Knock-out 60's Action from Nikkatsu!
Much has been made of the debt this great film, by director Toshio Masuda, owes to Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless"--and to be sure, it has many (most likely intentional) similarities.Yet, "Kurenai No Nagareboshi" (known here as "Velvet Hustler") is actually a faithful remake of Masuda's own 1958 film, "Crimson Seaport"--a film made a full year before Godard's picture.That being said, "Velvet Hustler" is another in a long line of knock-out Nikkatsu action films from the 1960's. Though this film is highly entertaining, and very worthy of repeated watchings, it should be noted that it is a fairly typical example of the type of action/exploitation films Nikkatsu Studios turned out (by the scores!) at this time.In short, this is a greatly enjoyable programmer that we are lucky to have available to us here in the USA.I only hope that more of Nikkatsu's excellent 1960's output sees release on video stateside!
score /10
shishido 15 April 2000
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0562346/35952
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