The Movies That Moved Me: Ryuhei Kitamura’s AZUMI
Kitamura’s best, IMO.
ryuhei kitamura
Japan Cuts XVI Review: In THE THREE SISTERS OF TENMASOU INN, Life Goes On, Even In The Hereafter
The early 2000s turned out to be a prosperous time for me when it came to my absorption of Asian films and niche DVD releases. Filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura landed on my radar as one of several auteurs leading the charge, sending audiences off with early zombie gangster sci-fi and jidaigeki hits like Versus, Alive, Aragami and Azumi, and ultimately getting to prove to fans that he was readily capable of delivering more solemn and pensive characters and stories on screen. Kitamura’s work shepherding Tsutomu Takahashi’s “Sky High” manga for television and the big screen became exemplary of this, and I’ve always held onto the 2003 adaptation as a favorite that Kitamura might one day return to. That this is what precisely happened as of late last year was something I didn’t expect, and for reasons obvious to those in the know as I wasn’t online as much as I wanted […]
ALIVE: Media Blasters Readies Ryuhei Kitamura’s 2002 Manga Adaptation For Spring Blu-Ray Release
We’ll be gladly helping share the mantle going forward as Media Blasters continues to project its predominantly Asian niche anime and live-action releases. The company, which ran successfully for fifteen years until tax complications and other business hamperings all but endangered its longevity, had been quietly awakening among its target consumer base with DVD-on-demand releases for the last two years, and to its credit, is shaping up for an even more formidable show of fan service in the past year. As of Thursday, according to Dawn Of The Discs, one title on deck for Media Blasters that’s reportedly begun prepping a Spring Blu-Ray release is of Ryuhei Kitamura’s 2004 sci-fi action horror, Alive. Starring Hideo Sakaki, Based on Tsutomu Takahashi’s 1999 manga, Alive reunites Kitamura with several cast members from Versus, namely Hideo Sakaki who takes the lead. In the film, Sakaki plays Tenshu, a death row prisoner whose humanity […]
VERSUS Trailer: Re-Live The ‘Ultimate’ Legendary Japanese Action Horror Thriller On Blu-Ray This December
The zeitgeist of the last twenty years with Asian cinema has been a purely awesome and memorable era to be a part of, and it’s all thanks in part to Ryuhei Kitamura whose 2000 action horror, Versus, helped pave the way for my own fandom apart from Hollywood’s own investments, the “Hong Kong crossover” included. Versus is a film that brings me back to a time when all the money I would ever have to spent would end up at the most convenient Suncoast outlet during my errands from 34th st. and Herald Square when the mall I’d routinely visit was still called the Manhattan Mall. Like with Steve Wang’s Drive and its “director’s cut”, that particular DVD store is one of three reasons why I allowed myself to have multiple copies of Versus – the others being CD Japan, YesAsia and the currently-defunct HKFlix. To be honest though, were […]
VERSUS: Ryuhei Kitamura’s Legendary Action Horror Gets A DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack From Arrow Video!
While you’re busy catching onto recent Ryuhei Kitamura releases such as Downrange and The Doorman, feel free to take a trip back about twenty years ago when the auteur began making a name for himself at the turning point of the new millennium with his hit indie action horror, Versus. The film introduces a hypnotic, stylish martial arts-tinged horror thriller featuring legends Tak Sakaguchi and Hideo Sakaki in an interdimensional story that crosses time and space, drawing an escaped convict and a mysterious, immortal killer closer to an inveitable battle, with a mystical young woman caught in the middle. It’s the film that drew crowds at festivals around the world and remains a cult favorite to this day, especially for anyone who’s ever purchased a U.S. Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock DVD of this film in one edition or another. Nearly twenty years later, the good folks at Arrow Video have hit […]
THE DOORMAN: Ruby Rose Checks You In For Ryuhei Kitamura’s New Action Thriller This October
After shelling out gory chills and suspenseful thrills for his Western transition in The Midnight Meattrain, No One Lives, Downrange and in a segment in Nightmare Cinema, it’s refreshing to see Japanese cult favorite Ryuhei Kitamura return to a lively action setup. This time, he’s got Lionsgate now readying to release The Doorman, starring Ruby Rose and Jean Reno, and apart from throwing down in both John Wick and xXx franchises, the action here ought to be a treat for fans who’ve recently checked Rose out in the CW’s Batwoman before she left the series back in May. In this punishing action-thriller starring Ruby Rose (JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2), a former Marine turned doorman at a luxury New York City high-rise must outsmart and battle a group of art thieves and their ruthless leader (Jean Reno, LÉON: THE PROFESSIONAL) — while struggling to protect her sister’s family. As the thieves […]
