 to write, direct, supervise and design this animated film version. Set in 2019, the film richly imagines the new metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, which is designed from huge buildings down to the smallest details of passing vehicles or police uniforms. Two disaffected orphan teenagers--slight, resentful Tetsuo and confident, breezy Kanada--run with a biker gang, but trouble grows when Tetsuo start to resent the way Kanada always has to rescue him. Meanwhile, a group of scientists, military men and politicians wonder what to do with a collection of withered children who possess enormous psychic powers, especially the mysterious, rarely seen Akira, whose awakening might well have caused the end of the old world. Tetsuo is visited by the children, who trigger the growth of psychic and physical powers that might make him a superman or a super-monster.As befits a distillation of 1,318 pages of the story so far, Akira is overstuffed with character, incident and detail. However, it piles up astonishing set pieces: the chases and shoot-outs (amazingly kinetic, amazingly bloody) benefit from minute cartoon detail that extends to the surprised or shocked faces of the tiniest extra; the Tetsuo monster alternately looks like a billion-gallon scrotal sac or a Tex Avery mutation of the monster from The Quatermass Experiment; and the finale--which combines flashbacks to more innocent days with a destruction of Neo City and the creation of a new universe--is one of the most mind bending in all sci-fi cinema. --Kim NewmanOn the DVD: as befits this films status as a Manga classic, Akira has a wide selection of extras spread across two discs, including a "Making of Akira" documentary, a photo gallery, a quiz and a "Make your own trailer" feature, as well as one hidden feature on each disc. The film has been digitally remastered and presented in widescreen format, with Dolby Digital 5.1 for the English-dubbed version, and Dolby Digital 2.0 for the original Japanese language version. The only disappointment of the disc is the animated Scene Selection, where the clips are rendered so small that they can be a bit difficult to decipher. --Rob Burrow

• Red Sun | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £14.71   |  Saving you £-4.72 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  East meets West in this classic train robbery movie as one of the bandits gets away with not only all the money but a priceless Samurai Sword owned by Japanese gentleman Kuroda Jubie. Kuruda and his allies tear off in search of the stolen sword only to discover a violent twist of events that will change their lives forever...

• Akira - Collector's Edition Steelbook | Blu Ray | (27/06/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Neo-Tokyo, 2019. The city is well on the way to rebuilding after World War III. The central characters, Kaneda and Tetsuo, two high school drop-outs, are members of a joy-riding motorcycle gang. In the opening scene, Kaneda and Tetsuo stumble upon a secret government project to develop telekinetic humans, apparently for use as weapons. Tetsuo learns of the existence of his 'peer' Akira, the project's most powerful subject, and determines to challenge him...This super limited Collector’s Edition pack comes with the new rematered edition of AKIRA on Blu-ray and bonus DVD disc along with a specially produced 40-page booklet exclusive to the UK and packaged inside a goregous steelbook case.

• Floating Weeds | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Floating Weeds is one of the final films directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. A remake of one of his own silent features it tells the story of a travelling Kabuki acting troupe led by Komajuro who arrive in a small coastal town. There Komajuro is reunited with his former lover Oyoshi and their illegitimate son who is unaware that the itinerant actor is his father. But the reunion provokes the jealousy of Sumiko Komanjuro's current mistress who plots a devas

• Babycart in the Land of Demons | DVD | (03/11/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Baby Cart: In The Land Of Demons