Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection (Arrow Video) Blu-ray/DVD Limited Edition (UK/USA)

[paulboland]

UK
Release Date: August 8th ,2016
Purchase Links:
Arrow Films
Amazon UK
Price: £59.99
Zavvi
Price: £49.99


USA
Release Date: August 9th ,2016
Purchase Links:
Diabolik DVD
Price: $89.99
Amazon
Price: $98.99

Limited Edition Blu-ray collection (4000 copies)


LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• Limited Edition Blu-ray collection (4000 copies)
  
  
• Brand new 2K restorations of all four films in the series presented on High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD
  
  
• Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays) for all films
  
  
• Optional English subtitles for all films
  
  
• Double-sided fold out poster of two original artworks
  
  
• Reversible sleeves for all films featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan
  
  
• Booklet featuring an extract from Unchained Melody: The Films of Meiko Kaji, an upcoming book on the star by critic and author Tom Mes, an archive interview with Meiko Kaji, and a brand new interview with Toru Shinohara, creator of the original Female Prisoner Scorpion manga

FEMALE PRISONER #701: SCORPION

• Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Gareth Evans (The Raid)
  
  
• Archive interview with director Shunya Ito
  
  
• New interview with assistant director Yutaka Kohira
  
  
• Theatrical Trailers for all films in the series

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: JAILHOUSE 41

• Newly filmed appreciation by critic Kier-La Janisse
  
  
• Japanese cinema critic Jasper Sharp looks over the career of Shunya Ito
  
  
• New interview with production designer Tadayuki Kuwana
  
  
• Original Theatrical Trailer

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: BEAST STABLE

• Newly filmed appreciation by critic Kat Ellinger
  
  
• Archive interview with director Shunya Ito
  
  
• New visual essay on the career of star and icon Meiko Kaji by critic Tom Mes
  
  
• Original Theatrical Trailer

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: #701’s GRUDGE SONG

• Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Kichiku: Banquet of the Beasts)
  
  
• Archive interview with director Yasuharu Hasebe
  
  
• Japanese cinema critic Jasper Sharp looks over the career of Yasuharu Hasebe
  
  
• Visual essay on the Scorpion series by critic Tom Mes
  
  
• Original Theatrical Trailer

 

[Futurhythm]

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

After Lady Snowblood, I've been saying to myself Arrow will definitely release these and now they are!

 

[C.C. 95]

So - 300 print run for the 300 people who know what this is?

 

[Futurhythm]

So - 300 print run for the 300 people who know what this is?

It's a 3000 print run, not 300. And this is Arrow Video we're talking about. They do cult movies, not stuff that's widely known.

Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion is a series of Japanese women in prison revenge/exploitation films from the 70s. There's four original movies (the ones in this boxset), as well as a bunch of remakes/reboots. Meiko Kaiji plays the titular character in the originals and it's one her iconic roles. This character along with Lady Snowblood who Kaiji also played on film, are two of the key inspirations behind the Bride character Tarantino and Uma Thurman created for Kill Bill.

Very NSFW trailer for the first movie:

 

[SteelCollz]

Awesome news, really looking forward to the new 2k transfer but would have hoped for a slightly better boxset for these great movies, especially at this price.

 

[wiNd]

finally!

 

[paulboland]

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION FINAL SPECS **

It is time to reveal the the final specs for our upcoming UK/US release of Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection. Release dates are August 8th/9th, UK/US respectively.

Starring the iconic and beautiful Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood, Stray Cat Rock) in a role that came to define her career, the four-film Female Prisoner Scorpion series charts the vengeance of Nami Matsushima, who assumes the mantle of "Scorpion," becoming an avatar of vengeance and survival, and an unlikely symbol of female resistance in a male-dominated world.

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion introduces Nami, a gullible young woman unjustly imprisoned, who must find a way to escape in order to exact revenge upon the man who betrayed her. The visually avant-garde Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 sees director Shunya Ito and star Meiko Kaji re-unite as Nami and six other female convicts escape prison once more. The Gothic horror-inspired Beast Stable finds Nami branded public enemy #1 and on the run. She soon finds refuge with a sympathetic prostitute, but runs afoul of a local gang. The final film in the series, #701's Grudge Song (from director Yasuharu Hasebe, Retaliation, Massacre Gun), shows a gentler side of Nami as she falls in with Kudo, an ex-radical suffering from physical and psychological trauma caused by police torture.

