Boiling
Point (1989)/Violent Cop (1990/Kitano/Film Movement
Blu-rays)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: C Films: C+
From
Japanese Director Takeshi Kitano (Battle Royale) and Film
Movement comes two nice Blu-ray releases of his early films - the
1989 brutal directorial debut Violent Cop and 1990
comedy/revenge thriller Boiling Point. Both films are
brilliantly directed and nicely mastered on Blu-ray disc.
Boiling
Point pits a baseball player (Masahiko Ono) out for revenge
against a Yazuka gang after their coach is severely injured by some
gangsters. Fueled by revenge, the two boys set off to Okinawa to
purchase a gun in order to get revenge. There they get befriended by
a psychotic Yakuza outcast who is planning a devious revenge plot of
his own.
Violent
Cop reminds me of Bad Lieutenant meets Dirty Harry
and stars Takeshi Kitano himself as Detective Azuma who takes the law
into his own hands. While investigating a series of drug-related
homicides, Azuma discovers that his close friend and colleague,
Iwaki, is supplying drugs from within the police force and soon finds
himself an early grave. Azuma's sister is kidnapped shortly after,
quenching Azuma's thirst for vengeance.
Both
films are presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect
ratio of 1.85:1 and a PCM 2.0 Japanese Stereo track with English
subtitles. These films look sharp on Blu-ray with incredible detail
that I'm sure is a vast improvement over previous releases, but there
is controversy that Cop
has some issues that we could not confirm by this posting as far as
its transfer is concerned. We'll follow up when new information
comes to light.
Boiling
Point extras include
Okinawa
Days: Takeshi's Second Debut featurette
Collectible
Booklet
Reversible
Cover
Violent
Cop extras include
That
Man is Dangerous: The Birth of Takeshi Kitano featurette
Collectible
booklet
Reversible
Cover
Both
of these films are fun watches and great if you enjoy stylized
Japanese cinema.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
