Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion, Grudge Song

Scorpion is as fierce as always in this classic. If you like Kill Bill you will love this.

I have been looking forward to the release of this DVD (and it's predecessor {Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable}) for some time as I very much enjoyed the first two movies of this series.The first three movies were directed by Shunya Ito. What is great about them is that, even though they all feature the same lead character (wonderfully played by Meiko Kaji), they are each vastly different from the others.The first movie (Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion) is more or less a typical Women In Prison movie. But the character of Scorpion is very intriguing - very reminiscent of the anti-heroes of many spaghetti westerns. And the director often used some very interesting and unusual visual approaches to the material.The second movie (Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41) is a real tour-de-force. Not so much a WIP movie as the bulk of the film has Scorpion and six other escaped inmates on the lam.The third movie (Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable)plays out as much more of a crime drama. Once again, our heroine is on the run. But this time out, she has managed to maintain a certain amount of normalcy in her life (relatively speaking anyway). She gets a job, she finds a place to live, she makes a friend on the outside. But, of course, everything has to unravel eventually. FPS: Beast Stable is my favorite movie in this series.This film (FPS: #701's Grudge Song) was directed by Yasuhara Hasebe. While the previous three movies were directed in a deliriously surreal manner, this one is often much more of a paint-by-numbers action/crime thriller. I still found it enjoyable to watch throughout. I didn't care as much for the middle portion but the first and final thirds of the film had a lot of really fine moments! The last act was especially entertaining!While this movie probably wouldn't appeal to most, I definitely think it is worth watching for fans of the previous movies. For me, a large part of the joy in this series is watching the character of Scorpion become more and more mythic. This film absolutely does not disappoint on that count!

Of course the first film is the best but these things have to be complete or I lose sleep. When the whole thing was done I thing our hero said three lines in four films. But hey that stoic thing works for her.

Probably the lamest in the series. The only reason it even resembles any of the other movies is Matsu is silent, otherwise all of her actions are completely out of character. Definitely skip this one.

I didn't like this 4th movie. In the first 3 outings Scorpion is kicking a$$ all on her own, but in this film she meets this guy and all of a sudden becomes the second banana. Also a completely innocent woman ( the wife of the evil cop ) is killed. Thou it was by accident, I couldn't find it in me to root for our favorite female hero.

To me, the most attractive part about this episode is the starring of of my all-time favorite actor, Tamura Masakazu. Trust me, his old movies and dramas are hard to find! (And he didn't have the dandy style yet!) He's still very young, probably in his late 20s or early 30s. He once said that he doesn't want to appear with guns on screen. But here, you see him shooting throughout the movie. Moreover, he's a young activist in the 1960s social moements. If you're a Tamura fan, you would definitely drool watching him tortured by the police! Sasori is cool as usual, and it's the first time I see her falling for a guy! If you're looking for gruesome and campy stuff, this one may disappoint you, cos it's definitely not as good as the earlier ones done by a different director. But it's a Sasori movie -- if you've watched the rest, there is no reason to miss this one.

The movie is pretty good, I had to use HDMI cable from my computer to watch this. Really unfortunate I can't just relax and turn this on because subtitles don't work on my Blu Ray player. Amazon must eventually change their streaming functionality to allow subtitles/audio option on any external device.This movie is the end of the series, I guess. The picture was good. Basically the Scorpion gets caught in a trap, and has to try to get out. The Female Prisoner Scorpion set seems very worth it to me. I've seen 3/4 and I was into it.

I enjoyed the story, my problem with this is that it was very much like an imitation of the first three films. It was directed by a different director than the first three, and it was a bit like a fan production. I can't really identify the bits that gave it away, but there was just something about it that seemed a bit desperate. It was like a fan just coming up with their own story to fit in with the typical Sasori formula.Don't get me wrong, it was a worthy addidtion to my dvd collection, but I can see why it is generally not accepted as part of the series. The story was like a combination of the three films and I didn't enjoy the end scene where Matsu gets her revenge as much as the others.If you are a real fan of the series, then it's worth getting, but if you have seen them all but don't think they are amazing (I love them, personally) then you won't be missing much if you skip this one.

VERY PLEASED WITH DVD, THANK YOU. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SELLER A+++++++