cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- Tokyo Drifter (1966) Review
- Michael Jai White and Steve Austin collide in ‘Echo Effect’
- River of Death | Blu-ray (Kino Lorber)
- There’s no way Frank Grillo is doing ‘The Raid’ remake
- Behind Enemy Lines | Blu-ray (Olive Films)
| Posted: 10 Jan 2015 06:31 PM PST  "Tokyo Drifter" Japanese Theatrical Poster Director: Seijun Suzuki By Kyle Warner Most film buffs probably know the story of how director Seijun Suzuki was fired by Nikkatsu after producing his 1967 film Branded to Kill, and was then effectively blacklisted from filmmaking after suing his former employers. But the story is more complicated than that. Branded to Kill is a strange film that the studio hated, but it's not the sole reason for Suzuki's sacking. Branded to Kill was simply the last straw to break the camel's back. In his 12 years making films for Nikkatsu, Suzuki directed approximately 40 films for the studio. Most were filmed in under a month's time and made with a very small budget. Suzuki was given cookie cutter scripts and asked to create simple, enjoyable films at a rapid pace. Suzuki was up for the pace, but eventually he started to assert more creative control over the films he was asked to direct. He changed scripts dramatically and in the years prior to his dismissal he also got increasingly more experimental. To put it simply, the director was coming into his own as an artist, and no B-movie yakuza script was going to hold him back from creating something incredibly inventive and ahead of its time. Nikkatsu repeatedly told the director to tone it down. Instead, Suzuki ratcheted it up to 11 and delivered some of the most singularly artistic genre films of the decade. So, after a series of films they deemed to be incomprehensible and bizarre, culminating with Branded to Kill (the strangest of the bunch), Suzuki was finally given his walking papers. Made the year prior to Branded to Kill, Tokyo Drifter was meant to capitalize on a popular song and make Nikkatsu's contract actor Tetsuya Watari into a star. In order to keep Suzuki in line, Nikkatsu cut his budget to the bare minimum. What's interesting is how Suzuki made the film all that much more surreal as a result of the lack of funds. Action sequences unfold strangely, with characters suddenly in new locations with no branching shots to connect them. It's occasionally jarring but it's so much fun you probably won't notice. Most interesting is the action-packed finale which takes place at one of the film's central locations, a nightclub. Sometime between the earlier scenes and the finale the nightclub has been stripped bare and painted white, looking a little something like a dance club in Heaven. Ultimately the budget constraints are thrown back into the studio's face, as it only resulted in a stranger film than it would have been otherwise. The film's plot is pretty straightforward stuff but it's competently written. Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari) is a yakuza who's trying to go straight along with his former boss. Together they run a popular nightclub, but the club has caught the eye of an unscrupulous gangster who wishes to take the club away from them. A pair of murders committed by both sides leaves the club owners and the yakuza in need of a fall guy. Tetsu steps up to take the fall, says he'll go on the run. He leaves Tokyo with the cops hot on his trail. But no matter where he goes, Tetsu can't seem to avoid the rivals from his past or the new enemies that threaten to drag him back into a life of crime. Tetsuya Watari, who also sings the film's catchy—if overplayed—theme song, is good as the emotionally distant antihero. Suzuki claims the star had to be literally prodded to recite his lines. With his baby face, he doesn't exactly register as the tough guy that the crime underworld fears, but you can't deny he brings a cool sense of style to the film. For much of the movie he's dressed in a flashy blue suit, sometimes paired with yellow gloves, making him look a bit like he belongs in a comic book. Also fun is Tamio Kawaji, who plays a yakuza that repeatedly fails to kill the hero throughout the movie. Watari and Kawaji's meetings always result in bloodshed and the villain keeps coming back with more and more bandages covering his body. It's a standard hitman type character but the director and actor Kawaji make it into something more. Whereas Branded to Kill was full of strange ideas and characters, Tokyo Drifter showcases Suzuki's absurdist eye for color and abstract set/costume design. You wouldn't be wrong if you wanted to call it a 'pop art film.' Tokyo Drifter has