Zipang - Jipangu
Cast: TAKASHIMA MASAHIRO, YASUDA NARUNI, AZUMA CHIYONOSUKE
Japanese equivalent of a Shaw Brothers production - Jigoku is a swordsman for hire who's constantly being pursued by bounty hunters trying to collect the reward on his head. One of those hunters is the beautiful Oyuri who is an expert in Firearms and a deadly markswoman.
During his travels, Jigoku discovers a map that supposedly leads to a fortune in gold. What he finds instead is a Golden Sword with incredible powers, that holds the key to finding Zipang, the legendary City of Gold.
Unfortunately for him, this unleases a string of events which culminate with Jigoku traveling to the very halls of Zipang to do battle with its Warlord King and his "Haniwa" henchmen.
Jipangu is surprisingly similar in style to the "Wild Wild West" (1999) movie. While predating the Wild Wild West movie by nine years, Jipangu could easily be called a Japanese "Wild Wild West" saga. Jigoku is a feudal samurai who is decidedly and strangely modern.
His attire combines Western wear (leather) with Japanese (silk). He carries a cache of wicked swords and stores them much like a golfer his golfing clubs. In a hilarious and elaborate opening sequence, Jigoku goes through his arsenal of swords one right after another, depending on the opponent he's facing.
Director Hayashi has a flair for parody as he literally borrows and lampoons all the various Samurai Movie conventions. One highlight includes Jigoku's encounter with an all too familiar Blind Masseur (Zatoichi?) who turns out to be able to see after all.
The Ninja opponents that he encounters incorporate and wield various "modern" type devices and gadgets that would make Wild Wild West's Artemus Gordon green with envy.
Remastered Print
1990 - WIDESCREEN - COLOR - 98 MIN.
JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
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