Sex & Fury (1973) coming from Discotek

[whiteberry]

https://twitter.com/discotekmedia/st...54777634378073

Trailer:

Sex & Fury (1973) Trailer - YouTube

[whiteberry]

Here's the opening day advertisement in The Honolulu Advertiser (October 5, 1973):



Here's the 2nd week advertisement in The Honolulu Advertiser (October 12, 1973):



Guess what was playing at the theater the week before?


The Honolulu Advertiser (October 2, 1973)

[trentdiesel]

Where's DukeTogo84? This is great news, can't wait to snatch it up.

[Takuma]

Fantastic news. Also curious about how "brand new" the transfer will be. This has not aired on Toei Channel in recent years, though it has been on air at least in 2018.

[darkonex]

Dang wish it had English dubbing

[Takuma]

Originally Posted by darkonex

Dang wish it had English dubbing

Well, Christina's dialogue is in English from what I recall, so I guess you get half of your wish

[Takuma]

This movie has the power to change a person's life! I first saw it as a teenager when Panic House put it out on DVD. Mind blown! I've spent every year since then tracking down Pinky Violence films and trying to see every film Ike ever did. Took me till 2023 to complete that quest.

It's a gorgeously shot film with one of the most beautifully choreographed action scenes in the history of cinema. No kidding! Admittedly the plot can get a bit convoluted at times and they could have exploited the political aspects of the storyline more than they did.

Suzuki wrote in his book that one of his main motivations for doing the film was the opportunity to make Meiji Era story and utilize Toei's left-over assets from period films.

“Once Battles without Honour and Humanity turned into a series, in-period ninkyo films disappeared and all productions lines started putting out modern day films. The Kyoto studios however still had plenty of heritage from the [ninkyo] yakuza film era. There were Meiji era town sets, costumes, art and props, the Toei Tsurugikai [action] unit specializing in chambara sword fights, and an army of villain actors. It was a treasure trove of valuable assets.”

Sex and Fury was produced as the B-film companion for The Viper Brothers: Jail-Living for 4 1/2 Years (まむしの兄弟　刑務所暮し四年半) which was the A-movie.

[Image: newspaper ad for Toei’s The Viper Brothers: Jail-Living for 4 1/2 Years & Sex and Fury double feature which opened Feb. 17, 1973]



The last time I viewed this was in 2018, from a 35mm print (a double feature with Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs). Can't wait to watch this again!

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by trentdiesel

Where's DukeTogo84? This is great news, can't wait to snatch it up.

Oh I'm here, but I just woke up. I responded about it on the Japanese thread. Very excited for this one.

Originally Posted by Takuma

Fantastic news. Also curious about how "brand new" the transfer will be. This has not aired on Toei Channel in recent years, though it has been on air at least in 2018.

When it was on the Toei channel was it in HD? Someone told this was never in HD and Toei did recently remaster Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs, so wouldn't be surprised if it's nearly a brand new job. The guys on the livestream said it would look just as good as Female Yakuza Tale if not better.

[darkonex]

Originally Posted by Takuma

Well, Christina's dialogue is in English from what I recall, so I guess you get half of your wish

Oh well if so then all good! I know it's unpopular opinion but I always prefer dubbing as I feel like having to read the movie takes away from time spent on paying attention to the visuals. Kinda depends on the movie, if there's little dialogue then it's fine but too much/fast dialogue I feel like I miss too much of the actual on screen stuff.

[Takuma]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

When it was on the Toei channel was it in HD?

Apparently so. That was in 2018 and although Toei Channel had an HD version already back then, I was still subscribed to the SD version back then (*) so I didn't even record it. But supposedly it was in HD.

* Kinda long story... back then I couldn't view Toei Channel from my place, so the mother of my future wife was recording all the rare Chiba, yakuza and Pinky Violence films for me while I paid for the subscription and hoped that she wouldn't mind too much (). I hesitated switching to HD because I mistakenly imagined the file sizes would be similar to retail BDs, which would have been impractical under the circumstances. I didn't go HD until about 4 years ago when Toei dropped the SD channel and upgraded all subscriptions to HD.

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Toei did recently remaster Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs, so wouldn't be surprised if it's nearly a brand new job.

