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Burst City is an explosive Molotov cocktail of dystopian sci-fi, Mad Max-style biker wars against yakuza gangsters and the police, and riotous performances from members of the real-life Japanese punk bands The Stalin, The Roosters, The Rockers and INU. In a derelict industrial wasteland somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo, two rival punk bands and their unruly mobs of fans gather for a Battle of the Bands-style protest against the construction of a nuclear powerplant, bringing them head to head with the yakuza industrialists behind the development of their turf. This extraordinary celebration of Japan's punk music scene of the early 1980s thrust Sōgo Ishii (now known by the name of Gakuryū Ishii), the underground filmmaking wunderkind behind such works as Half Human: Einstürzende Neubauten (1986), Angel Dust (1994) and Electric Dragon 80,000V (2001), to the next level and is regularly cited as an early landmark in Japanese cyberpunk cinema.

Media

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Bonus Materials

• High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless mono Japanese soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles
• Brand new audio commentary by Japanese film expert Tom Mes
• The Punk Spirit of ’82: Sōgo Ishii on Burst City, an exclusive new 56-minute interview with the director
• Bursting Out, an exclusive 27-minute interview with the academic and independent filmmaker Yoshiharu Tezuka on jishu eiga and the making of Burst City
• Original Trailer
• Image Gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mark Player

Sales Points

• Burst City has been called one of the 'starting points in contemporary Japanese cinema', along with Ishii's own Shuffle, Panic in High School, and Crazy Thunder Road.
• Burst City is also purely demonstrative of the culture and attitude of the punk rock community of Japan in the mid-to-late 1970s and the early 1980s, and is considered a defining film of that subculture.
• A showcase for various specific punk rock bands of the time such as The Roosters, The Rockers, and The Stalin.

Press Quotes

Sogo Ishii perfectly captures his subjects' prickly, defiant attitude, making Burst City a defiant (and still-relevant) reaction to nuclear proliferation.

     —Simon Abrams, Roger Ebert.com

Any lover of punk and/or 'cyberpunk' will probably find this film fascinating

     —Blu-ray.com

Sogo Ishii's Burst City is a defiantly raised fist in the face of conventional society.

     —Budd Wilkins, Slant Magazine

Breakneck editing and film speed help to produce a torrent of visuals which are well matched by a soundtrack of period punk acts... (Director) Ishii's eye is as focused and as confident as those of his electrified protagonists.

     —Paul Gaita, The Los Angeles Beat

Sogo Ishii’s early 80s overdose of punk and metal is as memorable and accurate a look into that subculture as you’re likely to find. It’s constantly in motion as the sound of screams and revving engines and more fills the air. Punk fans should quickly find themselves lost in its energy.

     —Film School Rejects