Goemon (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Action Adventure	Featurette-Making Of-Making of Goemon Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Eastern Eye Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	122:36
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Sided	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Kazuaki Kiriya
Studio Distributor	Kiriya Pictures Madman Entertainment	Starring	Yōsuke Eguchi Takao Ōsawa Ryoko Hirosue Jun Kaname Gori Mikijiro Hira Masatō Ibu Tetsuji Tamayama Hashinosuké Nakamura Eiji Okuda Choi Hong Man Susumu Terajima Eriko Satō
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	Akihiko Matsumoto

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Japan 1582. Ruler Nobunaga Oda (Hashinosuke Nakamura) has been assassinated but his general Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Eiji Okuda) has defeated the assassins and seized power, ruling with an iron first. He has plans to unify Japan by force before launching invasions of Korea and China. Waiting in the wings and plotting to attain power were lords Mitsunari Ishida (Jun Kaname) and Ieyasu Tokugawa (Masato Ibu). This volatile mix explodes when master thief Goemon (Yosuke Eguchi) accidentally steals a box which contains a manuscript implicating Hideyoshi in the assassination of Nobunaga; a revelation that has potentially disastrous consequences for many of the key characters.

     This period is a well known part of Japanese history, so the Japanese audience, and many westerners, know who will come out on top in the end, so this is not really what the film is about. Within this wider political framework, Goemon is a film about loyalty and betrayal, honour and revenge for the murder of Nobunaga. It revolves around the characters of three ninjas, Goemon, Saizo (Takao Osawa) and Hanzo Hattori (Susumu Terajima) who had all been in Nobunaga’s household but had since taken different paths and different masters. Also involved is Nobunaga’s niece Chacha Asai (Ryoko Hirosue), now pressured into being Hideyoshi’s concubine to legitimise his rule. But as many seek revenge on Hideyoshi it appears that the power struggle is only just starting and that the common people of Japan will be fated to suffer many more years of civil war unless Goemon can dispense his own brand of justice.

     Goemon, written and directed by Kazuaki Kiriya, is a CGI epic extravaganza that is more like a video game or extended rock video than a feature film. It features totally CGI backgrounds, enhanced and / or desaturated colours, jump cuts, slow motion, freeze frame, 360 degree quick pans and enough flashy hero moments to deck out a dozen films. Ninjas cut their way through thousands of extras in welters of blood and severed limbs and leap hundreds of feet into the air, run over roof tops and fly through trees like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon on steroids. Every single frame of the film is CGI enhanced and colour filtered – silver, red, yellow or blue predominately. Yet, once one gets used to this and can look behind the flashy CGI, pyrotechnics and camera moves, Goemon is a surprisingly effecting and moving film with its themes of betrayal and loyalty, honour, friendship and love and the fact that actions all have consequences, often unforseen. In the mindless pursuit of power, or indeed vengeance, innocent common people are affected, and innocent people die. If you kill one warlord, you merely get another jockeying for power. In the end Goemon raises the same question asked by Zhang Yimou’s Hero: is the slaughter of innocents by a tyrant justified if by that slaughter he brings an end of war and peace to the land?

     Goemon has enough energy and exhilarating moments, all enhanced by CGI, to be always entertaining. There are some exciting set pieces, such as the attack upon the boat flotilla or the assault on Hideyoshi’s castle, yet all the flashy techniques and CGI do not overwhelm the acting. Indeed, there is excellent work especially from Yosuke Eguchi as Goemon, Takao Osawa as Saizo and Eiji Okuda as Hideyoshi, who is dastardly enough to murder babies, yet faces his fate with dignity and understanding. And the themes explored by Goemon are universal enough, and the conclusion moving enough, to be remembered long after the flashy CGI is forgotten.

Video

     Goemon is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced. Within the deliberate post production decisions, the print looks superb.

     As noted, every frame is CGI enhanced or colour corrected; the effect is similar to that of 300. The result can thus often be overwhelming and especially when the glare and bright colours are added to movement and back projected light sources the frame can struggle to focus – for example look at the sequence around 7:45. Thus skin tones are nowhere normal or colours natural (but this is the look of the film, not the DVD). Blacks are however perfect and shadow detail precise and wonderful.

     I did not notice any film or film to video artefacts.

     The English subtitles are in a yellow font. There are no obvious spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice between Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps and a Japanese dts 5.1 track at 754 Kbps. The dts is a wonderful experience. Dialogue was clear and the Foley effects have separation and excellent clarity. The surrounds are constantly in use for music, effects such as arrows and ambient sounds creating a great enveloping experience. The sub woofer did support the music and explosions.

     I did sample the Dolby Digital track. It was acceptable but the dts was clearly superior: it had far more resonance, and a sharper and cleaner sound.

     The music by Akihiko Matsumoto is suitably epic and supports the visuals very effectively.

     Lip synchronisation is fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Making of Goemon (36:11)

     This is more a video diary of the shooting with some genuine insights into the filming process as Goemon was made entirely in a studio in front of green and blue screens . There is no narration as such, but all the actors and some of the crew including the director speak in voiceover about the filming. For a film so reliant upon post production there is, disappointingly, nothing about this process. Nevertheless, this is a quality look at behind the scenes and well worth watching.

Original Trailer (2:11)

Madman Trailers

     Trailers for other films from Madman. Included is Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl (1:14), Cure (1:48), Mother (1:42) and Chaw (2:01).

     There are a number of Region 2 Japanese versions including the 3 disc “Ultimate Box Set” which has 2 DVDs of extras including Interviews, Press Conferences, the script, a booklet, a making of and other special features. However, neither the film itself, nor the extras, have English subtitles. The Japanese Region A Blu-ray seems to include the above and also a director’s commentary, but again no English subtitles.

     There are also Region 2 UK and Region 3 Malaysian versions, plus a Region B UK Blu-ray but from what I can see they have no more extras than Region 4. I cannot currently find a Region 1 US release.

     For Japanese speakers, the Ultimate Box Set is the best version; for everyone else our Region 4 is as good as anything available elsewhere.

     The DVD has excellent video and audio and a reasonable “making of”, although the extras cannot match the Japanese Ultimate Box Set (if you speak Japanese).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall