Review of Pride FC: Bushido Volumes 1-5 DVD Boxset (5 Discs)

Introduction

In their latest release, FightDVD have sent us back to 2003/2004, for a boxset look at the first five Pride FC "Bushido" events. These shows are unlike their regular counterparts, as they are designed to nurture young Japanese fighters, as well as to showcase many of the company`s fantastic lightweight competitors. Thus, here you will get to see the likes of Takanori Gomi, Ikuhisa Minowa, and Ryo Chonan, all fighters who rarely appear on other PRIDE shows, where the heavyweights take precedence.

Bushido 1 took place on 5th October 2003, from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event was headlined by a five-match battle between Team Japan and Team Gracie.

Bushido 2 was held on 15th February 2004, from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. The card featured a three-match series pitting Team Japan against Team Chute Boxe.

Bushido returned to Yokohama for its third event on 23rd May 2004, and featured three fights between Team Japan and Team Gracie.

Bushido 4 took the company to Nagoya`s Rainbow Hall on 19th July 2004, with the premise of Team Japan against Team Brazilian Top Team.

Lastly, Bushido 5 was held at Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan, on 14th October 2004, for a series of matches that were billed as Team Japan vs Team Rest of the World.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is generally excellent for a DVD of this genre. I did notice some moments where the image was overly soft (this is always going to be somewhat the case with recordings originally produced in NTSC), but these were only fleeting and not distracting. Otherwise, the image is very clean indeed, a fact which only goes to highlight the superb production values that each show has.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Everything is mixed clearly, from in-ring action, to the Japanese audience, to the commentary, which is provided by Mauro Ranallo and Bas Rutten (save for the third event, in which Matt Hume deputises for Rutten). The announcing is always insightful, with Ranallo providing the background and Rutten the analysis.

Features

Somewhat oddly, several of the extras in this boxset are repeated from disc to disc. For example, the video feature "What is Pride FC?" appears on all but one disc of this set. It is a nice, short, introduction to the product, but its inclusion on four discs was obviously unnecessary.

Likewise, on every disc we get a text feature, listing all the rules of Pride, as well as a glossary of fight terms. I suppose that it could be argued that they are handily on each disc for reference.

However, the other extras, such as the ring girl and fighter galleries, and the fighter bios, are all specific to each event, and are nice, simple extras to have here.

Conclusion

The first Bushido event began in rather dramatic fashion, as Chris Brennan took on Eiji Mitsuoka. During the bout, Mitsuoka appeared to submit to an armbar, at which point Brennan released of the hold, so as to not inflict any further damage to his opponent. Unfortunately for him, however, the referee failed to see the apparent submission, much to the American`s chagrin. The bout is eventually restarted, with predictable results.

The proceeding bout, between K-1 standout Challid Die Faust ("The Fist") and Rodney Faverus was not quite as good, with both men seemingly tentative because of not knowing what to expect from the other. Carlos Newton vs Renzo Gracie, however, was much better, with some exciting ground-work on offer, something that is not always the case in any form of MMA.

Ralph Gracie then faced Dokonjonosuke (sic!) Mishima in a tremendous all-round fight, before another of the Gracie clan, Daniel, slowed things right down in his bout with Kazohiro Nakamura.

Rodrigo Gracie vs Daiju Takase was up next, in what was quite an entertaining bout, before Ryan Gracie and Kazuhiro Hamanaka (dubbed "the next Sakuraba" by commentator Ranallo) rounded off Team Gracie vs Team Japan with an excellent display of brutality that will have all knockout fans salivating for more.

In his Pride debut, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua then did his best to top the nastiness of the last match in his bout with the resilient Akira Shoji, before the mis-match of all mis-matches took place, as Mirko CroCop faced pro wrestler (Lucha Libre mask et al) Dos Caras Jr. I`m certain I don`t have to tell you how this one finishes; CroCop seemed particularly brassed off with Pride`s selection of opponent for him, and allows his actions to speak louder than his words by separating Jr`s head from the rest of his body.

Bushido I fight rating: 8.0/10


The February 2004 show (Bushido II) begins in much more inauspicious manner than the previous event, as Choi My Bae faces Yusuke Imamura. The match is too one-sided, although the eventual winner does put in a good performance.

Yushin Okami and Ryuta Sakurai were able to lift the tempo slightly in their ground-based contest, before Yasuhito Namekawa and Egidijus Valavicius fought a short bout with a nice finish.

Current UFC fighter Sean Sherk then went up against Ryuji Ueyama in a good contest, highlighted by the former`s tremendous skill. This bout is a must-see for anyone interested in ju-jitsu. On the flip side of the coin, Mario Sperry and Mike Bencic then fought a short contest, with an excellent knockout finish.

In what was a dreadful bout, Daiju Takase and Chris Brennan returned from their respective showings at Bushido I to bore the crowd. Fought primarily on the ground, I have absolutely no idea why the bout wasn`t called more often for stalling. It is stalemates of this type that threatened to kill the entire sport stone dead in the late 1990s.

Rodrigo Gracie vs Hayato Sakurai followed in somewhat of a snoozer, before Mirko CroCop and Yoshihisa Yamamoto fought a brutal, one-sided contest, that is sure to wake you from your slumber. Then, in the first of several appearances in this set, Takanori Gomi faced Jadson Costa in another good bout.

