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Dead or Alive (2001)
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:12
Rotten:10
Average Rating:5.5/10
Theatrical Release:Jun 8, 2001 Limited
Synopsis: After a rapid-fire montage of two groups of gangsters, one Japanese, the other ethnic Chinese, killing each other and everybody else on screen, DEAD OR ALIVE's story begins when a police officer... After a rapid-fire montage of two groups of gangsters, one Japanese, the other ethnic Chinese, killing each other and everybody else on screen, DEAD OR ALIVE's story begins when a police officer announces, "Round up everybody who looks (suspicious), even if they aren't Chinese." The Chinese have been living in Japan for centuries, but have never been accepted or integrated into Japanese society. This larger conflict underlies the blood and gore of the two gangs vying to make a big drug purchase from a mainland Chinese gang. When Jojima (Show Aikawa) an otherwise honest cop, needs money for an operation for his daughter, he gets a "loan" from the head of the Japanese gang, but when his partner kills the brother of the leader of the Chinese mafia, Ryuichi (Riki Rakeuchi), a blood feud begins between the two men. DEAD OR ALIVE's fast-paced cinematic presentation, black humor, tongue-in-cheek satire, and misogynist sadism set it apart from similar films by Takeshi Kitano. Director Takashi Miike's earlier film, AUDITION, is known for its stunning ending, but here he builds up to a parody of the big showdown that is so hysterically comic that, borrowing from Monty Python and DR. STRANGELOVE, it reaches absolutely apocalyptic proportions. [More]
Starring: Show Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Renji Ishibashi, Susuma Terajima
Starring: Show Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Renji Ishibashi, Susuma Terajima
Director: Takashi Miike
Director: Takashi Miike
Screenwriter: Ichiro Ryu
Producer: Katsumi Ono, Makoto Okada, Toshiki Kimura
Composer: Kojo Endo
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Reviews for Dead or Alive
Miike['s]...problem seems to be...that the construction of the rest of the movie hinges only by the effects they elicit.
...more dull than even the most self-indulgent Merchant/Ivory production...
It becomes a work of violence, so full of rage and chaos that all the usual cinematic rules of structure and logic cease to apply.
The less you know about a Takashi Miike film before you see it, the better the experience will be.
Plays much more like an afterthought on wickedness than an actual essay on the topic.
The over-the-top finale is hilarious, but it was only then that I realized the film was supposed to be an out-and-out comedy. Maybe it's a Japanese thing, but I don't really get it.
Dead or Alive is stylized crime cinema not only at its finest but at its most disgusting and refreshing.
Director Takashi Miike finds an odd sense of ungallant destiny residing within his archetypal characters.
The tamest image in the movie is of a terrified man, about to be blown full of holes in a restaurant kitchen, who accidentally breads and deep-fries one of his hands.
Yeah, Yeah, It's Gross, But Is It Good? For its sheer inventiveness and audacity, yes.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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