Written by: Michael Den Boer on August 23rd, 2007
Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 1992
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Writer: Shoichi Maruyama
Cast: Sonny Chiba, Kenichi Hagiwara, Kazuya Kimura, Keiko Oginome, Yoshio Harada, Renji Ishibashi, Yumi Takigawa
DVD released: 2003
Approximate running time: 108 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Letterboxed Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo Japanese
Subtitles: English, Chinese
DVD Release: Panorama Entertainment
Region Coding: Region 3 NTSC (Hong Kong)
Retail Price: $10.95
Synopsis: Three bank robbers work with a young thief named Kadomachi for the first time that double crosses them after the pull off a daring robbery for 50 million yen. In the after math of the double cross one bank robber is dead, another is on life support and the last Kanzaki one will stop at nothing tell he kills Kadomachi and recover the money. Kanzaki is not the only person who wants Kadomachi’s head he also owes a large sum of money to the mob who are tried of waiting for Kadomachi to repay them.
Triple Cross reunites Japanese film icon Sonny Chiba with legendary film director Kinji Fukasaku. Through out their careers they have often worked together with their most famous collaborations being Message from Space, The Yagyu Conspiracy and Samurai Reincarnation. The story for Triple Cross is your typical heist go wrong movie that is the first half of the film. The second half of the film is like a modern wild wild west as everyone scrambles for the 50 million yen and they shot and kill anyone or anything in their way. The films conclusion while surprising leaves a lot unresolved.
Direction wise Kinji Fukasaku shows some of his more inventive and inspired work in years. The cast is pretty solid all around with many great veteran Japanese actors like Kenichi Hagiwara, Yoshio Harada, Renji Ishibashi and Sonny Chiba who starts off strongly only to spend the final hour of the film in a virtual coma. The films two stand out performances come from Kazuya Kimura and Keiko Oginome who play two lovers who orchestrate the double cross. Every moment they are in together they just let lose and destroy everything around them. Ultimately Triple Cross had all the ingredients to end up being something really memorable and unfortunately the end result is middle of the road action movie.
The DVD:
The transfer for this release is murky, soft and at times blurry. The source for this transfer looks like it is video and not film. At best this transfer is watch able if you get survive the formulaic story.
The audio is tiny and volume adjustment is required through out. Hiss and other minor sound defects are noticeable through out. Removable English and Chinese subtitles have been included.
There is no extra content and this release only come with a very basic menu. Overall even though Panorama Entertainment DVD release for Triple Cross is cheaply priced the overall presentation leaves a lot to be desired. If you are hardcore Sonny Chiba or Kinji Fukasaku rent this one since it is not one of their better collaborations.