Japan movies

Akira (1988)

Thursday, February 14th, 2008
Genres: Action | Adventure | Animation | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Countries: Japan
Actors: Mitsuo Iwata | Nozomu Sasaki | Mami Koyama | Tesshô Genda | Hiroshi Ôtake | Kôichi Kitamura | Michihiro Ikemizu | Yuriko Fuchizaki | Masaaki Ôkura | Tarô Arakawa | Takeshi Kusao | Kazumi Tanaka | Masayuki Katô | Yôsuke Akimoto | Masato Hirano
Directors: Katsuhiro Ôtomo
Download: DivX iPod 

Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend Tetsuo gets involved in a government secret project known as Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader. The confrontation sparks off Tetsuo’s supernatural power leading to bloody death, a coup attempt and the final battle in Tokyo Olympiad where Akira’s secrets were buried 30 years ago.

Appleseed (2004)

Friday, January 18th, 2008
Genres: Action | Animation | Sci-Fi
Countries: Japan
Actors: Ai Kobayashi | Jûrôta Kosugi | Yuki Matsuoka | Asumi Miwa | Akimoto Tsubasa | Jack Aubree | William Bassett | Michael Forest | Yuzuru Fujimoto | William Knight | Takehito Koyasu | Steve Kramer | Michael McConnohie | Toshiyuki Morikawa | Ryûji Nakagi
Directors: Shinji Aramaki
Download: DivX iPod 

In a utopian society created at the end of the third world war, a female warrior who has been plucked from the badlands begins to see cracks in this new facade. And what does this community have planned for the rest of humankind?

Crying Freeman (1995)

Friday, January 18th, 2008
Genres: Action | Crime | Thriller
Countries: Canada | France | Japan | USA
Actors: Byron Mann | Mark Dacascos | Julie Condra | Rae Dawn Chong | Masaya Kato | Yoko Shimada
Directors: Christophe Gans
Download: DivX iPod 

A lethal assassin for a secret Chinese organisation, who sheds tears of regret each time he kills, is seen swiftly and mercilessly executing three Yakuza gangsters by a beautiful artist. She is captivated by the grace of his kill and later falls in love with him. An intense power struggle for the leadership of the Yakuza Clans ensues as they seek vengeance for the death of their leader. They soon realise the fatal mistake of underestimating the deadly skills of the Crying Freeman.

Lost in Translation (2003)

Friday, January 18th, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Drama
Countries: Japan | USA
Actors: Scarlett Johansson | Bill Murray | Akiko Takeshita | Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe | Kazuko Shibata | Take | Ryuichiro Baba | Akira Yamaguchi | Catherine Lambert | François du Bois | Tim Leffman | Gregory Pekar | Richard Allen | Giovanni Ribisi | Diamond Yukai
Directors: Sofia Coppola
Download: DVD DivX PDA 

Bob Harris is an American film actor, far past his prime. He visits Tokyo to appear in commercials, and he meets Charlotte, the young wife of a visiting photographer. Bored and weary, Bob and Charlotte make ideal if improbable traveling companions. Charlotte is looking for “her place in life,” and Bob is tolerating a mediocre stateside marriage. Both separately and together, they live the experience of the American in Tokyo. Bob and Charlotte suffer both confusion and hilarity due to the cultural and language differences between themselves and the Japanese. As the relationship between Bob and Charlotte deepens, they come to the realization that their visits to Japan, and one another, must soon end. Or must they?

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Friday, January 18th, 2008
Genres: Action | Adventure | Animation | Fantasy | Sci-Fi
Countries: Japan | USA
Actors: Ming-Na | Alec Baldwin | Ving Rhames | Steve Buscemi | Peri Gilpin | Donald Sutherland | James Woods | Keith David | Jean Simmons | Matt McKenzie
Directors: Hironobu Sakaguchi | Moto Sakakibara
Download: DVD DivX PDA 

In the year 2065, the next great assault against an invading race of phantom-like aliens is about to be launched. Dr. Aki Ross, a brilliant young scientist, races to find the invaders’ secrets, not only to save the planet, but herself as well after her body is infected by alien particles. She teams up with the prestigious Deep Eyes military squadron, led by her old friend Grey Edwards. But as Aki, her mentor Dr. Sid, and Grey work toward a peaceful end, the scheming General Hein devises a plot to eradicate the aliens in one swift, destructive blow…even if it destroys the Earth right along with them.

The Last Samurai (2003)

Friday, January 18th, 2008
Genres: Action | Adventure | Drama | War
Countries: Japan | New Zealand | USA
Actors: Shin Koyamada | Ken Watanabe | Tom Cruise | William Atherton | Chad Lindberg | Ray Godshall Sr. | Billy Connolly | Tony Goldwyn | Masato Harada | Masashi Odate | John Koyama | Timothy Spall | Shichinosuke Nakamura | Togo Igawa | Satoshi Nikaido | Shintaro Wada
Directors: Edward Zwick
Download: DVD DivX PDA 

