Asian Cinema - 'Assault Girls' - New Poster And Synopsis - 'The Cup Of Tears' - Trailer

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Twitch / Tv Kon / Avery Guerra

For quite some time now you have read on and on about how geeked up I am about Mamoru Oshii's upcoming sci fi action film "Assault Girls".

With the release date quickly approaching, December 19th in Japan, information about the film is now starting to be more forthcoming. Today we have the first look at the films poster and a more detailed synopsis:

The story takes place in an in-game virtual space called "Avalon (f)", a barren desert-like battlefield, resembling a devastated world after a nuclear war. "Avalon (f)" is a world full of gigantic monsters. It is a fictional world where an endless "hunt", known as "play", repeatedly takes place. The drama centers around a sniper who pilots a camouflage fighter plane; a sorcerer who can freely transform herself; a woman fighter equipped with an assault rifle on a horseback; and a large-framed man equipped with an anti-tank rifle. There is also the "Game Master" who watches the players from the air.

In a world where giant Sunakujira (Sand Whales) monsters crawl the earth, storming battleships fly high up in the sky, and assault rifle muzzle flashes go off everywhere, can anyone shoot down the mutant monster, Madara Sunakujira (Spotted Sand Whale)? If so, who?!

That puts a better perspective on things.

And lets not forget that "Assualt Girls" stars the three lovely actresses, Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi and Hinako Saeki.

The film just looks awesome!

Speaking of awesome looking films, I stumbled upon the trailer for this upcoming film yesterday. The film is called "The Cup of Tears", and believe it or not, it is actually a sci fi/martial arts film produced by the Irish film company One Punch Films under the direction of Gary Shore.

Give this a look:



Here is the synopsis from "The Cup of Tears":

The narrative follows a scorned geisha who creates a magical cup made of tears that causes any man who drinks from it to fall under a stasis of permanent sleep. One night the cup is stolen, setting off a chain of events that threatens civil war amongst the clans. Taro, a once gifted samurai, and his companion Jin set out to find the cup and the one who can break the spell before inner turmoil.

Again, this one looks awesome as well. Look for "The Cup of Tears" in 2010.

See Also: New Publicity Stills From Mamoru Oshii's 'Assault Girls' / Hollywood Was After Oshii's 'Assualt Girls' Before It Was Even Finished / A New Kick Ass Trailer For Mamoru Oshii's 'Assault Girls' / Meisa Kuroki Struggles With English During Assault Girls Voice Recording / Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi And Hinako Saeki Go Sand Worm Hunting In Assault Girls

New Publicity Stills From Mamoru Oshii's 'Assault Girls'

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Twitch / Avery Guerra

I have to admit that there really hasn't been very much as of late, movie wise, that has gotten me really excited. Well, except for the news of a possible new American made Godzilla movie, Duncan Jones' "Moon" and this weeks release of "The Fourth Kind", that is.

Another film that makes my very short list, is the Japanese sci fi/action movie, directed by Mamoru Oshii, entitled "Assault Girls", which stars Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi and Hinako Saeki as three intergalactic bounty hunters who are hired to do battle with gigantic sand-worms on a war-torn planet.

The film just looks friggin awesome! The trailer just blew me away honestly.

"Assault Girls" looks like a real special effects bonanza, with great CGI work, but not in a typical "Hollywood CGI cluster f**k" way, like "Transformers".

It is a real joy to see how the Japanese sci fi film industry, and other Asian film industries honestly, have made major strides in movie making over the past decade. Their use of creative story-telling, and computer generated effects, have put the regions fantasy films on the top of the heap.

Are they as good as Hollywood's sci fi and fantasy blockbusters? Well, maybe not yet, but they are catching up fast for certain.

In fact, they are making such an impact, that Hollywood, yes Hollywood, is now looking east for movies to copy..... well, they have been for some time now really. That's why "Assault Girls" was pursued by an unnamed Hollywood entity before it was even in the can.

So, though "Assault Girls" may not be widely released here in America, you can look forward (?) to a Hollywood clone version sometime in the not too far future.

Here's the film's plot:

In "Assault Girls" the three sexy hunters, Gray, Lucifer and Colonel, land on a remote desert planet that has been destroyed by giant worms called Suna Kujira (sand whales). Their quest is to kill the largest, and most deadly of the species, the dreaded Madara Suna Kujira (spotted sand whale). With an arsenal of various weapons at their disposal the three intergalactic big game hunters enter into a game of hunter vs hunted. Only which is which?

Still wondering what all the hype is about? Then check out these newly released publicity stills from "Assault Girls":

See Also: Hollywood Was After Oshii's 'Assualt Girls' Before It Was Even Finished / A New Kick Ass Trailer For Mamoru Oshii's 'Assault Girls' / Meisa Kuroki Struggles With English During Assault Girls Voice Recording / Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi And Hinako Saeki Go Sand Worm Hunting In Assault Girls

Hollywood Was After Oshii's 'Assualt Girls' Before It Was Even Finished

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Twitch / Avery Guerra

Film makers in Hollywood, and around the world for that matter, learned a long time ago, that it is much easier to go searching through the vast library of old movies, or go looking overseas, for movie ideas, than it is to come up with them yourself.

Such is the case with director Mamoru Oshii's latest sci fi/action film "Assault Girls". An unnamed Hollywood studio was looking to purchase the rights to remake the Japanese movie before it was even finished.

Oshii revealed at a press conference, to announce the completion of his film, last week, that indeed he had already been approached by Hollywood to discuss a contract. The director said that though he believes Hollywood has gone remake 'crazy' as of late, he wouldn't object to the idea. He also stated that he thought that any remake of his film should star the three Japanese actresses from the original, Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi and Hinako Saeki.

