The Testament of Dr. Mabuse -- A Sense of Freedom -- Ozu of region 2 -- Dawn of the Dead special edition -- Ozu classics on region 3 -- Cult Japanese movies on region 1

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse from Eureka [23 Jan 2004]

Eureka continue to restore silent classics with Fritz Lang's brilliant 1933 crime drama The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, a sequel to his two-part 1922 Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler. Investigating the death of a colleague, Inspector Lohmann is led to his old enemy and criminal mastermind, Dr. Mabuse, now in an insane asylum, who is feverishly working on a scheme to plunge the entire country into chaos. This beautifully filmed work is less widely seen than Lang's most famous work of this period, M, but is in every way it's equal. A documentary and photo gallery are the extras, but the prospect of a restored print of the quality of Eureka's other recent releases is mouth-watering.

A Sense of Freedom [23 Jan 2004]

Anchor Bay have confirmed that The Long Good Friday director John Mackenzie's powerful 1979 TV drama A Sense of Freedom is to be released on UK region 2 DVD on 23 February. Contrary to reports elsewhere, it should be in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (it was shot on 16mm for television long before the days of widescreen TVs). The story of Scottish gangster Jimmy Boyle's violent rise to notoriety and eventual imprisonment, ironically for a murder he did not commit, was one of of the finest crime dramas ever made for television, and features a searing central performance from David Hayman. From the opening knife fight between to rival Glasgow gangs that spills onto a passing bus, this is compelling, troubling television - it is hard to sympathise at all with Boyle when he turns up on the doorstep of a man whose face he then cheerfully slashes with a razor, but when Boyle himself becomes victim to a hatchet attack later, our allegiances shift, and there is real satisfaction in his defiant return to a favourite drinking hole to intimidate his attackers. The sound has has a 5.1 remix, and the original 2.0 track has been included. On the extras front there is a Jimmy Boyle biography and a 67 minute documentary on Boyle, Convict, Rage and Reverie.

Ozu on region 2 [17 Jan 2004]

The films of Japanese master Ozu Yasujiro appears to be undergoing a major revival at the moment. Following on from Criterion's special edition of Tokyô Story on region 1 and Panorama Entertainment's region 3 releases, Artificial Eye have chosen to fly the flag for UK distributors by releasing two of Ozu's rarer works in the shape of The End of Summer (Kohayagawa-ke no aki 1961), Ozu's penultimate film, and Floating Weeds (Ukigusa 1959), a remake of his own 1934 silent, A Story of Floating Weeds. Both films are in their original aspect ration of 1.33:1 with mono Japanese audio with English subtitles and are available from 26 January.

Dawn of the Dead Special Edition [12 Jan 2004]

Having been on the 'In the Future' section of Anchor Bay's web site for some considerable time, the very eagerly anticipated special edition of George Romero's glorious horror satire Dawn of the Dead finally has a street date, and it's the 9 March. This region 1 disk (no region 2 announcement yet from Anchor Bay UK) features a newly remastered anamorphic 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, a choice of 5.1 or DTS sound remixes, or the original mono track, an audio commentary with writer-director George A. Romero, special make-up effects artist Tom Savini and assistant director Chris Romero, a comic book preview (whatever this may be), George Romero biography, poster and advertising gallery, theatrical trailers, TV and radio spots.

For Romero fans this has been a long time coming. Those even relatively new to DVD might like to know that this is not Anchor Bay's first release of this film. The original release sported a non-anamorphic print spread over two sides of a disk - unlike some whiners I have no problem with this, as it gives me the chance to grab another drink, but the contrast on side one was completely different to that on side two, and there were no extras to speak of. Anchor Bay once promised an even more special edition for later in the year, but that particular page is offline at present. I will update this article when I have more information.

Ozu classics on region 3 [5 Jan 2004]

In a move no doubt co-incidental to Criterion's release of Japanese master Ozu Yasujiro's masterpiece Tokyo Story (Tôkyô monogatari 1953), Hong Kong based Panorama Entertainment have released six of his other, often less widely seen works under the banner 'Ozu Yasujiro: 100th Anniversary Collection'. Late Spring (Banshun 1949), Early Summer (Bakushu 1951) and The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice (Ochazuke no aji 1952) all preceded Tokyo Story, while Early Spring (Soshun 1956), Good Morning (Ohayô 1959), Late Autumn (Akiboyori 1960) and An Autumn Afternoon (Sanma no Aji 1962) all followed. All are fine cinema, but An Autumn Afternoon in particular remains an extraordinarily moving and beautifully realised work, made all the more poignant for being the director's final film. All are presented 4:3 with mono sound, as is appropriate.

The quality of Hong Kong releases has improved a great deal in recent times, but we are not talking new films here, and it seems unlikely that major restorative work has been done on any of the titles - few studios anywhere have the resources or sheer commitment of Criterion, who incidentally have already released Good Morning. Several of these films were screened a year or so ago on Film Four when its programme was more adventurous and they were often in poor condition, occasionally diabolical - Record of a Tenament Gentlemen (Nagaya shinshiroku 1947) was far and away the worst. We can only hope. When our copy of An Autumn Afternoon arrives, we'll let you know.

Cult Japanese movies on region 1 [28 Dec 2003]

As if the arrival Kurosawa's Ikiru and Ozu's Tokyo Story weren't enough, Criterion have announced Kaneto Shindo's skin-creepingly atmospheric, beautifully shot Onibaba for a March release. A cult classic if ever there was one, it has been championed by many modern film-makers, including Exorcist director William Friedkin, who regards it as one of the most genuinely scary films every made. This apparently 3 disk set includes a restored, anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer, a new interview with the director, rare super-8 location footage, the original trailer, stills and promotional material gallery, an English translation of the Buddhist fable that inspired the film and a film-maker's statement from the director. Just as a side note, Onibaba's English title is The Hole, but the literal translation of the word is 'Old Witch'. Don't say we never teach you anything here.

Home Vision Entertainment, who have produced disks for the Criterion Collection, have also dived headlong into the world of Japanese cult cinema, all set for a January release. Perhaps the most exciting are three little seen movies from Seijun Suzuki, the man who turned pulp crime thrillers on their head with Tokyo Drifter (Tôkyô nagaremono 1966) and the hugely influential Branded to Kill (Koroshi no rakuin 1967), whose sheer unconventionality and narrative mayhem effectively got him fired. The films are the 1958 Underworld Beauty (Ankokugai no Bijo), the 1963 Kanto Wanderer (Kanto Mushuku) and the 1965 Tattooed Life (Irezumi Ichidai). All three will have new anamorphic transfers and mono sound and will be in their original Japanese language versions. Extras will be limited to filmographies and the odd trailer.

Fans of Battle Royale who cannot wait for Battle Royale II will be pleased to see two of Kinji Fukasaku 61 other films are also being released. Blackmail is My Life (Kyokatsu koso Waga Jinsei 1968) - previously known as both Blackmail is My Business and Call Me Blackmail! - and If You Were Young: Rage (Kimi ga wakamono nara 1970) - also known as Our Dear Buddies - both have anamorphic 2.35:1 transfers and mono sound, an interview with the director and film notes. Again the disks will feature the original Japanese language tracks.

Finally we have Cure (Kyua), a 1997 spine tingler from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, whose 2001 Kairo (Pulse) was creepy enough to once again be bought up for an undoubtedly inferior US remake, this time by none other than Wes Craven. Cure will have a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, a Dolby 2.0 soundtrack, trailer, filmography, film notes and an interview with the director. This compares well with the already available Japanese region 2 disk, and will probably be considerably cheaper to import.