Red Sun [Blu-ray]

This Western used real asian actors (Toshiro Mifune, iconic Samurai actor) and paid attention to Japanese clothing etc.The filmakers took a Samurai and put him into the story without westernizing (too much) him to what the west would like. You see real sushi before sushi was even popular. One of my favorites.

The order was delivered perfectly. Made a finger error upon input and amazons system refused to allow me to correct it sadly.

“Red Sun,” features four international film stars: Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress in a stylish and somber European Western with an Eastern touch. Under the watchful eye and direction of Terence Young, the mix works. The movie itself is about a bandit, Link (Charles Bronson) who helps his ruthless partner, Gauche Alain Delon) rob a train only to be betrayed and left for dead. After Gauche slays a samurai who is protecting the traveling Japanese ambassador aboard the train, he steals a bushido sword meant for the President. The remaining samurai, Kuroda Jubie (Toshiro Mifune) is tasked with retrieving the sword and Kuroda vows to slay Gauche. Link and Kuroda form an uneasy alliance in their pursuit of Gauche and his gang. In a ploy to force Gauche’s hand, the two kidnap Gauche’s girlfriend, Cristian (Ursula Andress), a prostitute. There is much gunplay and swordplay as the two ‘allies’ fight off Gauche’s men and the movie builds to a climax – a Comanche attack.The character of Gauche is ruthless, Link is the anti-hero, and Kuroda is a man of honor who has vowed to fulfill his quest in seven days or commit ‘hara-kiri (suicide by bushido sword). There is a somber tone to the movie that is achieve by Maurice Jarre’s score. Also in the cast are: Capucine as Pepita, the madame of the brothel where Cristina works; Barta Bari as Paco; Anthony Dawson as Hyatt; Guido Lollabrigida as Mace; and Gianni Medici as Miguel. This is an excellent spaghetti western.

This particular blu-ray version is from French language elements. In those days, most of the foreign elements were IN (internegative) and usually indifferently made. The spoken language is English with Japanese subtitles. The color grading of this version is fairly poor. Shots don't match. Mostly the image suffers from contrast issues which makes one wonder if the transfer was done on a properly calibrated monitor and/or by a neophyte colorist. For someone who grades images for a living it's practically unwatchable. It's definitely not an image suitable for a blu-ray release. Avoid it.

I am amazed that I have lived so much of my life without even knowing this flick existed. This is the sort of thing I should have seen years ago, and watched over and over again. Think about it. A Western staring Charles Bronson ( The Magnificent Seven ) and Mifune Toshiro ( Seven Samurai ), facing off against Alain Delon ( Le Samourai ). As a little icing we get Ursula Andress ( Dr. No ). Bliss.Getting these four international actors together in the same plot isn't as strange as you think. Mifune is Kuroda Jubie, a guard for the Ambassador from Japan who is currently en-route to Washington D.C. where he is to deliver a magnificent sword as a present from the Emperor of Japan to the President of the US. Their train is robbed by Bronson, playing outlaw Link Stuart, but he is betrayed mid-robbery by his partner Gauche (Alain Delon) who takes the gold-encrusted sword. Joining together in a wary truce, Mifune and Bronson hunt Delon to recover their lost honor and stolen treasures. Andress is Delon's woman, but someone who can easily be convinced to switch her loyalties if the price is right.What is so amazing about this film is that, aside from its impressive international cast, is that is just a really good movie. What could have been played for laughs, as happened in the much later  Shanghai Noon , is instead treated entirely straight, and a subtle story of honor and revenge is laid out with patience and perfection. Although technically a "Spaghetti Western", none of the tropes are brought into play, and everything is handled with respect and intention. Mifune is not Bronson's wacky sidekick, and Delon is no French buffoon.As an interesting note, this is the first film I have seen where Mifune speaks English. It was quite a surprise, and he does an able job with his lines, although they are not flawless. His character here is a straight-laced servant to his lord rather than the dangerous rouge from  Yojimbo , and the scenes between him and Bronson are fantastic.This DVD presentation is a little lacking. It is strictly bare-bones, and the video looks to be a PAL transfer. It would be nice to see this gem get a deluxe Region 1 release, but until then I am just happy to have it in any format.

I loved the cast. I am such a big Alain Delon fan, especially when he star with Charles Bronson. I really enjoyed the 🎦 . Two thumbs up. Thank you for a great buy.🤗🤗🤗

I love this movie but truth be told, I'm a huge Bronson fan.Why do I love it besides that?Funny, good story line, good Action (that is believeable), some suspense and a good ending.

Classic Charles Bronson character, quick witted, bad ass, seriousness tempered with appropriate humor. For a Western movie, the Bushido was portrayed as best that could be expected. Toshiro Mifune comes through as a superb actor in this most unusual role for his type of character, i.e., West meets East. While I hold no particular favor for the brutal Samurai class, it does bring some remorse when the character expresses that the history and honor of his class is at an end, yet he faces it stoically. A classic, for Bronson, as a "bad guy" turns "good guy" in the end.I saw this movie when it first came out in theaters and it has lost nothing in all the decades since its release.

Muy buena

Studio Canal, who usually do an excellent job with their DVD releases, have somehow screwed up here! The film is not in 2.35 aspect as stated, it's in 4.3 full screen aspect, which was a big disappointment. Apart from that the picture quality is crisp and clear, also the main title is not in English, only with a subtitle below it, however at the price I suppose I can't complain, and I'm not sure if there are any good quality 1.85 or 2.35 out there just yet?

plays well home use

What could be just another violent revenge Western stands out through the introduction of the Eastern element in the form of a Japanese samurai. The film is well cast with Charles Bronson, Alain Delon, Toshiro Mifune and Ursula Andress. Bronson and Delon are two train robbers with Bronson doing the talking and Delon doing the shooting. It works well. Both for the film and for them - until Delon double crosses his partner and makes off with the money and a priceless ceremonial sword. and that's where the fun begins. From now on he has Bronson on his track, who wants his share of the cache. And along with him a Japanese samurai who wants him dead within a week.The samurai in his outlandish attire looks hugely incongruous, even in the unmistakably Spanish 'Wild West', but Mifune plays him with great dignity. And you gotta just love Bronson for letting the man from Japan best him at every turn. It's huge fun to watch, and it's a long time before he is allowed to get his own back on him. Also fun to watch are the sword fighting sequences. And I do like Alain Delon as the nasty little sharpshooter. It's fun to have a sexy villain. Ursula Andress is spunky as Cristina, Cappucine makes an appearance as the madam of the obligatory hotel/bordello, and Gina Lollobrigida also pops up.I quite enjoyed seeing the film again, it's a nice mix of gritty revenge and some tongue in cheek humour. Nice bit of entertainment for a rainy weekend or a quiet night in. Just sit back an enjoy the outlandishness of it all.The DVD I purchased (StudioCanal, 2005) is very basic. The film is presented in a cropped 4 : 3 format. Apart from that, the picture quality is nice with good virant colours. The sound is Mono only. No subtitles.

Really enjoyed this East Meets Western, great chemistry between Charles Bronson and the always Brilliant Japanese Icon Toshirô Mifune (who actually speaks all his English lines in this film without being dubbed). Very underrated, I actually found it by chance so I can imagine many people haven't seen it.