Customer Reviews

D.O.A. DEAD OR ALIVE (BLU-RAY)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"D.O.A.: Dead or Alive" as everyone knows is based on the Video game franchise of the same name. This film was released in mid-2006 in Asia before in the U.S. possibly because of the larger market for video game inspired movies. For this reason, I managed to own the region-3 Asian release (image by S. L. Bledsoe in Amazon) even before the movie hit U.S. theaters. Directed by Corey Yuen (Transporter, So Close) an acclaimed Martial arts choreographer, (although Corey's not as renowned as the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping) D.O.A. looks promising. After all, Jet Li quoted Corey Yuen In Black Belt magazine as "..if I need something fresh, I go to Corey Yuen."

A tournament called D.O.A. is being held in a remote Island by a man named Donovan (Eric Roberts). Three beautiful but lethal women are invited to compete. Tina (Jaime Pressley), Kasumi (Devon Aoki), and Christie (Holly Valance). Each of the three female leads have their own motivation and has their own baggage to carry. Once there, they must battle their way up the fighter rankings through a bunch of other seasoned fighters to reach the finals. Once in the final phase, the women uncover a hidden "sinister" secret that is the true reason for the competition. Aided by Helena (hottie Sarah Carter) and Hayabusa (Kane Kosuji), they must either join forces or perish...

Since the movie is based on the video game, expect something with a simple plot with scantily-clad women engaging in fisticuffs and, ahem, volleyball (which is a nice touch, there is a game called "D.O.A. Beach Volleyball"). What can we expect? The game itself is renowned for its hard-hitting fights and titillation factor ("bouncing b--bs" and skimpy outfits) so the film just exploits those factors.

It is fairly obvious that Corey Yuen has a limited budget to work with. Still, he manages to pull off an accelerated fast-paced action film that is both hard-hitting and visually stylish. While the plot is lacking and with almost no decent character development, Corey goes for the throat with a lot of mano-o-mano fights and as much "PG-13" brutality(no blood) he can spare to compensate for the lackluster plot. The extensive fight choreography is the true "lure" of the film. The film is based on a video game so reality is out the door.

D.O.A. remains true to its roots (gimmicks), as there is enough tease (but not explicit) to make a male(like me) excited, shots of a few tanned skin and sexy curves to satisfy the raw sex appeal of the games. While it does have its goofy moments, (the nerdy guy is so annoying), there is enough action to divert our attention that it does avoid the screenplay from becoming "cheesy" nor "campy". Eric Roberts is definitely miscast as the bad guy, he didn't have the "raw appeal" for a baddie. Wrestler Kevin Nash even makes an appearance as Tina's wrestler Dad. The film is short, and the ending gives you a little tease of the possibility of a sequel.

Since I am 90% certain that the U.S. release will have the same transfer, I will give you my take on the dvd quality...
VIDEO/AUDIO: Anamorphic widescreen. The PQ is excellent. Colors are vibrant, clean and extremely sharp. Black levels are solid and strong when needed. 5.1 Dolby digital/DTS-ES English track. The DTS track is the way to go if your equipped since it is very powerful and crisp. The 5.1 Dolby isn't too shabby either.
OVERALL:
Corey Yuen made every effort to bring the video game to life. "D.O.A." is a hyper-accelerated-kinetic stylish action film that gets the fight sequences (for a Hollywood film) just right and that's the best anyone can hope for given its source material. Its' a video game with hot chicks, what can we expect?
RECOMMENDED! For fans of the game and the action genre, a good rental for everybody else. (3 ½ stars)

After reading all the 1 star reviews on Netflix, I still watched the trailer. Then I found out the director of the Transporter did this movie too. So....I just had to check it out.

It was fun.
I'm not going to own it, but it was fun and much better than Ultraviolet.

- Fast action.
- Acrobatic martial arts.
- Gorgeous girls all around (so much better looking than the Charlie's Angels trio and they had Sarah Carter who I just loved when I first saw her in the tv show Smallville)
- Eric Roberts as a bad guy on the tv show Heroes and a bad guy here. He's perfect for those types of roles.
- Great sets that get smashed to pieces
- Lots and lots of fighting that is so unrealistic you laugh at the silliness of it, but love it at the same time

If it wasn't for all the scantly clad bodies and sexual themes, this no-blood fight movie would have been rated PG.

