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"Crying Freeman" is definitely Not Playing at a Theater Near You, but
I happened to run across a Japanese laser disc of
this American/Canadian/French/Japanese production based on the
hugely popular Japanese Manga of the same name. I figured I’d
provide the scoop before it mysteriously appeared on the shelves
of your local video store . . .
<P>
Like the "Fist of the North Star" film that came and went on the
"new release" shelf with little fanfare, "Crying Freeman" is
another moderately-budgeted, English language, live-action version
of a Japanese comic book. How is this happening and why? I don’t
know. Seems to me that if you were going to make a movie for
Japanese viewers based on a Japanese comic book, you would shoot
the thing in Japanese! I guess that’s why I haven’t made any
movies . . . Anyway, while the film has been around since 1995, it
has yet to appear in the U.S. Must be some sort of legal
wrangling involved because "Freeman" is better than your
usual direct-to-video fare.
<P>
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