high & low the movie

HIGH & LOW: THE MOVIE Review: …Gang’s All Here!

In incredible, staunch fashion, international talent staple LDH’s film banner spent a good deal of the past decade building a sprawling, original entertainment franchise comprised of some of today’s regional stars of music and film. After winning fan favor with streaming series High & Low: The Story Of S.W.O.R.D., and revving things up with 2016’s Road To High & Low, writing unit Team HI-AX and director Shigeaki Kubo followed through that year as the pivotal inaugural film entry of the franchise, High & Low: The Movie, revealing the intial phase of a story that combines the gritty gangster drama of Sons Of Anarchy with Crows-style action on a level equal to that of the MCU’s The Avengers. Following the tone-setting events of Road To High & Low, High & Low: The Movie takes off in explosive fashion with a terror attack that sets off in Rude Boys’ territory, Nameless City. […]

The Epic Gang Saga Continues In The First Teaser For HiGH&LOW THE MOVIE 2: END OF SKY

Lee B. Golden III

I couldn’t tell you much about LDH and NTV or their innerworkings on any given day, except for what little I know of Japanese supergroup Exile Tribe and their stunning reign in TV and film as of late 2015 with in-house megaproject, HiGH&LOW. It’s only been available in Japan with its first two seasons of HiGH&LOW: The Story Of S.W.O.R.D. featuring the brewing drama and explosive action as gangs and crime families battle each other for dominance in a town divided by five warring territories. Apart from live concerts and events (the music itself kicks ass too), the saga ultimately led to last summer’s feature film debut with Kubo Shigeaki’s HiGH&LOW: The Movie, followed by its subsequent spin-off, HiGH&LOW: The Red Rain from Yamaguchi Yudai, and now Shochiku is poised to follow up on its trilogy with two more titles between August 19 and November. For this, the first short […]

Watch The Teaser For EXILE Gangster Saga Sequel, HiGH&LOW: The Red Rain

Lee B. Golden III

This October, the saga continues the epic action-packed spectacle of EXILE TRIBE’s two season HiGH&LOW: The Story Of S.W.O.R.D. series and the feature film in July. A teaser has already begun circulating for a while now with Deadball and Chinyuki helmer Yamaguchi Yudai in the director’s chair for HiGH&LOW: The Red Rain, and it doesn’t dole out much, but it measures all the same in intensity and excitement as the franchise has done so far. SYNOPSIS: The Amamiya Brothers, Masaki (EXILE Takahiro) and Hiroto (J-Soul Brothers’s Hiroomi Tosaka), keep looking for their older brother Takeru (Takumi Saito) who disappeared one year ago. The three Amamiya brothers lost their parents when they were young. Since then, they relied only on each other. On the anniversary of their parents’ death, Masaki and Hiroto expect Takeru to appear. Instead, they meet a person who has a clue on Takeru’s whereabouts. Why did Takeru […]

The S.W.O.R.D. Wields Its Might In A New Highlight Video For HiGH&LOW: THE MOVIE

Lee B. Golden III

At an off-and-on pace since late last year, I’ve been following the promotional campaign for director Shigeaki Kubo’s latest high-profile action J-drama, HiGH&LOW: The Story Of S.W.O.R.D.. The first season has already aired as of last October with the second season already underway with a cast largely comprised of ensemble J-pop supergroup, Exile Tribe for the story of a city split five ways between five gangs to make up the eponymous acronym you now see in the title. Much ado for my own interest with this obviously lies in the action shown in all the various trailers for the show’s narrative, and not for nothing either. The fighting and parkour sequences look absolutely electric as per some great cinematography and it all looks really impressive, and now there’s much more of it to tease this week in a new story featurette that follows the series leading up to the feature […]

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HiGH&LOW: THE MOVIE Rallies A New Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

The epic size and scale of what has taken shape in the past year with Japanese supergroup, Exile Tribe, has imaginably been a fun one since last year’s Hulu premiere of HiGH&LOW: The Story Of S.W.O.R.D. in Japan. The premise in question, of course, lies in the action-packed drama and brutality that follow when a town ruled by five warring gangs (spell out the S.W.O.R.D. portion in the title) is thrown into upheaval when newcomers enter the arena to tip the balance of power. Produced by LDH president and Exile Tribe founder, Hiro, the show itself has been deemed as the world’s first comprehensive entertainment project with the promise of a series, and a slew of interactive marketing via social media ahead of its manga releases and upcoming live concerts themed around the drama itself. Alas, a second season is already underway and all seems to be paying off pretty […]