Eureka Video Blu-ray Synopsis: A spectacular fantasy epic from Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale), Samurai Reincarnation is an ultra-stylish samurai showdown from one of Japanese cinema's greatest innovators. In the aftermath of the failed Shimabara Rebellion, Shiro Amakusa (Kenji Sawada) is crucified, but returns as a vengeance-filled demon with the power to resurrect the dead. Shiro uses his power to assemble a team of undead warriors – including legendary swordsman Musashi Miyamoto (Ken Ogata) – and the only one who can stop them is wandering samurai Jubei Yagyu (Sonny Chiba). Making its UK debut from a stunning 2K restoration, the Masters of Cinema series is proud to present Kinji Fukasaku's chanbara masterpiece on Blu-ray. (122 Mins)

 

VTC UK VHS Synopsis: In the deadly fights and riots of the Shimabara Revolt against Christians, eighteen thousand rioters are exterminated. Shiro, the leader of the revolt is beheaded and his head put on public display, but that night, as the thunder roars, he is the first to be reincarnated and plans to burn the country with the flames of his hatred and anger. Powered by black magic he calls out to the dead Lady Hosokawa, and the two gather the support of a master swordsman, a monk-spearman, and a ninja. Elsewhere, the Shogun takes a fancy to Otama whose spirit is possessed by Lady Hosokawa. Violence surrounds the relationship. The Shogun first murders Otama's servant girl, and then shows signs of madness. The Shogun's fencing instructor, Tajima, senses the evil in Otama and determines to kill her. At the castle he is confronted by the monk-spearman, but manages to kill him before his own death. Then the fencing instructor reincarnates and teaches his son Jubei the art of swordsmanship. Jubei challenges the master swordsman to a fight and closely wins. Jubei rushes to the castle where his father and Shiro stand in his way... (90 Mins)

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Views: As I child, I remember catching Sonny Chiba & Hiroyuki 'Duke' Sanada movies almost by accident. I wasn't really old enough or as clued-in as I am today to really know who these people were – I just saw videos with Asian stars, karate, ninjas, and martial arts on them, which was enough for me to buy them. These included films such as The Streetfighter's Last Revenge, Roaring Fire, Sister Streetfighter, Time Slip, Legend Of The Eight Samurai, and the wonderfully dark Samurai Reincarnation, to name but a few. Of course, this was all on dodgy VHS in the late 1980s to early 90s, so to get these same films cleaned up and restored on Blu-ray today is like seeing them all again for the first time! And I guess that is really true for this one as the Eureka release has allowed me to finally see the whole film in its uncut glory, with a gorgeous 2K restoration and its original language version. For decades I had been rewatching my old VTC videotape which, although cut by almost 30 minutes, still brought me many years of entertainment. The film was directed by the late, legendary, Kinji Kukasaku – recognised globally for his smash hit adaptation of popular manga, Battle Royale – and was just one of many hits for the writer/director who was often considered as one of the film-makers associated with the New Wave movement of Japanese cinema in the 1960s and 70s. Throughout his lengthy career, Kinji directed many classic titles including the Drifting Detective films, Gang Vs G-Men, Under The Flag Of The Rising Sun, the Battles Without Honor & Humanity series, Yakuza Graveyard, Shogun's Samurai, Virus, Legend Of The Eight Samurai, and so much more through to his untimely death in 2003 during the production of Battle Royale 2: Requiem. Interestingly, Fukasaku only gained the job after original director, Hideo Gosha – the same man who helmed Three Outlaw Samurai, Violent Streets, and Sword Of The Beast – got arrested on firearms charges, getting himself fired from the job in the process...

