New from Arrow Video US
TAKASHI MIIKE'S DEAD OF ALIVE TRILOGY
via MVD Entertainment Group
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MVD Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the US with two amazing releases tailor made for cult and horror fans.
First out is Takashi Miike's classic Dead or Alive Trilogy starring Riki Takeuchi and Show Aikawa as their various characters deal drugs in Tokyo, put their yakuza assassin skills to good use and even meet cyborg soldiers in future Yokohama. Each film deftly shows off Miike at the height of his skills, and weaves a captivating tapestry of crime, action and character study.
Next up is a franchise any horror fan around in the late 80s and early 90s will recognise: House: Two Stories Limited Edition [House 1 & 2] which has a gorgeous 2K restoration of the first two films. With each film telling a different tale, and getting increasingly bonkers as the series goes on, the House films are equal parts funny, scary and entertaining. As much a joy for fans of weird cinema as they are for horror lovers.
Earlier in March, Arrow splits up the Death Walks Twice box set and offers Death Walks On High Heels and Death Walks At Midnight both on DVD and Blu-ray. These two films by Luciano Ercoli are beautifully restored Italian horror classics, with plenty of bonus features.
Beginning with an explosive, six-minute montage of sex, drugs and violence, and ending with a phallus-headed battle robot taking flight, Takashi Miike's unforgettable Dead or Alive Trilogy features many of the director's most outrageous moments set alongside some of his most dramatically moving scenes. Made between 1999 and 2002, the Dead or Alive films cemented Miike's reputation overseas as one of the most provocative enfants terrible of Japanese cinema, yet also one of its most talented and innovative filmmakers.
In Dead or Alive, tough gangster Ryuichi (Riki Takeuchi) and his ethnically Chinese gang make a play to take over the drug trade in Tokyo's Shinjuku district by massacring the competition. But he meets his match in detective Jojima (Show Aikawa), who will do everything to stop them.
Dead or Alive 2: Birds casts Aikawa and Takeuchi together again, but as new characters, a pair of rival yakuza assassins who turn out to be childhood friends; after a botched hit, they flee together to the island where they grew up, and decide to devote their deadly skills to a more humanitarian cause.
And in Dead or Alive: Final, Takeuchi and Aikawa are catapulted into a future Yokohama ruled by multilingual gangs and cyborg soldiers, where they once again butt heads in the action-packed and cyberpunk-tinged finale to the trilogy.
Each of them unique in theme and tone, the Dead or Alive films showcase Miike at the peak of his strengths, creating three very distinct movies connected only by their two popular main actors, each film a separate yet superb example of crime drama, character study, and action film making.
Bonus Materials
- High Definition digital transfers of all three films
- Original stereo audio
- Optional English subtitles for all three films
- New interview with actor Riki Takeuchi
- New interview with actor Sho Aikawa
- New interview with producer and screenwriter Toshiki Kimura
- New audio commentary for Dead or Alive by Miike biographer Tom Mes
- Archive interviews with cast and crew
- Archive making-of featurettes for DOA2: Birds and DOA: Final
- Original theatrical trailers for all three films
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Kat Ellinger
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