Zipang

Now if there's something I do enjoy, it's watching a film you know nothing about and being blown away when it surpasses your expectations and Kaizo Hayashi's 'Zipang' is one of those movies. From the word go (jeez, even before the opening titles kick in) the action comes thick and fast, and doesn't stop for the duration of the movie.

The story involves a wild grinning treasure hunter, who armed with a massive arsenal of gadgety weapons (that are supplied to him by his loyal team of rejects) ends up on a quest for the mythical land of Zipang (land of gold). The quest is continually hampered along the way by an endless stream of bounty hunters and ninjas who are after our hero's head.

Action, adventure, laughs and stunning sword battles are the order of the day here in this big gorgeous fantasy movie that will please fans of Japanese genre scene no end. A wicked up-tempo mixture of Shogun Assassin and Indiana Jones with just a hint of Sam Raimi for good measure. Director Hayashi shows great flair for the action/fantasy movie scene with some stunning direction and pace, backed up with some great casting that helps the fun quota move along nicely also.

Pagan Films should be proud once again for bringing to our attention another slice of 'genre' cinema that most likely would have slipped through the net if they hadn't picked up on it for release. The disc though quite sparse on the extra front is still a very worthy addition to the collection. A lovely sharp widescreen print that looks as though it was filmed yesterday with english subtitles, and there's a nice selection of stills from the film also.

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