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Sticking with its theme of hell, Toei Studios set the cinematic premiere of Samurai Reincarnation for 6pm on the 6th of June (the 6th month) – a publicity stunt similar to that Richard Donner's horror classic, The Omen, in 1976. It quickly proved to be a massive hit, going on to win two out of three nominations at the Japanese Academy Awards that year, with fans all over the world praising its brave mix of horror, ninja action, and fantasy, all wrapped up in a glorious historical epic. Although the film was revisited somewhat in the 90s via the Ninja Scroll (loose) anime sequel, Ninja Resurrection, Samurai Resurrection saw a live-action remake in 2003 courtesy of director Hideyuki Hirayama and, while it wasn't as well received as the original, still proved to be an entertaining piece. Based on the novel by Futaro Yamada, whose other novels Ninja Wars and Shinobi: Heart Under Blade were also adapted over the years (among many others), Kinji worked with Tatsuo Nogami in bringing Samurai Resurrection to the screen. Director of films such as The Last Hero, Heaven & Earth, and Rex, Haruki Kadokawa, proved to be one of the most popular producers of his time getting behind anime and live-action movies such as Kinji Fukasaku's Virus, Ninja Wars, Fall Guy, The Dagger Of Kamui, Silent Mobius, and Yamato for example, and goes all out with Samurai Resurrection and is a major player in bringing this hit film to life. I must also point out the fantastic score by composer Hozan Yamamoto, who brings a mix of classic 70s rock and haunting orchestral music to the film. I loved it and heard a few moments throughout that reminded me of the score in Jackie Chan's Armour Of God, weirdly!

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Of course, one of the biggest draws for Samurai Reincarnation is the amazing cast that it has on offer starting with the late, and brilliant, Shin'Ichi 'Sonny' Chiba who stars as famed ninja warrior Jubei Yagyu. Chiba had starred in many of Kinji Fukasaku films over the years, and had recently played the character of Jubei for him only a few years before in the classic Shogun's Samurai – originally known as Yagyu Clan Conspiracy. Saying that, Chiba had played Jubei a number of times during his career to great acclaim. Discovered by Toei Studios during a talent search in 1960, the much loved star went on to appear in a number of films over the next decade before gaining global notoriety for his role in The Bodyguard series and The Street Fighter; a film that was heavily criticised for its (then) excessive violence, yet quickly went on to become a firm favourite and cult classic for many over the years. From there, Sonny would become one of Japan's most bankable names and would go on to star in films such as the Sister Street Fighter series, The Executioner, Wolf Guy, The Killing Machine, Karate Warriors, Doberman Cop, Ninja Wars, and Roaring Fire, as well as international hits like Storm Riders, Born To Be King, Kill Bill 1 & 2, and Tokyo Drift, among many other film and television shows. Here, as Jubei, Sonny does yet another fantastic job both with his performance and in the action department – as expected. Chiba shares the lead with popular singer and actor, Kenji Sawada, who plays Shiro Amakusa; the resurrected Christian who leads his army from hell on a mission of vengeance. Although he had a career as the lead vocalist of Japanese band, The Tigers, Sawada had been acting for just over a decade before his prominent role in Samurai Reincarnation came about. It was interesting to learn that his character was actually based on a real Christian samurai, and I feel Kenji does a fantastic job in bringing such a great presence to the role. Oddly enough, I've only ever seen the star in one other movie apart from this, and that was as the lead of Takashi Miike's wonderful film, The Happiness Of The Katakuris (of which I also highly recommend). The equally talented Ken Ogata stars as the legendary swordsman, Musashi Miyamoto; resurrected by Shiro to join his revenge mission. It's worth noting that this is a character Sonny Chiba played himself a number of times throughout his career. Ogata started life in the television industry in the mid-60s, quickly gaining a large following before moving into the film world. As Musashi, Ken does a great job and looks fantastic as the samurai warrior; a look he would carry off in many roles from films such as Shadow Warriors, Shogun's Shadow, Zatoichi, Izo, The Hidden Blade, and more. I must also point out his role as a Japanese monk alongside Yuen Biao in the fun, Peacock King movie.

