Ferocious Fukasaku: Two Films by Kinji Fukasaku (Blu-ray)

This thrilling two-disc set features a double dose of hyperbolic heist movie mayhem directed by the great Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Battle Royale), restored to HD, and, for the first time ever, available on Blu Ray in North America.

Fukasaku's 1964 breakthrough Wolves, Pigs and Men finds three brothers pitted against each other as rivals in the Yakuza underworld. Jiro, alongside his girlfriend Mizuhara, devises a scheme to rob his younger brother Sabu's gang. However, when the eldest brother Kuroki learns of this, he seeks to conspire against them to take it all for himself in a treacherous nightmare of unbridled violence.

While lesser known, 1976’s Violent Panic: The Big Crash wreaks havoc across the streets of Japan with stylishly nihilistic aplomb. After expert bank-robber Takashi's big job is foiled, he goes on the lam. Trailed by the police, his lover, his partner-in-crime’s brother, and countless others, Takashi becomes the target of a manhunt filled with twists, double-crosses, and explosive action that gives the 70’s car chase genre a run for its money. 16 page booklet with New essay by film critic Kenji Fujishima

Wolves, Pigs and Men:
• Audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp
• Interview with Fukasaku biographer Sadao Yamane
• Interview with co-screenwriter Junya Sato
• Interview with Producer Tatsu Yoshida

Violent Panic: The Big Crash::

• Audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp
• Fast, Furious, Fukasaku video essay by Tokyoscope author Patrick Macias