Customer Reviews

Hyper Violence Collection: Hard Revenge Milly (Hard Revenge Milly / Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Part 1:

I've seen this DVD sitting on the shelf at the video store for a few weeks now and I kept thinking it was going to be like all of those other over-the-top, blood spurting out in gallons movies that've been pouring out of Japan lately, so I skipped it. Now I'm racking myself in the nards nonstop cause this movie is bad [...]!!! Woooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Two years ago while out on a weekend drive, Milly and her family were attacked by a gang of thugs. They killed the husband; punch her infant baby then lit it on fire and slam it against a wall (that's hardcore). During this Milly gets all kinds of [...] up to [...] and mutilated, including her [...] cut off (off screen). How she survived is clouded in mystery, but all that matters right now is she's out to kick some[...]!!!

The budget is low, but even with the sometimes cheesy CGI this movie is a blast. The biggest surprise to me is how exciting and well choreographed the fight scenes are. I was damn near standing up on the couch yelling I was so excited. Then when the surprise at the end happened. Oh [...]. I never would have guessed that [...] in a million years.

Kudos to everybody involved with this movie. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Part 2:

That's it. I'm buying this sucker. Part 2 is even better than the original!!! I really like this story and especially director/writer Takanori Tsujimoto's style. He could make a hundred of these movies and it still wouldn't be enough!

This time around the budget is bigger, the fx and locations are better, the story is deeper and best of all the fight scenes kick even more [...]!!! [...] yeah!

A strange (and really hot!!!) girl comes to Milly to help her get revenge of her own, but out of nowhere some armed men attack and Milly kicks their [...]. Including hitting one so hard both of his eye balls shoot out! The men were sent by the gay lover of the main guy from part 1 and naturally this means Milly's going to have to fight this [...]. That's all the story I'm giving you.

Like I said things are bigger and better from the first movie, including delving a little deeper into Milly's past and really it just ends up making things even more mysterious than they were before. The main question I have is a "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"-style question: is Milly even human or is she an cyborg with false memories?

I really liked both of these movies a lot and since you can get both on the same DVD I say go for it!

Hard Revenge Milly is precisely what happens when you take the movie Death Wish and mix it with Japanese action splatter. It's a post-apocalyptic world and a gang of roving murderers has killed Milly's family before her eyes and left her for dead. Now, with some bionic modifications to her body, she's hunting them down for her revenge.

That's it for plot for the first film, a 40 minute short, but by now you should know if this is up your alley or not anyway. Milly drives around looking mournful, and throughout the film we are given flashbacks to see just how horrific the death of her family really was. Miki Mizuno plays the tortured Milly quite well, which is good since the rest of the characters are your run of the mill crazy, sadistic bad guys and a helpful barkeep who shows up briefly at the very beginning. Not that anyone but Mizuno actually gets much of a chance to act, since scenes with a villain mean there's a fight going on.

The action's quick, to the point, and above all gloriously messy. Although the imagination doesn't go much beyond the established checklist for splatter films from Japan (body parts turned into mechanical weapons, Monty Python style blood geysers from wounds, excessive after death twitching, etc) it doesn't come off as stale, so it remains enjoyable.

It's a satisfactory revenge flick overall, but it feels as though there could have been an added punch to give it better lasting effect. Which, I'm sure, is why there's a sequel, conveniently packed right in the box.


Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle is more satisfying, clocking in around 70 minutes to provide a richer story, and with richer story you get -- RICHER CHARACTERS! This time around, Milly's on the receiving end of vengeance, being hunted down by a pair who were friends of the people she killed in the first film. The new bad guys, while still bizarre sadists, are much more interesting than anyone in the first film, having actual motives, showing emotions beyond hysterical frenzy, and getting lines that are worth paying attention to. Added into this is a young girl seeking her own revenge on whoever killed her lover, who looks to Milly as a mentor.

The action definitely takes a step up in the sequel. There's a couple of impressive shootouts, plenty of swordplay, continuous blood geysers, interesting new weapons and it's all choreographed much better than the first film, which is to be expected as it's clearly a bigger production.

