Movie geeks rejoice!
For fans of the Blind Swordsman and his flashing cane-sword: Christmas is comin’ early, baby!
This week, Criterion announced the upcoming release of the whole Zatoichi film series in a Blu-ray/DVD combo box set, with brand new completely remastered transfers.
Well, ALMOST the entire series. And I’ll get to that in a minute…
But first, if you have no idea what I’m talking about – well, I envy you. It means you have yet to discover this ridiculously entertaining franchise and in that case you’re in for a real treat.
Criterion does a good job of summarizing the series –
The colossally popular Zatoichi films make up the longest-running action series in Japanese history and created one of the screen’s great heroes: an itinerant blind masseur who also happens to be a lightning-fast swordsman. As this iconic figure, the charismatic and earthy Shintaro Katsu became an instant superstar, lending a larger-than-life presence to the thrilling adventures of a man who lives staunchly by a code of honor and delivers justice in every town and village he enters. The films that feature him are variously pulse-pounding, hilarious, stirring, and completely off-the-wall. This deluxe set features the string of twenty-five Zatoichi films made between 1962 and 1973, collected in one package for the first time.
Colossally popular yes, but I’m still shocked by how many American movie lovers have never even heard of these films. I found them very late myself. In 2003, I stumbled onto film #5, Zatoichi On The Road, on the Independent Film Channel’s weekly “Samurai Saturday” matinee.
Up till then, with the exception of a few Kurosawa classics, I had zero knowledge of the Samurai genre. I think I lumped them together with the cheap badly made Kung-Fu movies of my childhood. Nevermind that Samurai warriors are Japanese and Kung-Fu is Chinese – what the hell did I know?
Suddenly, my finger was frozen over the remote control, my jaw dropped…
I was watching this chubby blind guy who seemed to be a strangely brilliant combination of Charlie Chaplin and Clint Eastwood – a slightly bumbling and big-hearted defender of underdogs who, when necessary, took out the bad guys with the most amazing badass swordfighting skills ever put on film.
I’d never seen anything like it. I was instantly hooked.
It was the beginning of an obsession, not just for the rest of the series, but for all the films of the late great Shintaro Katsu. I just couldn’t believe this wonderful performer and filmmaker, a screen legend in Japan, had been completely ignored by American audiences in the 60’s and 70’s. (And 80’s, 90’s…) How was that even possible? Here was a kind of parallel series to the James Bond films or Spaghetti Westerns and a few subtitles kept them off our screens? I even lived in Hawaii and regularly went to a drive-in on Oahu where I was exposed to exploitation films of that era – how was Zatoichi not on any of those double and triple bills?? That’s when I realized the full extent of our cinematic xenophobia. It opened my eyes, made me wonder what other great foreign popcorn classics had slipped past me.
Anyway, the chubby blind guy has made it to High Definition now, so all is forgiven.
So, as they say, the set includes all 25 original films from 1962 to 1973…
The Tale of Zatoichi / The Tale of Zatoichi Continues / New Tale of Zatoichi / Zatoichi the Fugitive / Zatoichi On the Road / Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold / Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword / Fight, Zatoichi, Fight / Adventures of Zatoichi / Zatoichi’s Revenge / Zatoichi and the Doomed Man / Zatoichi and the Chess Expert / Zatoichi’s Vengeance / Zatoichi’s Pilgrimage / Zatoichi’s Cane Sword / Zatoichi the Outlaw / Zatoichi Challenged / Zatoichi and the Fugitives / Samaritan Zatoichi / Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival / Zatoichi Meets The One-Armed Swordman / Zatoichi at Large / Zatoichi in Desperation / Zatoichi’s Conspiracy
…But not the final one – simply called Zatoichi The Blind Swordsman – made much later by Katsu in 1989. I can only guess some kind of rights issue got in the way. The omission is a bit of a bummer, but also makes a little sense when you think that a four-season Zatoichi TV series and a decade of absence separate those first 25 films from Katsu’s swan song. It’s easier to see that film as it’s own unique entity. I just hope someone else releases it on BD and does a similar remastering.
The GOOD NEWS is that film #14, Zatoichi’s Pilgrimage, which had it’s own rights issues and was only available in crappy pirated versions on DVD, is back in it’s proper place and the continuity intact.
There has already been some quibbling among the fanboys on Blu-ray.com about the size of the set, the “needless” inclusion of the DVD’s, and the cardboard sleeves that hold the discs, but it hasn’t dampened anyone’s excitement. Let’s face it, with the history I just described, this “niche” series may very well have never reached BD at all. And now it will be preserved for the ages in beautiful Criterion-style clarity.
It’s available for pre-ordering on Amazon for $157. Releases on 11/26.
Or, if you’re new to it, load up your Netflix queue! Believe me, you will not be sorry.
I’m going to celebrate with a couple saki bombs. Kanpai!
