yuji shimomura

Sakaguchi Tak Goes Commando In A New RE:BORN Featurette!

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 […]

Tak Sakaguchi Will Be RE:BORN In 2015 For His Final Movie

Lee B. Golden III

It was back in April 2013 when word got around that multifaceted action star and actor Tak Sakaguchi was retiring from the industry. It was a move that nobody saw coming and it shocked and saddened a lot of people (including myself) despite murmurs around the web of a sequel being planned for director Ryuhei Kitamura’s 2000 cult smash hit, Versus, or even a possible follow-up to the 2005 action horror thriller, Death Trance. About a month thereafter, Kitamura even tried to quell the issue, partly stating that if he asked Sakaguchi to come back for the role in which he made his first feature film debut, he would. Well, it has been more than a year now since the news stirred the web, and not much of anything has been said about Versus 2. So, unless you are an insider and you can divulge some verifiable knowledge about it, […]

Tak Sakaguchi Brings Sequel News For DEATH TRANCE 2

Lee B. Golden III

Well, I do not know about the rest of you but this was a delightfully surprising bit of news for me to find out! Tak Sakaguchi, the man we all know from popular Japanese action films of the last thirteen years such as Versus, Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, Deadball and Yakuza Weapon, recently made headlines over at Twitch surrounding speculation about a possible retirement from acting. Now think back, if you can recall, when Sakaguchi-san starred in and choreographed a film directed by co-writer and action director Yuji Shimomura where he was often seen dragging a coffin and getting into a lot of brawls at the bar with pale faced drunkards, ninjas, vampires, zombies, creepy sword twins and evil goddesses, right? Well, that film was called Death Trance, and while it wasn’t a huge cinematic masterpiece, it was a true gem for martial arts, fantasy and sci-fi fans, and especially […]