Kurenai no nagareboshi

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!