Customer Reviews

Hanzo the Razor

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What can you say about a guy like Hanzo Itami? He's a cop in the shogun's police force, a lone wolf, incorruptible, grim and dedicated to putting the bad guys away. If that means stepping on his superiors' toes or breaking a few rules, so be it. He's also a master swordsman and skilled in the martial arts. He's not above using torture to get the truth. He's tortured himself (he has the scars to prove it) so that he will know how much to use on others. And for women, he's trained his shorter sword to be just as tough. He uses beatings with a wooden stick, scalding water and weights to, ah, bring it up and ready. Whether he's using the twisting basket technique or the power thrust, he'll have a female suspect begging to tell the truth...and then begging for more.

Think of a samurai Dirty Harry combined with soft porn. The sex is often ludicrous but funny because the movie doesn't play it for laughs. The director knows everything is a send-up and is careful not to wink at the audience. There's plenty of sword action -- the long sword kind -- to keep things moving. Blood squirts like squished tomatoes. A slash through a backbone is handled, well, kind of delicately.

The movie works because it is so outrageously non-PC, because it determinedly takes everything seriously, and because of a great performance by Shitaro Katsu as Hanzo. Katsu starred in the Zaitoichi movies and he brings a lot of dead pan authority to the role. He's a solid guy, a bit pudgy in the face, and no one would mistake him for a Japanese Clint Eastwood. But he also looks like a fellow you wouldn't want to mess with.

Now, what's the story about? I'm not sure. As best as I can tell Hanzo, an honest cop, realizes his superior is corrupt and that the connection might reach into Edo Castle, the home of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He tracks down the truth, encountering a notorious murderer, Killer Kanbei, whom everyone thought had been exiled. He forces the truth from two women, and discovers what the conspiracy had been all about. And at the end of the movie, with the case solved, he helps out a poor young girl and her little brother [...]. His good deed brings the first and only smile to Hanzo's face. You've have to see it.

This is a funny movie balancing on the border between outrageousness and bawdiness. The movie comes as part of a three pack. The other two movies are The Snare and Who's Got the Gold? The joke is the same for all three and I may not get around to watching them soon. The DVD transfer looks very good although there is one jump that I assume came from two or three seconds of lost film. There are no extras to speak of but the case holds brief liner notes that describe the manga comic book origin of the Hanzo character, how the movie came to be made and the importance of Shintaro Katsu.

From 1975, pulpy, trashy, politically incorrect, HONZO THE RAZOR (Home Vision Entertainment) is finally on DVD in a three disc set ("Sword of Justice," "The Snare" and "Who's Got the Gold?") complete and uncut from the best original elements.

Anti-hero Honzo's an uncompromising Samurai rogue cop who will stop at nothing in the name of justice. Actually, he's a sick, twisted masochistic freak.

Based on the infamous graphic novels (manga) of Kazuo Koike, Honzo bows to no superior and pulls no punches. In fact, he welcomes pain and offers torture to get what he wants. With females, the torture is sex. This series is a mutant sub-genre of Asian crime noir. It is naughty and bawdy but done with an absolutely straight face. If you're in the right state of mind, it is both shocking and hilarious. I loved the complicated security devices the rightfully paranoid Honzo has rigged for his abode.

I have been trying to find out just how many of these films exist. I've seen 3 of them.. They combine all the familiar elements of the midieval japanese samurai (I don't have my Alain Silver guide handy) drama.. with some funny and very welcome twists.. The main character is a constable with a kind of rogue ethic, a Ronin cop, if you will, who holds corruption over his bosses heads so he can get his way...He also has a kind of rogue aesthetic.. especially in his interrogation techniques.. the 3 films I have seen start with him "conditioning" his sexual organ with various techniques which could only be described as masochistic.. but you see, this uh, tool, is his interrogation device, and he uses sex to interrogate the females in the particular case.. These are not porno movies, but rather a very wonderful Bawdy Samurai/Comedy Action Thriller Hybrid.. The tone is totally serious.. but it comes off hilarious.. especially his rube-goldbergian security devices that protect his house.. Please if anybody knows tell me where to get more of these films.. I'm definitely a fan..

