Burst City (1982) coming from Arrow

[DR Herbert West]

Burst City Blu-ray

Burst City is an explosive Molotov cocktail of dystopian sci-fi, Mad Max-style biker wars against yakuza gangsters and the police, and riotous performances from members of the real-life Japanese punk bands The Stalin, The Roosters, The Rockers and INU.

In a derelict industrial wasteland somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo, two rival punk bands and their unruly mobs of fans gather for a Battle of the Bands-style protest against the construction of a nuclear powerplant, bringing them head to head with the yakuza industrialists behind the development of their turf.

This extraordinary celebration of Japan’s punk music scene of the early 1980's thrust Sōgo Ishii (now known by the name of Gakuryū Ishii), the underground filmmaking wunderkind behind such works as Half Human: Einstürzende Neubauten (1986), Angel Dust (1994) and Electric Dragon 80,000V (2001), to the next level and is regularly cited as an early landmark in Japanese cyberpunk cinema.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation
Original lossless mono Japanese soundtrack
Optional English subtitles
Brand new audio commentary by Japanese film expert Tom Mes
The Punk Spirit of ’82: Sōgo Ishii on Burst City, an exclusive new 56-minute interview with the director
Bursting Out, an exclusive 27-minute interview with the academic and independent filmmaker Yoshiharu Tezuka on jishu eiga and the making of Burst City
Original Trailer
Image Gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mark Player

[DR Herbert West]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReSxAHQw1To

[themp3000]

The highlight of Arrow’s releases for me. I’m really excited for this one. I hope this means more former Discotek Live action titles are in the pipeline. There’s a couple more I’d like to see and will remain optimistic for.

[HipsterTrash]

Japanese sci-fi Mad Max with ounk rock and the yakuza? That sounds like the ultimate movie.

[solaris72]

This is a hugely underrated movie. One of the greatest cyberpunk movies ever made.

[Guiltydrummer]

Originally Posted by solaris72

This is a hugely underrated movie. One of the greatest cyberpunk movies ever made.

Agree. Now if they will release Electric Dragon 80,000 volts!

[MifuneFan]

Reverse cover

[fuguette]

This is great news!! I would love to see all of Iishi's work released on blu-ray. August in the Water is one of my favorite movies.

[Labor_Unit001]

With this and the Tsukamoto set, it's super exciting to see Arrow dive into Japanese Cyberpunk. Here's to hoping there's more Ishii and maybe even Shozin Fukui in the future!

[NathanLurker]

I have no idea what this is. I feel like I should have heard of it before. But I'm picking up all of Arrow's japanese stuff anyway.

[solaris72]

Originally Posted by NathanLurker

I have no idea what this is. I feel like I should have heard of it before. But I'm picking up all of Arrow's japanese stuff anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ey9...ature=youtu.be

[DR Herbert West]

Review

[Ranger517]

If they ever remake Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coming Out of Their Shells Tour I want it to be just like Burst City.

But for real though, I remember watching Burst City years ago. It's a strange, wild and explosive nonstop roundhouse kick to the face type of film.

[solaris72]

More than any other science fiction film, this one captures the sense of confusion and alienation one would feel if observing a futuristic society. The only science fiction film I've seen that comes close in this aspect is the Russian version of Hard to Be a God.

[DukeTogo84]

Just watched Arrow's Burst City and overall I thought it was a good solid package. If you hate grain then get ready for a lot of it, because I don't think I've ever seen more grain in a film in my entire life. There is a bit of teal in the color, but it's not that bad.

The film itself is a tough one to decipher. I was having a hard time getting into the film, but by the end I was enjoying it especially the last 30 minutes of pure mayhem and madness.

I would imagine this is not a film for a lot of folks, but for that group that will enjoy it, they will probably end up loving it.

[Hellspawn28]

I haven't seen this movie since the VHS days and I did bought the Discotek DVD earlier this year. I would imagine this release is worth the upgrade.

[beamish13]

I wish that astonishing and incredibly comprehensive Japan-only box of Ishii’s early work would get a re-release. He made an 8mm feature that got a theatrical release, and his early short SHUFFLE is phenomenal

[Grethiwha]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

I would imagine this is not a film for a lot of folks, but for that group that will enjoy it, they will probably end up loving it.

I finally got round to watching my copy, had no expectation of what it was really since I skipped the trailer and haven't watched any of Sogo Ishii's other movies.

But yeah, I ended up totally loving this. The surprise blu-ray/film discovery of the year for me this is.

It reminds me of another campy 80s Japanese musical that was also curated out of obscurity and released on blu-ray this year, The Legend of the Stardust Brothers. That's a complimentary release, albeit in a different genre - musically... This is somewhere between that, and Tsukamoto's early films.

Anyway, this film has an awesome aesthetic. I don't know that there's much here beyond the aesthetic. But that doesn't matter because I loved this film's aesthetic so much, lol. I hope Arrow releases more of this director's films, I will surely blind buy them as well.

[Labor_Unit001]

Just watched my copy a few days ago.

Had only seen Electric Dragon 80,000 V from Ishii before, but I loved this movie as well. The riot sequence that ends the movie is absolute insanity, and it wholly embraces the punk side of cyberpunk.

I haven't heard the commentary yet, but the included essay is very good and clearly explains the context behind the movie's making/meaning.

[Hellspawn28]

I watched my copy a few weeks back and I still love this movie. Arrow Video has done a wonderful job of releasing Japanese movies on Blu-Ray that other companies such as Criterion would never bother with.