Animeigo has placed together the five Shogun Assassin films in a Blu-Ray set, ensuring that the films have been restored to their original levels. The clarity of each of these films is utterly fantastic; this is perhaps the cleanest that anyone has seen these films since they were originally in theatres.
Aside from these films, Animeigo have added a number of features to the mix. There is an interview conducted with Samuel L. Jackson about the importance of the series to eir career, while there are two different audio commentaries for fans to sink their teeth into. I personally liked the side by side comparison between the different bootlegs that were available of the Shogun Assassin films and the restored print; this will show any viewer exactly how much work was put into this release. While most of the features focus on the original Shogun Assassin title, I feel that the inclusion of an English cast and credits in Shogun Assassin 2 is something that more firms should do. The Shogun Assassin films are tremendously influential (as evidenced by the Jackson interview), and anyone that is a fan of action films would do well to pick up this collector’s set.
The discounted price of this Blu-Ray set (online retailers have it for under $40) should make this a no-brainer to buy. Check out the Animeigo site for a listing of the different films that they are slated to release this year. If they possess just a fraction of the work that has been placed into this one, buyers could never do wrong with an Animeigo title.
Rating: 8.5/10
Shogun Assassin 5-Film Blu-Ray Collector’s Set / 2012 Animeigo / 425 Minutes / http://www.animeigo.com
John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.
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