Rainbow "Monsters of Rock Live at Donington 1980" Japanese editions

As you probably already know, Rainbow's
"Monsters of Rock - Live at Donington 1980"
is to be released as 1CD+1DVD set on Apr. 22 in US and UK
from Eagle Rock Entertainment.


Japan's Ward Records will release it in several different editions on Apr. 15
which have 2 CDs of the concert.




There are 4 variations (with links to Amazon Japan when possible):

• 2CD standard edition
• 2CD+DVD limited edition
• 2CD+DVD+T-shirt edition (Limited to 5000 copies): T-shirt is L-size only on Amazon.
• Super Premium Box (Limited to 500 copies): only available at Ward Records website.
  
  • 2CD of the concert
  • 1CD of radio interviews of the band members (Blackmore / Powell+Airey / Powell)
  • 1DVD
  • 3LP of the concert (same content as 2CD)
  • Reproduction of the concert booklet (excerpt, Rainbow-related pages only)
  • Reproduction of the press pass (from the actual pass used by Japanese rock critic Masayuki Itô)
  • T-shirt (S/M/L/XL)

(Personally I wish there were 3CD+1DVD edition without T-shirt etc.)


Ward Records claims their CDs have
"some parts cut from the international editions."



The tracklistings are as follows:

CD 1:

1. Opening: Pomp and Circumstance (*)
2. Intro /
   Eyes Of The World
3. Since You Been Gone /
   Over the Rainbow (*)
4. Stargazer
5. Catch The Rainbow
6. Don Airey keyboard solo (*) /
   Lost in Hollywood /
   A Light in the Black (excerpt) (*) /
   Ritchie Blackmore guitar solo
7. Difficult To Cure /
   Don Airey keyboard solo
8. Cozy Powell drum solo (1812) /
   Lost in Hollywood (reprise)

CD 2:

1. Lazy (excerpt)
2. All Night Long
3. Blues
4. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
5. Long Live Rock n Roll
6. Ritchie Blackmore guitar crash (Kill the King) (*)
7. Long Live Rock n Roll (reprise) (*)

DVD:

1. Lazy (excerpt)
2. All Night Long
3. Catch The Rainbow
4. Eyes Of The World
5. Ritchie Blackmore guitar solo
6. Difficult To Cure
7. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
8. Long Live Rock n Roll
9. Ritchie Blackmore guitar crash (Kill the King) (*)
10. Long Live Rock n Roll (reprise) (*)

*-marked ones are not listed in the international editions.

But, it seems to me the differences can be mostly attributed to how you describe medleys and solos.

For example, the last 3 "tracks" of CD2,
may be same as the one Long Live Rock n Roll
in the international edition.

The only significant difference may be the opening.
But I'm not sure if it makes 2CD necessary.
There may be more differences actually.

Too bad they don't mention track length, or total time of each disc.
(They say DVD is approx. 30 mins, though.)


BTW, Ward Records explicitly states 2 songs played in the concert -
Love's No Friend and Man on the Silver Mountain - have been lost,
and this is the "as full version as possible today."

Rainbow's 1984 show coming to DVD in Japan

On Oct. 21, 2015, Japan's Ward Records is going to release
Rainbow's "Live in Japan 1984" on DVD.

Recorded on Mar. 14, 1984 at Budokan, Tokyo,
Rainbow's "final" show backed by a symphony orchestra
was once released on VHS/LD in 1984 but long time OOP.

On the new DVD, video is restored from
the recently discovered original 1-inch master videotape.
Audio is also restored.

The DVD also includes archival interview with the members of the band
except Blackmore.

DVD specs

• Main feature: 104 mins
• Extras (Interview): 8 mins
• AR: 4:3
• Audio: DD 2.0 / DD 5.1 / dts surround
• Subtitles: Japanese

Editions

On the same day they also release Eagle Rock Entertainment's
"The Richie Blackmore Story",
and there are sevral different editions with and without it.

