Ichi the Killer [Blu-ray]

I really had no idea what I was in for with this film (frankly I was deathly scared to watch it but a friend kept daring me to and calling me "chicken" (I was bullied, you might say, just like our poor film's protagonist antisuperhero - God love him, you really CAN'T help but feel sorry for this kid, even as TOTALLY messed up as he is), so that I finally capitulated to the experience), and I am a little squeamish (well honestly, MORE than a little) by nature so that cinematic violence, or any kind of violence for that matter, typically repulses me with the greatest intensity and I shy away from violence in art imitating life or life imitating art at every turn. Yet "Ichi" cannot be judged because of its violence. This film is PURE ART because of the way it ABSOLUTELY HAUNTS you, with its deep psychological questions (where DO we draw the line between pleasure (happiness!) and pain (misery, despair, depression)? Answer - everybody draws the line a little bit (or a LOT, in the case of THIS movie) differently; spiritual quandaries (for example, Ichi's existential conundrum cum (no pun, or Ichicum, intended) epiphany: "she wants to die because she DOESN'T want to die!" My God! This film is what superior modern moviemaking at its highest fever pitch is ALL ABOUT! Way to go Miike!!! Despite "Ichi's" WAY-over-the-top breakneck (and often "spray neck!") graphic psychodramas, there is every range of human and even humane emotion and sentiment to be found in this amazing masterwork. Unlike the PURELY exploitational horror flicks of Andy Warhol, for example ("Dracula," "Frankenstein"), director Takashi clearly shows love and compassion, albeit in very modest quantities, towards almost ALL of his characters. I cried almost every scene in which the poor beleaguered excop Kaneko struggles heroically to retain his integrity and honor in the face of near TOTAL "loss of face" (orientally speaking). When Kaneko dies near the film's climactic denoument, I wept bitterly because HERE is a GOOD MAN - SO GOOD, he does not want to kill Ichi, but only shoots him in the foot to try and stop him from rampaging further. Because Ichi is mentally insane he kills his "brother," but not without concomitant and extreme followup torment afterwards. When Ichi says "I'm sorry" endlessly, HE MEANS IT!!! He's just so messed up inside, and nobody (except Kaneko) gives a care about him, but instead Ichi really IS constantly bullied, harassed and hideously manipulated (by the diabolical excop "Jijii"). Did Ichi REALLY kill his parents, or can we trust anything Jijii says at all? Yet! Even Jijii is a figure for compassion in the end, because he regrets the carnage he's unleashed and the damage he's wreaked upon the innocent and the not-so-innocent alike, that - Judas-like - he hangs himself in the closing scene - because he realizes finally he's BETRAYED the goodness within his own soul, caused the deaths of COUNTLESS people, and violating his own ethics as a police officer to "protect and to serve." We see him pitying the death of Kakiharo, stroking the young man's bleached-blonde hair, almost lovingly. Yes, there IS a homoerotic element in this moment, but much more importantly, the failed yearning for a compassionate resolution to the incendiary Japanese gang crisis. All Dead! All Dead! That's how the final caption reads psychologically here, and what is left for Jijii? It's clear he actually LOVES Kakiharo, and thus commits suicide when his beloved is gone. Amazing! This movie has more twists and turns than a python roller coaster, and if you can get past (or close your eyes) during the really HEAVY (gruesome) scenes, you will see some top-flight acting and some even GREATER attempts at exploring the inner workings of the human mind, heart and soul. Now I never thought I would be so HIGH on a whacked-out horror film like this, but like I said, it's HAUNTING. It's addicitng and it brings you back to watch it again, and again, to find out the subtleties you missed in viewings n-1, n-2, and so on. Do see "Ichi" if you can. It satisfies a kind of "itch" in all of us, more or less. It certainly satisfied me, and I am the biggest coward of them all when it comes to stomaching horror lore. But I fell in love with "Ichi," for reasons not altogether clear to me even now, except that in every character I encountered, I felt deep compassion towards him or her. I tried to understand exactly WHERE he or she was coming from (psychologically/spiritually/emotionally/mentally), and just tried to suspend all judgment as best as possible. You will too, if you give "Ichi" a scratch, and a fighting chance to capture your heart, without tearing it completely out of your chest. If you treat the film as cathartic psychodrama rather than "cinema verite," you will go a LONG LONG WAY towards understand what Miike is trying to get across to all of us. He's definitely NOT advocating violence for violence's sake. But instead, love. It's just that, a lot of these poor souls in the story don't know HOW to love properly, because they themselves have never BEEN loved properly. Miike is offering us a "morality play" and a hope for more humane treatment of our fellow passengers and soulmates on the one ship we all share, Spaceship Earth. Again, WAY TO GO MIIKE!!!

