Customer Reviews

Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive Trilogy

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

 

 

Takashi Miike's rapidly expanding oeuvre includes something from nearly every genre (including a family picture and a musical?!). The Dead or Alive trilogy find him with his familiar Yakuza genre, but these films aren't your typical Japanese gangster flicks. Miike's style are all over these films. The opening montage in DOA1 is some of his finest work - eight minutes of rapid fire violence, drugs, car chases, assassinations, and death. Sergi Eisenstein would be proud. The ending is also particularly amazing. How to end a 100% insane yakuza ultra-violent movie? Miike finds the perfect way.

The films are a trilogy in name only. All three stories are completely different, but use the same leading actors. I haven't seen many of their other films, but it's my understanding (from reading Tom Mes's great book on Miike), that these are two of Japan's biggest action stars, working together for the first time. In DOA1, they're enemies. In DOA2, they're best friends. In DOA3, one of them is an android. All three stories are unique and all have interesting qualities. I would agree with the other reviewers that the third is the weakest, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's lacking in quality. It's reminiscent of Miike's City of Lost Souls.

While the films are available separately, the three disc collection is definitely the way to go. They're all very good films and the first two are definitely among Miike's best work. Be sure you don't accidentally purchase the "R" rated versions. You want the unrated version with all of Miike's balletic, Peckinpahnian violence intact.

These films are known as action movies, but they all have fairly slow middle sections where the characters have time to develop and evolve. Whatever else he does, Miike always tells a good story. Anyone hoping for wall-to-wall action will be disappointed. However, those seeking a thoughtful action picture (or three of them in this case) will enjoy these films. If you think you know yakuza pictures, wait until you see these!

I was on a real Miike kick when I bought this, and I seriously doubt that anyone could have convinced me to do what I'm about to suggest to you. Don't buy this trilogy, only the first movie is really worthwhile. Two and Final don't compare with the excellence of the first Dead Or Alive (which rates 5 stars). Have you ever seen a sequel, by a director you respect and found that ol' magic just ain't there any more? You sat there, watching helplessly as they tried (and you could tell by watching that they were trying really HARD) unsuccesfully to catch lightning in a bottle one more time. Depressing, yes? Save yourself the pain of watching this happen twice. Better to spend your money on Visitor Q or Fudoh The New Generation. Still, if you've gotta see all three...

This is one of Miike's finest! Anyone that says Quentin Tarantino is a better director is just flat out wrong. Tarantino has many more films to create before he can come close to this must buy trilogy for anyone who is a Miike fan! Cool!

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.

A great collection.. must have for any Miike's fan.. the only complaint is the second DVD of the trilogy, Birds, has some heavily censored scenes.

As for the movies themselves, Riki Takeuchi and Sho Aikawa carry themselves extremely well.. the trilogy presents the conflict between these two characters over a wide range of social, political and futuristic scenarios.. its hard to choose my favorite among the three, all three are awesome have their own rewarding experiences, but I'd narrowly pick the second one, its got a very unique flavor to it.. never expected Miike to be such a sucker for "childhood nostalgia".. somewhat reminscent of Kitano's Kikujiro.

Anyway, I would highly recommend viewers unfamiliar with the Yakuza-related genre of Japanese action-cult flicks to first sample this trilogy before venturing into many other works of Miike (Ichi, Gozu, audition).

I liked the first one alot. I liked the two stories that were going on in the movie. Don't be fooled by the title Dead or Alive though. I think of it more of a drama then an action flick.

I thought the second one had a fantastic story. I liked the scenes outside. I think all of the outside shots looked beautiful. Expect very little action though in this one. Its a story about 2 step brothers that havn't seen eachother since they were childeren.

Now for the third one. I liked the story up to a point, and then the movie just ended. It was like they ran out of money and just threw a rediculous end together. The story had a lot of potential and someone ruined it. I don't know what they were thinking. If this one wasn't so horrible I def would have given the trilogy 4 stars.