• "Live in Japan" DVDx1
  
• "Live in Japan" DVDx1 + CDx2
  
• "Live in Japan" DVDx1 + CDx2 + "The Ritchie Blackmore Story" DVDx1 (limited to 5,000 copies)
  
• "Live in Japan" DVDx1 + CDx2 + "The Ritchie Blackmore Story" BDx1 (limited to 5,000 copies)
  
• "Super Premium Box" (limited to 500 copies)
  
  • "Live in Japan" DVDx1 + CDx2 + LPx3
  • "The Ritchie Blackmore Story" DVDx1
  • 2 T-shirts
  • 1 hardbck photobook (60 pages, 30x30cm, import)
  • 1 Japan-exclusive photobook
  This set seems to be only available at Ward Records website.

The Band

• Ritchie Blackmore (g)
• Joe Lynn Turner (vo)
• Roger Glover (bs)
• David Rosenthal (kb)
• Chuck Burgi (ds)

Tracklist

1. Intro: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor / Over the Rainbow
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Miss Mistreated
4. I Surrender
5. Can't Happen Here
6. Catch the Rainbow
7. Power
8. David Rosenthal solo
9. Street of Dreams
10. Fool for the Night
11. Difficult to Cure
12. Ritchie Blackmore solo
13. Chuck Burgi solo
14. Blues
15. Stranded / Hey Joe / Stranded
16. Death Alley Driver
17. Fire Dance
18. Vielleicht das Nächste Mal (Maybe Next Time)
19. 19. All Night Long / Woman from Tokyo / All Night Long
20. Lazy
21. Since You Been Gone
22. Smoke on the Water

(Tracklist is same for DVD, CDs and LPs.)

The Man from Earth - UK DVD

I recently got the UK DVD edition of the movie.


It's rare for me to choose DVD when BD is available,
but I did so for 2 reasons:

• Among BDs and DVDs released in US, UK and France,
  UK DVD is the only one with extras.
• It seems the movie is not much benefited from higher video resolution
  after reading the reviews of US BD on DVDBeaver and Blu-ray.com.

Disc specs

Region code: 2
Video: PAL
AR: 1.78:1
Audio: English 2.0 / English 5.1
Subtitles: None
Running time: 87
Studio: Anchor Bay UK

The Package

Standard DVD case without booklet.

Menus

Top menu is animated, with the end title song played.

Chapters

Audio setup

• 2.0 Stereo
• 5.1 Dolby
• Commentary with executive producer Emerson Boxby and author Gary Westfahl
• Commentary with producer/director Richard Schenkman and actor John Billingsley

Extras

Added to the commentaries listed above,
there are 4 brief "behind-the-scenes"pieces:

• On the Set (4:00)
• The Story of the Story (2:12)
• Jerome Bixby's Sci-Fi Legacy (3:49)
• From Script to Screen (2:11)

They are more like chapters of a single "making-of" featurette.
seemingly all shot on/around the set.

We see producer/director Richard Schenkman,
executive producer Emerson Bixby,
and all of the principal cast, talking about the project,
their links to "Star Trek", etc.

Personally, I'd like to hear more from actors
on their acting rather than "I was in this Star Trek episode."

Video quality

I have no complaints.

A few shots of nature background may look much beautiful in HD
but overall I think SD is "good enough" to enjoy this movie.
(Still, I wish BD has the same extras as DVD.)

Audio quality

No problem here too.
As expected, 5.1 and 2.0 doesn't sound much different,
as the movie is almost entirely a conversation.
I felt slightly more comfortable with 2.0, though.


Overall I'm glad that I chose this edition.

Fox Japan's "Request Library"

Fox Home Entertainment Japan has a line of DVDs called "Request Library" (RL) since 2009.

Allegedly, they release titles based on the "requests" entered in the form on their website.

The actual titles in RL are relatively obscure ones in Japan.
So I think they actually listen to the customers' voices.

MOST of the RL titles are already available in US and/or UK,
but occasionally you find something not:

• The Incident
  
• Conrack
  
• The Games (1969)
  
• The Salzburg Connection
  
• The Day the Fish Came Out
  
• Boy On A Dolphin
  

(The promotional page for the upcoming 5th wave of RL is here.
Scroll down the page you can see the previously released titles.)