"Shogun" Rua once again showed no mercy in his second Bushido bout, as he faced Akihiro Gono, a performance which Wanderlei Silva attempted to out-do in his short, main event bout with Ikuhisa Minowa.

Bushido II fight rating: 6.5 / 10


Bushido III began in rather a bizarre fashion, with a bout between Katsuhisa Fuji and Kim Jin Oh. The spectacle, I suppose, was reasonable, but these two showed so little in the way of technique that it is hard to believe that they trained in any fighting discipline. At least things improved from that perspective in the next encounter, as Aleksander Emelianenko faced Matt Foki.

Kazuo Misaka and Jorge Patino (known as "Macaco", or "Monkey") then livened things up markedly with a great showing of speed and stand-up ability. Unfortunately, it would take two very average bouts in Daiju Takase vs Carlos Newton and Akira Shoji vs Tamakairiki to get to the next good bout, between Kazuhiro Nakamura and Challid Die Faust. In fairness, at least Shoji vs Tamakairiki was short and explosive.

In a bout in which the over-matched Japanese fighter took more punishment than was necessary, Mirko CroCop was once again on hand to brutalise Hiromitsu Kanehara, before Ricardo Almeida and Ryo Chonan contested a good match, which was busy even on the ground.

In a match for the knockout highlight reel, Takanori Gomi faced the most outwardly-intense of the Gracie family, Ralph. Then, in the main event, Gracie`s brother Ryan faced Ikuhisa Minowa (sporting a wonderful mullet) in an interesting ground-based contest which caused some disagreement between commentators Ranallo and Matt "The Wizard" Hume.

Bushido III fight rating: 7.5 / 10


The fourth event, from July 2004, opened up in tremendous fashion, with a short but fabulous bout between Luis Firmino and Hiroyuki Abe. Firmino was making his Pride debut here, and couldn`t have secured his future with the company in any more of a dominating fashion.

He of the wonderful name, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, then returned to face Marcus Aurelio in what was also a very good bout, which was always fought with an attacking verve. The bout`s brutality was clearly evident on the fighter`s faces, post-match.

As if not wanting to let the crowd get carried away, Amar Suloev and Dean Lister then bored everyone silly with their tentative contest, before Hayato Sakurai and Brady Fink contested a bout which required the referee`s warnings about non-action to really get going.

Ikuhisa Minowa was back in the next encounter, against Kenichi Yamamoto. This bout featured a brutal knockout finish, which was odd considering that the rest of the fight was fought mostly on the ground.

In the battle of the pro wrestlers, Takashi Sugiura and Giant Silva squared off in a bout which took all of my reviewing integrity to sit through, although Mirko CroCop soon had be rubbing my hands in excitement as he pulverised another hapless victim in the talented Shungo Oyama.

In a match where neither man seemed to be bothered about actually winning, Paulo Filho faced Akira Shoji, before Takanori Gomi and Fabio Mello fought a tremendously speedy contest, culminating in a great finish, which the crowd loved.

The main event was a reasonable contest between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (do not confuse him with his twin brother, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira!) and Kazuhiro Nakamura. It was a little slow at times, prompting a referee`s warning to both participants, but it was an interesting battle of technique nonetheless.

Bushido IV fight rating: 7.0 / 10


The final (phew!) disc in this set began with a fantastic bout between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Yasuhito Namekawa, which featured a superb knockout finish. The following bout between Sentoryu and Mal Foki was shorter, and lacked all of the skill, but still provided a nice knockout.

Luis Firmino and Masakazu Imanari then engaged in what was quite a good bout, although Imanari`s unorthodox tactics of trying to get this one to the ground did become tiresome after a while. In a similarly reasonable match, Ikuhisa Minowa then faced Ryuji Ueyama. Had either of these fighters been as eager for the win as Igor Vovchanchyn was in the next bout with Shamoji Fuji, their bout would have been much, much better.

Three very good bouts finished off Bushido V, in Carlos Newton vs Ryo Chonan, Crosley Gracie vs Hayato Sakurai, and Takanori Gomi vs Charles Bennett. Newton vs Chonan featured a spectacular second round performance from Chonan, from which Newton showed tremendous fortitude to recover. Crosley Gracie then showed some patented Gracie Ju-Jitsu technique against Sakurai, before Gomi sent the crowd home happy with his brutal contest against "Crazy Horse" Bennett. The latter bout featured a submission attempt by Gomi that will have many watching through their hands.

Bushido V fight rating: 8.5 / 10


Overall, as can be witnessed in my individual scoring of the events, this five-disc Bushido set is very impressive indeed. Certainly, there are some absolute snoozers in there, but the sheer quantity of fights on offer means that the few bouts that do qualify for this distinction are highly out-numbered.

If I were to have one criticism of the fight cards, it is that some of the bouts, particularly involving Mirko CroCop, are clearly vehicles for a spectacular knockout, rather than a competitive contest. In his four outings here, CroCop shows his disdain for the Pride matchmakers by brutalising three of his opponents. But if you don`t love a CroCop quasi-murder, perhaps you are watching the wrong sport.

Video and audio are excellent throughout, and the extras are fine considering they have to be squeezed in beside 2 ¾ hour shows.

At an RRP of £29.99 (though available for much less), for over fourteen hours of MMA action, this is an excellent release, and is highly recommended to all fight fans.