CompleteMartialArts.com - Versus (Director's Cut)
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $22.49
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Manufacturer: Tokyo Shock
Starring: Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka, Kenji Matsuda, Yuichiro Arai
Directed By: Ryûhei Kitamura
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781586554446
Format: Color
ISBN: 1586554441
Label: Tokyo Shock
Manufacturer: Tokyo Shock
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Tokyo Shock
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2003-07-29
Running Time: 119
Studio: Tokyo Shock
Theatrical Release Date: 2000
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Editorial Reviews:
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Deep within the mysterious Forest of Resurrection, a spectacular battle between good and evil has gone on since the dawn of time. When Prisoner KSC2-303 escapes from a maximum security facility, he enters the forest, believing it will lead him to safe haven. Instead, he finds himself a pawn in an endless struggle played out across multiple temporal planes of existence. His opponent: a mysterious man who seemingly cannot be killed. The battle to be waged: Good versus Evil in the pursuit of a beautiful woman who holds the key to eternal life. What Prisoner KSC2-303 cannot remember is whether or not he is the personification of good or the very essence of darkness
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: a little Ichi the Killer and a little Izo, with a dash of cheese
Comment: whoa, what a fun movie, for fans of Takashi Miike's stuff, or over the top Asian cinema in general should check this one out. essentially it follows an escaped convict trying to initially cut a deal with the mob to aid his escape, but when things go wrong and people start getting shot, things get weird. the first dead body stands back up, only to be filled with about 50 bullets before falling back to the ground.
the chaos begins when our main character, a feminist, was introduced to the female hostage. after multiple warnings the gangsters wouldnt release her. after all hell breaks loose, the chase through the forest begins, and gradually our hero and the girl begin to regain their memory, and their place in a much bigger picture.
acting wasnt horrible, although pretty over the top. camera work was decent. the gore effects were awsome for the most part. the story was interesting but could've been explained much better. basically, if you want a non stop blood bath of carnage with too many guns, samurai swords, and body parts to count, then check out this movie immediately!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Fanboy Movie. . .and that's a good thing!! 4.99 Stars. . .
Comment: Let me start out by saying, I love this movie. It is absolutely fantastic. It's like Kitamura, the director, poked around inside my brain for my two favorite cult/indie/action/gore faves and put them together. Because this film could not be a more perfect combination of Six String Samurai meets Evil Dead 2, with a bunch of martial arts action thrown in. I absolutely love these types of films. This is not one of those "universally" fantastic films that anyone can appreciate. This is most certainly one of those 'specialty' flicks that only people with very specific types of tastes will love. But if you have those 'tastes', you will absolutely be amazed by this film. It really is a love it or hate it movie. First, let's briefly touch on what its about:
A former prisoner tries to escape from an enchanted forest teeming with zombies and demons, all the while protecting a girl while kicking, punching, shooting, stabbing, and slicing everything that gets in his way.
For those who are looking at the different versions, the Ultimate is the only version to get. The new music is a big improvement over the old stuff. The extended action scenes are fantastic. And the new color correction and visual processing definitely add to the overall film. Plus, all the extras are great. Ironically, this is actually more of a director's cut than the original director's cut. The original DC was just the best the director could do with what he had. Ultimate Versus actually had Kitamura going back out and shooting new scenes and extended fight sequences to cut into the original DC. Now that we've cleared that up. . .
This is not a film for everyone. In fact, this isn't even a film for most. This is definitely a niche film for those that love movies that are just fun, cheesy, completely unrealistic, and straight-up awesome. To most, this film is just a bunch of people running through a forest for 2 hours with some cheesy acting, lots of senseless violence, and more blood than your local Red Cross has on hand. Yes, they do run through the forest the whole movie, but it's so epic. The characters all have their "cool" turned way up, more than you would in any 'regular' film, but this is not a regular film.
The action is super mind-numbing. The gore is super-violent in a very over-the-top way. The dialogue is oddly paced and sparse and way more dramatic than is necessary. Blood flows freely as zombie limbs fly through the air time and again. But it all works. This is not a movie to critique for film class or to be studied for its deeper subtleties and symbolism. It is, in fact, unapologetically campy and violent. If you're into 'gore fests' or 'action bonanzas' all done with that asian cool, then you absolutely must see this film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This review is for the "ULTIMATE" version of Versus (THE superior version)
Comment: So many Versus reviews and none talking about the "Ultimate" version. I will make the synopsis short if you want a longer one read one of the other numerous ones here. Prisoner escapes meets up with some Yakuzas, they have a girl hostage which the prisoner seems to know and does not like the fact she is being held captive. The guns start firing and the prisoners escape. This starts the film and the chase through the forest for the escapees. Along the way of course guns, zombies, swords, and kung fu.