Yes, everyone who gets slashed by a sword just falls down with no blood. No effort went into any type of makeup work on the main characters after taking several punches in the face. Oh, well, we like our female leads looking pretty throughout I guess.

It was a movie where you turn your brain off, laugh out loud a couple of times and enjoy the scenery and action. Pure fun, but not an oscar winner by any stretch of the imagination.

You want a quality, thinking person's movie watch The Fountain or Children of Men.
You want a zone out for a bit with the type of movie that isn't another bad effects B-horror film, then get this.

I might be in the minority here, but great martial arts choreography + hot babes + campy storyline = good times to me. This was a must have if you enjoy martial arts flicks, and can find a sense of humor. A lot of people also didn't like Kung Fu Hustle, which I thought was brilliant.

Video game to film adaptations rarely work as you no doubt already know. Chances are if you've seen any previews of the Dead or Alive movie, you most likely laughed at how ridiculous it looked. Well, guess what? Here it is on DVD, and it's surprisingly not the terrible waste of film that many (including me) thought it would be. Sure, it's nothing remotely great in the least, and even laughable in some spots, but as a whole, Dead or Alive is a fun and entertaining guilty pleasure that does it's job well. A martial arts tournament is being held on a remote island, with many of the competitors being in the form of some incredibly hot babes (Holly Valance, Jamie Pressly, Devon Aoki, Sarah Carter, Natassia Malthe), who soon learn that there is more going on than it seems. The action is good (courtesy of Transporter director Corey Yuen) and the movie delivers plenty of eye candy, no matter how inane or non-sensical the events that unfold turn out to be. That aside, the film manages to pay some delightful homage to it's source material (volleyball anyone?), and while it's not always faithful to it, it's still a fun ride regardless. Also featuring Eric Roberts, former wrestling star Kevin Nash, Matthew Marsden, Brian J. White (who looks exactly like Zack from the game) and look for Mortal Kombat star Robin Shou as the Pirate Leader.

We all know why we bought or rented this flick. And we all know that we almost had to resort to shoving bamboo shoots under our toenails to stay awake during it. How could something with so much natural resource and unbridled license fail so utterly?

Hot women, volleyball and fight to the death. That's the very definition of the end of adolescence. So why doesn't this deliver? I honestly can't break through the trauma to remember much, but the feeling is exactly the same as walking out of a strip club $100 lighter. You got worked, and now you just have to go home.

I used to be a fan of the games, back when I played video games. So the movie got my attention. Not enough to see it in the cinema, but upon its DVD release this week I bought it on impluse without even seeing it. I'm happy with the purchase after watching it yesterday. I was very worried this was going to be real bad and I be pissed spending full price for it. But not so. I'm a 28 y/o guy. I'm not a teenage boy, and still the movie had enough sex appeal just like the game to keep my intrest. I found the film entertaining throughout & funny in parts and stupid in others. They even throw in beach volleyball like the game...clever. I do agree with other reviewers Christie is very appealing, and same for Helena...I didn't care to much for Tina's character in the film though.
Overall if you like alot of eye candy with cool action sequences, then you'll enjoy the film I think. They should have made it more violent & sexier with an R rating...my personal thought..

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this film. After reading about all the delays, horrid reviews, and the whole week it played in my local theatre, I had to convince myself to rent it. Now I have to convince myself not to buy it.

If you like movies in the vein of "Mortal Kombat", then this is for you. Minimal plot to keep you busy through the fight scenes, but the plot actually makes sense. The fight scenes are very well-choreographed. But I expect no less from Corey Yuen, who is simply brilliant. The acting was what it was. Devon Aoki came through better than she did in "War"; Jamie Pressly was a lot of fun as Tina; Holly Valance did a nice job as Christie, and Sarah Carter was a good Helena. Natasse Malthe was a bit under-used, and that did disappoint me; the ads and interviews would have you believe she was a main character.

And that really was the problem with this movie, the PR. The big scene everyone talked about with the five girls taking on 300 warriors? Nope, not the film at all. It was hyped the wrong way. Oh, and it was a bit too short at 87 minutes or so.

As for the DVD, the features are somewhat sparse. About 10 deleted scenes which shouldn't have been deleted, and a 20 minute "making of" sequence. That's it. For $25 I expect a bit more.

