Second Sight have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of Takeshi Kitano: Collection on 6th October 2008 priced at £49.99. One of Japan’s most well known and all encompassing entertainment personalities, Takeshi Kitano has forged a name for himself as one of his country’s most beloved and internationally renowned directors.

This six disc box set comprises of the legendary actor/director’s first six films; Violent Cop, Boiling Point, Sonatine, Getting Any? with A Scene At The Sea and Kids Return making their UK DVD debut.

Violent Cop and Boiling Point include 5.1 audio and commentaries by Chris D, author of Outlaw Master of Japanese Film. The only other extra is a 68-minute documentary ‘Takashi Kitano – The Unpredictable’.



Violent Cop is a deliriously violent masterpiece that follows a rebellious, loose cannon police detective who finds his life threatened by a local Yakuza gang, and is forced to take the law into his own hands to deliver his own brand of justice.

Boiling Point is a gangster comedy which sees a local baseball player run afoul of a group of Yakuza and in an effort to stand up to the mob runs into a hardened criminal with a helping hand and scores to settle.

A Scene At The Sea centres on a deaf refuse collector who finds a discarded surfboard and, with the help of his also deaf girlfriend, decides to learn to surf. This light-hearted drama proves what a complex and multi-layered storyteller Kitano truly is.

Sonatine is widely regarded as one of Kitano’s finest works, it follows a Yakuza officer thrown into the midst of a complex and murderous struggle, forcing on him staking his future life and happiness on a final, bloody standoff.

Getting Any? is a gleefully stupid tale about one man’s attempt to get laid, it mercilessly satirises Japanese culture, while simultaneously displaying why Kitano is one of Japan’s best loved comedic minds.

Kids Return is a wistful, bleak tale about a pair of high school bullies confronted by a more skilled street punk, that examines their slide into adulthood and the way their young friendship is tainted by the onset of maturity and the passing of time.