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If there's one thing that really excites me about the cast of Samurai Reincarnation, it's seeing the shogun assassin himself, Tomisaburo Wakayama, starring as Master Yagyu – father to Sonny's Jubei Yagyu who finds himself resurrected to join Shiro's army, only to end up facing off against the son he trained. I love Wakayama in this film, and have always enjoyed watching him ever since I caught the UK video edit of Shogun Assassin almost 40 years ago. Since then, I've managed to enjoy him even more in all the original Lone Wolf & Cub movies and remember catching him in Hollywood flicks such as Bad News Bears Go To Japan, and Ridley Scott's Black Rain as a yakuza boss – one of his final roles before his death in 1992. When this guy swings a sword on screen, it looks pretty damn amazing and his role here is no exception. This was no doubt down to his martial arts training, and the fact that he starred in so many chanbara, samurai, and ninja movies over the years (with some claiming that he had appeared in close to 500 titles during his career). Akiko Kana plays the historic Gracia Hosokawa; a member of the Akechi family (late 1500's) who was committed suicide after converting to the Catholic faith; an act shunned upon by any woman from the aristocratic samurai way of life. Another prominent character of the story, Akiko does a great job as the only female member of Shiro's ghost army. And then there's the handsome Hiroyuki Sanada who does a fantastic job as the young fighter Kirimaru who, unfortunately, falls into the hands of team resurrection. Sanada had been in the game for some time, starting his career as a child actor and model before joining (Sonny) Chiba's Japan Action Club where he would become a protege to the star, and focused on his dream of working in action cinema. This would soon start with Shogun's Samurai, with roles in Message From Space, G.I. Samurai, and Shogun's Ninja, quickly following. Roles in Hong Kong classics such as Ninja In The Dragons Den, Royal Warriors, and The Promise would add another notch to his belt, but Sanada would continue to keep his star shining in Japan with roles in films such as Fall Guy, Ninja Wars, Legend Of The Eight Samurai, Sure Death 4: Revenge, Ring 1 & 2, Twilight Samurai and much more. Of course, as a true star in the cinematic world, Hollywood soon came knocking resulting in Hiroyuki starring in hit films like The Last Samurai, Sunshine, Rush Hour 3, Speed Racer, The Wolverine, Avengers: Endgame, Bullet Train, and so much more...

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If you, like myself, only ever caught Samurai Reincarnation on VHS then you need to check out this 2K restored Blu-ray release from Eureka Video. To be able to see this classic film fully uncut, with that extra 30 minutes restored from its initial home video release, made for a much more enjoyable experience – especially the part explaining the story of Jubei's father. The film, and original novel, went on to inspire the popular arcade game, Samurai Showdown, and is still as compelling today as it was upon release. I often state how movies from this era, and often this director in general, are almost timeless and usually wonderfully made productions. Although it may not be perfect, Samurai Reincarnation is still a visual masterpiece today and one of my favourite pieces from Kinji Fukasaku. Although the film can often be slow-burning, its style serves its story and is a nice break from all the fast-paced, quick-fire editing and CGI heavy films from today's studios; although it may not make everyone happy with its bleak vision and dark ending. But it's clearly grabbed my attention for many decades now from its beautiful costume design to its detailed set-pieces, and its solid performances to the violent sword fights. If I would have anything to critique in a negative sense, it would be that Fukasaku missed a trick in not making this story into a more solid trilogy – thus allowing him to adapt a lot more of the original novel rather than try to cram it all into a two hour movie. But still, he did an incredible job and I've no doubt that I'll be returning to Samurai Reincarnation time and time again in the near future. This is a prime example of why this period of Japanese cinema was quite possibly their finest!

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Overall: A childhood favourite and classic of Japanese cinema, Samurai Reincarnation offers a lot to love including its fantastic cast!

 

Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary by Tom Mes, Samurai Fictions: Interview with Kenta Fukasaku, Trailer

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Watch my unboxing video of this Eureka Video Blu-ray release HERE