I've heard the stories, and I've been subject to the hype. "You haven't seen anything like the opening ten minutes of Dead or Alive!" or "The ending of Dead or Alive is one of the craziest things I have ever seen!". Unfortunately, I passed up the experience of seeing Miike's Dead or Alive on the big screen about a year ago. I had a wedding to go to. A wedding for "friends" I really don't talk to anymore. Life's just full of choices; we don't always make the right ones. After seeing Dead or Alive on DVD courtesy of Tartan Asia Extreme, I wish I would've made the RIGHT decision and gone to see Dead or Alive in the theater, as I'm sure it would have been a complete blast. For now, this DVD will do. As it stands, this is the only way to legitimately see Dead or Alive with English subs on home video.

Director Takashi Miike is able to take just about any story and turn it into cinematic excellence. The framework that is Dead or Alive is nothing new. A detective on a downward spiral because of his family problems (his daughter needs a $200,000 operation) chasing after some Yakuza thugs? C'mon, you've got to be kidding me, you can do better than that! Well, you'd think that, wouldn't you? Miike is able to take this familiar world and turn it upside down and inside out. From the opening frames in which the two main characters give a 3,2,1 countdown to the beat of a hard rockin' soundtrack, all elements of narrative structure are abandoned. The first 10 minutes of the film consist of a fast paced quick cut montage of destruction, debauchery and excess. Most importantly, it's the farthest thing from a frivolous setup as this opening sets the scene and gives new meaning to the term "character development".

It's after this quick cut opening montage that things slow down for a bit. Slow down yes, but things never ease up, not even for a minute. The seedy underworld of Tokyo's Shinjuku district is explored in nearly every facet. At one point we're watching a group of pornographers manually stimulating a dog for a photo shoot with a seemingly disinterested young girl lying naked on the floor. You take a breath only to find that your subject to seeing another young girl, lying in a child's blow up pool covered in her own urine and feces. Ever seen a man deep-fry his own hand before? No? Well, you will. The brilliance that is Miike lies in the fact that he makes films like no one else. Shocking? Yes. Disturbing? You bet. Not for nothing, there is a message, and there seems to always be a purpose. Whether it's a comment on the social or political structure of society, Miike always has something to say. Much like John Waters, it's not just trash cinema for the sake of trash cinema. It's the true to life irony that he injects into his films, that allow them to really hit home, and hit home they do.

From the opening shots to the over the top finale (I will say no more about the ending, to do so would be a crime) Dead or Alive is a non stop assault on the senses (how's that for a cliché?) While certainly not for everyone (there is A LOT in here to offend) Dead or Alive is an important film, as Miike is an important director. None of this man's work is to be taken lightly. There may be moments when you don't want to see it, but you'll certainly know WHY it's being shown to you.

Tartan presents Dead or Alive in an anamorphic widescreen transfer and the presentation winds up looking OK, all things considered. I've never seen Dead or Alive before so I don't know how Miike intended this film to look, it's a tough call. I will tell you that the print used is in excellent shape, with little to no evident print damage. Colors are a bit difficult to judge as they shift violently from scene to scene. I'd be willing to wager that the film was shot on an extremely low budget, and also shot rather quickly. I can't imagine the film looking a whole lot better than this, I'd say that any problems associated with the transfer could be attributed to the original source material. The erratic color motifs are what give Dead or Alive a more comic book feel. Aesthetically it may seem a bit odd, but in the cinematic sense of Takashi Miike's world that is Dead or Alive, it works.

Sound is presented in what appears to be a Dolby Surround mix, as it's not stated on the box anywhere. Dialogue is fairly clear, with effects and music appearing a bit tinny when blasting thorugh the remaining speakers. Options are to kick it in old time stereo, or to just grin and bear it. It's not that bad of a mix, it's just not gonna win any audio awards any time soon. There are nice readable and removable subs in English.

Extras are brief, but impressive. It's one thing to finally have Dead or Alive subtitled on home video in English, but it's another thing to actually have some supplemental material to go along with it. We start things off with an original theatrical trailer, in decent shape. Next up is a brief, approximately 12 minute interview with Takashi
Miike. At times it seems hard for Miike to find the right words to express his feelings, but I think that's partially due to the stupid ass questions that are being asked. Miike seems very much like a private person who doesn't like discussing his work in public (much like David Lynch) so I don't fault him for this. It's an interesting piece to watch, nonetheless. Miike discusses everything from casting Dead or Alive, to his thoughts on censors and "going to far". Things are rounded off with a few cast and crew bios, and a text essay by journalist Chris Campion (Who?). Lastly we have a selection of trailers for other Tartan releases including the incredible Battle Royale, Freezer aka Freeze Me, Testuo, and another Miike title, the effectively creepy Audition.

Not for nothing, the bottom line here is that this is a great Miike flick. I've not sampled nearly enough of the director's work (his stuff is so hard to come by), but I have yet to be disappointed by what I've seen. Dead or Alive is no exception to the rule. It's raucous over the top fun, from start to finish. Keep in mind that you WILL feel dirty afterwards. Nothing a quick shower and a Disney film can't fix. Go for it.

NOTE: This disc is a Region 0 PAL DVD. Although it will work in any DVD player, you will need to have an internal or external PAL-NTSC converter if your player is not already PAL compatible.