679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
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.
SPECIAL FEATURES
• New digital restorations of all twenty-five films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
• The Blind Swordsman, a 1978 documentary about Zatoichi portrayer and filmmaker Shintaro Katsu, along with a new interview with its director, John Nathan
• New interview with Asian-film critic Tony Rayns
• Trailers
• New English subtitle translations
• PLUS: A book featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien; synopses of the films by critic, novelist, and musician Chris D.; "The Tale of Zatoichi," the original short story by Kan Shimozawa; and twenty-five new illustrations inspired by the films, by twenty-five different artists
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.
SPECIAL FEATURES
• New digital restorations of all twenty-five films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
• The Blind Swordsman, a 1978 documentary about Zatoichi portrayer and filmmaker Shintaro Katsu, along with a new interview with its director, John Nathan
• New interview with Asian-film critic Tony Rayns
• Trailers
• New English subtitle translations
• PLUS: A book featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien; synopses of the films by critic, novelist, and musician Chris D.; "The Tale of Zatoichi," the original short story by Kan Shimozawa; and twenty-five new illustrations inspired by the films, by twenty-five different artists
- ptatler
- Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:08 pm
- Contact:
Re: 4001? The Tale of Zatoichi
Where do these fall in the spectrum of samurai cinema? I'm an intermittent fan. Loved THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI, respect YOJIMBO/SANJURO/SEVEN SAMURAI, and kind of loathed the Samurai Trilogy. Are the Zatoichi films for die-hards only?
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: 4001? The Tale of Zatoichi
It depends on film to film obviously, but for the most part this is an excellent grounded series with not of the crazy elements you'll find in Katsu's other big series Hanzo. Three Outlaw Samurai probably is the best comparison point of what you mentioned in terms of the usual shooting style and story strengths/ weaknesses. The cost if they go for a huge set probably is a die-hards thing, but the individual films are not and sometimes are directed by some of the best studio men in Japan at the time.
- ptatler
- Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:08 pm
- Contact:
Re: 4001? The Tale of Zatoichi
We're lucky enough to have a library that consistently acquires all CC-related material (they even had the AK100 discs until people started stealing them). I'll probably go that route unless there's a stand-alone disc to blind buy.knives wrote:The cost if they go for a huge set probably is a die-hards thing, but the individual films are not and sometimes are directed by some of the best studio men in Japan at the time.
- dwk
- Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm
Re: 4001? The Tale of Zatoichi
Don't forget that 18 of the Zatoichi films are free on Criterion's Hulu channel, but, being free, they do have ads.
- The Narrator Returns
- Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:35 pm
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
Anyone else notice this in the specs?
Criterion still wants us to like Border Radio.PLUS: A book featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien; synopses of the films by critic, novelist, and musician Chris D.; “The Tale of Zatoichi,” the original short story by Kan Shimozawa; and twenty-five new illustrations inspired by the films, by twenty-five different artists
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
The one shot of packaging for this is confusing given what we know. What's the split of Blu-rays and DVDs? Why does each film have a Criterion cover but no place for it within the book (place for fold-out art but not structured in the template)? They had to know there'd be a lot of questions about this, but no effort's been made to explain anything yet. I am super-excited at this and it looks like a better deal as far as the girth of films offered, but I'd like some clarity!
- Matt
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
Instead of going dual-format, they should just put a free DVD copy of Border Radio in every case of every release.The Narrator Returns wrote:Criterion still wants us to like Border Radio.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
They already tried that with Border Radio and we all know how that turned outMatt wrote:Instead of going dual-format, they should just put a free DVD copy of Border Radio in every case of every release.The Narrator Returns wrote:Criterion still wants us to like Border Radio.
- dwk
- Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
Chris D has written a lot about Japanese films, so an essay from him shouldn't come as a surprise.
- matrixschmatrix
- Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
From the one page we can see, it looks like they've got as many as three movies on one blu- so 9 blus, 18 DVDs, with some DVDs containing a single feature and some containing 2?domino harvey wrote:The one shot of packaging for this is confusing given what we know. What's the split of Blu-rays and DVDs? Why does each film have a Criterion cover but no place for it within the book (place for fold-out art but not structured in the template)? They had to know there'd be a lot of questions about this, but no effort's been made to explain anything yet. I am super-excited at this and it looks like a better deal as far as the girth of films offered, but I'd like some clarity!
Also, is it possible that it's not actually a book containing the discs, but individual little pull out sleeves? Still don't know how you cram three covers on there, though.
