American Yakuza (1993*)/Cheap Thrills (2013/both Arrow Blu-ray*)/Hanky Panky (1982/Sony/Alliance Blu-ray)/Japanese Godfather Trilogy (1977-78/Radiance Blu-ray Set*)/Knock Off 4K (1998/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*)/Snakes On A Plane 4K (2006*)/The Visitor 4K (1979/both Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/*all MVD)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B/A-/B Picture: B-/B-/B-/B-/B-/X/X Sound: B-/B-/C+/C+/B-/B+/C+ Extras: C+/C/D/C+/C/B/C+ Films: C+/C/C/C+/C-/C/C

Up next are a set of films that tried one thing and landed up doing more in the way of everything else...

Frank Cappello's American Yakuza (1993) is a low-budget gangster drama with a then-unknown Viggo Mortensen as an ex-con who lands up helping Yakuza members in the U.S. (visiting and here more permanently) also taking on some Italian mafiosos (lead by Michael Nouri) that wants to be another film to ride the coattails of Michael Cimino's Year Of The Dragon (1985) like Scott's Black Rain or Kaufmann's Rising Sun. Sometimes, it even succeeds.

Unfortunately, good moments are often foiled by badly edited ones, or off ones or ones that have not aged as well as other parts of the film. It was shot quick and cheap, which can show, yet has more good moments than you might expect and Mortensen more than holds his own. The supporting cast also includes Ryo Ishibashi, Nicky Katt, Franklyn Ajaye and Robert Forester, so if it is a curio of interest to you, you should check it out.

Extras include a brand new audio commentary with director Frank Cappello and actor Anzu (Cristina) Lawson

• Yakuza Style, a newly filmed interview with director Frank Cappello

• Decoding Honor, an archive interview with actor Viggo Mortensen

• Newly filmed interview with actor Ryo Ishibashi

• Original trailer

• Image gallery

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by OC Agency

• and collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the film by Patrick Macias.

E.L. Katz's Cheap Thrills (2013) lives up to its name as a cult film about a rich couple helping out a poor one by giving them money to take a few dares. Instead, it becomes about people being captured and tortured, that impressed some at the time. No fan of the film then or now, it could be considered part of the torture porn cycle, but maybe wants to be more?

The cast (named in the extras below) are not bad, but never exceed the material. I had no sympathy for anyone and never totally bought anyone's behavior or motives, resulting in a film that tends to wallow in what it shows. Hardly a class-division parable, it is an 'acquired taste' at best and is not recommended.

Extras include a brand new audio commentary by film critic and author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

• Audio commentary with director E.L. Katz and actor Pat Healy

• With Friends Like These, a newly filmed interview with director E.L. Katz and producer Travis Stevens

• Money Talks, a newly filmed interview with actors Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, David Koechner, and Sara Paxton

• Double Down, a newly filmed interview with writers Trent Haaga and David Chirchirillo

• Ketchup, Cheese, and (Fake) Blood, a newly filmed interview with special effects/make up artist Hugo Villasenor

• Vital Heat: The Making of Cheap Thrills, an archive featurette

• Cheap Thrills at Fantastic Film Festival 2013, an archive featurette

• Theatrical trailer

• Cheap Shots, a gallery of photos taken by Sara Paxton's character, Violet, as seen in the film

• On-set production photos

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sister Hyde

• Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sister Hyde

• and a collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the film by Heather Wixson and Matt Donato.

Sidney Poitier's Hanky Panky (1982) reunites the director with Gene Wilder in a comedy thriller where he gets unintentionally involved with what turns out to be a espionage operation when a young woman (Kathleen Quinlan) gets into his cab ride when she is being chased after a contact is killed. He is then pulled into the goings on and madness ensues. A woman he later runs into (Gilda Radner) tries to help, but is all gets more complicated.

Or is that convoluted? Wilder is naturally funny and I always loved Radner, so it always was awful to me she never made it to the big screen in a great film before her untimely death (save Gilda Live, but that's a concert film, reviewed elsewhere on this site) and the films the couple made together never gelled. Hoping for another Silver Streak or Stir Crazy-sized hit, this was sold as a comedy, but it is never funny or even amusing, the screenplay restricting the comedy talents and their natural ability, leaving a bad thriller that gets so desperate, it tries to be North By Northwest at one point and that is where the film crashes and burns.

