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| Samurai Assassin |
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Genre:Action Adventure
Reviewed In Issue 31 Of Widescreen Review®
Stars:
Toshiro Mifune, Keiju Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama, Yunosuke Ito, Koshiro Matsumoto |
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 DVD General Information |
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| (Studio/Distributor): |
AnimEigo, Inc. |
| (Catalog Number): |
AD098038 |
| (MPAA Rating): |
Not Rated |
| (Retail Price): |
$59.98 |
| (Running Time In Minutes): |
122 |
| (Color Type): |
Black & White |
| (Chaptered/Scene Access): |
Yes |
| (Closed Captioned): |
No |
| (Theatrical Release): |
1964 |
| (LD Release Date): |
11/98 |
| (THX® Digitally Mastered): |
No |
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| Credits Information |
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| (Director): |
Kihachi Okamoto |
| (Screenplay/Written By): |
Shinobu Hashimoto |
| (Story): |
NA |
| (Music): |
Masaru Sato |
| (Director Of Photography): |
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| (Production Designer): |
Iwao Akune |
| (Visual Effects): |
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| (Costume Designer): |
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| (Editor): |
Yoshitami Kuroiwa |
| (Supervising Sound Editors): |
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| (Re-Recording Mixers): |
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| (Executive Producers): |
NA |
| (Co-Producers): |
NA |
| (Producers): |
Tomoyuki Tanaka |
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| DVD Picture Information |
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| (Principal Photography): |
Tohoscope |
| (Theatrical Aspect Ratio): |
2.35:1 |
| (Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): |
2.20:1 |
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| DVD Sound Information |
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| (DVD Soundtrack): |
Mono Sound |
| (Theatrical Sound): |
Optical Mono |
| (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack): |
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| (Remastered Dolby Digital): |
No |
| (Remastered DTS Digital Surround): |
No |
| (Additional Languages): |
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| WSR Narrative Review |
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Story Synopsis:
Do not pass over this movie just because Samurai movies “aren’t your thing.” Based on the book, “Samurai Nippon” by Jiromasa Gunji, Samurai Assassin is a superior action film that will glue you to your seat from the first subtitle to the last. It tells the story of a young man who has been dealt many cruel blows. His deepest desire is to become a great Samurai warrior. He joins a group of conspirators who seek to assassinate the Shogunate elder in the hope that if he succeeds, he will impress the Samurai leaders and be offered a job. Once again, distributor AnimEigo gives a fascinating Japanese history lesson in its liner notes. The black and white picture exhibits an inconsistent grayscale that is generally nicely contrasted, but undefined. Images are wanting in sharpness and detail, lacking natural fine detail. Shadow delineation is poor and lacking visual information in the dark scenes. Noise and artifacts are apparent throughout. The yellow English subtitles are cut off at the bottom of widescreen monitors. The aspect ratio is framed at 2.20:1. The soundtrack is undistinguished monaural that sounds distorted with slight background noise and hum.
LaserDisc Picture:
The black and white picture exhibits an inconsistent grayscale that is generally nicely contrasted, but undefined. Images are wanting in sharpness and detail, lacking natural fine detail. Shadow delineation is poor and lacking visual information in the dark scenes. Noise and artifacts are apparent throughout. The yellow English subtitles are cut off at the bottom of widescreen monitors. The aspect ratio is framed at 2.20:1.
LaserDisc Soundtrack:
The soundtrack is undistinguished monaural that sounds distorted with slight background noise and hum.
| (Surround Bass Below 50Hz): |
No |
| (Aggressive System Surround): |
No |
| (Intense 25Hz Bass): |
No |
| (Deep Bass Challenging): |
No |
| (Aggressive 0.1 LFE): |
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| (Holosonic Soundfield): |
No |
| (Aggressive Split Surround): |
No |
| (Center Back Surround Imaging): |
No |
| (Directionalized Dialogue): |
No |
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality: |
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Superb Music Score Recording Quality: |
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Superb Special Visual Effects Quality: |
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Superb Color Fidelity: |
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Superb Cinematography: |
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Reference LaserDisc: |
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Collector Edition: |
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DVD To LaserDisc Comparison:
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