I guess the lack of manufacture-on-demand in Japanese market
(and notable streaming service like Amazon Instant Video)
is one of the reasons for RL.

One can complain about RL for several points.
There's no guarantee that they will release the most requested titles.
Fox doesn't show the statistics of the requests.
They are movie-only in most cases, yet rather expensive.

Nevertheless, I like Fox's attitude to listen to their customers,
and hope other studios do similarly.

(To my knowledge, Toei is the only other Japanese studio
that has a similar "request" form on their website.
But Toei doesn't have a special "line" like RL,
so we don't know what titles are released because of the requests.)

Fire Walk With Me and The Straight Story on BD in Japan

On July 13, Paramount Japan will release David Lynch's
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and The Straight Story on BD and DVD
as "restored versions," just like
Eraserhead and Lost Highway in April. (see here)

Fire Walk With Me will include making-of, interview(s), and trailer(s).

The Straight Story will include interviews with Lynch and Richard Farnsworth,
Farnsworth's press conference in Japan, and trailer(s).
(I guess these extras are the ones included in the older Japanese DVD.)

[Added July 16, 2012: Both titles have English 5.1 audio (and Japanese dubbs).]

Wild 7 (2011 movie) - BD/DVD release information

On May 23, Warner Home Video Japan will release Japanese movie "Wild 7",
the 2011 live action adaptation of Mikiya Mochizuki's classic action manga,
on 3 versions:
3-disc limited Premium Edition (BDx1 + DVDx2),
1-disc regular editions of BD and DVD.



English subtitles are to be included in all 3 versions,
so I think it's worth mentioning here.
(I guess English subtitles are available for the movie only,
not for the supplements, though.)

Being a Warner movie that has English subtitles,
probably the movie will be released in the US/UK soon.
I hope what I write here serves as a preview of what you can expect for the international releases.


Although region code is not mentioned in the WHV Japan's product pages,
Amazon Japan claims BDs are Region Free,
while DVD edition is locked to Region 2.

The specs of BD and DVD #1 in the Premium Edition seems to be identical to the separate releases, so the DVDs in PE are likely locked to Region 2.


The specs of PE from WHV's official product page:

BD
Codec: MPEG 4 AVC
Video: CinemaScope
Audio: Japanese dts-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: Japanese / English

DVD #1:
Video: CinemaScope
Audio: Japanese 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: Japanese / English


Special features:

BD and DVD #1 (same as the 1-disc editions):

• Teaser trailer
• 3 TV spots
• Theatrical trailer

DVD #2:

• "Making Data File"
• All about Hiba: Behind-the-scenes of Eita's action scenes
• Maru-chan's first movie (a documentary following actor/singer Ryûhei Maruyama who played Pyro)
• Secret gadgets of Wild 7 and interviews
• Deleted scene(s)
• Roll numbers on Clapperboard: Long version
• Roll numbers on Clapperboard: Making
• Speeches on the premiere screening event
• Speeches on the opening day

Added to above, Amazon Japan claims "initial press only" items will be included in the packages:

PE:

• A miniature replica of the press sheet (32 pages)
• A set of 9 postcards featuring cast
• Another postcard newly illustrated by original manga artist Mikiya Mochizki

BD / DVD regular editions:

• A set of 3 postcards featuring cast (Hiba, Sekai, Pyro)

I haven't seen this movie so I can't tell about the movie itself.
But based on the names attached to the project,
and the trailer available on the official website of the movie,
my expectation is rather low.


The soundtrack CD by Kenji Kawai:


CD single (with promo video DVD) of the end title song by L'Arc-en-ciel:



Other incarnations of "Wild 7":

DVD boxset of 1972 live action TV series:


DVD of 1994 direct-to-video anime version:


Some DVDs of 2002 TV anime version entitled "Wild 7 - another" seem to be OOP.