Again, there's not much of a story to go along with this action, but at least now instead of Milly's own personal drama we get some interpersonal drama between the villains, her, and the girl who is a newcomer to this level of violence. Thankfully, better actors were found to play these better characters in comparison to the circus performers in the first film. The drama plays out well without any wincing or feeling like it's dragging out too long building up to the next action set piece. Near the end we get a couple of good twists, and it all wraps up nicely in the conclusion.

The problem with the two films ultimately is the sheer simplicity of them. A woman gets revenge, then experiences repercussions for her actions. That's it. Considering that this leads the bulk of the film is going to be character driven, we're led to a new problem -- it's hard to really get into the melancholy of a character when every ten minutes she bends her knee which has a biomechanical shotgun embedded into it and it starts blasting gaping holes into people leaving hoses shooting gallons and gallons of blood. Something about having splatter elements in a film negates successful character development and empathy.

Another point is this "HYPER VIOLENCE" name of the collection. I actually watched these after reading similar hyperbolic tags and summaries. They are violent films, but unless this is your very first foray into splatter, you won't come away feeling you've watched something truly "extreme". Certainly this level of violence isn't likely to show up in any Hollywood film anytime soon, but that's not saying much. They're fun films, but a hardcore splatter connoisseur picking this up on the hope of something wildly disturbing probably would not be too satisfied.

If you love watching action films, any kind of action film of any quality just for the chance of a real good visceral thrill, you'll dig these, particularly Bloody Battle. You'll forget everything in between the action sequences, but the action you will definitely remember.

I'd say overall the films are 3 star films since the silly, gory bits absolutely squander any kind of emotion that's been built up and eliminate a real care for the characters. And it is normal in an action film for character development to be glazed over, yes, but most action films that get this messy don't try to make you feel utterly sad for the troubled main character whenever she's not fighting. However, strictly on an action scene basis I'd give it 4 stars. Leaving 3 1/2 stars as the meeting place between the two.

I don't think these films will reach cult status like Versus but I still enjoyed them. Don't look for deep plot or character development here, this is strictly for action junkies and gore hounds. It's your typical revenge story but the action scenes are well done. The gore FX and wire work are also good even on a limited budget. Some of the acting is a little over the top but the main lead handles herself pretty well. What you get is two one hour films on a one sided disc with a documentary for each film. The two documentaries are interesting and are almost as long as the films. So if you liked Samurai Princess or machine girl you may want to give this one a try.

Just got it in and these were great! Great entertainment. Yes it has subtitles, BUT just like one other person said here....it's all about the action with a little dialogue. The first one is only 43 minutes or so and the second one about 73 minutes. I think this was probably a trailer for a show. This would've been a great series.

You take into consideration that my wife & I are both 50+ and yet we can take a break from regular movies and laugh at Tokyo Shock type stuff. I think this was a step above because the effects were NOT cheesy. They were great!

If you like Tokyo Shock even if just for fun where you laugh your butt off, you'll love these two. I'm actually looking forward to watching it again.

We don't love Tokyo Shock, but for us it's like watching Asian slapstick and good for a laugh. My wife tolerates my now and then Chop Socky movies as well. She doesn't mind watching Bruce Lee or Sony Chiba with me. She enjoys the classics like 7 Samurai and enjoys the heck out of Zatoichi (I have all the Zatoichi movies but the one not released and some of the tv series as well) and Toshiro Mifune and Jet Li and newer Jackie Chan to give you an idea where she's coming from.

Milly is just terrific. When my wife says that was great....I take notice.
When she says she'd like to watch it again.....I pick my teeth up off the floor.
I don't hardly ever rave about a movie. I try to say something that might speak more to older folks like us with varied tastes that you might not have read in other reviews.

If there's ever any more of these, we'll be getting them if they have the same gal playing the lead. She's good and makes it work.

Just keep in mind this is NOT two full length feature films which was what I thought. You get just over 111 minutes total viewing that I bet you're going to enjoy.

Okay so you have a women who's family is slaughtered goes on a revenge spree...what makes this plot different than The Punisher or Death sentence, well our hero is legally dead as well...yeah like the crow, but she was brought back using cybernetic parts: A shotgun leg and some crazy contraption for a chest. And yes this is a gore film, for the first movies 44 minutes, its dripping in blood. So get this Duo box set which is about 120 minutes total and worth a watch!

the first movie is very short, but o.k., the second was longer, but still just o.k.