Hanzo the man made of steel (and I really mean the whole man). He fights evil and corruption in Edo-Japan in his own ways. Untouchable as Eliott Ness, but with the very strange habit of tortureing Women with his... well... real big schlong. And of course torture leads to pleasure because Hanzo the Blade knows how to use his tool right. Yes, this is political uncorrect japanese Trash at it's best. A kind of japanese Shaft (even the funky score reminded me a little of Shaft), just a little bit naughtier... Don't even try to take it serious or you'd have a problem watching these movies. 3 Parts to the series (every one an own movie for its self), part 2 (this one) and part 3 are the better. Don't look one after the other in too short time, because the buildup is pretty similar to every movie.

Interesting and entertaining, but not a breakthrough of any kind. Quality is on par with good Japanese tv shows of the same era (yes, I saw those tv shows). Not the amazingly different take on the samurai myth that Amazon's review led me to expect. Katsu's "Zatoichi" blind masseur series is actually much superior. "Hanzo the Razor" isn't exactly a waste of money to buy, but I doubt you will watch it more than once. I won't. Far more interesting is "Ronin Gai," about the murder of prostitutes on the outskirts of Edo in the 1830's, and the wandering samurai who get a chance at redemption, also available from Amazon.

After having used the Laser Disc set of these films for years it is really nice to see HVE come out with the definative DVD series in breathtaking sharp digital picture that rivals what I remember seeing in the theatre years ago, and certainly is far superior to any format available until now. The color is gorgeous, the subtitles accurate, and the sheer beauty of the transfers is wonderful indeed. This is my first Home Vision purchase, and certainly will NOT be my last. You owe it to yourself and your collection of Japanese films to purchase this set now!

For those of you expecting to see the beloved Shintaro Katsu as the anti-hero in these films, forget about it. Stick with the 'Zatoichi' episodes for great cinematic films. As for me, I really am not a fan of these DVDs. As one of the other viewers noted in his review, I too would recommend watching [and purchasing] the film "Ronin Gai," also starring Shintaro Katsu. I never watched these films until about ten-years-ago, and ONLY because of Shintaro Katsu. However, you might want to save your hard earned money. As you can see from the many Japanese films I have reviewed, I love Japanese films, and know a good one from a bad one. These are ones I will probably never view again.

Some of the other reviewers state that these films are good because they are so non-PC. Well, there are quite a lot of non-PC films that I don't think are great. Just because they are non-PC, does not mean that they are going to be good. I am only writing this review so that you can save your money. Really, rent them first just in case they are your kind of films. As for me, I would rather put that hard earned money towards the many great samurai films, [or any other genre of Japanese films] that you have been saving up for. I really hate to see people waste their hard-earned money on films that you will find yourself disappointed in. For those who find that they like "Lone Wolf and Cub" series, and expect the same kind of action: Well, forget it. And as for the comparisons some of the viewers gave to "Zatoichi," these films don't even compare to those cinematic treasures. You've been warned.

Who is the Japanese rogue Samurai that's a sex machine to all the chicks? HANZO! (Ya damn right!)

You've heard of blaxploitation--well Hanzo the Razor is Japsploitation! Crazy bloody Samurai action where Hanzo's rule is law, and he enforces it with a mighty weapon. And I'm not talking about his sword.

If you thought Abu Grab was outrageous, wait till you see how HANZO gets his suspects to talk!

The only problem is that the last movie is kind of dull. But the first two are absolutely outrageous and required viewing.

I recently picked up Hanzo and was a little disappointed. Glad to add it to my collection.. yet much to be desired in terms of lack of swordplay. Sure he uses 'his' sword, but don't really care much for it. On a lighter note it's a fun movie to watch and is entertaining. Do not expect a Lone Wolf and Cub similar film.. -battle scenes + sex scenes + alot of usurping from Hanzo - blood + humor + torture. I think it's a film I will probably appreciate over time. Yes, alot of spying and criminal uncovering plots.. if you watch the previews those are some of the best scenes. Fun to watch.

If you are fed up with Hollywood action movies, you might like this one. You need to be okay with 70s films in general and you need to be okay with it not being politically correct at all. Mind you it is a piece of fiction, but if you are the kind of person that want the film to share your own values, you will definitely not like it.

Compared to many of the reviewers I actually liked the storyline. Sure it is based on a formula, but the formula is an unfamiliar Japanese one and I found it entertaining through the three films. There are a couple of story lines going at the same time, which makes the story quite rich and not that predictable.

Some reviewers also commented that the fighting scenes are not that frequent. I actually like that, because I don't enjoying overly extended fighting scenes.