In the 1870s, Captain Nathan Algren, a cynical veteran of the American Civil war who will work for anyone, is hired by Americans who want lucrative contracts with the Emperor of Japan to train the peasant conscripts for the first standing imperial army in modern warfare using firearms. The imperial Omura cabinet’s first priority is to repress a rebellion of traditionalist Samurai -hereditary warriors- who remain devoted to the sacred dynasty but reject the Westernizing policy and even refuse firearms. Yet when his ill-prepared superior force sets out too soon, their panic allows the sword-wielding samurai to crush them. Badly wounded Algren’s courageous stand makes the samurai leader Katsumoto spare his life; once nursed to health he learns to know and respect the old Japanese way, and participates as advisor in Katsumoto’s failed attempt to save the Bushido tradition, but Omura gets repressive laws enacted- he must now choose to honor his loyalty to one of the embittered sides when the conflict returns to the battlefield…

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Friday, January 18th, 2008
Genres: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Countries: France | Germany | Japan | USA
Actors: Forest Whitaker | John Tormey | Cliff Gorman | Dennis Liu | Frank Minucci | Richard Portnow | Tricia Vessey | Henry Silva | Gene Ruffini | Frank Adonis | Victor Argo | Damon Whitaker | Kenny Guay | Vince Viverito | Gano Grills
Directors: Jim Jarmusch
Download: DVD DivX PDA 

In Jersey City, an African American hit man follows “Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai.” He lives alone, in simplicity with homing pigeons for company, calling himself Ghost Dog. His master, who saved his life eight years ago, is part of the local mob. When the boss’ daughter witnesses one of Ghost Dog’s hits, he becomes expendable. The first victims are his birds, and in response, Ghost Dog goes right at his attackers but does not want to harm his master or the young woman. On occasion, he talks with his best friend, a French-speaking Haitian who sells ice cream in the park, and with a child with whom he discusses books. Can he stay true to his code? And if he does, what is his fate?

Tekken: The Motion Picture (1997)

Saturday, December 1st, 2007
Genres: Action | Animation
Countries: Japan
Actors: Kazuhiro Yamaji | Yumi Tôma | Akio Nakamura | Daisuke Gôri | Shinichirô Miki | Minami Takayama | Kaori Yamagata | Akio Ôtsuka | Narumi Hidaka | Tamio Ôki | Kyôsei Tsukui | Takashi Nagasako | Sendai Eri | Shihori Niwa | Takehiro Murozono
Directors: Kunihisa Sugishima
Download: DivX iPod 

Based On Video Game

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Friday, November 9th, 2007
Genres: Biography | Drama | History
Countries: France | Japan | USA
Actors: Kirsten Dunst | Jason Schwartzman | Judy Davis | Rip Torn | Rose Byrne | Asia Argento | Molly Shannon | Shirley Henderson | Danny Huston | Marianne Faithfull | Mary Nighy | Sebastian Armesto | Jamie Dornan | Aurore Clément | Guillaume Gallienne
Directors: Sofia Coppola
Download: DivX 

Based on Antonia Fraser’s book about the ill-fated Archduchess of Austria and later Queen of France, ‘Marie Antoinette’ tells the story of the most misunderstood and abused woman in history, from her birth in Imperial Austria to her later life in France.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

Sunday, October 21st, 2007
Genres: Action | Adventure | Animation | Fantasy | Sci-Fi
Countries: Japan
Actors: Kitao Sakurai | Ayumi Ito | Shotaro Morikubo | Maaya Sakamoto | Keiji Fujiwara | Taiten Kusunoki | Yûji Kishi | Kenji Nomura | Shogo Suzuki | Masahiro Kobayashi | Kazuyuki Yama | Yumi Kakazu | Hideo Ishikawa | Masachika Ichimura | Miyuu Tsuzuhara
Directors: Tetsuya Nomura
Download: DivX iPod 

Two years after “Final Fantasy 7″, life seems to have returned to a state of normality after Sephiroth’s attempts at mass genocide and the danger of Meteor. On the edge of the ruins of the metropolis Midgar, a new city has thrived, called the Edge and at it’s center lies a monument that entails no one will forget Meteor and the ones who died. Cloud Strife, the hero who defeated Sephiroth, is a delivery boy now, no longer interested in fighting wars or leading rebellions. The world is at peace, and AVALANCHE is gone it’s separate ways. Tifa Lockheart has reopened the new 7th Heaven, in the Edge, looking after Marlene and other orphans, including Denzel. Barret Wallace is working with the WRO in finding new energy sources to supply the world now that Mako is no longer used. Cid Highwind is also working with the WRO, as an airship pilot and leader of their air fleet. Reeve (and Cait Sith) is now heading the WRO and working, striving, to create a better world for all. Vincent Valentine has returned to solace, switching his places between his mansion home in Nibleheim and the Sleeping Forest, and the Forgotten City. Yuffie Kirisagi is back in Wutai, though what the Ninja is doing is unknown to all. But despite this lull in adventure, there is something that is striving the world. Geostigma, the Sephiroth, JENOVA’s memetic legacy. A disease that counters the body’s own defence system in on itself and causes it to destroy itself. Rufus ShinRa, ex-President of Midgar, is a sufferer of the disease, along with the ex-SOLDIER Cloud, and lives now in his hide-away home the Healin Lodge with his faithful bodyguards, the Turks. But who are the mysterious silver haired band, known as Kadaj’s Gang? Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, all of silver hair and teal eyes. Who are these strange people, who appear so much like Sephiroth?