It is interesting to note that the three actresses all had to learn English for the film, so it wouldn't be too far-fetched to see them in an American remake. Hollywood generally likes to cast Chinese actresses as Japanese women though.

Here is the plot for "Assault Girls":

In "Assault Girls" the three sexy hunters, Gray, Lucifer and Colonel, land on a remote desert planet that has been destroyed by giant worms called Suna Kujira (sand whales). Their quest is to kill the largest, and most deadly of the species, the dreaded Madara Suna Kujira (spotted sand whale). With an arsenal of various weapons at their disposal the three intergalactic big game hunters enter into a game of hunter vs hunted. Only which is which?

It's easy to see why an American film company would be after this one, it's kinda like "Charlies Angels" meets "Dune". Or, at least I'm sure that's how they see it.

See Also: A New Kick Ass Trailer For Mamoru Oshii's 'Assault Girls' / Meisa Kuroki Struggles With English During Assault Girls Voice Recording / Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi And Hinako Saeki Go Sand Worm Hunting In Assault Girls

A New Kick Ass Trailer For Mamoru Oshii's 'Assault Girls'

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Quiet Earth / Nippon Cinema / Avery Guerra

While fans of Japanese fantasy movies and television have been glued to their screens watching the trailer for "The Ancient Dogoo Girl", another, equally stimulating, set of trailers for Mamoru Oshii's sci fi/actioner "Assault Girls" have flown in under the radar.

Now, if I can get your attention away from the "Dogoo Girl's" big breasts for just one minute, I would like to present to you a clip from a film with three Japanese hotties, Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi and Hinako Saeki, firing big-ass guns at giant sand-worms that would make Frank Herbert (Dune) proud.

Aha! I knew that would get your attention!

The clip is a non-stop ride full of great visuals and action shots. A true testimony to what can be done with stat-of-the-art effects and a little imagination. Something that I wish the boys in Hollywood would take notice of....ahem.

In "Assault Girls" the three sexy hunters, Gray, Lucifer (cool wings!) and Colonel, land on a remote desert planet that has been destroyed by giant worms called Suna Kujira (sand whales). Their quest is to kill the largest, and most deadly of the species, the dreaded Madara Suna Kujira (spotted sand whale). With an arsenal of various weapons at their disposal the three intergalactic big game hunters enter into a game of hunter vs hunted. Only which is which?

Quiet Earth has a longer trailer, which I do have a copy of, but can't upload to Youtube, even though it is a 'flash' file (?), that you can see here - http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2009/10/09/Full-trailer-for-Mamoru-Oshiis-wormy-live-action-ASSAULT-GIRLS#extended

Also, here are some stills from "Assault Girls" :






See Also: Meisa Kuroki Struggles With English During Assault Girls Voice Recording / Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi And Hinako Saeki Go Sand Worm Hunting In Assault Girls

Meisa Kuroki Struggles With English During Assault Girls Voice Recording

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Japan Today

Actress Meisa Kuroki has learned the hard way that filming a scene where you are supposed to fight giant "sand worms" that aren't there is difficult enough without having to try remember your lines in a language in foreign language.

This past weekend the Japanese press were invited to the studio where Kuroki was recording voice tracks for the upcoming sci fi film "Assault Girls". During an interview the lovely young actress revealed that she sometimes felt 'lost' filming against a blue screen and worried about her pronunciation of her English dialogue.

She told on reporter about the filming of desert battle scenes with the giant “sand whales” which will be digitally added in post production, “I had to imagine the fight, and honestly, I wasn’t really sure what I was doing.”

The actress also admitted that though she had fun taking on the English language, which is spoken in about 90% of the lines in the film, she often struggled with it. She felt very relieved when director Mamoru Oshii told her that he didn't expect perfection, and she should just relax and try her best.

Kurkori plays a sexy intergalactic hunter in "Assualt Girls" alongside actresses Rinko Kikuchi and Hinako Saeki.The film takes place in a world devastated by nuclear war where giant worms have become the dominant species and threaten to wipe out the human race.

“Assault Girls” opens in Japanese cinemas on Dec 19th.

See Also: Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi And Hinako Saeki Go Sand Worm Hunting In Assault Girls

Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi And Hinako Saeki Go Sand Worm Hunting In Assault Girls

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Twitch / Affenheim Theater / Avery Guerra

What is it about the "Tremors" movies? I can watch those films over and over again and never get tired of them. And I'm not alone, just about everybody I know likes them to. Is there some primordial attraction we human beings have for worms? Or is it that the idea of really huge ones that hunt people from underground scares the crap out of us? Maybe early man was himself hunted by such prehistoric terrors? We may never know.

Of course, the concept for these giant underground killers didn't originate with "Tremors". The giant "Graboids", as they are called, were inspired by the giant sand worms from Frank Herbert's "Dune" novels.

Well it seems that Japanese director Mamoru Oshii is a huge Herbert reader as well, drawing inspiration for his latest film, "Assault Girls", directly from the book series.

Of course, Oshii has put his own twist on the sand worm concept, adding three lovely females, played by Meisa Kuroki, Rinko Kikuchi and Hinako Saeki, to the mix.

These three sexy hunters land on a remote desert planet that has been destroyed by giant worms called Suna Kujira (sand whales). Their quest is to kill the largest, and most deadly of the species, the dreaded Madara Suna Kujira (spotted sand whale). With an arsenal of various weapons at their disposal the three intergalactic big game hunters enter into a game of hunter vs hunted. Only which is which?

"Assault Girls" is based on a series of short films produced by Oshii which also starred Kuroki, Kikuchi and Saeki as intergalactic mercenaries.

The film is already well into production and is scheduled to be released December 19th in Japan.

Here are your three lovely worm hunters:

Hinako Saeki

Meisa Kuroki

Rinko Kikuchi