That's a shame, because the leads have chemistry, they had a good budget and a supporting cast that also included Richard Widmark and some solid character actors. Instead, too many missed opportunities.

There are no extras.

Sadao Nakajima's Japanese Godfather Trilogy (1977 - 78) shows that Coppola's first two Godfather films were so successful, everyone was trying to cash in and Toei spend a large sum to make three films that wanted to be their equivalent. Instead, though they have some commendable moments, they shamelessly rip off the Coppola films as much as they can and with some glee.

Not to say this Yakuza drama is not without its moments, but I was only so impressed, though the actors (definitely giving it their all considering the excitement of what they are trying to equal) and some set pieces and some production design are solid. It is worth a look if you are VERY interested or a completist, but mostly will be disappointed when all is said and done. It has its ambition, though.

Extras include an archival interview with Sadao Nakajima (2020)

• Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (2025)

• New interview with scriptwriter Koji Takada (2025)

• Trailers

• Reversible sleeves featuring artwork based on original promotional materials

• Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing by Akihiko Ito and Tom Mes

• and Limited Edition of 3,000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

Tsui Hark's Knock Off 4K (1998) is a later Jean-Claude Van Damme film after his Hollywood A-list days were ended and though he is still big overseas as he is now. Here, Rob Schneider is the comic relief and though the actor has some comic talent, he once again decides not to use it here, Paul Sorvino is here picking up a paycheck and Lela Rochon is thrown in for good measure of some sort, She does not fit in this either, but since the whole film is a mess, it does not matter.

The title is ironic since you have seen this all before and often better, but the legendary Sammo Hung actually directed some second unit fight scenes and they were butchered and NOT restored for this release (if they still exist) or featured in the extras. That tells you everything you need to know about how bad this is, but now as fully restored as possible, you can see for yourself if you do not believe yours truly.

Extras include an Archival Audio Commentary by Action Cinema Experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema

• Collectible Knock Off ''4K LaserVision'' Mini-Poster

• NEW! Interview with Steven E. de Souza (HD, 40:51) [only on the Blu-ray disc]

• NEW! Interview with Moshe Diamant (HD, 18;24) [only on the Blu-ray disc]

• Archival 2020 interview with writer Steven E. de Souza (HD, 9:49) [only on the Blu-ray disc]

• Archival 'Making Of: Knock Off' featurette (SD, 23.15) [only on the Blu-ray disc]

• Original Theatrical Trailer [only on the Blu-ray disc]

• Reversible Cover Art

• Collectible Knock Off ''4K LaserVision'' Mini-Poster

• and a Limited Edition Slipcover (*FIRST PRESSING ONLY).

Samuel L. Jackson headlines the infamous pop culture footnote Snakes on a Plane (2006), which has gotten a stellar new release on 4K UHD from Arrow Video. Aside from that golden one-liner that only Samuel L. Jackson can uniquely deliver, the film itself is your typical silly Z-grade action flick with some visual effects that have aged pretty terribly. While it doesn't always align with reality, the film is interesting in a popcorn munching kind of way and is meant to just be fun and satisfy action fans.

The film also stars Rachel Blanchard, Kenan Thompson, Nathan Philips, Elsa Pataky, and Julianna Margulies and is directed by David R. Ellis (Final Destination 2).

Jackson is among the passengers on an airplane escorting a key witness in a case against an evil crime lord. As the plane descends on its journey to Los Angeles, a pack of wild venomous snakes are unleashed and wreck havoc in the air with the passengers struggle to regain control before the plane lands.

Special Features include:

A brand new audio commentary track by critics Max Evry and Bryan Reesman

Archival cast and crew audio commentary, featuring director David R. Ellis, actor Samuel L. Jackson, producer Craig Berenson, associate producer Tawny Ellis, VFX supervisor Eric Henry, and second unit director Freddie Hice

Snakes on a Page, a brand new mini-documentary exploring the movie tie-in novelization phenomenon, featuring publisher Mark Miller, historian David Spencer and Christa Faust, author of the Snakes on a Plane novelization

Pure Venom, an archival feature on the making of the film, featuring interviews with the cast and crew

Meet the Reptiles, an archival featurette on the work of snake wrangler Jules Sylvester and the various snakes featured in the film

VFX, an archival featurette on the use of CGI to bring the snakes to life

Snakes on a Blog, an archival featurette on the online hype surrounding the film prior to its release

Snakes on a Plane music video

Making of the music video

Gag reel / Trailers and TV Spots /Image gallery / Easter eggs

South Pacific Airlines safety instruction card

Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options

and a collectors' booklet featuring new writing by Daniel Burnett and Charlie Brigden.