much more in common with Dick Tracy than Battles Without Honor and Humanity. It's not until later in his career that Suzuki would combine both his vibrant visual style and his oddball storytelling with films like Zigeunerweisen, which I consider to be his masterpiece. Tokyo Drifter's highly enjoyable but it's not perfect. We get the theme song more often than we would probably like. At one point our hero escapes the bad guys, only to taunt them by singing as he walks off. One of the goons yells, "Damn him and his singing!" To some extent, I agree. We also get some shameless product placement for a hair dryer not once but twice. I think Suzuki tries to play it off as a joke, but it really feels a bit like a commercial that's interrupting the film. It's funny but not in the right way. When the film was turned into the studio before release, they forced Suzuki to change the ending. Originally we were to see our hero walk off with a green moon rising (to signify "peace," says Suzuki). The studio didn't get it and instead we get one more moment of Tetsu singing the theme song. We'll likely never see the original finale. In the end, the studio was none too pleased with the picture. Their reason for making it was to turn Tetsuya Watari into a star, something they think Suzuki failed to do. Clearly Suzuki's focus was on other things. With Tokyo Drifter he was given a fairly standard plot with a theme song dominating much of the picture, but Suzuki managed to turn it into something bold and new. Tokyo Drifter is not the fever dream masterwork that Branded to Kill was, but it's an impressive film just the same. The movie begins with a stark black and white segment shot on spoiled monochrome. The bloody finale takes place on a barren set painted white, with most of the principle cast dressed in white as well. Somewhere in between we get a brawl in a western saloon, a murder that changes a room's color scheme, a hero who sings more than he speaks, and a chase sequence through a junk yard that is interrupted so that we may see how a car is torched and crushed. Tokyo Drifter is some kind of brilliant. Kyle Warner’s Rating: 8/10 |
| Michael Jai White and Steve Austin collide in ‘Echo Effect’ Posted: 10 Jan 2015 06:29 PM PST  "Blood and Bone" American Theatrical Poster Production has wrapped for Echo Effect, an action-thriller starring Michael Jai White (Blood and Bone) and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (The Expendables). The two action stars previously worked together in 2011′s Tactical Force. According to Variety, White portrays a special operative who witnesses the brutal slaying of his brother right after returning home from his third tour of duty. He finds himself a target of a deadly conspiracy so vast that there's no one to trust but himself. Echo Effect is directed by Kevin Carraway (7 Below) and written by Lawrence Sara (Caged Animal). The film also stars Max Ryan (Rage) and Ashleigh Barnett also star. A trailer should be hitting soon. We’ll keep you posted! |
| River of Death | Blu-ray (Kino Lorber) Posted: 10 Jan 2015 05:00 PM PST  River of Death | Blu-ray (Kino Lorber) RELEASE DATE: May 2015 Kino Lorber presents the Blu-ray for 1989′s River of Death, directed by Steve Carver (Lone Wolf McQuade) and starring Michael Dudikoff, Robert Vaughn, Donald Pleasence and L.Q. Jones. It’s American Ninja meets Indiana Jones! In the nightmarish days of the Third Reich, a Nazi scientist escapes to the impenetrable jungles of the Amazon. Years later, a mysterious incurable disease breaks out among the natives and an adventurer (Dudikoff) is hired to search for the cause. The Blu-ray will feature audio commentary by Dudikoff and Steve Carver. Watch the trailer. Stay tuned for pre-order information. |
| There’s no way Frank Grillo is doing ‘The Raid’ remake Posted: 10 Jan 2015 12:01 AM PST  "The Raid" Theatrical Poster Director Patrick Hughes (Red Hill, The Expendables 3) is set to remake the 2011 Indonesian action film, The Raid. According to Variety: “While the film may not have the same martial art fighting styles included in this film, Hughes' background with heavy action should should satisfy both fans of the originals and auds not familiar with the original films.” Interestingly enough, while starting production on The Expendables 3 last year, Sylvester Stallone tweeted: "We believe we can do better than the The Raid, which was an excellent film… Raising the bar…" Gareth Evans, the director of The Raid, commented on Stallone’s tweet in our recent interview with him. Here’s what he had to say: “I prefer to focus on the fact that he praised the film and by singling it out as something he