Kadokawa & Paramount Japan BD/DVD announcements

Kadokawa Pictures

March 16:

• Red Sun BD (first time) / DVD (previously available from other publishers)
  
  
• One From the Heart (2003 restored version) BD (first time) / DVD (reissue)
  
• Hammet DVD (reissue)
  
• Abel Gance's Napoleon (222 mins Coppola version) DVD (reissue)
  

Paramount Pictures Japan

April 13:

• Ken Russell's Tommy BD (DVD is already available) seems to have most of the extras of the previous UK DVD special edition (as with the Japanese DVD)
  
  

May 11:

• Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here BD/DVD
  
• 55 Days in Peking DVD (reissue)
  
• Terence Young's The Christmas Tree DVD
  

June 8:

• David Lean's Summertime BD (first time) / DVD (already available from other publishers)
  
• Ken Russell's Mahler BD/DVD
  
• Paper Tiger BD/DVD
  
• Monty Python's And Now For Something Completely Different BD/DVD
  
• Trouble In Mind BD/DVD
  
• The Whales of August DVD
  

I saw some BD titles listed above are not available in the US,
but Amazon.com have them as instant video.
On the other hand Amazon Japan doesn't offer instant video at all.
So this may mean the difference of the markets.
I mean, Americans are more toward online viewing than Japanese.

[EDIT Sep. 27, 2012: Repaired some broken links]

Eraserhead and Lost Highway on BD in Japan

Paramount Japan will release David Lynch's Eraserhead and Lost Highway on BD and DVD on Apr. 27, 2012.

The ads read like they are both "David Lynch restoration" versions,
but it's not clear what it exactly means..

Since Lynch has devoted himself to music these days,
it seems unlikely he personally supervised the restoration of his old works. But who knows?

Anyway, here's the descriptions on Paramount Japan's website (here and here):


Eraserhead

Running time: 89 mins
Video: VistaVision 16:9
Audio: English 2.0
Subtitles: Japanese

Special features:

• Eraserhead Stories (video commentary by David Lynch) (85 mins) [*]
• Original trailer
• The Short Films of David Lynch (60 mins):[*]
1. Six Men Getting Sick
2. The Alphabet
3. The Grandmother
4. Amputee
5. Lumiere

Lost Highway

Running time: 135 mins
Video: VistaVision 16:9
Audio: English 5.1
Subtitles: Japanese

Special features:

• Dumbland (8 shorts, 34 mins) [*]
• Original trailer

[*]: BD only, not included in DVD.
BDs are packaged in stylish slipcase.
All specs are TBC as of this writing.

(You may wonder why Short Films and Dumbland are in special features.
But they have been unavailable in Japan.)

While BD of Lost Highway was released in Germany some time ago,
and both movies were once available on DVD in Japan years ago,
they were released from third party companies.

Since these new editions are from Paramount Japan
perhaps we can expect they will be released in other countries around the same time as well.


You can pre-order them at Amazon JP:

Memories of Matsuko - Japanese DVD

English title: Memories of Matsuko
Japanese title: Kiraware Matsuko no Isshô (嫌われ松子の一生)

DVD publisher's official website: http://www.amuse-s-e.co.jp/matsuko/
Release date: Nov. 17, 2006
Publisher: Amuse Soft Entertainment
Region code: 2
NTSC


First off, this DVD does NOT have English subtitles.
Its lavish and unusual packaging is the main reason I decided to write about it here.

There are 2 (or 3) editions of Japanese DVD of the movie,
the 2-disc "Collector's Edition" in "photo album" packaging.

and 1-disc edition in standard keepcase packaging.

The contents of 1-disc edition seems to be identical to the 1st disc of the 2-disc edition.

The "Photo album" edition is limited, and it's supposed to be replaced by standard packaging 2-disc set, but I haven't seen that one.

The "Photo album" edition is relatively easily found on online shops, often with good discount. And I got my copy from such shop recently and want to give informations about it.


The Packaging

It's large. Slightly smaller than vinyl LP sleeve.

Under the factory sealing, the "album" is protected with a plastic cover. A nice precaution.

