Takashi Miike dvds

[HungFist]

I'm even surprising myself by starting a Miike topic. But this could be useful...

Sukiyaki Western Django R2J 3 Disc LE (post 1/2)











The amount of edge enhancement is beyond belief. It's most distracting in the beginning and end. In the middle it's not quite as visible but hey, this is still a prime example of how not to do it. I haven't seen this much ee in a long time.

If extras don't matter to you, and you're not in a hurry to see the film, the wait for HK disc. Not necessarily any better (good chance for a port), but at least cheaper. KR will most likely be a port. Non-asian dvds you can pretty much forget about right now; the international version is cut by 25 min. Perhaps France will get a special edition with both cuts, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[HungFist]

Sukiyaki Western Django R2J 3 Disc LE (post 2/2)

Specs

Region 2 Japan
Image: 2.35:1 Anamorphic NTSC (progressive)
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Japanese, English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Japanese, English), DTS (English)
Subtitles: Japanese (optional)

Extras

Disc 1
Audio Commentary by Takashi Miike and Christian Storms
Sukiyaki Western Django trailers, teasers and TV spots (6 in total)
Devil May Cry 4 trailer

Disc 2
Making of (120 min)

Disc 3
Press Conference (11 min)
Press Conference 2 (10 min)
Cast and Crew Interviews (18 min)
Sukiyaki Western Django at the Venice Film Festival (10 min)
Premiere (10 min)
5 Deleted Scenes
Spaghetti Western Trailers
* A Fistful of Dollars
* Django
* Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!
* Texas, Adios
* Today It's Me... Tomorrow It's You!
* The Great Silence
* My Name is Nobody
* Days of Wrath
* One Silver Dollar
* The Return of Ringo
* Blind Man

Everything in japanese except Tarantino's bits and and Kaori Momoi's Venice interview.

Random caps from here and there











Deleted Scene


One Silver Dollar


In the Case
Booklet (12 pages) (japanese)
Storyboards (168 pages) (japanese)

[HungFist]

Ryu ga gotoku (Like a Dragon aka Yakuza) R3K

Ryu ga gotoku isn’t one of Miike’s very best movies, but it’s still better than all the previous video game adaptations put together. If you haven’t played the game, the film should work as an entertaining, although slightly confusing diet Miike. But if you’re familiar with the game, then it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed. The film finds a very good balance between new and old. Most of the characters are from the game, and the storyline is similar. There is however enough changes to prevent you from ever getting bored. Dialogue and details make several references to things you know from the game but are not explained in the movie.

The cast is throughly well chosen, and the visual look is superb. I doubt night time Tokyo has ever looked this colourful on film before. Thankfully Miike hasn’t turned the film into a cgi fest; there’s only a couple computer effects, and while they don’t look all that hot, they don’t really distract you from the movie either. The soundtrack is pretty nice, too. The film was rated pg-12 in Japan, so this isn’t your old school Miike splatter, but it’s still surprisingly violent. There isn’t much blood, but the amount of baseball bat headshots is on world record level. This ain’t something that would be passed with pg-13 in the US.

I was a bit worried if the dvd presentation would do justice to the film, but thankfully the Korean disc looks very nice to my weak eyes. The image is just as colourful as I recall it being in cinema. It could be sharper, but I can't be bothered to complain about it since there's zero edge enhancement to be found. Audio is Japanese 5.1 and 2.0. Despite what the dvd-package and many retailers claim, the dvd does not have English subtitles, only Korean. The Korean language scenes feature burnt Japanese subtitles. The extras are nice for a one disc release: Behind the Scenes (17:42), Making Of (35:19), Trailer (1:10), Long Trailer (6:33) and 3 TV Spots (1:07).

[HungFist]

Got to see Sukiyaki on 35mm, twice (wasn't planned). Surpisingly I still didn't get bored and although I had reserved the later screening for sleeping (it was at 4:15 am) I still enjoyed the film (and with no edge enhancement, yeee). The print was, however, the international version. Differences that I noticed include (minor spoilers):

* Boss Kiyomori performing Shakespeare is missing
* The sheriff having hard time making a decision has been removed (this is before he goes totally nuts)
* The sex scene ends with the woman saying ”Love” and then cuts to the sunset pic The scene runs longer in the JP version, and is followed by a short scene where Yoshitsune’s men are making plans concerning the ”special transportation”
* Scene showing problems with the ”special transportation” is missing
* Yoshitsune shooting one of his own men, plus all the later related scenes (including one very weird, homosexual moment), have been removed
* Gold digging scene missing

[bradavon]

Thanks for your continuing effort to write reviews Hung. It's a pity I rarely have any interest in the sorts of film you like

I've only see Audition of Takashi Miike's work. It was decent but not something I'd want to see again.

[HungFist]

Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (R1 Animeigo)

Miike goes arthouse, with mixed results. If you watch this with an overly cynical attitude you’re bound to hate it; Miike seems to be more interested creating art than substance. Although praised as homo erotic love story by some, the psychological handling of the subject is somewhat tenuous. At the same time any other kind of characterization is completely missing. This is due to Miike’s unwillingness to take the traditional, easy path of storytelling. The attempt is ambitious, but the puzzle like structure actually takes two viewings to work (which was the case here). You still have to be able to forgive some overly pretentious scenes but if you have the will and concentration the film does deliver a lot of interesting brainwork.

Visually Big Bang Love, Juvenile A, or 4.6 Billion Years of Love as the japanese title goes, is quite satisfying. Especially the lighting is used interestingly. The ending is also excellent. A slightly far out, but ultimately fitting comparison piece for the film would be Nagisha Oshima’s Gohatto (also starring Ryuhei Matsuda), which dealt with similar themes and symbolic imagery, but did it far more succesfully.

Animeigo’s 2 Disc release looks good appart from a few red background scenes. Edge enhancement halos are only visible in a couple of scenes, and even then very slightly. As usual, a dvd-5 disc is used but considering the running time (84 min) and the complete lack of extras and fancy audio mixes (only 2.0 is offered) on disc one, it’s not a huge problem. Animeigo should also be given credit for fixing the simple flaw that has plagued many of their older dvds; the subtitle colour. This time both yellow and white subtitles are offered.

Extras are on disc 2. Included are Making Of, Miike interview, trailer & tv spots, image gallery and text info. There's no timecode on disc two so I don’t know how long the extras are, but the interview might be something like 10 min, while the making of seemed pretty lengthy. I didn’t have time to watch them fully, but the making of begins with the cast explaing how they didn’t really understand half of the movie...

[HungFist]

Dice's Ley Lines dvd comparison:
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... =19&t=5262

Yatterman Blu Ray:
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... f=1&t=4987