Product Details

• Released on: 2004-06-01
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC, Import
• Original language: Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .32 pounds
• Running time: 122 minutes

Amazon.com Essential Video
A classic crime film steeped in the vivid environs of postwar Tokyo, Stray Dog is arguably Akira Kurosawa's finest film preceding the international success of Rashomon. A classic theme--the identification between criminal and crime fighter--is presented here in one of its earliest incarnations, as a promising young detective (Toshiro Mifune) struggles to retrieve his stolen pistol. The missing gun is used in a robbery and murder, and Mifune's superior (Ikiru's Takashi Shimura) is caught in the case's volatile crossfire. As the detective closes in on his lethal alter ego, his own moral compass spins out of control, into a psychological tempest that inspires Mifune to give one of his best early performances. Using real locations and a sense of sweltering heat rivaled only by Do the Right Thing, Kurosawa (who first wrote this film as an unpublished novel inspired by an actual incident) maintains an atmosphere of lurid urgency perfectly suited to this riveting film noir scenario. --Jeff Shannon