Sogo Ishi’s Crazy Thunder Road Getting A UK Blu-Ray Release!

Third Window Films are set to give Sogo Ishii’s punk classic, Crazy Thunder Road a UK Blu-Ray release next month.

The release marks the first ever release in any format of Ishi’s biker action thriller since it’s original Japanese release in 1980. The film follows a leader of a notorious biker gang who falls in love and starts lose his rebellious lifestyle.

There is no subtitled or dubbed version of the trailer, instead check out the opening scene from the film below

Hailed both as Japan’s Mad Max, Sogo Ishii’s high-octane, loud-and-proud breakthrough hit was one of that country’s great success stories, a graduation project from a film school punk rocker bought by Toei Studios and released nationwide.

The plot involves Ken, a gang leader dreaming of a quiet life with his girlfriend Noriko, and Jin, Ken’s maverick successor, who isn’t about to let yakuza kingpins or right-wing nutjobs tell him what to do or whom to kill. Jin’s violent individualism in a world where even outlaws follow the bosses’ orders references the doomed anti-establishment heroes of Kinji Fukasaku, but Crazy Thunder Road points toward a new style of genre filmmaking-fast-paced, quick-witted and brilliantly stylized.

Bonus Features

• New master approved by the director
• New interview with Gakuryu (Sogo) Ishii
• Audio commentary by Tom Mes
• Video Essay: Jasper Sharp on Jishu Eiga

The film stars Hiroshi Ebisudani, Masamitsu Ooike, Tatsuo Yamada, Hiroshi Kaiya  and Yosuke Nakajina.

Crazy Thunder Road will be released on Blu-ray in the UK and Ireland from Third Window Films from 21st February.