Deadly Outlaw: Rekka

Deadly Outlaw: Rekka
by Takashi Miike

Deadly Outlaw: Rekka
List Price: $15.98
Our Price: $15.94
You Save: $14.00 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.41 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Kenichi Endo, Riki Takeuchi, Ryosuke Miki
Director: Takashi Miike
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-14
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Tokyo Shock

DVD Reviews of Deadly Outlaw: Rekka

DVD Review: One of Miike's best
Summary: 4 Stars

Deadly Outlaw: Rekka may be the most accessible entry into the "traditional" form of cult Japanese director Takashi Miike. He certainly has a handful of other brilliant, not totally off-the-wall films (Sabu, Rainy Dog, Bird People in China, Audition), but none of them really fit into the more traditionally crazy Miike mold.

Deadly Outlaw: Rekka, while by no means the director's best film, is certainly one of his most complex, rewarding, and entertaining (for those who don't get a kick purely out of inaccessible characters or lots of random violence and strange sexual elements) of his vast series of work.

Rikki Takeuchi, who as an actor is as much a cult god in Japan is Miike is to Japanese film fans in the west, gives an uncharacteristically complex and often subtle performance as the vengeful, half-Korean Kunisada. Unlike a similar recent film from Miike, New Graveyard of Honor (a remake of a really great old Kinji Fukasaku film), Rekka boasts a main character that really finds a connection with the audience. He is violent and crazy, but at his core he is real and vulnerable and irresistibly human.

Kenichi Endo also turns in a surprisingly good performance. If you follow Japanese film, you will have seen him before, but never with as nuanced a performance. The great Sonny Chiba and Tetsuro Tanba also have small roles as Yakuza higher-ups, and their very presence lends the film a bit of weight.

The story is fairly simple, but the actors and Miike's distinctive style really make it stand out from normal yakuza films. Some of the violence here is among Miike's most stylish. One aspect that I would never have expected to really enjoy is Miike's use of blood as a visual tool. Blood often splashes on the lens, at one point covering it completely. Carnage is not as extreme here is in some other Miike pictures, but it achieves great balance between fun gore and bloodshed appropriate to the story.

Still, like just about every Miike film I've seen, Miike's strength is also his weakness. His trademark quirkiness lifts the film above the dozens of other films just like it, but that quirkiness goes too far sometimes, drawing us out of the reality he has set up and reducing the impact. The ending is fifty-percent brilliant and fifty-percent absurdly irritating; an artist as intelligent and imaginative as Miike could no doubt have come up with something equally as "weird" but without betraying everything that comes before it. There are other small things too that straddle the line between funny and distractingly absurd (they go too far towards the latter, in my opinion), and all of it together keeps this film from being five stars.

Still, it's a rewarding experience with some real style, interesting characters, great music, and fantastic violence.

The DVD from Media Blasters, which may be the only legitimate version currently available, is pretty nice. Despite some print damage, nothing too distracting but there are some small speckles present throughout the film, the transfer is sharp and has very nice colors. The audio is great (important for a film with as GREAT music as Rekka does!) as well. Extras include the original trailer for Rekka, four other Media Blasters trailers, and a very interesting and informative interview with Miike. It's one of the best Miike interviews I've seen.

If you're a Miike fan, don't hesitate to pick this one up. If you've seen some Miike but didn't like it, Rekka is really worth giving a shot: it has a good chance of hooking you to Miike, and once he's got you, he won't let go. For someone who's never seen a Miike Film, Rekka is a very good place to start. It's a really good film on its own, but it's also a great way to introduce yourself to one of today's most talked about Japanese directors.
More Deadly Outlaw: Rekka reviews:
1 2
Bestsellers in DVD
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] ImageThe Story of Jeremiah [VHS]
Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS] ImageWresting With God [VHS]
by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $19.99
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS] ImageStudy Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]
Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $44.00
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS] ImageTempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]
HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops: $9.98
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/Party Video [VHS] ImageTempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]
HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Strike the Original Match [VHS] ImageStrike the Original Match [VHS]
New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $14.95
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] ImageMedjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]
JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008 ImageMayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008
by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops: $1,463.24
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single User ImagePediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single User
by Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops: $1,463.24
Cost Accounting [VHS] ImageCost Accounting [VHS]
by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Visitor Q+ ImageVisitor Q+
Media Blasters; Release date: 2009-09-15; DVD
Best price: $11.09
Price in other shops: $19.98
Dead or Alive (Unrated Director's Cut) ImageDead or Alive (Unrated Director's Cut)
Release date: 2003-05-27; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $19.95
Like A Dragon ImageLike A Dragon
Media Blasters; Release date: 2010-02-23; DVD
Best price: $14.72
Price in other shops: $24.98
Gozu (Two Disc Collector's Edition) ImageGozu (Two Disc Collector's Edition)
Koch International; Release date: 2009-12-08; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $19.98
Takashi Miike's Agitator (150 Minute International Edition) Uncut DVD ImageTakashi Miike's Agitator (150 Minute International Edition) Uncut DVD
DVD
Best price: $13.99
The Great Yokai War ImageThe Great Yokai War
MBL; Release date: 2006-09-12; DVD
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops: $29.98
Fudoh - The New Generation ImageFudoh - The New Generation
Release date: 2002-01-29; DVD
Best price: $32.99
City of Lost Souls ImageCity of Lost Souls
Release date: 2002-12-17; Published: 2002-12-01; DVD
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops: $24.99
Graveyard of Honor ImageGraveyard of Honor
Koch International; Release date: 2007-08-14; DVD
Best price: $6.94
Price in other shops: $24.98
Yakuza Demon ImageYakuza Demon
Pathfinder Home ENT; Release date: 2004-12-28; DVD
Best price: $14.95
Price in other shops: $14.98
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners