Amazing Sonny Chiba deal

[Mofo Rising]

Next Tuesday the 10 Faces of Sonny Chiba DVD box set is coming out.  The titles are STREET FIGHTER, LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI, RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER, THE BODYGUARD, STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE, SHOGUN'S NINJA, SISTER STREET FIGHTER, DRAGON PRINCESS, SAMURAI REINCARNATION, and KARATE WARRIORS.  They're going to be packaged on 5 DVD's, and the whole thing is going for around 15 dollars!

I'm sure the quality of the DVD's won't be the best, but if they're at least reasonably watchable the set is a great deal.

Apparently released by Brentwood Home Video, so if anybody knows anything about the quality of their DVD's, feel free to chime in.

[Nufankicks]

HEY! I dont know any of these movies, does that mean I suck?Mofo Rising wrote:

[Steven Millan]

         I haven't had a chance to see any of Brentwood's DVDs,but I know that both of the first "Streetfighter" movies("The Streetfighter","Return Of The Streetfighter")are the heavily edited,pan-and-scan R-rated versions,ptherwise the other ones are the most available versions that the U.S. has of them.
        If you're highly desperate for a Sonny Chiba fix,and can't patiently wait till "Kill Bill" comes out next Fall(with Sonny as Uma Thurman's sword fighting instructor),then getting these DVDs is clearly your best bet.
         Looking heavily for Sonny's most recent movies "Immortal Combat"("Resort To Kill"),"Body Count"("The Silencer"),and "The Storm Riders"(the later two featuring him as the villain)are also worth seeking to tone down that heavy Chiba fix.

[Ken Begg]

They will undoubtedly use the same transfer as in their Legends of Kung Fu box set, a similar 10 movie dealie I reviewed earlier:

http://www.jabootu.com/vcdecohone.htm

For my purposes here, the relevant paragraph is as follows:

"The most famous movie provided here is undoubtedly Sonny Chiba’s whomp-ass classic The Street Fighter. I hadn’t seen this one before, which was fine since I could now enjoy it in a surprisingly crisp letterboxed presentation. In fact, this is probably the best transfer of the bunch. I’d give it a solid ‘A’."

Now, that's for a film I paid like a buck and change for, so my expectations weren't great, but it was a good transfer.  I did hear that Brentwood apparently purlioned the master from another company's laser disc, and the rest of the 9 movies might well suck.  

For instance, I believe the Chiba set also includes Legend of the 8 Samurai, also on the earlier set.  My relevant remarks:

"This is not, unfortunately, one of the better presentations here. The biggest problem is that the film’s presented in a full frame, pan & scan format. This is especially bad given the large-scale nature of the proceedings. The transfer is colorful and serviceable, but not razor sharp by any means. Occasionally the action is too dark and sometimes things are a bit over exposed. Generally, though, the image is presentable enough."

Hope that helps.