With all the talk of Japanese action star Sakaguchi Tak‘s abrupt retirement announcement last Spring, the possibilities for any more long-awaited films like a sequels to Kitamura Ryuhei’s Versus and longtime friend, stuntman/action coordinator Shimomura Yuji‘s 2005 directorial debut, Death Trance, appear nothing short of grim. Of course, this ultimately led to an outcry of fans within the niche who otherwise love the actor for all his contributions to the art of film and action design within the last fifteen years. And thankfully, voices were heard enough to convince Sakaguchi for one last on-screen hoorah with the upcoming action thriller, Re:Born.
Soon enough, promo videos began making their way online as of this past May showcasing the actor in training for his upcoming role in the film, which to date, still doesn’t have much to go on in terms of plot. However, the production just unveiled another new training featurette with Sakaguchi under the tutelage of world-renowned Special Forces training and combat expert, Inagawa Yoshitaka, with segments of the two practicing some pretty intricate and delicate choreography involving Karambit knives and other bladed weapons. This, coupled by ensuing captions describing the historical pertinence of Ninjutsu and Bujutsu with the stealth-based close-quarters combat choreography seen in the video, says a lot about how ambitious this film will be during production next year.
As much as I hate to know this may very well be Sakaguchi‘s final film, I certainly can’t wait to see how he and Inagawa will pull it all off. Besides, Shimomura will be back at the helm with Japan-based stunt companies Worsal and U’den Flame Works, and with Sakaguchi and Shimomura on the set, you can’t go wrong.
Check out Sakaguchi and Inagawa in action below!