Snakes on a Plane is a unique foot note in pop culture and won't be on AFI's Top 100 movie list in this lifetime, but if you take it as a fun Samuel L. Jackson action vehicle, it checks off all of the boxes of what is to be expected from it. I feel like without his involvement and the perfect delivery of that line the film wouldn't be as memorable. Arrow Video knocks it out of the park with a fun great looking and sounding release packed with extras.

Giulio Paradisi's The Visitor 4K (1979, aka Stridulum) is a film so bad, American International decided not to release it at the last minute and despite all the talent involved, is all over the place, trying to combine The Exorcist, The Omen, Carrie, maybe The Fury, dark variants of Close Encounters, Hitchcock and anything else they can throw in to make this work and press the buttons of the audience. Instead, it is a real big mess.

The bizarre script has John Huston coming from outer space to deal with a gal with telekinesis who has a killer bird, wheelchair-bound mother, aliens, Satanism, bad sci-fi effects and maybe Jesus, or someone like him!?! Who knows what the early screenplays looked like, but the cast also includes Shelley Winters, Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, Franco Nero and even Sam Peckinpah in a rare acting role. These critiques make it sound much more interesting than it is, but it is a total mess and goes to show you how hot the horror genre became for big productions at this point.

This is one of the really bad ones that is a curio that needed to be issued, but just be warned if you watch it, do not operate heavy machinery!

Extras include a brand new audio commentary by film critics BJ & Harmony Colangelo

• A Biblical Battle for the Cosmos, a brand new visual essay by film critic Meagan Navarro

• A Cosmic Right to Choose, a brand new visual essay by film critic Willow Catelyn Maclay

• Archive interview with actor Lance Henriksen

• Archive interview with screenwriter Lou Comici

• Archive interview with cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri

• Theatrical Trailer

• Image gallery

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Erik Buckham

• and a collectors' booklet featuring new writing by Marc Edward Heuck, Richard Kadrey, Craig Martin and Mike White.

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Knock Off 4K has some good color and good shots at times, but other shots are not as good and the Super 35 shoot overall is a little uneven. It is still more watchable than the 1080p Blu-ray, which is not as good as the better scenes from the 4K disc. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on both discs sound better than the also-included PCM 2.0 Stereo mix, which seems unusually compressed.

Snakes On A Plane 4K is presented in 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.39 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image and a lossless audio track in English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) sound. This is the first time that the film is on the 4K format and it looks and sounds superior to the previous Blu-ray release from 2006 especially with Dolby Vision and HDR enhancing the 4K upgraded image.

The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on The Visitor 4K is another mix of good and bad shots, especially bad where optical printing is concerned. Some of that might be fixable if the original elements could be found, but the film has so many other issues. Some outdoor shots stand out and the PCM 1.0 Mono is on the weak side, especially where the music score is concerned. They fixed this as much as they could.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on American Yakuza is not bad, but has some flaws from the shoot and the transfer at times, but color is good and we do get some nice shots. The PCM 2.0 Stereo is from the old Ultra Stereo soundmaster and considering the harmonic distortion that format is known for and the limited budget of the film, this has aged well.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Cheap Thrills can show the age of the materials used, but this looks to be as authentic a representation of the film as I have seen, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is food for what it is. However, it shows the sonic and budget limits of the production.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Hanky Panky can show the age of the materials used, as his looks like an older HD master, but is not bad, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is also a generation down but passable.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Japanese Godfather Trilogy shows the age of the materials used, as well as the limits of the anamorphic lenses used. We get some nice shots, then some off ones and color is usually good, but there is money on the screen. The PCM 1.0 Mono on all three films and has only aged so well.

- Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (Snakes 4K)

https://letterboxd.com/jhl5films/