V Cinema Essentials - Bullets and Betrayal Limited Edition Blu-Ray

In 1989, legendary Japanese studio Toei launched its V-Cinema series of genre films released directly to video. V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal presents nine explosive titles representing some of the best Japanese crime films have to offer.

In the fast-paced and action-packed Crime Hunter: Bullets of Rage, Detective Joe Kawamura seeks revenge against the men who shot his partner. Along the way, he teams up with Lily, a gun-toting nun who wants to recover five million dollars stolen from her church. Next up is Neo Chinpira: Zoom Goes the Bullet brings more than the aspiring yakuza Junko bargained for when he is tasked with avenging the murder of another gang member, or face the consequences of his betrayal. In Shunichi Nagasaki's unbearably suspenseful thriller Stranger, a taxi driver is followed late at by an invisible driver of an SUV, who may have a connection to the taxi driver's criminal past. In Carlos, the Brazilian-Japanese petty criminal of the same name sees an opportunity to play rival yakuza gangs off against each other, but he gets in over his head. Burning Dog is a gripping heist film in which a gang of thieves plan to rob an American military base in Okinawa, but rising tensions within the group threaten to jeopardize the plan.

The sequel to one of the most iconic Japanese franchises of all time, Female Prisoner Scorpion: Death Threat, a female assassin is hired to infiltrate a women's prison and search for The Scorpion, a legendary rebellious prisoner hiding inside the building. After his fiancée is killed in the crossfire of a yakuza war, a man on the edge ruthlessly hunts down the gangsters responsible in legendary director Teruo Ishii's The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses. Meanwhile, in Danger Point: The Road to Hell, the fragile partnership of a duo of professional assassins is put to the test when their latest murder has unforeseen consequences. Finally, in the pulp-inspired XX: Beautiful Hunter, hitwoman and femme fatale Shion rebels against the fanatical religious order that prepared her from birth to become the perfect assassin.

V-Cinema Essentials is packed with action, suspense, and double-crosses: Bullets & Betrayal is an electrifying compendium of gems from the world of Japanese video.

CONTENTS OF LIMITED EDITION

High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all films

Lossless Japanese mono audio in the original on Crime Hunter: Bullets of Rage and lossless Japanese stereo audio in the original for all other films

Optional newly translated English subtitles for all films

Nine postcard-sized art cards

DISK 1 - CRIME HUNTER: BULLETS OF RAGE / NEO CHINPIRA: ZOOM GOES THE BULLET

Newly recorded introductions to both films by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka

Loose Cannon, a newly recorded interview with Crime Hunter: Bullets of Rage director Shundo Okawa

Zooming Out, a newly recorded interview with Neo Chinpira: Zoom Goes the Bullet screenwriter and director Banmei Takahashi

Crime Hunter and the Dawn of V-Cinema, a brand new video essay on Crime Hunter: Bullets of Rage by Tom Mes, expert on Japanese cinema

Original trailers for both films

DISC 2 - STRANGER / CARLOS

Newly recorded introductions to both films by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka

Stranger than Fiction, a new filmed interview with Stranger's screenwriter and director Shunichi Nagasaki

From Manga to Film, a newly recorded interview with Carlos screenwriter and director Kazuhiro Kiuchi

An Extra Round in the Chamber, a brand new video essay on Carlos by critic and Japanese film expert Jonathan Clements

DISC 3 - BURNING DOG / FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: DEATH SHOT Newly recorded introductions to both films by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka. Fire and Ice, a brand new video essay on Burning Dog by critic and Japanese film expert Mark Schilling.p>

Toshiharu Ikeda's Beautiful Monster of Vengeance, a brand new video essay on Female Prisoner Scorpion: Death Threat by film historian Samm Deighan

Original trailers for both films

DISC 4 - THE HITMAN: BLOOD SMELLS LIKE ROSES / DANGER POINT: THE ROAD TO HELL

Newly recorded introductions to both films by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka

The Versatility of Teruo Ishii, a brand new video essay on The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses and its director Teruo Ishii by Japanese film expert Frankie Balboa

The Road to V-Cinema, a brand new video essay on Danger Point: The Road to Hell by critic and Japanese film expert James Balmont

Original trailer for The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses

DISC 5 - XX: BEAUTIFUL HUNTER Newly filmed introduction by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka The Sacred and the Profane, a newly recorded interview with screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi They Brought Back the Sleaze, a brand new video essay on XX: Beautiful Hunter by critic and Japanese film expert Patrick Macias

Original trailer

Subtitles: English