There were many reasons I was unimpressed by this film, though one had was certainly not the fault of anyone connected with the movie. Because this it is rarely seen, and it's hard to come by. I finally found both part one and two as an import from MEI AH Laser Disc Company--and boy did THAT leave a lot to be desired. The quality of the print was very poor (though MUCH worse on this sequel--the final fight sequence almost looks like it was a fight between two shadows) and the captioning was beyond abominable! When my daughter saw part of it, she immediately recognized the problem. It seems that many Japanese movies are released by Chinese companies, so the movie is translated from Japanese to Chinese and finally to English--and so much was lost in the translation it practically ruined the experience. For example, "JUDO" is translated as either "Karate" or "Kung Fu" in the movie. For two movies about Judo, the word NEVER appears in the subtitled version! Also, countless sentences simply make no sense--it's as if the words are almost random at times.
Part two sacrifices some of the quality seen in part one because the movie obviously is intended as a propaganda flick. Instead of a struggle between rival judo studios, at times, it is a rivalry between judo and stupid Americans. Particularly at the beginning of the movie, the American shown is quite a pig and intended to stir the audience. Now some of this can be forgiven, after all, Americans made many propaganda films as well in which the enemy was seen as almost subhuman. However, it is disturbing to think that the extras used in this film were almost certainly POWs forced to act! My advice is to see any of Kurasawa's post ww2 films--they are indeed masterpieces!
Part two sacrifices some of the quality seen in part one because the movie obviously is intended as a propaganda flick. Instead of a struggle between rival judo studios, at times, it is a rivalry between judo and stupid Americans. Particularly at the beginning of the movie, the American shown is quite a pig and intended to stir the audience. Now some of this can be forgiven, after all, Americans made many propaganda films as well in which the enemy was seen as almost subhuman. However, it is disturbing to think that the extras used in this film were almost certainly POWs forced to act! My advice is to see any of Kurasawa's post ww2 films--they are indeed masterpieces!