Friday, September 3, 2010

A Short Synosis Of The Dead Or Alive Trilogy By Takashi Miike

By Ronald Erickson

You might not have heard of these movies. If you're thinking about the ones based on the Xbox and Playstation games, we're not talking about those, but rather the trilogy of bizarre action flicks by Japanese crazy-man director Takashi Miike. This trilogy of movie downloads offers just what you're looking for if you've gotten tired of the same old same old from American action flicks and you're ready for something a little different, and a little 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 that ending for you, but save to say that it certainly solves the whole anti-climax problem. From beginning to end, the whole movie is like one big super climactic showdown. Every minute you're going to be seeing something you've never seen before, something you can't believe you just saw, and something you wish you hadn't seen.

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 of the trilogy, Dead or Alive Final, takes the series in an all new direction, getting into a science fiction setting akin to Blade Runner. It might not be the best of the trilogy, but it has to be seen so you can see how it ties the whole trilogy together in a strange way.

If you want more after these three flicks, check out Deadly Outlaw Rekka also by Miike. It really takes the same approach to action. Everything is very over the top and surreal, and it's all pretty exciting.

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. - 40731

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