Sure Death Revenge DVD

SURE DEATH REVENGE (1987)
Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock
117 Minutes
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Produced by Hisashi Yamanouchi, Yozo Sakurai
Written by Tetsu Nogami, Kinji Fukasaku, Akira Nakahara
Cinematography by Shigeru Ishihara
Sword Choreography by Toshio Sagawara
Music by Masa Akihirao
Cast: Makoto Fujita, Sonny Chiba, Henry Sanada, Hiroaki Murakami, Kazuko Kato, Ken Sugai, Ippei Hikairu
Voice Cast: Michael McConnohie, Elisha Allan, James Lyon, Joshua Seth, Mona Marshall, Barbara Goodson, Jackson Daniels, Rick Livingston
English Version Produced by John Sirabella and Eric Sherman
Video: Full Frame (1.33.1)
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English, Japanese
Packaging: Keepcase
Chapter Stops: 12

SURE DEATH: REVENGE is directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Perhaps you’ve heard of him—he sent shockwaves rippling through the world of International Cinema with his 2000 film, BATTLE ROYALE. Cult film mavens will remember Fukasaku’s genre efforts VIRUS (1980), MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978), and THE GREEN SLIME (1968). Martial arts fans remember his contributions to the genre, namely SHOGUN’S SAMURAI (1978), SAMURAI

REINCARNATION (1981), and LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI (1983)—those last three all star the venerable Sonny Chiba. During the 1970’s, Sonny Chiba and director Kinji Fukasaku established a prosperous working relationship and friendship that lasts to this day. When Chiba finally brought his dream project LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI to the screen in 1983, he thought of no other director. The financial failure of that film hurt Chiba in the end, both men reunited again in HISSATSU 4: URAMI HARASHIMASU, a 1987 feature film based on the long running Japanese Chambara TV show called SURE DEATH. Media Blasters, who have tremendous success with modern Samurai Films like MOON OVER TAO and the SAMURAI ARMAGEDDON series, optioned this swordsmanship saga for Region 1 release. And while Chinese Kung Fu classics are enjoying tremendous popularity on DVD these days, worthy Samurai flicks on DVD are just too few and far between in the U.S. market. As in all Media Blasters’ live action releases, the company produced an English language version to go along with the original Japanese version. They renamed the motion picture to SURE DEATH: REVENGE because HISSATSU 4: URAMI HARASHIMASU couldn’t fit on the video cover. Being a feature adaptation of a TV series barely heard of outside of Japan, the show contains many characters who are glimpsed in the film only a few times; only followers of the show will know about them. SURE DEATH: REVENGE centers mainly on the exploits of two hired killers, played by Sonny Chiba and Makoto Fujita, who portrays the main character of the SURE DEATH TV series.

A young and clever magistrate Okuda schemes to advance his status in the corrupt government of Imperial Japan. Okuda also gets his sleazebag friends jobs in high positions, including as his own elite branch of Samurai in the Shogun’s army. Okuda’s friends invade the nearest village, and when one of their horses goes berserk and kills an elder Samurai, his young daughter swears vengeance. She goes to an assassin’s guild to hire mercenary Samurai to kill the men responsible for the death of her father. She offers the job to the entire guild, but only two people show interest because the daughter doesn’t have a whole lot to offer. Mondo Nakamura (Makoto Fujita) and Bunshichi Warabeya (Sonny Chiba) are the only two professionals to accept the assignment. They don’t work together as a team, however. Both men investigate the trail of deception surrounding the murder, and they consistently get in each other’s way. There is evidence to suggest the runaway horse was a planned murder attempt. Nakamura and Warabeya must reluctantly work together to not only track down and kill their targets, but also discover and expose an entire Governmental conspiracy that leads to the Shogun himself!

SURE DEATH: REVENGE is a melting pot of genre conventions. It’s one-part Samurai flick, one-part Spaghetti Western, one-part Shaw Brothers epic. With the exception of some minor characters, the script is well written and tightly paced with lots of emotion. In addition to being a Samurai flick, SURE DEATH REVENGE is a conspiracy thriller with plenty of red herrings. The assassins are investigating the conspiracy, and the villain makes life difficult for those who get too close to the truth. The villain goes so far as to betray his loyal followers to further his cause. Much of the success of SURE DEATH: REVENGE falls to director Kinji Fukasaku who really plays up the mood and visual aspects of the film. He uses a lot of claustrophobic camera angles, neon backlighting, and night shooting to generate atmosphere and suspense. The action shots consists of one-on-one swords fights, multiple swordfights (with lots of gore); and bigger-scale riot scenes. These action set pieces are staged by Sonny Chiba’s Japan Action Club, who by 1987 still had not lost their touch. If the movie has one flaw, it’s the depiction of the androgynous villain Okuda and his equally feminine followers. Things become rather cheesy when these Samurais with their punk hairdos ride onto the scene. Overall, the story, characters, action, and Spaghetti Western visuals make SURE DEATH: REVENGE a treat for genre fans.