I don't really know how to sum up the life-changing moment that you have after watching this film for the first time all-the-way through. It's not for the easily offended, or honestly anyone that gets offended by fiction in general, but dear god is this film beyond twisted and intense. It somehow sits in a category of being a "hipster" film as much as it is a torture porn, but not in the horrendous way that say "I Spit On Your Grave" or "Saw" would be considered to be. It's immaculate in its insanity and unique beyond almost any other film before it. It's grotesque as it is beautiful, and intriguing and as it is shocking. It's a must see film for fans of horror, anime, eastern crime cinema, and just unsettling content in general. Do not watch this at a party or around family by any means, it's just too much for most to handle. I've seen people literally get into arguments while watching Ichi because of the taboo subject material and the judgments/assumptions that some will make if you present this film to them. It's an upsetting and intriguing experience unlike any other piece of art before it. So let me just say this, the way I describe Ichi The Killer to people haven't seen it is as so.... "If you want to see a film with everything that is terrible or horrible in the world all rolled up into one giant ball then Ichi is a must watch." It has torture, masturbation, extreme gore, extreme sexual assault, women being brutally beaten, hard-drug use, child death, gun violence, people being burnt, stabbed, beaten, abusive relationships...it just covers all the bases of everything that is horrible and I applaud it for being so abrasive and different than anything else out there.

This review is from: Ichi the Killer: Blood Pack I'm a huge Miike Takashi fan ever since I saw "Audition" in the theater and I have seen a lot of his other films including the "Dead or Alive" trilogy, "Fudoh", "Gozu", "Visitor Q", but "Ichi the Killer" is my favorite. The violence in "Ichi" might be too over-the-top for most to handle, but it is so over-the-top that it is comedic to watch. Clearly, Kakihara, is the star of this film with his blonde hair, bright shiny suits and severed mouth that he holds together with metal clips. I've yet to see a character in film as sadistic as he was. I like the scene where he smokes a cigarette and you can see the smoke exhale through the severed sides of his mouth. This is the best U.S. version DVD set of Ichi to get with oodles of bonus features to browse. The double disc set includes interviews with the Japanese cast and American directors/actors in the horror film industry reactions to the film as well as commentary tracks with Takashi (with commentary subtitles). There are also many trailers to other Miike Takashi films. "Hostel" director, Eli Roth, is prominently present in the featurettes and he even shows clips about how he wanted to look like Kakihara, complete with the scars and severed mouth make-up. The behind-the-scenes features are very interesting because the film-makers reveal how some of the films' special effects are executed including the scene of Kakihara's cutting of his own tongue and the woman's nipple, cutting scene (ouch!). Now for the blood packaging that many reviewers have complained about. I tend to agree with the majority. Great packaging idea, but poor execution. If you manage to sucessfully extract the DVD's from that sticky, blood bag, don't put them back in the bag. Instead, get a ultra-slim, double disc holder for the two discs and slide it behind the blood bag in the original clear box. It's a little tight mainly because of the flexible blood bag, but I managed to get it all to fit snugly while maintaining the original look of the original packaging. Everytime that you want to watch the movie again, just slide the slim disc holder out. I used a black color, slim-double disc holder, but I think a clear or white color holder would work better so the transparent writing from the original packaging would be more legible. Just a suggestion!

This is one movie were I cannot see how people call it great. It is definately an interesting movie but for me there are certain things that could be left out to make it great. It seems that Takashi Miike has some great ideas, storytelling and symbolic moments in his movies but always sees the need to add sex related stuff in his movies. Anyway this movie is about a gang leader who is on the look for a killer who seems to be responsible for the dissappearance of his boss. When watching this movie you will no doubt like Kakihara as he is definately an interesting character as where you will dislike Ichi because he is kinda sick in the mind and does some gross things.(plus hes a crybaby.) There is alot of blood and gore. The part I dont like though is all the S&M that is present while it is not XXX stuff it is still a part of the movie that could have been not included to make this movie more enjoyable but that aside this is a movie you will remember and it definately has alot of funny things in it as well. If you have the stomach for severe hooker beatings, and blood/ gore and have been curious as to watch this movie find it for cheap.

Tal cual lo que pedi

Takeshi Miike's legendary and controversial 2001 film adaptation of the manga "Ichi the Killer" will always be a rough looking film. It was filmed in 16 millimeter, telecined to HD video for post production, and then filmed out on 35mm inter-negative for the making of release prints. Previous DVD and blu-rays of the film have looked terrible. A lot of people blamed that on the process that the film was made. I called shenanigans on those assertions stating that these prior releases were simply botched transfers and that someone needed to at some point do a full blown HD restoration of this classic and notorious film. Enter Emperor Motion Pictures who in 2017 oversaw a full 4K restoration of the film from the 35mm internegative. After a brief film festival circuit run which received rave reviews, Well Go USA would get the rights to release what is intended to be the definitive blu-ray release of "Ichi the Killer" in early 2018. I can say with resounding praise that they succeeded! This new remastered blu-ray is truly like seeing the film again for the first time. There have been some people grumbling as to why they didn't go back to the original 16mm film stock. That simply was not possible with how this film was made. Presented in 1.85:1 in its uncensored director's cut form, colors are much improved. Most importantly contrast and film grain is much better resolved. Now people expecting this disc to resemble a modern film need to keep their expectations in check. While this transfer is definitive, the film itself will always be rough around the edges visually which is what was intended when it was originally made. Detail is considerably better than before and this is most noticeable in the blood and gore shots of which fans know there are many. My only small quibble is why Well Go USA chose to go with a single layer disc rather than dual layer to increase the bit rate a bit more. Now don't don't get me wrong, the bit rate gets into the mid 20's during busy sections so no compression artifacts are to be found. But with a dual layer disc, this could have been increased even more. On the audio side, it is presented in 5.1 master audio and sounds great. I should mention that Well Go USA chose to drop the English dubbed track from past releases in favor of only the original Japanese track with English subtitles which I am perfectly fine with. Sadly no new extras are included though they did port the commentary track, still gallery and trailer from prior releases. I would like to have seen them include new extras highlighting the film's still influential legacy but the new transfer is fine by me as is. While "Ichi the Killer" most certainly will not be for everyone (the various instances of brutal violence towards women throughout the film do still make me wince), as a piece of groundbreaking transgressive cinema, it is one of the best. Fans of the film can finally breathe a sigh of relief now that someone has given this film the care and attention that it rightfully deserved!

