Red Sun

Rating:
Summary: East meets the wild west
Review: This movie to me is a great one to watch. It stars Charles Bronson and the late great Toshiro Mifune. Red sun has a lot of action and a few very funny seens. I would recomend it highly, and would rate it a classic, or near classic.

Rating:
Summary: Culture Clash in the 19th Century
Review: This movie, to me, is a classic, with a star studded cast from 3 continents: Toshiro Mifune, the archetypal Samurai, Charles Bronson, the tough good guy, and Alain Delon the French Superstar as the very convincing bad guy. It has all the trimmings: fast paced action, enough humor to keep it entertaining, and, for a movie of this genre, very convincing storyline, acting and dialogue. Last but not least, though the story takes few surprising turns, it does have a surprising end. A definite must have for Western and Eastern buffs.

Rating:
Summary: Underappreciated Spaghetti Western Classic
Review: Upon its original release this movie was far more successful in overseas market than in the United States (not surprisingly, as two of its stars, Ursula Andress and Toshiro Mifune, were bigger stars in their respective home markets than pre-"Death Wish" Charles Bronson was in the States). But I would say that "Red Sun"'s reputation as an "Art House" favorite still shouldn't keep American Western fans from giving it a look, even those casual fans of the genre who believe that a Western requires either the presence of Clint Eastwood or John Wayne for a Western to be considered any good.
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As a point-of-reference for those whose tastes in Westerns (or movies in general) run along more contemporary lines, I would categorize "Red Sun" as an "Old School" variation of "Shanghai Noon" (that takes itself far more seriously). The obvious hook for the movie is the "East Meets West" theme, as well as the "discipline vs. lawlessness" and "faith vs. betrayal" conflicts that provide additional energy to the story. If the multiple subplots aren't enough, there is a brief frontal nude shot of Ursula Andress that makes it easy to remember why she was cast in "Dr. No" (and was thus subsequently identified in "Trainspotting" as "THE quintessential 'Bond girl'") in the first place.
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Now, the quality of the DVD itself isn't that good, I'm afraid. Yes, it is formatted, which for a Spaghetti Western qualifies as a crime against humanity. The transfer itself is as good as can be expected, going on the questionable quality of the original print. There aren't any additional features (a documentary piece regarding the international quality of the cast would have been interesting at the least, but the movie likely wasn't considered worthy of such pretention at the time it was made).
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In truth, if I hadn't found the DVD used (I'm not even sure if they're actively being printed anymore), I probably wouldn't've bought it at full price. I'm hoping that its "limited availability" at this time means that someone (hopefully the folks who re-issued "Repo Man" and "The Wicker Man") will put together a proper re-issue package for this film. Surely Charles Bronson fans alone at least deserve that much.
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In conclusion, I do recommend this movie to anyone who has a soft spot for Westerns and/or abstract productions...it's not one of Mifune's best works, but it is (all things considered) one his more interesting efforts as an actor. I just wish this DVD included a better presentation.