THE DOORMAN: Lionsgate Nabs New Ruby Rose Action Thriller
Actress Ruby Rose is riding high this week having emerged in Thursday’s trailer for the Fall premiere of Batwoman on The CW. She’s also remained consistent in her big screen endeavors following roles in xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage, John Wick: Chapter Two and shark thriller, The Meg, now staking her claim with her latest action role in The Doorman with a release now being planned thanks to Lionsgate’s U.S. acquisition of the film at Cannes. A heist to steal priceless art from decades ago; a prestigious building housing New York’s elite over countless years; and a doorman…unlike any other. From director, Ryuhei Kitamura of Midnight Meat Train comes DOORMAN, an action packed thriller featuring Ali Gorski, a highly decorated ex-military sergeant turned doorman of The Carrington. During the Thanksgiving weekend, while all but few of the tenants are away and The Carrington is under renovations, a seedy plot […]
Kitamura’s Stylish, Energetic LUPIN III Falls Short Of Expectations
The Works, an international organization comprised of the greatest thieves in the world. When the head of the organization is betrayed by one of their own (Yan), legendary thieves and criminals Lupin III (Oguri), femme fatale Fujiko (Kuroki), gunman Jigen (Tamayama), and master swordsman Goemon (Ayano), head out to find their former ally. Based on the legendary manga series by Monkey Punch, Lupin III comes to us from action director Ryuhei Kitamura; responsible for such films as Versus, Godzilla: Final Wars, and No One Lives. With a long history of animated features, including the highly acclaimed Castle of Cagliostro from Hayao Miyazaki, and one previous live action film released in the 1970’s, this mega budget adaptation had perhaps an unfair amount of expectation laid upon it. The end result is a film that is stylish, quickly paced, and filled with action, but loses the humour, heart, and flat out entertainment […]
Kitamura’s New Horror Thriller, DOWNRANGE, Aims For 2018
Pardon me while I continue to hopelessly wait for a sequel to Kitamura Ryuhei’s 2000 smash hit, Versus. Needless to say though, I’m glad he’s still on the move having last adapted Lupin III for the screen prior to his late 2016 attachment to home invasion thriller, Doorman, which interestingly got no movement at all from what I’ve observed, which sucks because the premise is just fantastic. Pan over, however, to a new press announcement which talks of Kitamura’s new sniper suspense thriller, Downrange, for which he is also producing the film with Eleven Arts’s own Mori Ko (Lords of Chaos, Man From Reno, Uzumasa Limelight) and with Maki Taro (Motorway, Fulltime Killer) executive producing. In addition, Kitamura crafted the story with screenwriter Joey O’Bryan (Motorway, Fulltime Killer), which the presser describes as “a minimalist thriller with maximum tension” and promises to deliver “nonstop tension from its opening frame”. Read on via Horror Society: […]
AFM 2016: DOORMAN Locks Ryuhei Kitamura To Direct
Oh goodness Christ! I’m both excited and pained at the return of director Kitamura Ryuhei in the years since he became a fan of his work out of Napalm Films, landing notably with the cult acclaimed Versus starring Tak∴. He’s crossed over a bit with films like Midnight Meat Train and No One Lives and I have yet to see those, but his latest is a return to the action genre and one hailing from events over at the American Film Market this week. According to THR, the award-winning filmmaker is set to direct Doorman from a script by by Lior Chefetz and Joe Swanson, about a female soldier who returns from duty and befriends a family in New York only to defend them from a gang of thieves plotting to take their belongings. Harry Winer of Smash Media is producing along with DDI’s Jason Moring with Double Dutch International […]
A CASE FOR BETTER ACTION MOVIES – Character Study: Prisoner KSC2-303 From VERSUS
The following is a version of a segment to a compilation article to which I contributed with other writers over at The Action Elite prior to its publication on February 9, 2015. CLICK HERE to read the article in its entirety. My college experience wasn’t a lot of fun, though I did have some good memories. I was a member of a cult genre club that followed sci-fi, games and anime, and it was through my membership there about fifteen years ago that one of ours bought a VHS tape of a little-known Japanese flick called Versus, directed by Kitamura Ryuhei. I saw a snippet of it in passing but it never quite caught onto me until I came upon a point in my life where I needed an outlet to deal with personal hardship and heartbreak. So, cult Asian movies on DVD became my thing and so did my […]
LUPIN III Gets A Spectacular New Trailer!
