Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Dead Or Alive Films Reviewed Here

By Katelyn Fuentes

The Dead or Alive Trilogy belongs on your must see movie downloads list simply because it's so crazy. You've seen action movies, you've seen over the top action movies, but you've never seen anything quite like these three flicks from Mike Takashi . Every one is out to top the last in terms of sheer craziness.

The first in the series, Dead or Alive, was focused on the idea of simply teaming up the cult legends Sho Aikawa and Riki Takeuchi, sort of the Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino of the cult Japanese film scene. So think of it like Japan's answer to Heat. Interestingly, the movie was meant to solve one of the main problems with that movie: The ending was kind of an anti-climax.

We can't spoil the ending of Dead or Alive for you, and you wouldn't believe us if we did. Just check it out and see for yourself. The whole movie is designed to be non-stop, exciting, fast paced, and entirely over the top the whole way through.

The second in the trilogy offers a different sort of approach with the same crazy style. This one recasts the two leads as two new characters. Where the first had the two as rival cop and gangster, this one has them as a pair of hitmen who grew up together and who donate all of their money to fighting diseases in developing countries.

Interestingly, while the movie is very positive in its outlook and portrays its heroes in a positive light, the reality of violence is not simply glossed over. The first is a wild action movie, the second is a little more honest about the weight of violence on a person's heart.

The third film, Dead or Alive Final, goes in the science fiction direction, more specifically, cyberpunk, with replicants and evil dystopian governments. While it might not be the most exciting of the trilogy, it's worth seeing so you can check out how it ties the whole thing together in such a strange way.

Check out Deadly Outlaw Rekka if you want more Miike. It has the same sort of over the top, insane attitude towards the story, and recasts Riki Takeuchi in the title role, as he seeks to avenge the death of his surrogate father. What really makes that movie work is the style. The story is standard revenge stuff, but it's all set to an alternative rock album from the seventies by the Traveling Sunflower Band, and the action is all out stuff. Takeuchi also turns in an interesting performance as the unstable and unpredictable Rekka.

The trailer for the first movie in the trilogy proudly declares that Miike is the mad dog of Japanese film, and it's true, that's not just hyperbole. The guy makes something like four or five movies a year, and has created over one hundred total over the course of his career. Not all of them are of the same quality, but for just one in ten movies to be great, that's ten great films, which is more than most directors ever get a chance to put out. - 40723

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