September 3, 2010
A Short Synosis Of The Dead Or Alive Trilogy By Takashi Miike
We’re not talking about the Hollywood movies based on the video games, but the Dead or Alive trilogy by Japanese madman director Takashi Miike. These are three must see movie downloads if you’re in the mood for something strange.
Dead or Alive Part One was designed to be a way to bring together two hot Japanese stars, being Sho Aikawa, the Japanese Pacino, and Riki Takeuchi, the Japanese DeNiro, so Dead or Alive is sort of the Japanese Heat. However, it’s really nothing like Heat, and it’s sort of designed to fix the problem with that movie, being that the ending wasn’t quite the climax most viewers were hoping for.
We won’t spoil the ending of Dead or Alive, but let’s just say that it’s certainly not an anti-climax. The entire movie is a thrill ride, starting with a rock video style montage that gets you into the movie’s world fast, and culminating in an ending that you will not believe.
Dead or Alive 2 is one of those rare sequels that blows the original away, even though the original was already pretty good. Aikawa and Takeuchi are recast as two entirely different characters, that parallel their original roles in some interesting ways. Where the first is about a cop and a gangster out to get each other, this one focuses on two childhood friends who have grown up to become hitmen who donate all of their earnings to buying medicine for children in third world countries. This movie is all heart.
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 takes the whole series in an all new direction, going into science fiction akin to Blade Runner or Robocop, that sort of cyberpunk, androids and megacorporations sort of theme. It’s probably the least interesting of the trilogy, but it’s really interesting for how it ties the whole thing together.
If you like the Dead or Alive trilogy, you should also check out Deadly Outlaw Rekka, which feels like the fourth film in the series in spirit. It has the same sense of over the top craziness and stars Riki Takeuchi in the lead role.
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.
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