If you're looking for a good flick to kill some time, go for it. The next "Enter the Dragon" it isn't, but it is well-above the disasters which were "Bloodrayne", "House of 100 Corpses" and other video-game flicks done by Uwe Boll.

Several contestants have been chosen to fight in the D.O.A. tournament, hosted by megalomanical billionaire doctor Victor Donovan (Eric Roberts). Four of them include ninja princess Kasumi (Devon Aoki), pro wrestler Tina Armstrong (Jamie Pressly), master thief Christie Allen (Holly Valance), and hostess Helena Douglas (Sarah Carter). As they make their way through the rankings, and enjoy some fun in the sun, there's a hidden agenda behind this "tournament" - Donovan plans to harvest the nanobots from the four best DOA fighters, creating a technology where the host will be able to predict and adapt to any fighting style and defeat any combatant. With the help of Donovan lackey Weatherby (Steve Howey), the girls must band together and stop those who want to harvest their might for evil.

Maybe I'm a brown-noster, but damned if I didn't enjoy director Corey Yuen's ("The Transporter 2") B-movie aspirations for the big-screen adaptation of a B-level video game. I haven't played "DOA: Dead or Alive", but all I heard is that it became really popular for its titillation factor - hot women wearing small bikinis. It may not be a good factor to feature in a movie, but then again, no director has ever been in Yuen's shoes. "DOA wears its B-movie heart on its shoulders, and delivers such giddy fun - even for a PG-13 movie - that one's inner pre-teen will want to jump out.

One thing to consider before entering: "DOA" is an immensely cheesy film (a rule in B-movie tradition). Featuring superhuman stunts (often in obscene CGI), cornball lines, quick cuts, minimal character development, and a speedy pace to fill up 80-some minutes, I doubt there will be many people who will be taken into it. But "DOA" never gets bogged down in excessive subplots, pace-laden drama, or anything else that would ruin a possible guilty pleasure ("Ghost Rider"). Yuen's into making an action-packed, well-choreographed, and goofy film to charm those who love martial arts movies of this nature. And boy, does he!

The action sequences are worthy of mention. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, numerous fights are often filmed in CGI format and feature over-the-top stunts (including flying samurai princesses in a vine-covered forest, a high-flying finale against Donovon inside a shrine). It never hurts, however, that the choreography (as said already) is handled well enough, and the stuntwork is so well (especially from Jaime Pressly), that it enhances the fun factor by a whopper.

The cast even looks to be having fun. This goes for Jaime Pressly, who definitely provides the bulk of energy that her Southern gal character can pack, whether it's fighting off homeboy Zack or spitting catch-phrases for good comic relief. Devon Aoki embraces the B-movie conventions with monotone acting, and while she may not have much charisma as her co-stars, her fight scenes are easily the best out of the bunch. Holly Valance, while sadly saddled with a worthless romantic subplot with Matthew Marsen (he seems rather bored), offers plenty tittilation and charm to boot. These actresses are further complimented with agreeable side work from Sarah Carter, Steve Howey, Eric Roberts (an ideal choice for a cheesy film like this), Kevin Nash (a hoot as Tina's father), and Brian J. White.

I hardly encountered such a fun time at the movies (and I seen "Grindhouse" and "Hot Fuzz"). With Yuen bringing the charms of the video game and embracing them in a B-movie delight like this, DOA is definitely worth a matinee ticket if not less. And for a videogame-based movie, it may pave the way for other directors to inject that same sense of fun to their upcoming projects. It won't set the world on fire, but for those who have been disappointed by action extravaganzas bogged down by excess baggage, this is for them.

good action, good story and sexy women, that's basically it and that's what we look for in a good video game film, IF YOUR A DOA FAN, THEN BUY THIS FILM!

I don't recall this movie being out at the movie theatres. The story was ridiculous. But the action was very entertaining. Jaime Pressly and Holly Valence were certainly the right actresses for their roles. I say that not just because they are attractive. These roles seemed very physically and mentally demanding. They have the fitness to be able to rise to the challenge. What is more important is that they were able to lend to the movie's characters their own personal charisma. That made what was an absolutely awful story very entertaining to watch unfold.

While the story was great, I have to applaud the cast. Their acting skills, physical abilities, and charisma made the movie entertaining.