"Actor: Ruriko Asaoka"

• A Story Written with Water (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (25/03/2024) from £19.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• 47 Ronin | DVD | (25/11/2013) from £16.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Keanu Reeves leads the cast as Kai, an outcast who joins Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), the leader of the 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind.

• Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol. 2 Blu-Ray + DVD | Blu Ray | (13/06/2016) from £21.19   |  Saving you £8.80 (41.53%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Nikkatsu, the oldest film studio in Japan, inaugurated a star system in the late 1950s, finding talent and contracting them to a series of wild genre pictures. This collection celebrates these Diamond Guys with three classic films from directors Buichi Saito (Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril), Ko Nakahira (Crazed Fruit), and Haruyasu Noguchi, who is a new discovery for the West. In Saito's Tokyo Mighty Guy, mega star Akira Kobayashi stars as Jiro in the rambunctious tale of a chef who opens a restaurant in the busy Ginza district. His culinary skills and dashing good looks bring in the women as well as unwanted trouble, while an explosive political scandal builds around his girlfriend's business Next, Jo Shishido (Massacre Gun, Retaliation), one of the most popular Diamond Guys in the West, stars in Danger Paws, a crime caper from Ko Nakahira about counterfeiting. When one billion yen goes AWOL, Joe the Ace (Shishido) spies an opportunity to get rich quick, but things soon go wrong as it turns out he isn't the only one who'll stop at nothing to get his hands on the missing cash Finally, Shishido stars once again in Noguchi's screwball classic Murder Unincorporated. When the mysterious Joe of Spades executes one of the bosses of a powerful syndicate, his colleagues, fearing for their own lives, call on the services of assassin agency Murder Unincorporated to take care of the problem. This unique entry showcases some of the most peculiar killing tactics to ever hit Japanese cinema! Presented on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time in the West, these thrilling genre films feature some of Nikkatsu's leading talent at the top of their game.

• Ambush At Blood Pass | DVD | (30/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Yojimbo a ronin (Mifune) is secretly commissioned to travel to Sanshu Pass. This once crucial thoroughfare in the time of the warlords is now just a backroad used by outcasts. There he is to wait until an undisclosed event occurs. On his journey he rescues a woman from her violent husband and takes her away with him. They arrive at an inn run by an old man and his granddaughter. This place has become home to a bunch of misfits including a one-time physician (Katsu) a wandering gambler and an officer of the law together with his prisoner. A dramatic chain of events unfolds forcing the once hostile and untrusting characters to unite in a common cause: their own survival. Ambush At Blood Pass examines the complex nature of the human condition under pressure.

• The Samurai Collection | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Three features: 'Red Lion' 'Ambush At Blood Pass' and 'Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo'. Red Lion: With the winds of change sweeping through Japan overthrowing three centuries of Shogunate rule Gonzo (Toshiro Mifune) a peasant enlists in the Imperial Restoration Force which promises to reform the oppression of the past. Gonzo persuades his commander to lend him his Red Lion Mane a symbol of authority and rides into his old home town where he receives a hero's welcome. This tale both touching and hilarious traces the difficulties of a simple boastful humane man caught in the web of political intrigue. Casting a cold eye on politicians of all hues at its climax it achieves true tragic intensity. Ambush At Blood Pass: Yojimbo a ronin (Mifune) is secretly commissioned to travel to Sanshu Pass. This once crucial thoroughfare in the time of the warlords is now just a backroad used by outcasts. There he is to wait until an undisclosed event occurs. On his journey he rescues a woman from her violent husband and takes her away with him. They arrive at an inn run by an old man and his granddaughter. This place has become home to a bunch of misfits including a one-time physician (Katsu) a wandering gambler and an officer of the law together with his prisoner. A dramatic chain of events unfolds forcing the once hostile and untrusting characters to unite in a common cause: their own survival. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo: The gentle breeze the murmur of a babbling brook the scent of plums. These memories call Zatoichi the blind swordsman back to a once-loved village. But memories are deceptive and he arrives to find things much changed. The former boss Hyoroku has been reduced to a carver of statues of Jizo the Buddha of Healing and his daughter Umeno has become a hostess and as she describes herself one of the bad ones. Control of the village is split between a former travelling merchant Eboshiya and his son Masagoro. Eboshiya befriends Zatoichi and seeks his aid against Masagoro's minder the drunken samurai Yojimbo the crooked crook. When a masseur is killed amidst rumours that a large amount of gold has been secreted in the village the two factions begin to size each other up. It is at this point that Masagoro's younger son suddenly decides his father needs more protection and calls on the services of the contract killer Kuzuryu.