The shuriken throwing star, the black mask and suit, the high-flying moves — the few identifiers synonymous with the ninja archetype. Radiance Films brings home one of the most respected and influential ninja films of all time with the Shinobi trilogy. Based on the original Shinobi no Mono novels, these three Daiei-produced films — Band of Assassins (1962), Revenge (1963) and Resurrection (1963) — follow Goemon Ishikawa (Raizo Ichikawa, the “Japanese James Dean”), an ambitious young ninja who enacts revenge against the brutal warlord Oda Nobunaga (Tomisaburô Wakayama, Lone Wolf and Cub) who has sworn to eradicate all ninjas while pursuing absolute power. Through the course of these three films, Goemon encounters wins and losses, faces unthinkable tragedy, and enacts bloody revenge. Almost jarring for a set of films made in the ‘60s, this is a brutal, unflinching trilogy about a man driven by revenge and aiming to prove that a ninja is not an army of many but an army of one.
In Band of Assassins, we meet our hero Goemon as a young, green lad in training. He is very ambitious and wants to be a great ninja, no matter what. However, as these tales go, he realizes the life of a ninja is not all what it praises to be. His father cautions him with realism, “A ninja is not permitted human pride, or happiness.” The latter tragically proves to be true for our hero, above all else, in the next two films. Band of Assassins is more of a set-piece film, putting all the characters in place for the next two brutal chapters. Oda Nobunaga is introduced as the big bad here, wiping out all of Goemon’s village and setting him on the course of delivering the brutal cold dish known as revenge. The sequel, Revenge, focuses on just that and … man, is this a grim sequel. Years after the cliffhanger of the previous film (the first two films end on cliffhangers), we see Goemon settled down with a family, leaving the ninja dreams behind him and living out his adult days with a wife and son. Then, as tragedy strikes in a jaw-dropping home invasion sequence, Goemon is no longer a young family man but now a fierce, bloodthirsty warrior. He also receives help from the legendary Hattori Hanzō (Saburo Date), who strives to bring peace back to the village and take down the evil Nobunaga. Satsuo Yamamoto (who directs the first two films) doubles down on the bloody violence first shown in Assassins. In Revenge, we witness crucifixions, severed heads on sticks, and murdered infants. This ain’t for the weak; black and white presentation be damned. Coming off a tense cliffhanger from Revenge, Kazuo Mori’s Resurrection begins with a subversive cold-open. With most believing our hero to be dead, Goemon plans his next move to take down the biggest enemy of them all, the source of all his grief and tragedy, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Eijiro Tono). Kazuo Mori ends the trilogy on a poignant note, with a subversive confrontation that speaks waves in tense dialogue rather than bloody action.
SHINOBI trilogy packshot. Photo courtesy of Radiance Films/MVD Entertainment Group.
Goemon is a fascinating hero, not just because his character design makes him the template for all ninja archetypes that will come after him. He’s fascinating because revenge is what drives him, more than glory, more than honor. Straight up revenge. Glory and honor are just earned in the process. With a self-glorified laugh and fierce glances that could kill, Raizo Ichikawa embodies the role of Goemon flawlessly. He carries each scene he’s in, even those with the incomparable Tomisaburô Wakayama. Great performances and tragic character motivations aside, these films can get very talky. There’re a lot of dialogue-heavy scenes that penetrate the margins of these films. They could be a product of the time or could be moments inserted to ease the transition; either way, they can sometimes put a damper on the momentum of the plot.
These films are presented in black and white with a 1080p high-definition digital transfer and uncompressed mono PCM audio. The striking contrast of the characters’ faces against their backdrops shines well in this Blu-ray release. The added featurettes here include a visual essay on the ninja in Japanese cinema by film scholar Mance Thompson, an interview with film critic Toshiaki Sato on star Raizo Ichikawa, and an interview with Tokyo Internation Film Festival artistic director Shozo Ichiyama on director Satsuo Yamamoto. There are beautiful reversible sleeves on each disc case (the first two films presented on disc one and the third film presented on disc two), and six postcards of cool promotional material from the films. The booklet presented in this limited edition also includes new writing from Jonathan Clements on the Shinobi no Mono series and a piece by Diane Wei Lewis on writer Tomoyoshi Murayama. This limited edition set is a must-have for fans of ninja films, both past and present.
Shinobi Special Features:
- High-Definition digital transfer of each film presented on two discs, made available on Blu-ray (1080p) for the first time outside of Japan
- Uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Interview with Shozo Ichiyama, artistic director of the Tokyo International Film Festival, about director Satsuo Yamamoto
- Visual essay on the ninja in Japanese cinema by film scholar Mance Thompson Interview with film critic Toshiaki Sato on star Raizo Ichikawa
- Trailers
- New and improved optional English subtitles
- Six postcards of promotional material from the films
- Reversible sleeves featuring artwork based on original promotional materials
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Jonathan Clements on the Shinobi no Mono series and Diane Wei Lewis on writer Tomoyoshi Murayama
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Available on Blu-ray from Radiance Films on May 28th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Radiance Films Shinobi webpage.
To purchase, head to the official MVD Entertainment Group Shinobi webpage.
Share this:
Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
Leave a Reply