Welcome in the New Year with a classic of Japan’s Yakuza films getting its debut on Blu-ray. Big Time Gambling Boss (Bakuchiuci: Sôchô Tobaku) has been hailed for decades as a masterpiece of the genre and cinema. The film takes place in 1934 Japan when a head mobster dies, there’s a battle to be the new number one. The man in charge of selecting a new leader is extremely reluctant to take on the duty. The screenplay was written by Kazuo Kasahara. He’d go on to write Battles Without Honor or Humanity. This is a great start for Radiance Films releases in America. Here’s the press release from MVD with information about the bonus features:
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
| BIG TIME GAMBLING BOSS ATMOSPHERIC MASTERPIECE ON BLU-RAY FOR THE FIRST TIME [Blu-ray – Limited Edition](1/3/23) |
| Considered one of the finest films in Japanese cinema, Big Time Gambling Boss will be available on Limited Edition Blu-ray for the first time on Jan. 3, 2023, the initial release from new imprint Radiance Films. Originally released in 1968, the film was hailed by Paul Schrader as the richest and most complex film of its type, while novelist Yukio Mishima declared it a masterpiece. The film is set in Tokyo in the thirties, where gang boss Arakawa is ill and a successor must be named. The choice falls on Nakai, but being an outsider he refuses and suggests senior clansman Matsuda instead. But Matsuda is in jail and the elders won’t wait for his release, so they appoint the younger and more malleable Ishido to take the reins. Clan honor and loyalties are severely tested when Matsuda is released, resulting in an increasingly violent internal strife. An atmospheric tale of gangland intrigue written by Kazuo Kasahara (Battles Without Honor and Humanity) and starring Tomisaburo Wakayama (Lone Wolf and Cub, The Bounty Hunter Trilogy), and genre legend Koji Tsuruta, Big Time Gambling Boss is one of the all-time classics of the Yakuza genre. Radiance Films is proud to present this crucial re-discovery for the first time ever on Blu-ray. Limited Edition Special Features: High Definition digital transfer of the film Uncompressed mono PCM audio Visual essay by genre expert Chris D on the film and its place within the period and genre Ninkyo 101: A masterclass with Mark Schilling, author of The Yakuza Movie Book Gallery of promotional imagery Trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by maarko phntm Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by author Stuart Galbraith IV, and critic Hayley Scanlon Limited edition of 2000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip |
