The Films (Dead or Alive 4/5, Dead or Alive 2: Birds (4/5, Dead or Alive: Final 3/5)

The opening of Dead or Alive should come with a warning. Something like “CAUTION! This film will knock your dick in your watch pocket” should suffice. Or “Get ready to have your mind blown while something large and uncomfortable is shoved unceremoniously up your ass!” There’s so much unbridled insanity in the beginning of this 1999 film that a film scholar could study it and write a thesis on its editing but that scholar would inevitably lose their dang mind. And that ending… holy crap, y’all. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Detective Jojima (Shô Aikawa) is hot on the trail of Ryuuichi (Riki Takeuchi), an upstart triad who wants to take over the drug trade in Shinjuku by eliminating the competition. Unfortunately, the competition is Aoki (Renji Ishibashi), a ruthless piece of garbage that Jojima has been trying -unsuccessfully, I might add- to put away for years. When his daughter needs a lifesaving operation, Jojima takes a huge bribe from Aoki to pay for it, essentially teaming up with him against Ryuuichi. This plus Ryuuichi’s little brother getting killed during a hit results in all hell breaking loose. Trust me, that’s the short version.

Takashi Miike’s propensity for taking cookie cutter yakuza movie plots and running them through the psychotic tornado inside his brain was firmly established in his 1995 film, Shinjuku Triad Society. He takes it to the next logical (or illogical) step by amping up EVERYTHING for Dead or Alive. This is the film that proves that too much is never enough. The themes that family -no matter how fractured- comes before all else and that racism plants the seeds for disenfranchisement and violence are examined once again here.

Takeuchi and Aikawa are completely amazing in their roles and bring so much gravitas and boundless energy that it makes even the kookiest characters look like they’re standing still. They manage to stand out in a film that is the equivalent of the inside of a blender during a tsunami on the sun. When the story isn’t being in-your-face disgusting and cartoonishly violent then it’s being quietly weird. Even seasoned cult film fans will have some eyebrow raising to do during this masterpiece of what-the-fuckery.

The following film, Dead or Alive 2: Birds features the two leads in different roles -perhaps reincarnations of their previous characters- as Aikawa and Takeuchi play hitmen on a mission to save as many children in third world countries as they can. They only have one skill between the two of them and that’s killing a lot of people. So these two childhood friends go on a gangster killing spree for inoculations. Then they head back to their island hometown to visit their buddy Kôhei (Ken'ichi Endô) who stayed behind and is now starting a family with his wife.

As strange as Dead or Alive is, its first sequel is even stranger with a completely different tone. The black comedy is still there but there’s more nostalgia oozing out of this film than sleaze -don’t worry, there’s necrophilia. But Miike is more in love with setting and character than shock value this time around and the film is all the better for it. Dead or Alive 2: is both hauntingly beautiful and silly to the degree of just being confusing but that could be the fault of my western eyes. I think this one might be my favorite of the trilogy.

With a lower budget and an even bigger imagination, Dead or Alive: Final is the wildcard of the series -in a series of wildcards, that is. This film takes place in the year 2346 and Aikawa and Takeuchi are back yet again but this time they’re friggin’ cyborgs or whatever. In this weird dystopian Yokohama, humans aren’t allowed to breed because reasons and there’s a shirtless saxophone dancer. Just when you think that the ponderous, philosophical scenes will go on forever, our main characters combine into a giant penis robot. Oops, is that a spoiler? If I hear slide guitar one more time, I’m going to puke. That’s not a spoiler.

I honestly enjoy Dead or Alive: Final but I don’t know what to make of it beyond it just being an oddity. It’s better than Back to the Future Part III, that’s for sure! To understand this film means watching it again and again (if that would even help) but I don’t think I can do that just yet. Give me another decade or two. Parts of Dead or Alive: Final feel like a student film and other parts feel very self-assured. I think the former is just the seat-of-your-pants filmmaking Miike adopted for this particular sequel. It looked like it was fun to make with Aikawa and Takeuchi being awesome as always.

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

The films all sound great but only Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2 look great, if somewhat grainy. Dead or Alive 3 suffers from looking kinda dicey. This is entirely due to the low budget nature of the film and is certainly not Arrow Video’s fault. They couldn’t get access to the original film elements so there are some Japanese subtitles burned into the picture (when non-Japanese characters are speaking) that makes for some funky viewing. This Blu-ray is still the best presentation of all three films, hands down. So don’t let these minor quibbles dissuade you.

Extras (4/5)

Arrow Video doesn’t mess around and if you’re a Miike fan, there’s a lot of goodness here. Tom Mes (author of Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike) returns to do an audio commentary track for Dead or Alive. I wish he’d done one for Dead or Alive: Final as well, even if it was just him going “Yeah, I got nothing” every 10 minutes or so. He sounds like he doesn’t have a cold this time. Duder was sounding a little rough on the Shinjuku Triad Society commentary. He does an admirable job talking about the film and reveals how Dead or Alive was his introduction to Takashi Miike, which is pretty mind blowing.

There are two trailers for Dead or Alive (one Japanese and one for the US) and Japanese trailers for the sequels. There’s something called a “mystery trailer” for Dead or Alive: Final which must be seen to be believed. There are original Japanese “making of” segments for both 2 and 3 which are a lot of fun. Then there’s interviews with producer and screenwriter Toshiki Kimura, Riki Takeuchi (and his amazing hair), and Shô Aikawa (and HIS amazing hair). All of this stuff is subtitled in English. Throw in gorgeous cover art and a booklet with an essay by Kat Ellinger (of Diabolique magazine).

Overall

As much as I enjoy the first film in the Dead or Alive trilogy, I have a tough time loving it. That’s probably because this film doesn’t need my love so much as it needs to shoot me up with heroin and let me drown in my own poop after it rapes me numerous times, cinematically speaking. It’s beyond sleazy and beyond violent. It’s beyond… beyondness! It’s like if Shinjuku Triad Society and Miike’s Ley Lines (also 1999) had a baby and only fed it angel dust plus crack and meth until it was a deranged mutant toddler. There’s just something about the first Dead or Alive that’s hard to pin down because it’s poignant and beautiful while being completely repugnant other times.

As for the sequels, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around who the intended audience of Dead or Alive 2 and 3 were. That is to say, besides the obvious answer: Takashi Miike himself! The sequels are funny and much less grim than the original but are so jam-packed with utter madness and inexplicable tangents that they just boggle my mind. Are you happy, Mr. Miike? You boggled my mind! I feel like 2 and 3 are for diehard Miike fans only but adventurous viewers who were intrigued by the first film will find value in them. My biggest criticism of 2 and 3 is that they are not very strong in terms of rewatchability for me personally. All three films are a wild ride that I absolutely recommend you taking for yourself. Does the phrase “diarrhea-filled kiddie pool” intrigue you?