There is also plenty of characterization and we get to see the other sides of the main characters played by Makoto Fujita and Sonny Chiba. Fujita’s character seeks a mistress to escape from the constant bickering of his wife and scheming mother-in-law who live with him. Unfortunately, the woman he finds is fated to meet her destiny. This actor Makoto Fujita, though a little older and frailer than most Chambara actors (like Toshiro Mifune, Shintaro Katsu, or Tomisaburo Wakayama), still makes for a completely fearsome and believable Samurai. Sonny Chiba’s situation is even more unnerving. Like LONEWOLF AND CUB, Chiba’s character is a major assassin who employs two adopted children to accomplish his grisly ends. The two children love him like a true father. For some unexplained reason, Chiba accepts the boy as his own, but rebuffs the kid’s older sister. When he is badgering her, it generates great heat for his character, and leads you to believe he is evil. Eventually, Chiba is viewed in an entirely heroic manner. In a clever bit, Chiba uses toys like tops and spinning wheels as weapons to assassinate his targets. The other character who gets much screen time is Okuda, the androgynous Magistrate. The script leads you believe he is merely a pretty boy schemer, but ultimately he turns out to be a lot more—and an exceptional swordsman, to boot. The other characters who join Makoto Fujita in the final battle are cast members from the TV series. These characters are never explored and people not familiar with the SURE DEATH saga will be confused about them.

SURE DEATH: REVENGE was shot in 1.85.1 widescreen. Sadly, Tokyo Shock presents the film in a cropped presentation. As far a full frame presentation goes, this is pretty good. The movie was shot in 1987, and the film stock and general quality hold up much better than older Samurai stuff from the 1960s and 1970s. The image is crisp with full bodied colors and impeccable detail. The video source material used by Tokyo Shock is free from blemishes and scratches. The magnificent costumes and set designs are appropriately regal (except for some of the androgynous bodyguards) and done justice in the transfer. The cropping gives the SURE DEATH: REVENGE a claustrophobic feel, and yet the sword fighting sequences are fully retained and are executed with vigor. Compared to Kung Fu movies though, these sword fights don’t last too long. There are a few moments during the movie where the screen becomes brazenly washed out—I assume this is the director’s way of transitioning shots. The white English subtitles are easy to read and located at the bottom of the screen.

Media Blasters presents SURE DEATH: REVENGE in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. From the Setup menu, you can select original Japanese dialog or Media Blaster’s English produced version. While the soundtrack lacks true soundfield imaging, the audio itself is exhibits depth and precision. The sword fights provide the sounds of metal-on-metal, and whizzing shurikens streak overhead in the soundfield. Sonny Chiba’s character also uses rigged toys for weapons which also make some strange sounds. A highlight of SURE DEATH: REVENGE is Masa Akihirao’s salsa and Latino flavored score, which further conjures up the spirit of a Spaghetti Western. This score, which may sound inappropriate on paper, adds to the atmosphere of the movie. It is the loudest and most prominent sound element in the mix. The Japanese dialog is delivered with clarity and intensity. The English dialog is done by those same folks who dub anime programs, so if you are familiar with these shows, you’ll recognize many voices. Unfortunately, the English dubbing is pretty weak--with the middle-aged Mondo Nakamura talking like a young American executive, things get pretty bizarre vocal wise.

From the special Features menu, you can view trailers for the following Tokyo Shock DVDs:

Although Kinji Fukasaku is no Akira Kurasowa, and SURE DEATH: REVENGE cannot touch the classics of the genre, the film works as a contemporary take on a fondly-remembered-but-rapidly-dwindling-genre. SURE DEATH: REVENGE certainly matches up with the more exploitative Samurai fare, like HANZO THE BLADE, RAZOR, and the LONEWOLF AND CUB series. There are some major drawbacks to this feature, but the character of Mondo Nakamura kicks ass, and Sonny Chiba fans will delight in seeing their hero as they’ve never seen him before—and actually acting up a storm. It is very cool how the filmmakers deliberately incorporate Spaghetti Western influences to the film. The folks at Media Blasters should be flayed with a Samurai sword for not releasing this one in widescreen, though. This is probably the first Chambara Region 1 DVD to include bilingual audio, as unlike Chinese chop-sockey flicks, Samurai movies were never dubbed (and rightly so). However, this English produced version of Shochiku’s feature film is the perfect medium to turn your kids or subtitle-hating friends onto the world of Samurai Cinema. I for one would like to see the Tokyo Shock label release some more SURE DEATH programs, or other similar Chambara films.

If you ever come face-to-face with a guy like this drawing his sword, do the right thing and run in the other direction.

Movie:	3.5
Video:	4.0
Audio:	3.5
Extras:	1.0
Overall:	3.5