Dead or Alive (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the 2006 film based on the video game series, see DOA: Dead or Alive.
| Dead or Alive | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Takashi Miike |
| Produced by | Mitsuru Kurosawa |
| Written by | Ichiro Ryu |
| Starring | Riki Takeuchi Sho Aikawa Renji Ishibashi |
| Music by | Kōji Endō |
| Cinematography | Hideo Yamamoto |
| Editing by | Yasushi Shimamura |
| Distributed by | Daiei |
| Release date(s) |  Nov 27, 1999 |
| Running time | 105 min |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese / Mandarin |
| Budget | ¥500,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Dead or Alive (ＤＥＡＤ ＯＲ ＡＬＩＶＥ 犯罪者 Deddo oa araibu: Hanzaisha?), abbreviated as DOA (Dii ō ei), is a 1999 Japanese yakuza action film directed by Takashi Miike. It stars Riki Takeuchi, as the Chinese Triad boss and former yakuza Ryūichi, and Sho Aikawa, as the Japanese cop Detective Jojima, and focuses on their meeting and conflict. It is the first in a three-part series, followed by Dead or Alive 2: Birds in 2000 and Dead or Alive: Final in 2002.
[edit] Synopsis
Ryūichi and his small gang of Triad vie for control of the Japanese underworld in a crime-ridden Shinjuku quarter while Detective Jojima tries to bring it down. Jojima attempts to start a gang war between the Triad and yakuza. Ryūichi and Jojima meet.
[edit] Dead or Alive series
The Dead or Alive films are not connected in any apparent way except by director Takashi Miike and stars Riki Takeuchi and Sho Aikawa who always play two characters on the opposite side of the law. In the first film they play respectively yakuza and cop. Dead or Alive is notable for Takashi Miike's characteristic scenes of ultra-violence and perversity, which come casually littered throughout.
The film also features a deliberately absurd ending where the two central characters show down, each producing more and more over-the-top weapons, until one pulls a rocket launcher seemingly from the pocket of his coat and fires it while the other rips out his own soul and throws it hadoken style. The force from the two weapons is enough to cause a gargantuan explosion that tears the Earth apart - an image that many have cited as a metaphor for the two characters ultimately being destined to destroy each other no matter what the context.
Dead or Alive: Birds is a quieter affair with Riki Takeuchi and Sho Aikawa as rival hitmen. This too has moments of completely wacky surrealism with the two randomly turning into angels and children, although does not feature the same touches of perversity.
Dead or Alive: Final is a Cyberpunk science fiction film. Riki Takeuchi and Sho Aikawa play androids on either side of the law. This features a similar gonzo ending where the two characters fuse into a giant monster -- a metaphor for how they have essentially been the same character all along, just embodied in different ways.
[edit] External links
- Dead or Alive at the Internet Movie Database
- Dead or Alive review by Mike Bracken at ToxicUniverse.com
- (Japanese) Dead or Alive at the Japanese Movie Database