According to the advertisement slip, this "album" is designed to look like the one found in Matsuko's apartment room.

It has 26 pages, most of which consist of photos.

The discs are housed in the last page:

One minor complaint: the discs are rather easily come off, and it's hard to put the discs back to the holders properly.
This package looks good and I'm glad that I got it, but practically it doesn't work very well.



Disc 1: The Movie

Single-sided, Dual-layered.
Running time: 130 mins

Video: VistaVision 16:9 enhanced Widescreen

Audio:

• Japanese DD 5.1
• Japanese DTS 5.1
• Audio commentary: Japanese DD 2.0

Subtitles:

• Japanese
• None

Supplements:

• Audio commentary
• Trailers & TV spots
• 3 types of chapter menus

Audio commentary is describled as "by the frequent customers of Matsuko's snack bar."
Actually it's done by a group of crew:

• Tetsuya Nakajima (writer/director),
• Towako Kuwashima (art director)
• Masahide Yanagase (VFX)
• Toyohiko Kanahashi (music producer)
• Yûji Ishida (producer)
• a woman who calls herself Natsuko, who served as a waitress of the bar.

Trailers & TV spots section has 3 teaser trailers, 1 theatrical trailer, 11 TV spots (total: 7 mins).


This disc has 3 types of chapter menus entitled

• History of Matsuko
• Characters
• Music

History of Matsuko menu serve as normal chapter index you expect for DVD.
It looks like a chronicle of Matsuko's life,
each chapter has the year of the event and Matsuko's age at the time.

• 1971 23 Resigned as school teacher
• 1971 23 Lived with Tetsuya Yamekawa
• 1972 24 Had an affair with Kenta Okano
• 1973 25 Worked as "soap lady" in Nakasu
• 1974 26 Murdered the pimp who betrayed her, attempted suicide
• 1974 26 Imprisoned
• 1983 36 Met her former student Ryû again
• 1989 41 Started living alone
• 2001 53 Found dead on the riverside
• 2006 -- Happy End Credits

Character menu is a cast list of minor characters in order of appearance in the movie.
You can go to the scene where each character first appears.
Despite their short screen time, some of them are very well known in Japan.

Page 1:

• Kaela Kimura - A very popular singer
• Sola Aoi - A girl picked up on the street
• Nagisa Katahira - Herself
• Hirotarô Honda - The murderer in "Woman Lawyer" drama
• Hideo Sakaki - The leader of Megumi's bodyguards
• Maggie - Detective
• Masahiro Kômoto - A clerk in the hotel of the school excursion
• Midoriko Kimujra - Tamie, Matsuko's mother
• Takuzô Kadono - Headmaster
• Risa Ai - An idol singer
• Kayoko Ôkubo - Okano's wife

Page 2:

• Mari Hamada - Norio's wife
• Hana Kino - Female police officer
• Tetsu Watanabe - Detetcive A
• Kôji Yamamoto - Detective B
• Anna Tsuchiya - Prisoner C: Bride
• AI: Prisoner A: Song
• Yorie Yamashita - Prisoner B: Family
• Hanako Yamada - Prisoner D: Memory
• Takejô Aki - Prison ward
• Kyûsaku Shimada - Clergyman
• Hôka Kinoshita - A resident of Hikari-sô apartment

Music menu is an index for the songs:

1. Too Lil Too Lil Liquor by Kaela Kimura
2. faker by ch feat. B-BANDJ
3. Love Is Bubble by Bonnie Pink
4. Dream Train by Rin Oikawa
5. What Is A Life by AI & Rin Oikawa
6. Endless by Joe Himeji feat. J.
7. Candy Tree by Rin Oikawa
8. Happy Wednesday by Miki Nakatani
9. Magete Nobashite by Ami Yuasa
10. Furui Nikki by Akiko Wada
11. USO by Risa Ai
12. Anata no Kokoro ni by Chinatsu Nakayama
13. Feeling Good / Michael Buble
14. Walking On Springtime / Barbara Borra
15. Here, Always by Tommy Snyder & Yoshika
16. She's What I Want To Be by ch
17. Matsuko Medley by Matsuko Singers

Interestingly, the order of the songs in the menu is different from the movie, but almost the same as the soundtrack CD (which has 2 more songs.)



