{"id":28093,"date":"2024-02-28T00:11:14","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T08:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28093"},"modified":"2024-02-28T00:11:14","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T08:11:14","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-black-tight-killers-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28093","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: BLACK TIGHT KILLERS (1966)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is\ncurrently available for purchase. Only 3000 copies will be made available.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Japanese feature Black Tight Killers<\/em> is a\ndefinite cult film, but one that took some time to find its audience. It wasn\u2019t\na smash in its homeland and barely earned a release in English-speaking\nterritories during its original release. This reviewer was first introduced to\nthe title back in 2005 when a friend picked up a DVD of the title and brought\nit over to check out with a bunch of friends. We were wowed by what we saw, as\nthe caper moved like a bullet and was memorably outrageous and strange. Few in\nNorth America had ever heard of the picture up until this point, but it wasn\u2019t\nlong before a following began growing in this part of the world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The excellent distributor Radiance Films recently acquired\nthe distribution rights and is now releasing a Blu-ray of the title. While it\nmay only be a Blu-ray that doesn\u2019t offer a fancy new restoration, those who\npick it up aren\u2019t likely to be disappointed. The film appears incredibly sharp\nand slick. And for those watching it upconverted on their 4K Ultra HD player,\nit looks quite appealing. This is a wild title full of glowing neon lights and\nstylized backdrops that are fantastic to watch. It\u2019s a great looking disc of\neye-popping, colorful title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those unfamiliar with the story, the plot follows a\ncharismatic war photographer named Hondo (Akira Kobayashi) returning home and\nflirting with stewardess Yoriko (Chieko Matsubara). The two head out on a date\nand the protagonist is smitten with the woman, but it isn\u2019t long before they\u2019re\ninterrupted by a group of female ninjas dressed in black with leather jackets.\nAfter a skirmish Yoriko ends up being kidnapped by other figures. The\ndisbelieving police immediately brand Hondo as the guilty party, but a\njournalist friend vouches for him (well, more like just insists the cameraman\ncouldn\u2019t possibly be the killer because he was on a date). The hero follows the\ntrail, eventually learning that her father was a wealthy man who may have\nstashed a treasure during World War II. Not only is the female gang determined\nto locate it, but so are mob outfits from both Japan and the US. Despite their\nattempts to kill him, Hondo tentatively teams with the \u201cBlack Tight Killers\u201d and\ntheir leader Akiko (Akemi Kita) in order to find Yoriko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This movie is a bizarrely entertaining meld of action, go-go\ndancing, James Bond<\/em>-esque spy tropes, comedy and a hint of melodrama,\nall told in the wildest and most exaggerated way possible. Between several\nboogie-centric interludes, the title characters employ all kinds of crazy\nweapons to try and eliminate threats. They chew and spit gum that acts as a\nbullet and use vinyl records as flying blades at one point. And those aren\u2019t\neven the most outrageous devices featured in the movie. The ladies are\ncompletely relentless in their pursuit and are a blast to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s very entertaining to watch Hondo as well as the\nlove-struck lead who immediately finds himself in over his head and reacting to\nall of the strangeness occurring around him. After some near misses with the\nfemale gang (which include him being trapped and almost being sweated to death\nin a statue serving as a sauna), he actually befriends them. This leads to a\nseries of deadly encounters between the ninja women and mobsters. Many of these\nbits end violently with a team member dying in Hondo\u2019s arms. Hilariously, they\nall compliment him for being a generally nicer guy than they expected him to\nbe. It\u2019s all very funny to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, the climax features more craziness that includes\nan obvious nod to the film Goldfinger<\/em>, and a funny denouement in which\nHondo queries Yoriko about continuing their relationship. Yes, you\u2019ve probably\nseen all of these elements in various James Bond<\/em> pictures, but you\u2019ve\nnever seen them delivered in such a goofy and over-the-top manner. And if that\nwasn\u2019t enjoyable enough, the cinematography is spectacular. This movie looks\nmuch for lavish and impressive than its actual budget would suggest. It\u2019s simply\na great time for anyone who wants to see a generous helping of campiness in\ntheir adventure pics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The disc arrives with an informative film historian\ncommentary track. It seems that his introduction to the title was the same as\nmine (through that original DVD release). He goes into the history of the\nproduction, noting that the movie was not-so-closely adapted from a Japanese\nbook. The cast and crew with their many credits are all identified. The figure\ngoes into detail about the fact that Japan had opened its doors to the\ninternational world and that this influence was very visible in the finished product.\nWhile it didn\u2019t really end up traveling outside its home country, it definitely\nshows pop culture influences from around the world and integrates them with its\nown traditions (including ninjas and the Yakuza). This is an entertaining track\nthat does offer plenty of insight into how this crazy project came together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also an archival interview with late director\nYasuharu Hasebe. This was his debut feature and while he admits that he enjoyed\nmaking it, the studio hated the final results. He laments that it derailed his\ncareer for about 18 months, but that he eventually found more success with\nlater features like Bloody Territories<\/em> in 1969. The movie maker’s\nperspective on his career is very direct and honest and this is a good\ninterview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The disc also contains a trailer for the film. And since\nthis is a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d, those who pick up the title will get a nice\nbooklet with more writing on the movie and a reversible sleeve featuring great\noriginal and newly commissioned artwork for the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black Tight Killers<\/em> knocked me for a loop when I\noriginally saw it some 20 years ago and it\u2019s still every bit as wonderfully\neccentric today as it was back then. Anyone with an interest in oddball or cult\nfilms owes it to themselves to pick this release up. The movie looks great on\nBlu-ray and is certain to turn heads and elicit surprises and chuckles with\nviewers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is currently available for purchase. Only 3000 copies will be made available. The Japanese feature Black Tight Killers is a definite cult film, but one that took some time to find its audience. It wasn\u2019t a smash in its homeland and barely earned a release in English-speaking territories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[96,697,2877,2878,2879,2922,2928,3067,4910,5013,10385,16584,18907,24579],"class_list":["post-28093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-96","tag-action","tag-black-tight-killers","tag-black-tight-killers-blu-ray-review","tag-black-tight-killers-review","tag-blasts-from-the-pas","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-blu-ray","tag-crime","tag-cutl-film","tag-japan","tag-radiance-films","tag-spy","tag-yakuza"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28093\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}