Its hard to believe that it is now fifteen years since we were first introduced to Japanese action actor Tak Sakaguchi in the cult classic VERSUS.The film, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, mixed elements of Battle Royale and Evil Dead-styled horror with high impact martial arts and high octane gun-play. Tak would go on to headline everything from Battlefield Baseball, Death Trance, Azumi, Kamen Rider Kabuto to Tokyo Gore Police as well as supporting roles in bigger projects such as Godzilla Final Wars. But in 2013 Tak announced he was retiring from the world of acting and action movie making.
But in late 2014, the news began to circulate that Tak would be stepping back in front of the camera for a project entitled Reborn, and Tak released the following statement; “After I retired, I found myself having a passion for action that was still smoldering inside of me. After a conversation with action director Yuji Shimomura, I wanted to thrive one more time and create the very last and most superb action movie with my utmost power and passion for the sake of a closure to my entire career. I am convinced that I have to give my very best one last time. That is how I feel about this project. I didn’t realize how many people chose to support a person like myself until after I retired. I hope this movie will be satisfying enough for them to feel absolutely alright for me to go. This is for them.”
Tak is obviously taking his return to action seriously if this training clip is anything to go by...
Tak can be seen training with real-deal martial artist and weapons expert Yoshittaka Inagawa - who has established his own fighting style known as 'Zero Range Combat', which looks to have added a lot more down and dirty and effective techniques to Tak's arsenal of moves. Inagawa will also be handling choreography for the project which has just released its first teaser and we're happy to say Tak's Back!
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