Tokyo Gore Police (2 Disc Collectors Edition) [DVD] [2008]

I'd like to start by saying I am not an expert on Japanese film by any means but I have watched my fair share. Like any other country Japan is allowed to make films in any number of styles from Comedy to Horror, so it does wind me up slightly when some reviewers on here tell us they are fans or experts of Manga, Anime or Asian films and then say that this was a let down and not in the same league as any other number of Asian Films. Just because we are starting to see more of these films appearing on DVD in this country does not mean that every one of them has to be a 'masterpiece'. I would also state that anyone buying or renting a movie with this Title and expecting 'The Seven Samurai' is missing the point!!

The film is great fun, full of over the top gore (yes it does look unreal but again that's the point) and, contrary to what some others have said, does have a semblance of a story. At least there is a reason behind the lead characters actions, but the film has not been made so you and I can explore deep meaning behind the dialogue.

It actually reminded me of Robocop at times, completely different in style but in the fact that the Police were being Privatised, that a lot of them were corrupt, how the lead character was moulded to fit what was needed by the corrupt and mostly the inclusion of several very funny futuristic television adverts. It's not a copy by any means but there is a debt of gratitude to that movie.

Another reviewer quoted 'It does exactly what it says on the tin' and you really cannot put it any better than that. Good extras on the 2 disc version as well.

it might just be the "greatest japanese fun splatter" for a nice movie evening with friends. It has all you need packed in two hours (apart from a good story but come on... who would really expect this from a movie called "Tokyo Gore Police" xD ). It has some nudity... it has funny scenes... it has weird scenes... it has blood... and it has even more blood... furthermore it has a Rocketlauncher that fires human arms/Fists and a "Blood-Jetpack". Surely this kind of film and entertainment might not be suitable for everybody and I understand that many might not like this one. But if you're intrested in Japanese splatter films this one is it... And for this price... just give it a try. I wasn't sure if I would like it when i first watched the dvd but after all i loved it. Some scenes remind me of The Texas chainsaw massacre... some are more like Braindead... some are like in a psychotic weird Manga.

After all ...Great movie. 5 out of 5 Bloodfountains xD

Its only the beginning of 2009, but Ive already found the first contender for my Best Horror Film of 2009 list-the insanely over-the-top, delightfully splattery Tokyo Gore Police. If this is a sign of whats to come for horror fans this year, wefre all in for a treat.

A heady mixture of Takashi Miikefs typical Japanese insanity and David Cronenbergs pet theme of bodily dysfunction (with homages to the social parodies of Paul Verhoevenfs Robocop and Starship Troopers), Tokyo Gore Police wears its inspirations on its sleeves (right next to all the blood and pieces of flayed flesh)-its not a particularly deep film, but if you love Japanese cinema with an abundance of severed limbs, geysering fountains of blood, and cute girls dressed up like theyre headed to a cosplay convention, this is a film youll certainly want to check out.

The hauntingly lovely Eihi Shiina (you may remember her as Asami from Miikes classic, Audition) is Ruka. Rukafs a young cop on a special unit designed to hunt down gengineersh. Engineers are some sort of mutants with a weird key-shaped gene that makes them go completely psychotic and murder anyone and everyone in their path. The only way to kill an engineer is to deliver a blow to them that cuts the key in half-any other injuries not only dont kill them, but instead turn into Cronenbergian weapons (think the flesh gun from Videodrome and youve got it). In this wacky future Japan, the police force has been privatized (which leads to all sorts of room for parody), and when Rukafs not tracking down engineers (or slicing her wrists) shes seeking to find out who killed her father (a decorated cop assassinated in the line of duty).

The story is the films greatest shortcoming. TGP runs for a little under two hours, and one often gets the feeling that it could have been tightened up significantly. The subplot involving Rukafs father isnt all that interesting (nor is the reveal at the end when she finds the killer) and it eats up some significant screentime in the latter half of the movie. Thats the only complaint I have though-the rest of Tokyo Gore Police runs like a well-oiled (if that oil were blood) machine.

TGP succeeds whenever Ruka is required to fight an engineer, and director-slash-FX wizard Yoshihiro Nishimura understands this implicitly. In the films early stages, theres some kind of crazy gross gore moment happening roughly every three minutes. Limbs are sliced off, heads removed, eyes plucked, castrations you name it, its in here somewhere. Nishimura never forgets that one of the three words of the title is gore and as such the film delivers so much carnage and destruction that its right up there with Jacksons Dead Alive and the oeuvre of Olaf Ittenbach when it comes to the most splattery films ever made.

What sets Nishimurafs film apart from Ittenbach is that Nishimura seems to be genuinely creative. The gore is thick in TGP, but its also fairly inventive. There are tons of standard gore gags littered throughout the film (with this much dismemberment, its a given) but then there are occasions where Nishimura really strives to do something new-take for instance the woman engineer who has the entire lower half of her body turn into crocodile jaws or the guy who develops a giant crutch cannon-and the movie manages to surprise you with its inventiveness.

Complementing the gore in TGP is a wacky sense of humor. The film boasts numerous public service advertisements that are genuinely funny and creative. Theres a dont commit hara-kirih ad, a great piece on a new Wii game that allows the whole family to murder people right from their own living room, and commercials for fashionable wrist-slicers. If that werent enough, the film boasts a Battle Royale-styled Japanese girl who intrudes at various interludes to cheer the police on in their mission to eradicate the engineer plague. All in all, the humor provides a nice counterbalance to all the gory mayhem. This is one of the few gore comedies to get the balance right.

If nothing else, Tokyo Gore Police proves that you can make a film that pays homage to other movies yet still maintain an identity of your own while doing it. The title tells you pretty much everything you need to know on this one-if you love quirky Japanese gore flicks, this is well worth your time. It gory and funny and quite possibly one of the best cult films well see all year. The Horror Geek com