Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive Trilogy
by Takashi Miike
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DVD details
Actor: Hitoshi Ozawa, Renji Ishibashi, Riki Takeuchi, Shô Aikawa, Shingo TsurumiDirector: Takashi Miike
Producer: Katsumi Ono
Producer: Ken Takeuchi
Producer: Makoto Okada
Writer: Hitoshi Ishikawa
Writer: Ichiro Ryu
Writer: Masa Nakamura
Writer: Yoshinobu Kamo
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 290 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-11-25
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Kino Video
DVD Reviews of Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive Trilogy
DVD Review: Wheres the self-destruct button?.
Summary: 5 Stars
The crazy and over the top style that miike uses is displayed brilliantly in these films, Takashi turns the entire Yakuza genre on it's head and adds alot of surprises and WTF kind of moments. If you enjoy action films, Quentin Tarentino , or Robert Rodriguez and you want to expand your movie watching to foreign shores then give Miike a try!. Like the "Black Society" Trilogy, this wasn't a trilogy in the traditional sense of the word where we see either a continuing story, or at least separate stories with the same characters. It is a trilogy where the characters were different and had different storyline but directed by Miike in the same style and with the same actors. For those of you who watched the film noir like "Black Society Trilogy", the style of this is much gritter. The transfer was also much better. All three DVDs are in widescreen format. The first two are in 16:9 aspect ratio and have been enhanced for widescreen televisions. The last one is in 16:9 format, but it is letterboxed for 4:3 Televisions. I thought that the first two films were great and the third one was probably the weakest but not as bad as what some critics have said.
Dead or Alive (1999) In this movie Ryuichi is trying to invade the Shinjuku district of Tokyo for control of the drug trade. He is setting up a large deal with the Chinese Triads, and the Japanese Yakuza wants to stop Ryuichi's gang. The bloodbath that ensues is investigated by Detective Jojima (Sho Aikawa) who has problems of his own wife and daughter at home, but soon his life starts escalating when a tragedy which involves Ryuichi gets out of control and the conflict between Detective Jojima and Ryuichi gets personal. After watching this film's opening ten minutes I sat in my chair with my mouth on the flour. After watching the closing ten minutes my brain (or what was left of it) was looking feverishly for ways to cope with what I had just witnessed, so bizarre and hilarious at the same time. Cinema doesn't very often have that kind of effect, unparalleled pieces of inspired cinematic invention and truly original ways of audiovisual storytelling. It fits in perfectly with Miike's feature works in that it once again portrays a minority struggling against the oppressive society they have no choice but to be part of. Again it's the relationship between Japanese and Chinese identity that Miike focuses on, and in many ways Dead or Alive could be seen as the unofficial fourth instalment in his Triad Society series. Definitely one of my favorite Takashi Miike films.
Dead or Alive 2 (2000) The second film is about two hitmen Mizuki and Shuichi, played by Sho Aikawa and Riki Takeuchi (who both appeared in the first movie in different roles). The underworld setting of Tokyo's crime district forms the backdrop of the story. Mizuki and Shuichi meet up when both try to carry out the same hit. It turns out that they are childhood friends, and after they reflect on simpler times, they join forces and try to steer clear of the Yakuza. As the two hitman talk, they realize that they know each other! Ages ago they were young childhood friends, and shared summers together on the island. The middle of the movie is touching as the two rekindle their friendship and remenisce about their past. They meet up with old friends on the island that haven't seen them in ages. However back on the mainland, the Yakuza wants to find the hitman who took out 8 of their members. Although the usual Miike graphic, almost comic book like violence is displayed in a number of gruesome shoot outs and kills, Miike adds several surrealistic touches to this film. In the beginning, for example, when Mizuki is confronted by three thugs, he pulls a large brick from behind his back. Since he is standing out in the open, there is no way on earth that he would have had a brick conveniently behind his back. As the two join forces to carry out hits together, they each sprout angelic wings, one black, one white. They also periodically imagine themselves in present day as they were as children. It gives the film a unique look. The piano music used throughout in evocative scenes gives the movie a melancholy feeling. It's a pretty good sequel, a bit slower then the first film but overall it had some great and memorable scenes.
Dead or Alive Final (2002) This is the most bizarre film of the trilogy, and it is supposedly set in the future year 2435. This time the plot sort of follows a Blade Runner theme, with Riki Takeuchi playing a Police Officer, Honda tracking down a replicant, Ryo played by Sho Aikawa. Apparently, in the future an evil leader Woo (Richard Cheung) has some strange ideas of society and family, and makes everyone take drugs to accept his way of life. Ryo leads the rebellion, and Honda is the government enforcer. Out of the Dead or Alive Trilogy this one was the strangest and the weakest of the three, yet it was interesting and fun to watch. The shocking violence and sexual situations of Miike are replaced by a film that mixes martial arts and sci fi concepts in an interesting way. In fact, it is by far the least violent and perverse of the three films or for that matter of the Miike films I have seen so far. This film follow some of the concepts that I liked in Bladerunner. I am not sure if Miike had seen Bladerunner, but I can say that if you know the truth about Decker (Harrison Ford), you will guess the truth about Honda (Sho Aikawa). It was interesting to see things in a Japanese perspective. Dead or Alive Final was my least favorite of the trilogy, although that is not to say I didn't like it, because I did. The only problem I had with this was that the cinematography was kind of bland, and unlike the previous two films this one had a very low budget and just wasn't as energetic and exciting I guess. Overall I would say that these films were definitely worth checking out and would probably appeal to miike fans or fans of Japanese cinema.
More Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive Trilogy reviews:
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