D V D C R Y P T

SAMURAI CHICKS

Directed by Mari Asato
Written by Yoichi Minagawa
Cinematography by Tsukasa Tanabe
Cast: Megumi Shoji, Ayano Tachibana, Chiaki Ota, Tomomi Miyashita, R-Na, Kanji Tsuda

2004/72 Mins/Color/Stereo
1.85:1/Japanese/Japan/NTSC Region 1

Review from Tokyo Shock DVD

Four really cute and pretty girls are chosen to go to the Orion Dancers Academy, where they are actually trained to be ass kicking warrior spies. They are sent on special, secret missions to help liberate them from Japan and receive their orders from a pop signer named Cocoe (R-Na). She gives them orders via coded messages on broadcast TV! But, when an evil organization kidnaps and kills Saki (the lovely Tomomi Miyashita); the girls find themselves in a battle for their very lives and ideals.

This very low budget action film is definitely pretty silly. For example our heroines kick some ass at beginning of the film, and then, when it is all over, they begin to dance! Now, I am not one to complain when it comes to seeing cute Japanese girls shake their asses, but you get my drift here. Thankfully the movie does not take itself too seriously and is a decidedly lighthearted affair, for the most part, anyway. It is actually pretty funny at times, even if some of the humor is pretty stupid. For example, when one of the girls goes undercover, she’s dressed in a bunny-rabbit costume!

The girls are all really cute and total babes, with their leader Yuki (Megumi Shoji) being my favorite of the group. She is really beautiful. The climax is fairly exciting and the open ending is alright. Fans of movies like YO-YO GIRL COP will want to check this one out, although this one is a more violent film than that one. Overall, this is a decent movie but nothing really special.

SAMURAI CHICKS dances on to DVD courtesy of Tokyo Shock/ Media Blasters. The DVD is presented in a widescreen format of 1.85:1. The picture is excellent as it features thick, full blacks and no grain but loses some credit for not being an anamorphic presentation. The subtitles are presented in a good and clear to read manner. The stereo sound is great with some really driving bass.

In the extras department we have some pretty cool premier footage. It’s a short clip that has the director and three of the actresses presenting the movie. The three girls are just so cute! The “Making of Samurai Chicks” is broken up into two parts. The first is the actual behind the scenes section which is very short, so short that warrants no real discussion. The second part of it, the roundtable discussion, is the best feature on the whole DVD. Here in lies a really good and interesting talk with director. She comes off very likable, but the true highlight for me is when they start to discuss the FEMALE PRISONER #701 SCORPION films!

The single disc comes in a keep-case and has no inlet card. I do think the cover is pretty cool, though. The chapters are accessible from the static menu screen. Trailers to SUKEBAN DEKA, SUKEBAN DEKA 2, KEKKO KAMEN SURPRISE, and BODYGUARD KIBA are included, but sadly, not the trailer to the film, itself.

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