Product Details

• Actors: Kazuya Nakayama, Kaori Momoi, Ryûhei Matsuda, RyÃ'suke Miki, Yûya Uchida
• Directors: Takashi Miike
• Format: Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled
• Language: English (Unknown), Japanese (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Tokyo Shock
• DVD Release Date: October 11, 2005
• Run Time: 128 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000AC7P3S
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,890 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Izo (Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

We begin in 1865 when the Shogunate is on its last legs but still capable of punishing its enemies. One is Izo (Kazuya Nakayama) an assassin in the service of Hanpeida (Ryosuke Miki) a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo where his finds himself one with the city's homeless. Here Izo transforms himself into a new improved killing machine his entire soul still enraged by his treatment in his past life. His response to the powers-that-be whose predecessors put him to death is the sword.DVD Features:Available Subtitles: EnglishAvailable Audio Tracks: English (Unknown Format) Japanese (Unknown Format)Interview with director Takashi MiikeMaking of IzoSecrets of IzoOriginal trailersSystem Requirements:Running Time 128 MinsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE UPC: 631595052886 Manufacturer No: TSDVD-0528

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You are a Demon, January 6, 2006

By 

Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Izo (Special Edition) (DVD)

The opening of scene of Izo depicts the title character Okada Izo crucified and calmly waiting for his captors to kill him. They soon comply and execute Izo by driving their spears through his body several times. The scene then quickly changes to a chaotic montage in which images of some of the 20th century's most brutal dictators are flashed across the screen, including Stalin, Hitler, Tojo Hideki, and Benito Mussolini. His spirit unable to rest, Izo rises and begins a path of destruction that leaves no one untouched. It matters not if one is old or young, male or female, Izo will kill anyone in his path. The source of his consternation seems to be a group of aristocrats, including Kitano Takeshi and Matsuda Ryuhei who plays the leader, who rule society from the shadows. Fighting the vengeful souls of samurai he killed in the past, a pistol wielding old man with a voice box, a prostitute, a huge black man in the robes of a Buddhist monk, Bob "The Beast" Sapp," makes his way closer to his goal, but as his bad karma accumulates Izo loses his remaining humanity and quickly morphs into a demon.

Yet, who or what is Izo? Supposedly in order for there to be perfection, all the imperfections of the world must be shed of like a second skin and dissipate into nothingness. However, Izo becomes the personification of this nothingness, a being created entirely of bad karma trapped in a Möbius strip in which time and space are both very fragile where he suffers the torment he brought to others.

Some film viewers seem to think that Izo is an overwrought mess with pedantic aspirations that fail miserably. Some think it achieves its goals while many just enjoy the film's high gore factor. I did not know what to think at first. I quickly grew bored at the beginning of the film when it seemed as if it was going to be nothing more than one blood bath after the other, although I did think some of Izo's enemies were quite creative. However, as the film progressed I became a bit more interested in some underlying themes of the film: man made constructions of love, nation, etc. To me one of the most interesting aspects of the film was the "bard," a middle-aged man with a guitar. As those who have read the Tale of Heike know the oral story of how the Heike, Taira fell to the Genji, Minamoto, clan was told by normally blind biwa playing monks in order to appease the souls of the Heike samurai so they would not return as vengeful spirits. While this "bard" might not be serving this same purpose, the songs he sings are quite chilling and the visuals, such as the girls marching while wearing gasmasks, are quite stunning. Is Izo a good film? That is hard to say, but I believe that it offers different conclusions for different viewers. If one is looking for a confusing bloodbath, you'll find it here. If one is looking for deeper philosophical questions in a miasma of blood and guts, you'll find it here as well, or at least it could aid you in finding these questions within your own being.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miike's masterpiece, February 10, 2008

By 

ac (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Izo (Special Edition) (DVD)

It's hard to be familiar with the movies of Takashi Miike. Despite seeing the majority of his films released in America (and even a few that have yet to be released here), it's hard not to feel like I've lost something in translation. I can appreciate the humor, the violence, the plotlines, etc but there are usually parts that confuse me, and his movies typically require repeated watchings. It's not that I'm particularly new to the films he creates or the films of Japanese directors in general ("Tetsuo" creator Tsukamoto is probably my favorite director); the point I'm trying to illustrate is that you have to WANT to appreciate his films. You have to work hard sometimes to get into what he's doing, because he often throws conventional plot points, "hooks" that grab you, and structure out the window. Even his most fairly straightforward films take many detours into the bizarre (see the tank randomly showing up in "Family" or the rocket launcher that comes out on nowhere in at least two of his films!)...

So, it's not surprising that this is one of the lesser-recieved of Miike's works. Using the "hook" of a sword fighting epic initially gets people interested in this film, but seeing no conventional plot or point to what is happening throws people off. This confuses me -- though I definitely didn't grasp everything upon the first viewing of this, I was still instantly amazed at what Miike has set up here: A journey through one man's tortured soul. Even if you don't feel like you understand everything that's happening, you still realize this film is genius -- maybe you just haven't figured out why yet.

Upon repeated viewings, however, I figured out why. As another reviewer mentioned, you have to kind of look in between the lines. This film is powerful, epic, emotional, and even darkly comedic. On the surface, this film is basically just a journey through someone's afterlife. However, beyond that, the film pours on flashy imagery, ultraviolence, and heavy emotion to an almost suffocating degree. In a lot of ways, this film reminds me of "El Topo" -- a movie that is disguised as a genre effort (El Topo being a Western, this being a samurai swordfighting film) that just uses the basic genre outlines and explores topics deeper than have ever been covered in the genre before.

I think those who overlook this film simply were expecting a straightforward swordfighting movie, which this film clearly isn't. It's way better than that, and it's honestly probably the best film to come out in the last decade. Don't write this off after one viewing, it REQUIRES repeated viewings. A masterpiece.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth more than 1 viewing, November 2, 2006

By 

terry330 "terry330" (OHIO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Izo (DVD)

Miike is certainly not a conventional filmmaker and this may be his most unconvetional film. That doesn't make it bad(far from it), nihlism & self destruction are the main themes played out in an almost acid trip of a movie.

For some reason it reminds me of The Last Temptaion of Christ splattered in blood, begging for mercy and asking the ultimate truth of human suffering.(with some really great cameos)

Only for true Miike fans.