Disc 2: Supplements

Single-sided, Dual-layered.
Running time: 100 mins
Video: 4:3
Audio: Japanese DD 2.0

- Making-of entitled "285 days of Kiraware Tetsuya" (30 mins)
An ordinary documentary with lots of behind-the-scvenes, interviews with cast & crew.
It mostly covers the events chronologically from the inception to the theatrical release. Very comprehensible.

- 2 deleted scenes (with making-of footages)

1. The first shooting day of Megumi Sawamura's AE video (1'20")
2. Matsuko sings "Koibito-yo" (1'10") - a yakuza is touched by her song.

- How to love Kiraware Matsuko (total: 20 mins)
is a collection of various fun bits with making-of footages:

1. Aoi Mizusawa (Megumi Sawamura) filmography (2'45")
2. Shunji Ôkura's Tattoo (2'45")
3. Nagisa Katahira played by Nagisa Katahira (2'30")
4. The Shimazu Family (1'40")
5. Daddy is a playboy (2'00") - Kenji Shimazu's transformation to a handsome guy
6. Minna no Uta (4'00") - about the song "Magete Nobashite" sung by many characters at the end
7. Matsuko's fashion and hairstyles (4'07")

- Storyboards (12 mins)

First we see how director Nakajima uses storyboards to explain his intention to actors.

Then we see lengthy storyboard-to-film comparisons on musical scenes.

Also, occasionally storyboards are replaced with rehearsal footage of dancers.

- Matsuko Kawajiri's Best Friends
is a collection of short interviews with 22 actors and writer/director Nakajima.
Most of them run less than one minute.

- Bonnie Pink "Love is Buibble" music video (3'55")

- Textless end title (4 mins)


A note on the movie's Japanese title "Kiraware Matsuko no Isshô":
A literal translation would be "The life of disliked Matsuko".
I think the word "kiraware" (disliked, hated) is probably an expression of how her love had been unfairly treated, rejected, neglected, or so it seemed. Just MHO.


DVD:


Soundtracks:


Book on the making-of:


UK versions:

Sukiyaki Western Django - Japanese DVD

There are 3 editions of this movie released in Japan:

1-disc Blu-ray,


1-disc "Standard Edition" DVD,


and 3-disc "Special Collector's Edition" DVD (limited).


Here I'm going to write about the 3-disc SCE DVD because that's what I own.

I chose it because it's the only edition that have meaningful supplements. And the package looks cool.

On the other hand, BD is movie-only. And it seems to me that the visuals of this movie doesn't require HD quality to fully enjoy it.

Of course, it's absolutely disappointing they didn't release Special Edition BD at the same time.
But considering this title was the first Japanese movie ever released on BD in Japan, maybe they were not confident about the format back then.


Well, now on to the SCE DVD....


Cat.# GNBD-1430
Publisher: Geneon Universal Entertainment/Sedic International
http://db2.geneonuniversal.jp/contents/hp0002/list.php?CNo=2&AgentProCon=3040
Release date: Feb. 6, 2008
Region code: 2

The Packaging:

The box is made of rigid, embossed cardboard with many "bullet holes" in it.

Inside the box, there are:

• 3-disc keepcase
• Booklet (8 pages)
• Storyboard book (168 pages)

The keepcase artwork:

The discs:

The booklet:

The storyboard book:

Disc 1: The Movie

Single-Sided, Dual-layer
Running time: 121 mins (Note that US DVD is shorter 98 mins version)

Video: CinemaScope, 16:9 enhanced

Audio:

• English 6.1 DD SR-EX
• English 6.1 DTS-ES
• Japanese  6.1 DD SR-EX
• English 2.0 DD SR
• Japanese 2.0 DD SR
• Audio commentary: Japanese 2.0 Stereo

Subtitles:

• Japanese
• Japanese for dubs
• None

A note on the languages:

In case you don't know (unlikely I think),

the movie was shot with English languages spoken by Japanese actors.