It's a new master compared to Toei's 2011 DVD release, but it has been airing on TV at least since 2020. My recording is dated 2020/08/20 but I'm not sure if it aired before.

[Show spoiler]
Toei DVD (2011)


Toei Channel (TV) (2020)


Neon Eagle BD (2023)

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Takuma

Apparently so. That was in 2018 and although Toei Channel had an HD version already back then, I was still subscribed to the SD version back then (*) so I didn't even record it. But supposedly it was in HD.

* Kinda long story... back then I couldn't view Toei Channel from my place, so the mother of my future wife was recording all the rare Chiba, yakuza and Pinky Violence films for me while I paid for the subscription and hoped that she wouldn't mind too much (). I hesitated switching to HD because I mistakenly imagined the file sizes would be similar to retail BDs, which would have been impractical under the circumstances. I didn't go HD until about 4 years ago when Toei dropped the SD channel and upgraded all subscriptions to HD.



It's a new master compared to Toei's 2011 DVD release, but it has been airing on TV at least since 2020. My recording is dated 2020/08/20 but I'm not sure if it aired before.

[Show spoiler]
Toei DVD (2011)


Neon Eagle BD (2023)


Toei Channel (TV) (2020)

Well, that's interesting. NEV mentioned that it was a brand new restoration, but maybe not?

Well, Discotek is pretty good with transfer and even fixed up Bullet Train, so I'm sure they would do something if Sex and Fury was strange looking. They said it should look as good as Female Yakuza Tale which would be good enough for me.

Now, hopefully the wait for the three other Terrifying Girl films isn't too long.

[Takuma]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Well, that's interesting. NEV mentioned that it was a brand new restoration, but maybe not?

Well, I've learned that when companies say "new" it usually means "new to that market". Eureka for example is advertising their Yakuza Wolf BD with "new restorations of the original film elements by Toei", but those are surely the same masters were already released in the US by Shout, and have been airing on Toei Channel since early 2016!

This is not to criticize these companies. The masters are fine and I don't mind the advertising. All I'm saying is that "new" doesn't necessarily mean the restoration was done yesterday...

Of course, there could be some brand new additional remastering like colour correction done by the publisher. Which is what Discotek has been doing with some of their titles. Which is awesome!

[peruguy]

Very sad, and a damning indictment of today's cancel culture run amok.
Society says "You can have your SEX & FURY, Oh sure, but no HANZO THE RAZOR on blu for you!"
On that note, I have never purchased anything from Discotek yet, so I think I will hold onto my Panik House DVD until I see some reviews.

[Braktastic]

Funny story. I just ordered this through SloppySecondSales, so, of course this finally gets a proper Blu-ray release. Oh, well, I will happily take that one for the team.

I'm looking forward to adding this to my collection along with my Japanese B2:

Originally Posted by peruguy

Society says "You can have your SEX & FURY, Oh sure, but no HANZO THE RAZOR on blu for you!"

I've not kept up with this, but what is the deal with Hanzo?

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by peruguy

Society says "You can have your SEX & FURY, Oh sure, but no HANZO THE RAZOR on blu for you!"
On that note, I have never purchased anything from Discotek yet, so I think I will hold onto my Panik House DVD until I see some reviews.

Hanzo not being released has nothing to do with society. Those three are with Criterion and they are not releasing a lot of Japanese films period.

As for reviews, Discotek has some of the best transfers in the business, so it will look good.

[Plain Jane]

I am not selling my Panik House DVD since it has some really great extras, and this Blu-ray from Discotek won’t have anything but a trailer for extras. That said, I will still be buying this Blu-ray.

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by Plain Jane

I am not selling my Panik House DVD since it has some really great extras, and this Blu-ray from Discotek won’t have anything but a trailer for extras. That said, I will still be buying this Blu-ray.

It also has the cool mostly clear slipcover and case.

[RiFiFi1955]

Can't wait to this bad boy gets a release date, one of my most anticipated films announced thus far for 2024, granted the year is young but this has been on my wishlist for years!!!

[Jared A.]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Well, that's interesting. NEV mentioned that it was a brand new restoration, but maybe not?

Yes, a 4K scan and 2K restoration done in 2020 and not released in the US until 2023 can accurately be called "brand new".

[sb5]

My Crunchyroll order for this just shipped.