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Made at the end of the 1970s, Toru Murakawa's Game Trilogy launched actor Yusaku Matsuda as the Toei tough guy for a new generation. Matsuda was the definitive screen icon of 1980s until his career was tragically cut short by cancer at the age of 40, following his Hollywood debut in Ridley Scott's Black Rain.
In this career-defining triptych, Matsuda is Shohei Narumi, an ice cool hitman of few words, a steely trigger finger, and a heart of stone, hired in The Most Dangerous Game by a company bidding for a lucrative government air defence contract to take out the competition. In The Killing Game, Narumi finds himself caught in the midst of violent yakuza gang warfare, while his own brutal past catches up with him in the form of two beautiful women still bearing the emotional scars of his past assignments. In The Execution Game, Narumi falls for a mysterious saloon bar chanteuse who may or may not be part of the same, shadowy underworld organisation as the rival hitmen he is employed to rub out.
Released for the very first time outside Japan, with their cool blue cinematography by Nagisa Oshima collaborator Seizo Sengen and a sultry score by jazz legend Yuji Ohno, Murakawa's masterful set of films raised the bar for the Japanese Action & Adventure movie to new heights.
Product Features
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all films
- Original lossless mono Japanese soundtracks
- Optional newly translated English subtitles
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
- Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Hayley Scanlon and Dimitri Ianni
DISC 1: THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME
- Brand new audio commentary by Chris Poggiali and Marc Walkow
- The Action & Adventure Man, a 30-minute interview with director Toru Murakawa
- Original Japanese theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
DISC 2: THE KILLING GAME & THE EXECUTION GAME
- Brand new audio commentary on The Killing Game by Earl Jackson and Jasper Sharp
- Brand new audio commentary on The Execution Game by Tom Mes
- Remembering Yusaku Matsuda, an interview with Yutaka Oki, film critic and personal friend of Yusaku Matsuda
- Game Changer, an interview with The Execution Game screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama
- Original Japanese theatrical trailers for both films
- Image galleries for both films
- Arrow Video
- 281 mins approx
- Toru Murakawa
- 18
- Yûsaku Matsuda
- English
- 2.35:1
- 1978
- Japanese
- 2
- B
- Arrow Video
The Game Trilogy Limited Edition
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Arrow Video
Made at the end of the 1970s, Toru Murakawa's Game Trilogy launched actor Yusaku Matsuda as the Toei tough guy for a new generation. Matsuda was the definitive screen icon of 1980s until his career was tragically cut short by cancer at the age of 40, following his Hollywood debut in Ridley Scott's Black Rain.
In this career-defining triptych, Matsuda is Shohei Narumi, an ice cool hitman of few words, a steely trigger finger, and a heart of stone, hired in The Most Dangerous Game by a company bidding for a lucrative government air defence contract to take out the competition. In The Killing Game, Narumi finds himself caught in the midst of violent yakuza gang warfare, while his own brutal past catches up with him in the form of two beautiful women still bearing the emotional scars of his past assignments. In The Execution Game, Narumi falls for a mysterious saloon bar chanteuse who may or may not be part of the same, shadowy underworld organisation as the rival hitmen he is employed to rub out.
Released for the very first time outside Japan, with their cool blue cinematography by Nagisa Oshima collaborator Seizo Sengen and a sultry score by jazz legend Yuji Ohno, Murakawa's masterful set of films raised the bar for the Japanese Action & Adventure movie to new heights.
Product Features
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all films
- Original lossless mono Japanese soundtracks
- Optional newly translated English subtitles
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
- Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Hayley Scanlon and Dimitri Ianni
DISC 1: THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME
- Brand new audio commentary by Chris Poggiali and Marc Walkow
- The Action & Adventure Man, a 30-minute interview with director Toru Murakawa
- Original Japanese theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
DISC 2: THE KILLING GAME & THE EXECUTION GAME
- Brand new audio commentary on The Killing Game by Earl Jackson and Jasper Sharp
- Brand new audio commentary on The Execution Game by Tom Mes
- Remembering Yusaku Matsuda, an interview with Yutaka Oki, film critic and personal friend of Yusaku Matsuda
- Game Changer, an interview with The Execution Game screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama
- Original Japanese theatrical trailers for both films
- Image galleries for both films
- Arrow Video
- 281 mins approx
- Toru Murakawa
- 18
- Yûsaku Matsuda
- English
- 2.35:1
- 1978
- Japanese
- 2
- B
- Arrow Video
Customer Reviews
Top Customer Reviews
Where reviews refer to foods or cosmetic products, results may vary from person to person. Customer reviews are independent and do not represent the views of The Hut Group.
One major issue with these films..
Part 1+2 is in a completely different style than 3. If 3 was a stand alone film I would have ranked it higher.
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Young sleek action star.
Usually seen in his early works are ostensibly blurred people, but behind the scenes, he is a lone sniper who fights against dark yakuza. He liked movies, and sometimes he copied a scene from a popular movie at that time, but his unique presence surpassed it and made it his own taste. This trilogy is his early work where such action is mainstream.
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Japanese 70-80’s Icon
his well-trained and agile body, and this box set is from the period when he was getting his fill of fat. Although his acting skills are still lacking, he is able to deliver a unique ad-lib performance in a dialogue between friends and strangers that may not be foreign to most people. The action itself was not as good as the later "Death of the Wild Beast" but the action was very good. The action itself was continued by the same director until "Death of the Beast," from which he took a further leap forward to hone his acting skills and spread his wings to "Black Rain. I love this trilogy of films that brought together the Matsuda crew. He imitates various other films and shows them off without hesitation. He is one of those rare actors who, perhaps due to his youthful folly, does not merely imitate, but makes it his own. If he had lived, he might have polished his acting even more and produced wonderful performances.
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