As the majority of them don't speak a word of English in real life, their English is not so good.

It may be difficult for native English speakers to understand what they are speaking.

English subtitles would have been appreciated. But keep in mind this is a Japanese movie made for Japanse audience, and the DVD released for Japanese market.

As you can see in the options, there's a Japanese audio version too.

It was released in a limited number of theatres at the same time.

All the actors dubbed themselves except for Quentine Tarantino, who was dubbed by none other than Takashi Miike.

Supplements:

• Audio commentary
• Trailers

Audio commentary is done by writer/director Takashi Miike and Christian Storms.

Storms is the one who translated the script to English, He also had a bit part in the eraly flashback scene.

The commentary is spoken in Japanese only, and there's no subtitles.

It's almost Miike's solo, as Storms rarely speaks except when Miike asked him.

Miike talks lot throughout the movie, and there's no dull or silent moment.
I find this commentary very fun to listen.

Trailers section (all in 4:3) has:

2 teaser trailers (1'10", 1'16"), 2 theatrical trailers (0'30", 1'50"), 2  TV spots (0'15", 0'30") ("Play All" option available).

and a promo video for "Devil May Cry 4" video game (3'40").

Disc 2 - Special Disc 01:

Single-Sided, Single-Layered

4:3, no subtitles

 ("Play All" option is available for the contents.)

- Making-of documentary "Yuta-mura ni Tadayou Miike-gumi no Tamashii" (53 mins, 6 chapters)
(roughly "The Soul of Miike's team runs through the Yuta village")

This documentary mostly focuses on the shooting in Yuta village open set.

- SWD-VFX Ver.1.8 (11 mins)

CGI producer Misako Saka guides us in the CGI studio while the crew are at work. 

- Sukiyaki Gun Guide (22 mins)

by Bill Yokoyama, who is responsible for firearms in this movie.

He supplied them, devised gun effects (although some of them are done with CGI).

Here, he introduces the firearms used by each character:

the basic informations of the guns (name, specs, brief history)

what kind of characters used them in westerns in the past,

and why he chose that particular gun for the character.

If you have no interest in firearms this must be boring, but for me it's very interesting. 

BTW, Bill Yokoyama is seen at the very beginning of the movie as a dead man with a hole in his forehead.

According to Miike, this is an inside joke to refer "Kill Bill".

- Zoku Yuta-mura eno Michi - Sukiyaki Rokechi Annai (34 mins)

(roughly "The road to Yuta village continued - A Guide to Sukiyaki locations)

The title is slightly misleading for me.

It's basically a guide to each set constructed on the location site,

analyzed by art director (or production designer) Takashi Sasaki.

After a brief introduction by Sasaki, we see 2 pages of a map of the Yuta village, which serves as the chapter index. (Thankfully, "All Play" is available.)

Disc 3 - Special Disc 02:

Single-Sided, Single-Layered

4:3, no subtitles

 ("Play All" option is available for the contents.)

Majority of this disc is a collection of various publicity events.

- Press conference to announce the project (from the Yuta village set) (11 mins)

- Press conference upon the completion of the movie (18 mins)

- Speeches by cast & director on the preview event (10 mins).

- The Venice International Film Festival (10 mins).

- Speeches by cast and director on the opening day (10 mins).

- 5 deleted scenes (total: 10 mins)

• Heihachi and Ruriko in the morning in their house
• Ruriko talks about her past to Toshio in the mountain
• Yoshitsune examines the wound of dead Yoichi 
• Benkei realizes what's really important for him
• The funeral of Shizuka conducted by Ruriko in the mountain

They are presented with brief footages of the actual movie,

so we can see where they were supposed to be.

- Lastly, Trailers of 11 spaghetti western DVD titles available (total: 44 mins).

OST - Album and Single CD of the end title song "Sasurai" by Saburo Kitajima:


US versions:


[2015-07-30: Modified/added product links due to the changes of Amazon.com's affiliate specs]