It has always annoyed me that when discussions about Takashi Miike's film occur, everyone talks about the gore and violence and, usually, miss the point of it. Miike is a great filmmaker, and there is intelligence, depth, and sadness at the heart of quite a lot of his films. I have never been one for films which just show gore (like recent "homages" to Japanese horror like Hostel). I've always preferred my films to have some intelligence factor. Miike's films do just this. This is one of his best films. Miike is very good with actors, and this film has some excellent performances. There is a sadness and wearyness that permeates this film, along with other Miike films. The film's pacing is a bit leisurely at times, but most of Miike's films are like that and they really help the film. Of course, there is massive amounts of gore, some of it truly insane. But the film works on many levels. I found it amusing that when this film was shown at the Toronto Film Festival, they handed out barf bags. I didn't need one when watching the DVD, even though some might. Ichi the Killer is a visceral, stunning film, one of Miike's most memorable.

I'm a bit embarrassed that I rate this movie so highly. It's ridiculously bloody and makes zero sense at times, but it's kind of like a Japanese version of a high-octane Tarantino movie. You definitely won't be bored.

This 2001 fantasy thriller portrays the story of a scarred and psychologically damaged man, the masochistic Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), whose boss, Anjo, has been kidnapped by a rival Yakuza gang in an unseen bloody attack. Ichi, an unknown but sadistic killer is given credit for the attack and Kakihara is next on his list –and he relishes the thought. Filmed in a live action Manga style, the violence is over the top, the blood splatter is by the bucket load, the mass murder scenes are awash with so much blood characters literally fall over. It’s madcap cartoon mayhem –and that’s the point. Half hour in you can’t take the violence seriously anymore and settle back to watch the ‘cartoon’ unfold its story. In reality you wait to see what will happen when a masochistic killer and a sadistic one finally meet and in reality the deleted scenes have little impact on the movie as a whole and some of the deleted first rape is actually seen in later flashbacks [I watched the uncensored version immediately after this]. The single disc features play, chapters and audio [languages: Japanese or English dubbed, subtitles: English SDH, English off, audio commentary.] Undoubtedly an 18 rating for it’s violence, dismemberment, torture, rape, the swearing seems the least of the concerns. In typical cartoon manner there are frantic action scenes and some character building ‘linking’ scenes that keep it all grounded. This has elements that have now been much copied, but is still well worth a watch if you like plenty of gore or want ‘live action’ Manga –it even has a decent plot. POSSIBLE SPOILER%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The cut scenes are basically; Editing of 2 early scenes of the pimp where he savagely beats a prostitute while raping her, most of the scenes involving torture and mutilation of the prostitute in the gangs ‘office’. The remainder of the edits are either so insignificant as to be un-noticeable or they are of the mutilated corpse or the burning of body parts to dispose of them. None of which are really essential to the plot other than to highlight the s&m relationships. In all about 3 minutes. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Great!!!

Movie arrived in time, no problems Packaging was very good, tnx

Ottima edizione di questo titolo. Nessuna lingua italiana.

Another great movie from one of the best Directors of all time, Takashi Miike! If you have not seen his movies, you owe it to yourself to check them out. From Drama, to Horror, to Yakuza/Crime, to Comedy, to Action, to Surreal movies this is one of the best Directors to ever grace this earth. Ichi The Killer is one of his more violent movies, but it also has some depth to it as well, so don't be fooled, this movie is very well crafted on top of being very Gorey and Violent. I had the DVD of this in the past, but picked up the Bluray for it now, well worth it. If you are looking for other Takashi Miiiike movies to check out, here are my other favorites to go along side Ichi The Killer: Audition (My personal favorite), Gozu (Probably my second favorite), Rainy Dog, 13 Assassins, Happiness of The Katakuris, Shinjuku Triad Society, Izo, Blues Harp, The Bird People Of China and Deadly Outlaw Rekka. He is a very versatile Director that has movies of all kinds, if you can stomach Ichi then you will be rearded with a great movie, but this Director is much more than just Violence so make sure to check out some of his other flicks I mentioned above! Ichi The Killer has great direction, wonderful acting, it is well edited, has good audio, some great Cinematography and a good soundtrack, check it out!