Today, the online retailer Amazon.com is offering The Criterion Collection’s mega box set Zatôichi: The Blind Swordsman as its deal of the day.
Consisting of 25 of the 26 Zatôichi films, each dual-layer Blu-ray disc in the box set is accompanied with two DVDs with the exact same content presented in standard definition (which is why the set expands 27 discs total).
With a list price of $224.95, the retail giant has marked it down to $97.99 (a savings of 56%). This is the lowest the set has sold for on the site. The previous low on the web site was around $109.99 back in Spring 2014.
The colossally popular Zatoichi films make up the longest-running action series in Japanese history and created one of the screen’s great heroes: an itinerant blind masseur who also happens to be a lightning-fast swordsman. As this iconic figure, the charismatic and earthy Shintaro Katsu became an instant superstar, lending a larger-than-life presence to the thrilling adventures of a man who lives staunchly by a code of honor and delivers justice in every town and village he enters. The films that feature him are variously pulse-pounding, hilarious, stirring, and completely off-the-wall. This deluxe set features the string of twenty-five Zatoichi films made between 1962 and 1973, collected in one package for the first time.
The twenty-five films you get include the following:
Disc One
The Tale of Zatôichi
The Tale of Zatôichi Continues
New Tale of Zatôichi
Disc Two
Zatôichi the Fugitive
Zatôichi on the Road
Zatôichi and the Chest of Gold
Disc Three
Zatôichi’s Flashing Sword
Fight, Zatôichi, Fight
Adventures of Zatôichi
Disc Four
Zatôichi’s Revenge
Zatôichi and the Doomed Man
Zatôichi and the Chess Expert
Disc Five
Zatôichi’s Vengeance
Zatôichi’s Pilgrimage
Zatôichi’s Cane Sword
Disc Six
Zatôichi the Outlaw
Zatôichi Challenged
Zatôichi and the Fugitives
Disc Seven
Samaritan Zatôichi
Zatôichi Meets Yojimbo
Zatôichi Goes to the Fire Festival
Disc Eight
Zatôichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman
Zatôichi at Large
Zatôichi in Desperation
Disc Nine
Zatôichi’s Conspiracy
