- Aspect Ratio: 1:78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: English
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Run Time: 106 Mins.
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray & 1 x DVD)
- Studio: Well Go USA Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: February 7th, 2012
- List Price: $29.99
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase Yakuza Weapon on Blu-ray+DVD at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Yakuza Weapon tells the story of Ex-yakuza Shozo Iwaki (Tak Sakaguchi) and his quest for revenge against Kurawaki, who just so happened to have killed Shozo’s father. This leads to a series of intense battles, all of which are filmed with a kind of humor to them. Add in the love element via Sister Nayoko (Mei Kuroawa) and other items like tough gangsters, deadly women and, yes I’m not joking, cybernetic penis implants (YES, I’m STILL not joking) and you have Yakuza Weapon. The type of film that is so over-the-top at points that you can’t help but enjoy what you’re watching.
While Yakuza Weapon isn’t necessarily a GOOD film, it sure is a damn entertaining one. The reasoning behind this? Weapon is so out there in tone, so weird in its subject matter…that you can’t help but almost wonder what the creators were aiming for. Clearly they weren’t wanting this to be anything people would take seriously, as evident by some of the fight sequences. It’s during these moments that the film succeeds, making it something you just might want to show to others. Outside of these scenes, though, the film is just too odd for me to label as something solid. If Directors Sakaguchi and Yamaguchi were wanting to make a film that is “tough as nails, armed to the teeth, and pissed off,” then I guess they succeeded.
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
The 1:78:1 framed, AVC/MPEG-4 encoded transfer features a somewhat mixed transfer. The film’s color palette has mostly over-saturated colors, most of which looked too bright. Due to this, most of the film’s detail is lost in numerous sequences. Also, the primary colors (your blues and reds) look…well odd. Almost kind of blurry at times. Outside of that, grain is absent, as the film was shot digitally, but so is video noise. All in all, Yakuza Weapon doesn’t have a bad transfer per se, but rather one that just doesn’t pop stylistically.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The film’s provided Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track fares far better than the aforementioned video. Accompanied by English subtitles, the film’s dialogue is easy to read throughout. Atmosphere is quite good as well, especially the film’s mix by Nobuhiko Morino. For whatever reason, Morino decided to go a different route with the score. No slow musical moments, but rather action packed, bombastic LFE. I’m not talking about a subtle, quiet little low end. No, I’m talking about wall rattling (depending on your living situations), crank up LFE. The kind of LFE that you just may use to demo your sub. All in all, this is the kind of lossless audio action fans demand.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
The provided supplements are shown in HD:
- Behind the Scenes – Running 46:22, this is a making of the film. Topics covered range from the meaning behind the film to pre- and post-production.
- Deleted Scenes – Here we get a total of 12:36 worth of deleted scenes. The scenes themselves aren’t worth all too much, minus one interesting sequence.
- Spinoff Short “Takuzo Weapon” – This runs 15:38 and shows a spinoff inspired by the film.
- Trailer – The film’s trailer is shown.
- DVD — Standard DVD of the film.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2.5/5]
I’ll easily say that Yakuza Weapon is a really odd film, one that Well Go USA has delivered with excellent audio and, well, odd video. Still, I do suppose if you’re a fan of their prior work, Weapon just may be worth checking out.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B006C1S1IO[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Yakuza Weapon on Blu-ray+DVD at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
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