Director Ryuhei Kitamura‘s newest contribution to live action storytelling has a glossy new full trailer this week for the forthcoming release of Lupin III. Written by Mataichiro Yamamoto, the film is based on the original 1967 manga by Monkey Punch and other mediums in the years that followed, now presenting another new epic scope into the eponymous crime caper story with actor Shun Ogiri leading a cast in this new, multilingual origin tale that illustrates how Lupin’s team comes together. And it does so on a pretty large scale with shots in various parts of Asia, including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand. SYNOPSIS: Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko, and Zenigata come together for the first time as Lupin and his crew attempt to steal the “Crimson Heart of Cleopatra” which is held in a giant high-security safe called the “Ark of Navarone”. Lupin III also stars Tetsuji Tamayama […]
New Footage From LUPIN III Is Online
Moviegoers in Japan can expect director Hiyao Miyazaki’s 1979 Lupin III film, The Castle Of Cagliostro, to be re-released with a new digital remastering as soon as May 9, with other territories to follow suit. This week, however, it was during a recent exclusive TBS morning broadcast that the first footage from Azumi (2003) director Ryuhei Kitamura‘s own upcoming live action adaptation of the initial Monkey Punch manga went public, featuring lead actor and fellow Azumi co-star Shun Ogiri in the title role. The teaser footage also comes after roughly a year of some heavily active speculation regarding the possibility of the acclaimed filmmaker returning to helm a much-desired sequel to his 2000 cult favorite, Versus. I’ve been a fan of Kitamura since college, and I can’t wait to see what happens next with his career in directing. And by all means, if Kitamura still supports the idea of an […]
Kitamura's LUPIN III Gets A New Set Photo And Release Date
While we await further developments on the previously announced Versus sequel, acclaimed director Ryuhei Kitamura‘s upcoming action adventure heist flick, Lupin III continues to make headlines since beginning filming in October, and releasing several set photos featuring the cast and crew from its epic shoot. As such, the latest set picture (available below comes from the crew’s current filming location in Chendai, China as per a shooting schedule which also included Japan and Thailand. Anime News Network forwarded the new photo above with news that the film has been slated for an August 30, 2014 release. Adapted for the screen by Mataichirō Yamamoto, Lupin III is based on a 1967 Japanese manga publication about a gentleman thief who, with the help of his crew, travels the world stealing priceless artifacts prior to announcing his intentions via calling card before every heist. The film’s plot is said to be centered on […]
Kitamura: VERSUS Star's Retirement Was "Bullshit", And Other Goodies About The Upcoming Sequel
The emotional fanboy rollercoaster of the last few months regarding the “retirement” of beloved Japanese action star Tak Sakaguchi signaled what many people thought would be the end of an era that saw the rise of Napalm Films, and the emergence of Nippon cinema glory with the highly acclaimed cult jiadaigeki-style blood-splatter zombie action classic, Versus, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, who is promoting his latest action horror release, No One Lives, starring Luke Evans. In an April article cited at Nippon Cinema, Kitamura managed to close the book on those reports stating that he would bring Sakaguchi out of retirement saying, “The lead actor [Tak Sakaguchi] is retired, but I’ll get him to make a comeback. He’ll do it if I do it.”. Thankfully, a recent interview on Monday was shared by writer Diva Velez (a.k.a. The Lady Miz Diva) over at Twitchfilm, where director Ryuhei Kitamura clarified the ordeal and […]
Ryuhei Kitamura Confirms VERSUS 2
According to several reports forwarded from Nippon Cinema everyone’s action filmmaking fan favorite, Ryuhei Kitamura is going to start on Versus 2, the third installment to the Down To Hell franchise that led to the blockbuster success low-budget Japanese cult fan favorite, Versus, which starred Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka, Kenji Matsuda, Yuichiro Arai, Minoru Matsumoto, Kazuhito Ohba, Takehiro Katayama, Ayumi Yoshihara,Shōichirō Masumoto, Toshiro Kamiaka, Yukihito Tanikado, Hoshimi Asai, Ryosuke Watabe and Motonari Komiya. At a recent premiere for his new action horror film, No One Lives starring Luke Evans, Kitamura tells us “The lead actor [Tak Sakaguchi] is retired, but I’ll get him to make a comeback. He’ll do it if I do it.”. This is by far, the best news I have caught in YEARS. Ryuhei Kitamura is what drew me into a wider range of Asian cinema back when I was in college. I fell in […]
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