Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir

[Finch]

Finished the set yesterday and frankly, it's one of the best purchases I made all year. While mediocre compared against the rest, Rusty Knife is not entirely without interest and you could do a lot worse than watching this on a rainy Sunday afternoon; the other four films range from pretty good to excellent. I imagine most people might like the two final titles best; my personal favourite was Cruel Gun Story which I found pacier and more gripping than My Colt is My Passport although I concede that Passport has the most batshit-crazy ending of any of the five films and that's saying a lot for a collection that has Seijun Suzuki in it! Speaking of Suzuki, I was relieved to find that I liked Take Aim At The Police Van much much better than Rusty Knife, and I think I also rate it somewhat higher than I Am Waiting (which I liked a great deal). The pictureboxing on I Am Waiting and the merely decent contrast on that film and Rusty Knife apart, the transfers looked very good on my plasma screen, especially the latter two. For sheer entertainment, atmosphere and style, those films are hard to beat, and the set's left me wanting more of this. Hope this sells well enough that the powers that be will consider a Nikkatsu Noir Vol 2 with some colour films thrown in too.

[knives]

Does Stephens not know what a gunsel is or does have a different meaning in Japan?
Beyond that loved the set. I was shocked at just how good I Am Waiting was. Really only Colt was better. Rusty Knife was fun, but really only in a Ed Wood with a budget sort of way. Also I'm not even sure I'd call Cruel Gun Story a remake as the similarities exist in only the loosest sense.

[colinr0380]

Joe Shishido's got his own copy of the set!

[dad1153]

^^^ Joe's one cool customer. 8-)

[jojo]

I had only seen "Colt" before this set was released, and after finally getting the set and making my way through it, I have to say, I did like "Take Aim at the Police Van" a lot more than I would have thought. I expected something completely incomprehensible to the point of making me lose interest, but the film continued to build a sort of delirious level of suspense all the way through the same way Welles' "Lady From Shanghai" did. It's just got so many fun, slightly off-beat sequences and well staged action/suspense scenes that you kind of accept the ludicrous plot because the hero seems just as clueless as the viewers are.

[Yojimbo]

I wasn't surprised that the order I placed with Barnes & Noble for this item still hasn't showed up, some six weeks later, but in logging in to my account with them, I see they don't even have a record of it.

Which, given that I could have ordered from the Deep Discount sale instead seriously pisses me off, no end.
My previous order from B&N took about two months to reach me, apparently it was shipped via their special 'Slow Boat to China' service, so now that I can't even depend on their website I have decided not to even attempt to order from B&N again

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I had only seen "Colt" before this set was released, and after finally getting the set and making my way through it, I have to say, I did like "Take Aim at the Police Van" a lot more than I would have thought. I expected something completely incomprehensible to the point of making me lose interest, but the film continued to build a sort of delirious level of suspense all the way through the same way Welles' "Lady From Shanghai" did. It's just got so many fun, slightly off-beat sequences and well staged action/suspense scenes that you kind of accept the ludicrous plot because the hero seems just as clueless as the viewers are.

It also features the best death in the entire set:

SpoilerShow

arrow straight through the tit.

The shoot-out at the end is spectacular and the opening where the assassin reads the warning signs through his scope is very neat. Pre-insane Suzuki is still great. I recommend Underworld Beauty if you liked this. It's an excellent film noir with the same star and a great plot about hidden diamonds.

[Yojimbo]

Finished the set yesterday and frankly, it's one of the best purchases I made all year. While mediocre compared against the rest, Rusty Knife is not entirely without interest and you could do a lot worse than watching this on a rainy Sunday afternoon; the other four films range from pretty good to excellent. I imagine most people might like the two final titles best; my personal favourite was Cruel Gun Story which I found pacier and more gripping than My Colt is My Passport although I concede that Passport has the most batshit-crazy ending of any of the five films and that's saying a lot for a collection that has Seijun Suzuki in it! Speaking of Suzuki, I was relieved to find that I liked Take Aim At The Police Van much much better than Rusty Knife, and I think I also rate it somewhat higher than I Am Waiting (which I liked a great deal). The pictureboxing on I Am Waiting and the merely decent contrast on that film and Rusty Knife apart, the transfers looked very good on my plasma screen, especially the latter two. For sheer entertainment, atmosphere and style, those films are hard to beat, and the set's left me wanting more of this. Hope this sells well enough that the powers that be will consider a Nikkatsu Noir Vol 2 with some colour films thrown in too.

Just received my set today so I'll start with your highest praised ones first as I've been looking forward to this one since it was announced.

[eljacko]

I got this set a few weeks ago, and have been working through the films very slowly - previously familiar with none of them, I started with A Colt is My Passport based solely on the title, and have since seen Cruel Gun Story and Rusty Knife in the past few days. I was somewhat surprised, since based on this thread I wasn't thinking I would enjoy Rusty Knife as much as I did; I actually think I liked it more than Cruel Gun Story (whose violence bored me a lot more than the easy plot of Rusty Knife).

That is to say, while I figured out the "true mastermind" in Rusty Knife maybe a third of the way through the film, seeing how they would get to revealing him was a surprisingly fun ride. And while the film did seem somewhat pedestrian at times, every few minutes there would be a shot or exchange that would blow me away - one shot in the bar, with Tachibana in the foreground and Ms. Nishida in the background, listening to her tapes, was to me, amazingly effective at conveying the (admittedly simple) plot and emotional content in the scene. Terada's death and the final shot of the film were similarly affecting to me.

My favorite is still A Colt is My Passport, if only because it was the most evenly paced and engrossing. And that final sequence! I only hope that someday I can make something half as inventive.