Comments on: Asia-Pol | aka Asiapol Secret Service (1967) Review

By: Mighty Peking Man

Mighty Peking Man — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 08:06:06 +0000

In reply to Takuma.

Impressive. You’re like the Sherlock Holmes of this stuff.

By: Takuma

Takuma — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 07:35:55 +0000

His name seems to be there in hanzi/kanji (宍戸錠), just not written in English. See directly above the “W” in the Shaw Scope logo. I can’t see the last character well enough to tell if it’s the same or not, though.

That being said, I believe it was a pretty common practice to use Chinese fake names for Japanese filmmakers. Shaw Brothers very much appreciated the Japanese talent, and quite often used Japanese directors, cinematographers etc. but didn’t seem to be so confident the audience would agree. Hence, Japanese filmmakers were often given a Chinese name in the credits. Here also, you can see the director Akinori Matsuo is credited as Mai Chih Ho.

By: Mighty Peking Man

Mighty Peking Man — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 22:12:50 +0000

Hmmm in the original Chinese poster, Jo Shishido isn’t even credited! (unless there’s an alias there somewhere?)

By: Takuma

Takuma — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:39:13 +0000

While I don’t know which company put more money in it, I’d certainly consider this primarily a Japanese film. Nikkatsu had been churning out stylized action films like this for years, and most of the filmmakers here were Nikkatsu employees. The Japanese version with Nitani in the lead also came out already in 1966 while the HK version wasn’t released until 1967.

The Japanese version has the advantage of featuring the original voices for most of the cast (Shishido, Asaoka, and of course Nitani); nevertheless, I do prefer Wang Yu’s youthful charisma over Nitani’s performance. Otherwise the two versions are almost identical as far as I could tell with both actors doing the exact same poses.

It’s also worth noting that many of the spy films Shaw Bros produced later in the 60s (e.g. The Black Falcon and Inter-Pol) were directed by Japanese Nikkatsu directors.

By: Masterofoneinchpunch

Masterofoneinchpunch — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 21:10:59 +0000

In reply to Paul Bramhall.

I never could find if there was actually a Hong Kong ending for Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman. Rumors of course, but not exact information. It seems weird that I haven’t been able to get an exact answer on this (which then tends me to believe it is rumored only, or it was considered but never filmed or it was deleted.)

Joe Shishido is something else. But then he is addicted to rice (in joke.) For some reason he thought looking more chipmunk like would make him stand out. I do tend to enjoy his acting and personality.

Shaw Brothers certainly had a bunch of spy films or related themes in the mid 60s. While I have not seen this one, ones like Summons to Death (1967) come to mind. You could not only see the Bond and Flint references (mentioned in the review), but also Matt Helm as well.

By: Paul Bramhall

Paul Bramhall — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 10:57:58 +0000

As a fan of both Shaw Brothers movies and Nikkatsu yakuza flicks, the fact that there’s not a single mention of Joe Shishido as the villain, is the equivalent of reviewing ‘You Only Live Twice’ and omitting to mention Donald Pleasence’s role as Blofeld…it’s a crime! For the very novelty of watching the Shaw Brothers bad boy take on Nikkatsu’s go-to yakuza star of the era, ‘Asia-pol’ warrants a watch. Shishido, who starred in several of Seijin Suzuki’s seminal works, from ‘Youth of the Beast’ to ‘Branded to Kill’ (made the same year), had a very distinctive look, which was down to cheek implants that he believed made him look more handsome! However I do agree that it’s best viewed as more of a Nikkatsu style production than a Shaw Brothers effort, both in style and tone, and this is no doubt partly due to it being directed by Matsuo Akinori (the start of this review states the director is Ma Chi Ho, which is the Chinese name for Akinori).

So while many people will state the greatest HK/Japan crossover was Wang Yu taking on Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi, in ‘Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman’….the face off between two legends at the height of their careers in ‘Asia-pol’ makes it a worthy second.

It’s worth noting that just like the Zatoichi crossover is rumored to have an alternative ending for Chinese audiences, due to ‘Asia-pol’ being co-financed by Nikkatsu, an almost shot-for-shot version was filmed for Japanese audiences. Same director, same cast, same story, same locations….just with Japanese actor Nitani Hideaki in Jimmy Wang Yu’s role. Definitely a curiosity for those willing to track it down.