Last edited by matrixschmatrix on Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Moe Dickstein
- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:19 pm
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
There's also the documentary too, it may be fewer films on some discs.
The packaging reminds me a bit of the Universal Hitchcock Blu set, which has worked pretty well in spite of my aversion to this sort of packaging.
The packaging reminds me a bit of the Universal Hitchcock Blu set, which has worked pretty well in spite of my aversion to this sort of packaging.
- jindianajonz
- Jindiana Jonz Abrams
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:11 pm
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
It looks like the booklet has the "cover" art (note how all the covers on the webpage are roughly square shaped but have a solid block to fill in a roughly DVD shaped rectangle). The fact that the page opened on the booklet matches the art shown for Zatoichi's Revenge seems to confirm this.domino harvey wrote:The one shot of packaging for this is confusing given what we know. What's the split of Blu-rays and DVDs? Why does each film have a Criterion cover but no place for it within the book (place for fold-out art but not structured in the template)? They had to know there'd be a lot of questions about this, but no effort's been made to explain anything yet. I am super-excited at this and it looks like a better deal as far as the girth of films offered, but I'd like some clarity!
EDIT: Also, you can see behind the flap of the "book" containing the discs that there is a blu spotted pattern; this doesn't match any of the covers so I doubt the cover art will be contained on the DVD book itself.
- Tom Hagen
- Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:35 pm
- Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
What an insane release to chose to start dual format with. I guess if you're going to go for something new, you may as well go all-in.
Also, I'm proud that you guys are still making Border Radio jokes.
Also, I'm proud that you guys are still making Border Radio jokes.
- movielocke
- Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
damn, the release date of the Zatoichi set indicates it won't be in the BN sale (which usually ends before the last week of November.
- matrixschmatrix
- Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
Didn't it spill over into December last year? They extended the July sale into August, so maybe that'll be a trend.
- HistoryProf
- Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:48 am
- Location: KCK
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
Holy Shit....I figured that would be $299.95 - this is an amazing deal. I've only seen a couple of the series (and enjoyed them), but for under $100 during the B&N sale ($112.50 - 10% - $8) That's a no brainer. And it's absolutely gorgeous. Wow.Moe Dickstein wrote:Zatoichi
TWENTY SEVEN discs Dual Format for $225 list price
http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/1012-z ... -swordsman" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
This is exactly the kind of release the BN sale was made for. Most of us won't be seeing it for a long while if it doesn't come out within that time frame!
- jedgeco
- Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:28 am
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
On the down side, if it doesn't come out in time for November's sale, there's no guarantee that BN will be around by July 2014.domino harvey wrote:This is exactly the kind of release the BN sale was made for. Most of us won't be seeing it for a long while if it doesn't come out within that time frame!
- Vegeta84
- Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:27 pm
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
I wonder if the Zatoichi films will be flip discs or contain more than 1 film per disc?
- HistoryProf
- Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:48 am
- Location: KCK
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
Now that I think about it...I wonder if that's why they pushed it to 11/26 - that's the Tuesday before turkey day and the sale is usually over that monday. bastards.jedgeco wrote:On the down side, if it doesn't come out in time for November's sale, there's no guarantee that BN will be around by July 2014.domino harvey wrote:This is exactly the kind of release the BN sale was made for. Most of us won't be seeing it for a long while if it doesn't come out within that time frame!
- HistoryProf
- Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:48 am
- Location: KCK
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
Is there any such thing as a flipper with dvd on one side and blu on the other?Vegeta84 wrote:I wonder if the Zatoichi films will be flip discs or contain more than 1 film per disc?
- jindianajonz
- Jindiana Jonz Abrams
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:11 pm
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
I don't think Criterion has ever released a flip discVegeta84 wrote:I wonder if the Zatoichi films will be flip discs or contain more than 1 film per disc?
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.
I know there's CDs with DVDs on the flip-side, but never heard of it for Blu-rays. But there's no chance in hell of Criterion putting out a flipper discHistoryProf wrote:Is there any such thing as a flipper with dvd on one side and blu on the other?Vegeta84 wrote:I wonder if the Zatoichi films will be flip discs or contain more than 1 film per disc?
- cdnchris
- Site Admin
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
- Location: Washington
- Contact:
Re: 679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
Spinal Tap is a flipper.jindianajonz wrote:I don't think Criterion has ever released a flip discVegeta84 wrote:I wonder if the Zatoichi films will be flip discs or contain more than 1 film per disc?