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Craig Lines Dec 6, 2017

Christmas and martial arts movies? They rarely crossover. But amazing fights in the snow? Now we're in business...

I love martial arts movies and I love Christmas so I'm kinda sad that the two have never really come together (Kung Fu Panda Holiday doesn't count). I'd hoped to find at least one good example to write about, as we move into the festive period, but I guess since most martial arts films come from Buddhist countries and Christmas is a Christian holiday, I was destined for disappointment.

I did briefly consider making one up with the aid of Photoshop, but wasn't sure I could get away with it so, alas, The 25th Advent Chamber Of Shaolin is not to be. For what it's worth, I'd got as far as an apprentice monk named Ho, fighting his way through 25 'doors' of a giant temple designed to resemble an advent calendar.

Last night I watched Zatoichi Challenged, which just so happened to be the 50th movie I've seen this year (find my full list on Letterboxd right here). As far as this week was concerned my Saturday delivered the only two movies I watched this past week. The first was Muppets Most Wanted on Saturday morning and then the 17th Zatoichi film last night. I think I've said this several times, but I absolutely love these Zatoichi films. Criterion's presentation of these 25 films is phenomenal and the movies are a lot of fun to continue to visit. I have eight more to watch and then I'll dive into the bonus features, which is to say there is a lot more to explore. What I'm most looking forward to is Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, which is now only two movies away. I think I'll have to revisit Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sanjuro before taking that one in though.

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 26, 2013

Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $224.95

Studio: Criterion

Shintaro Katsu relies on his blade in 1963's Zatoichi on the Road.

The colossally popular Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman action-adventure 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 25 Zatoichi films made between 1962 and 1973, collected in one package for the first time.

Here’s a list of the films in the collection:

The Tale Of Zatoichi...

Criterion has announced its upcoming November 2013 titles and they include some highly coveted films, one of 2013's better films, an impressive box set and their new dual-format DVD/Blu-ray releases. To begin, it was a little bit of a shock to see they have abandoned releasing both DVD and Blu-ray versions of their film and instead will now release DVD/Blu-ray, dual-format editions. Note here it says dual format "editions", not "discs", which leads me to believe most releases will include both a DVD and Blu-ray disc. Consider in today's announcement the 27-disc box set of the Zatoichi films. This consists of nine Blu-ray discs and 18 DVD discs. On top of that Criterion confirms features will be available for on both DVD and Blu-ray formats. As far as this months titles are concerned, I'll begin with the upgraded Blu-ray release of Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story, which was the December 2012 selection...

From the 70s to the present, we look back through the sterling work of Rutger Hauer to bring you the actor’s 10 finest films that aren't Blade Runner...

For some, Dutch actor Rutger Hauer will forever be associated with a certain rooftop speech about tears in rain. But although his turn as doomed replicant Roy Batty in Blade Runner was a classic one, Hauer’s output before and since has been stunningly prolific. This list, therefore, is designed to highlight 10 of Hauer’s finest non-Blade Runner movies, with a particular emphasis on those that are lesser known – which is why we've gone for some older pictures rather than the more recent and mainstream, such as Batman Begins. And since this is Den of Geek, expect to find lots of action movies, horror, and low-budget sci-fi in the entries below.

One thing they all have in common, though, irrespective of...