Has anyone checked out this Takeshi Kitano film yet? It's one of Tai Seng Cheaper offerings (MSRP $19.95) so I'm slightly concerned about the quality.

How are the subtitles?

While the movie is fine, by looking at the case it seems Tai Seng have just brought over the original HK disc, in which case you'd be better off buying it from Hivizone, because it sure isn't worth $19.96.

Subs are non-removable.

Here are a couple of reviews:

http://www.scorelogue.com/gonin.html
http://www.asiandvdguide.com/reviews/gonin.html

Just rented this one from netflix - takeshi beat has a pretty small role as a hitman. It's very dark (visually as well as storywise) with a few striking scenes of violence. Subtitles are just OK - they drop out briefly and are a little faded. Worth a look.

You may also be interested to know that DVD Empire have Gonin listed as coming out on DVD in three months, from a company called Leo Films. Same price as Tai Seng, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

I purchased the supposedly superior version of Gonin put out by Leo Films yesterday and took it right back to the store. Horrible transfer (as dark and grainy as a 2nd gen VHS dupe) and the sound is even worse (calling it a wall of hiss nearly suffices.) The white subtitles are often lost in the background of many scenes, too. This is a rental at best but hardly worth buying even for the most hardcore Beat Takeshi fan.