Spiritual kin to Ms. 45, Coffy and The Bride Wore Black, the Female Prisoner Scorpion is the pinnacle of early 1970s exploitation cinema from Japanese grindhouse studio Toei, and one of the greatest female revenge sagas ever told.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
•Limited Edition Blu-ray collection (4000 copies)
•Brand new 2K restorations of all four films in the series presented on High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD
•Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays) for all films
•Optional English subtitles for all films
•Double-sided fold out poster of two original artworks
•Reversible sleeves for all films featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan
•Booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Chuck Stephens, a brand new interview with Toru Shinohara, creator of the original Scorpion manga and an archive interview with Meiko Kaji by Chris D. illustrated with original stills

FEMALE PRISONER #701: SCORPION
•Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Gareth Evans (The Raid)
•Shunya Ito: Birth of an Outlaw, an archive interview with the director
•Scorpion Old and New, a new interview with assistant director Yutaka Kohira
•Theatrical Trailers for all four films in the series

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: JAILHOUSE 41
•Newly filmed appreciation by critic Kier-La Janisse
•Japanese cinema critic Jasper Sharp looks over the career of Shunya Ito
•Designing Scorpion, a new interview with production designer Tadayuki Kuwana
•Original Theatrical Trailer and Teaser

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: BEAST STABLE
•Newly filmed appreciation by critic Kat Ellinger
•Shunya Ito: Directing Meiko Kaji, an archive interview with the director
•Unchained Melody, a new visual essay by Tom Mes on the career of Meiko Kaji
•Original Theatrical Trailer and Teaser

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: #701’s GRUDGE SONG
•Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Kichiku: Banquet of the Beasts)
•Yasuharu Hasebe: Finishing the Series, an archive interview with the director
•Japanese cinema critic Jasper Sharp looks over the career of Yasuharu Hasebe
•They Call Her Scorpion, a new visual essay by Tom Mes on the film series
•Original Theatrical Trailer

 

[paulboland]

 

[PunkNinja]

How's zavvi's shipping on box sets?
Do they ship it in a sturdy box?

 

[paulboland]

How's zavvi's shipping on box sets?
Do they ship it in a sturdy box?

Zavvi will ship in Jiffy Bag if it will fit

It's risky using Zavvi if the box set is soft cardboard as that can get damaged easily especially in a jiffy bag
When it's the soft cardboard type box sets I avoid ordering from Zavvi for Arrow Video Box sets releases going by previous orders

I usually now use Amazon or order direct with Arrow for most of the Box sets
I did though order from Zavvi previous orders the Long Good Friday Box Set and 6 Gothic Tales Box Set and they used Box packaging and these where hard cardboard type box sets

This box set though it's hard cardboard packaging like Black Cats/American Horror Project/Videodrome Box sets
You should be OK with this Box set if your order from Zavvi as it's a strong cardboard box set but personally I would use Amazon

 

[PunkNinja]

Thx @paulboland for the info.

 

[Futurhythm]

I second ordering direct from Arrow. Their packaging is top notch and shipping is free if you spend £50 and up (I think). From personal experience, stuff from them seems to take longer than places like Amazon to get to me though and they don't offer any express shipping options either. They've had delays with their bigger boxsets and they charge straight away so that's another thing to take into consideration. I recommend waiting for their sales which are absolutely fantastic. I always end up spending a lot more than I should at them. I only wish there was a way to buy their US releases direct from them too because I like that they don't have the BBFC logos on them, but Amazon's international packaging can be really hit and miss nowadays.

This edition is also available in the US: https://amzn.com/B01E4687AU

 

[severo]

i unfortunately had to cancel this box set, after first screen captures showing up.
it seems that somebody in the long production chain from scanning the film material to pressing it on blu-ray messed up, the colours look totally wrong and unnatural, and all the movies seem to have a tinkered teal-ish/green-ish look. :/

TOEI DVD (not reference material but i think the colours look quite natural)

ARROW BLU-RAY

DVD

ARROW BLU-RAY
http://mondo-digital.com/prisonerscorpion11.jpg

first arrow LE boxset that i won't buy. i absolutely love the look and the artwork of the box, but the picture quality just doesn't do it for me.

 

[Futurhythm]

i unfortunately had to cancel this box set, after first screen captures showing up.
it seems that somebody in the long production chain from scanning the film material to pressing it on blu-ray messed up, the colours look totally wrong and unnatural, and all the movies seem to have a tinkered teal-ish/green-ish look. :/

first arrow LE boxset that i won't buy. i absolutely love the look and the artwork of the box, but the picture quality just doesn't do it for me.

I saw the new colour scheme in the trailer Arrow released a couple of weeks ago and was really confused. I don't think it looks terrible, but it's definitely very different that I can understand peoples' outrage. It's really obvious that the changes to the colour were done on purpose too and I wonder whose decision it was to give it this very stylised look.

 

[Noodles]

 

[wiNd]

got mine!

 

[Last Lizard]

PQ is really a bit of an oddity on this release! Thankfully I only really like Jailhouse 41 so I don't feel compelled to pick the whole set up.

 

[Futurhythm]

*Heavy breathing*

I want this so bad, but I'm so poor right now...

 

[paulboland]

https://www.zavvi.com/brands/arrow-video/offer.list


Price only £28.50

 

[zoltan_g]

Does anyone know how is Zavvi’s packaging when it comes to box sets? Jiffy bags?