Koichi Sakamoto / 坂本 浩一 on Alpha Stunts, Sentai, and Kurata (Action Talks #37)

Koichi Sakamoto / 坂本 浩一 is a director and action designer known for his work in the Power Rangers series, Drive (1997), the Kamen Rider and Ultraman series, and my personal favorite Extreme Heist aka Wicked Game (2002). You can see his imdb here: and his JFDB here: Edited by Jean Paul Franco Action Talks on YouTube: Action Talks on Spotify: Action Talks on iTunes: Telegram: My studio SuperAlloy: Blog: Timestamps: 0:02:12 Young Koichi’s influences 0:04:44 What attracted Koichi to sentai action 0:06:17 Yasuaki Kurata’s teaching style compared to standard style in Japan 0:11:04 The reaction of Kurata bringing a new style to Japan 0:12:31 How the TOEI action club changed 0:14:28 The teammates 0:15:28 Coming to America 0:18:02 The Crazy Japanese kid doing stunts on American films 0:19:30 Koichi’s description of Sentai 0:24:25 Working on Power rangers 0:27:36 Shooting style of Power Rangers in New Zealand 0:31:04 Designing action for Power rangers 0:34:34 Koichi’s work ethic 0:35:29 Guyver, the first Alpha Stunts film 0:37:36 The Guyver kick. “we felt bad because we took the credit“ 0:39:31 Drive (1997) 0:48:10 Working with Takeshi Kitano 0:50:21 Wicked Game (2002) 1:00:10 Broken Path 1:05:14 Directing his wife with their 1yr old baby on set 1:07:03 What happened with the Broken Path release 1:08:06 Working with power players on Power Rangers, Sentai etc. 1:14:27 How Koichi’s inspirations changed 1:17:22 Action designing for kaiju monsters and more 1:21:27 Koichi’s explanation of Kaiju 1:25:23 All about suits 1:28:34 How stunt actors perform in masks 1:31:21 Noh and Kabuki Japanese theater influences in Japanese action 1:38:28 Black Fox 1:40:03 Family trees, and the evolving action movie world 1:48:50 Japanese Wrestling 1:49:29 Advice for people wanting to get into action business in Japan 1:51:49 Being a father in the action film industry