What has changed and what makes this the "Ultimate" version. First alterations have been made to scenes :1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 36, which is 28 of the 36 scenes. A new music score which is much cooler and fits the scenes much better has been added to a majority of the film. Color corrections and CGI have been added to make the film more dramatic, clearer and a little more bang in each of the action sequences. Compared side by side the image is night and day compared to the old version. The "Ultimate" version is the director's cut with 10 minutes extra footage along with several audio tracks that you can choose from including a director discussion track talking about each of the scenes as you watch the movie.
The extra footage on this DVD is not just deleted scenes, but in fact new scenes. The director and cast went out into the same forest and shot additional scenes and spliced them accordingly into this new edition of the movie. The extra footage includes the reintroduction of the three assasins. Originally they arrived in a car, now they are walking along a path in the forest and are met by some zombies which in turn allows them each to display their fighting styles as they whip some zombie butt. There is more sword fighting scenes in the earlier part of the movie and an additional fight scene has been added between Tak and Katayama. If ever a dream of the right extra footage could come true this is it.
This is just on disc one did I mention there were three discs!!! Disc 2 includes a picture gallery with over 60 pics. There is also 5 featurettes including "The First Contact" which is basically just a preview of the film. "Behind Versus Part 1: Birth of the Dark Hero" which was on the original release. "Behind Versus Part 2 The Legend" which is over 40 minutes describing the making of the film. "Sakigake! Otoko Versus Juku" explains the reshoot of the film. And "Deep in the Woods" is interviews with the cast.
Disc 3 is full as well with a collection of all the deleted scenes that is accompanied by commentary explaining the reasons behind each of the deletions. A featurette "One Man's Journey: Tak Sakaguchi" is an account of the actor visiting the Japan Film Festival. A interview with the editor is also on this disc. Two short films are included Nervous and Nervous 2 which are basically side stories of the movie. Whew can you say TONS of stuff in this edition.
Overall, if you are a Versus fan or it is the first time to see the film this is the version you need to own. Well that is if you like more blood, more sword sparks, more action sequences, a better sound track, a clearer crisper picture and a more fluid storyline along with 2 CDs stuffed with extras. Get the point well go get the Ultimate Versus it is by far the best special edition I have ever seen done to any movie on the market today.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gore Galore and that's it
Comment: This is a movie you completely turn your brain off to. I will admit, I found it so cheesy and ridiculous that I stopped watching it and put it on again later. It was hard for me to watch this movie. So on my second watch I just it took for what it is. A mindless gorefest. I'll give credit where it's due. If action, very cheesy dialogue, and characters is your thing. Pick this up immediately. It does deliver with the martial arts and gore. But I honestly can never watch this again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gore, martial arts, zombies, and cheese... everything I ever wanted in a movie (and a sandwich!)
Comment: Who knew macho posturing and dumb tough guy dialogue could be so much damn fun?! Versus is a movie that I had been hearing about for what seems like forever. The gore, the violence, the overall coolness... you know what? Everybody was right about this too, I SHOULD have seen it a long time ago! There's over 125 reviews on here so it probably isn't real necessary to go into the plot much (or even write the review at all, but...), although I will say that Versus is the type of flick that's plot could be categorized as either deep and hard to comprehend OR flat out non-existent... you decide! You see though, the beauty of a movie like this is that the plot just doesn't really matter much because ultimately it's used for the sole purpose of shifting the movie from one bad_ss action set piece to another, in all of their sword swinging, gun wielding, heart eating, zombie slaying, eyeball losing, awesomeness! You might not always know exactly what's going on, but you'll be so glued to the action and mayhem on the screen that you won't care much either. Tons of quirky and memorable characters, crazy stylish camera work and direction, and Tak Sakaguchi as the pinnacle of cool in the leading role all add up to one of the most entertaining cinematic spectacles I've ever seen (and I've seen some spectacles in my day). Obviously this won't work for everybody... I mean, if 2 hours of near straight action (including gun-toting zombies!)only occasionally broken up by riveting dialogue like characters telling each other to "shut the hell up" while a camera spins around 360 degrees over and over again sounds repetitive, then yeah, you may want to steer clear (although that is an exaggeration... only mildly though!). Versus is truly an experience to behold as a low-budget and genre-blending instant cult masterpiece, that even if you don't like (but really, what's not to like?)... I guarantee you won't forget!
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