Dead or Alive Trilogy

The titular gonzo gangster trilogy from Takashi Miike, Japan's master of action movie madness, is remastered for this complete collection. In the original Dead or Alive (1999), Miike whips the usual tired yakuza clichés into a brutal, bloody meringue, as a small-time hood (Riki Takeuchi)—a sneering tough in black leather and a retro pompadour—tries to muscle in on the Tokyo heroin trade while a morally bankrupt cop (Sho Aikawa) takes him on. The furious opening montage could be its own film—with mob hits, heists, strip shows, a sodomy assassination, and the gut-busting murder of a noodle-gobbling thug—and the finale boasts apocalyptic dimensions. Takeuchi and Aikawa return as different characters in the two sequels. In Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000), Aikawa plays a mob assassin who discovers that his rival (Takeuchi) is his childhood best buddy, after which the pair team up to take on their former gangster bosses. Dead or Alive: Final (2002) leaps 300 years ahead into a dystopian Blade Runner-esque future where Aikawa plays a genetically engineered soldier who joins the rebellion against a maniacal mayor and Takeuchi is a tough militia cop (their climactic collision is unlike any action film clash you've ever seen). The Dead or Alive films make no logical narrative sense but explode onscreen in bizarre flights of audacity that cemented Miike's reputation as a cult filmmaker. Presented in a Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, extras include audio commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes, archival and new cast and crew interviews, and archival behind-the-scenes featurettes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)