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Made at the end of the 1970s, Toru Murakawa's Game Trilogy launched actor Yusaku Matsuda as the Toei tough guy for a new generation. Matsuda was the definitive screen icon of 1980s until his career was tragically cut short by cancer at the age of 40, following his Hollywood debut in Ridley Scott's Black Rain. In this career-defining triptych, Matsuda is Shohei Narumi, an ice cool hitman of few words, a steely trigger finger, and a heart of stone, hired in The Most Dangerous Game by a company bidding for a lucrative government air defense contract to take out the competition. In The Killing Game, Narumi finds himself caught in the midst of violent yakuza gang warfare, while his own brutal past catches up with him in the form of two beautiful women still bearing the emotional scars of his past assignments. In The Execution Game, Narumi falls for a mysterious saloon bar chanteuse who may or may not be part of the same, shadowy underworld organization as the rival hitmen he is employed to rub out. Released for the very first time outside Japan, with their cool blue cinematography by Nagisa Oshima collaborator Seizo Sengen and a sultry score by jazz legend Yuji Ohno, Murakawa's masterful set of films raised the bar for the Japanese action movie to new heights.

Media

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Bonus Materials

• LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all films
• Original lossless mono Japanese soundtracks
• Optional newly translated English subtitles
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Hayley Scanlon and Dimitri Ianni
• DISC 1: THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME
• Brand new audio commentary by Chris Poggiali and Marc Walkow
• The Action Man, a 30-minute interview with director Toru Murakawa
• Original Japanese theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• DISC 2: THE KILLING GAME & THE EXECUTION GAME
• Brand new audio commentary on The Killing Game by Earl Jackson and Jasper Sharp
• Brand new audio commentary on The Execution Game by Tom Mes
• Remembering Yusaku Matsuda, an interview with Yutaka Oki, film critic and personal friend of Yusaku Matsuda
• Game Changer, an interview with The Execution Game screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama
• Original Japanese theatrical trailers for both films
• Image galleries for both films

Sales Points

• Three rare Japanese gangster films in a budget package remastered by Arrow Films
• Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star, Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, and Aokiji in One Piece were all modeled after star Yusaku Matsuda
• Complete Yakuza Film Trilogy available outside Japan for the first time ever
• For fans of Hardboiled 1970s Cinema beloved by Quentin Tarantino

Press Quotes

Matsuda was known for his frequent real-life brawls as well as his cool, cynical style

     —The New York Times

good, visceral action and a really appealing "cool" presence in the form of Matsuda.

     —JEFFREY KAUFFMAN, Blu-ray.com