wants to compete with is a major compliment to what we achieved with so little. Sure it's possible they will succeed, likewise we're setting out to top the first film with The Raid 2 – and watching the edit, I think we have. None of this is nor should be a competition between filmmakers – when I go out and watch an action movie I hope it's well made, entertaining and also inspiring to give us ideas on how we can improve our own game. I wish them and anyone else out there making an action film every success, I know personally how f–king hard it is to make these films. So yeah, it's all good spirited.” According to The Wrap, Chris and Liam Hemsworth are being eyed for the remake. | For the remake, Hughes has the best wingmen money can buy: Gareth Evans, the director of the original, will serve as executive producer; and its stars and key martial arts choreographers, Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, will be staging the hand-to-hand action. In a recent interview with Crave, Gareth Evans shared his ideas on the remake: “Me on a personal level, I'd f*cking love to see them put Scott Adkins in there. I'm just going to say that right off because I just think he's great and I've wanted to work with him before. For him to be able to get a real, good fucking solid role like that in a studio film where it's all about gearing up towards martial arts, something that he's fully capable of, it'd be great. Michael Jai White would be great as well, all these guys. I could geek out about all the guys I want to see in these films and hopefully they get a chance.” Director Patrick Hughes has opened up about "his take" on his upcoming The Raid remake: “The thing that blew my mind with that film was the aesthetics and the fight sequences but also the simplicity of the premise, and there’s so much you can do with that. So our take on it is really interesting and I feel like if anything what I want to do is elevate the emotional aspect of it…". In addition, Hughes also talks about the remake's premise, which will follow a DEA task team that goes on secret Navy SEAL-style missions who work across borders. Several days ago, Collider (via deadline) reported that The Raid 2 remake would start filming in September. Today, Variety reports that production for the remake has been delayed until the first quarter of 2015. Also, in addition to the rumor of Chris and Liam Hemsworth leading the cast, the following names are now unofficially tied to the project as well: Luke Evans, Anthony Mackie, Frank Grillo and Ethan Hawke. Updates: Looks like Frank Grillo (The Grey) is one of the three main stars “officially” attached to The Raid remake. Here’s what Grillo told Collider: "We were officially offered the film, and so that was gonna go in September and now that doesn't go until January. So, you know, that's the way the movie business is. You're officially attached until there is no more movie, you know? But yeah, this is something that I'm planning on doing. Yeah… I’m one of the three main characters and, you know, I'm excited about it. I can't wait to actually go do it because it's gonna be Americanized, but not overtly Americanized. It's really gonna keep a lot of what made the first Raid so great.” | Taylor Kitsch (Battleship) has been offered the lead role in The Raid remake. In an interview with The Action Elite, here’s what Patrick Hughes had to say about Scott Adkins appearing in The Raid remake: “Actually, I met with Scott when I was out in Bulgaria doing early pre-production; he was there at the same studio shooting Hercules. I hung with him quite a bit and he's really an awesome guy. He's definitely in the mix and we're in the process of casting now…” BREAKING NEWS: Did The Raid remake just lose its star? Maybe. Frank Grillo recently took to Twitter (via FCS) to say this: “Watching my boy Iko Uwais in The Raid. There’s no way I’m doing a remake. Couldn’t do it justice.” |
| Behind Enemy Lines | Blu-ray (Olive Films) Posted: 10 Jan 2015 12:01 AM PST  Behind Enemy Lines | Blu-ray (Olive Films) RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2015 Olive Films presents the Blu-ray for 1997′s Behind Enemy Lines, starring Thomas Ian Griffith (The Karate Kid Part III, Hollow Point). It’s Excessive Force meets Rambo: First Blood Part II! An ex-marine (Griffith) and his well trained crew, return to Vietnam, after he discovers a former colleague isn’t dead but being held by a sadistic Communist general. Behind Enemy Lines also stars Chris Mulkey, Mark Carlton and Spanky Manikan. Watch the trailer. Pre-order Behind Enemy Lines from Amazon.com today! |
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