Versus [DVD] [2000]

I was really unsure about buying this film, as it seems that most of the reviews given are written by people who either loved the film, or hated it. However, I realised that this was the same with Azumi- one of my favourite films, and seeing as it was cheap, I bought `Versus' nevertheless. And I LOVED it.

The story is that two prisoners have escaped and are waiting for a getaway vehicle in the woods. However, when the getaway car arrives (Filled with really cool Yakuza) it also contains a woman, who, along with one of the prisoners, is the key to opening a portal in the forest. The forest they are in is known as `the forest of resurrection', because whoever dies there, comes back to life as a zombie. As the prisoner flees (the other prisoner is killed) with the woman into the woods, dead bodies that were dumped by the Yakuza come to `life' for some of the greatest and funniest action scenes I've seen in a long time. It turns out that the prisoner and woman are reincarnated people who are needed in some ritual to open the portal. (The problem with explaining all this is that none of the characters have names).

The characters are, in one word: cool. Tak Sakaguchi plays a great (and handsome) lead role as `the dark hero'- it's great to see a hero who isn't completely good. Hideo Sakaki is a great villain- strong and powerful. There are also Kenji Matsuda and Minoru Matsumoto who play the comical Yakuza who create a good few laughs. Kenji is particularly funny to watch when he has become a `hyper-zombie'- hilarious. Then, there are the two cops from which the prisoners escaped played by Shoichiro Masumoto and Yukihito Tanikado, who are entertaining as you watch them bumble about. I couldn't mention the word `cool' without talking about the character played by Yuichiro Arai. He has it all; sunglasses, motorbike, fingerless gloves and a revolver.

The action scenes are great, and are sometimes comical. Although sometimes the shots are so fast that you can't tell what's happening, it's generally clear who's-fighting-who and what they're doing. The shooting scenes are fun and there is no shortage of blood. However, the hand-to-hand combat is sometimes a little unrealistic. A lot of the fights go on for far longer than they would in real life- but more fast-paced action is nothing to complain about. It wouldn't be a Kitamura film without the Katana showdown between hero and villain, which happens at the end of the film.

The storyline is a little difficult to follow, mostly because some of it is not explained very well, if at all. Although, I love the reincarnation idea. We are shown the characters in the present, although we see about five minutes in their past reincarnation and, at the end of the movie, their future reincarnation. It's great to see what the characters looked like in the past, and what they'll look like in the future.

I think that something else that needs noting is the humorous jokes throughout the film. One of my favourites is one of the cop's attempts to dodge a rocket from a large gun with the famous `Neo's bullet dodge'. He leans backwards just like Neo does, but instead he just blows up.

Something else that I thought was worth mentioning was the `making of' extra on the DVD. Most foreign movies have perhaps a trailer and that's about it, but this `making of' is entertaining and interesting to watch. It's about half an hour long, shows footage from shooting, and reading scripts, and talks about some of the problems they encountered whilst shooting the film and how they overcame them. The story of Tak breaking his tooth was a particularly interesting one.

This is an eighteen film because of the swearing, and the amount of gore and violence. Unlike Azumi, which involves a lot of blood but no gore at all, this film has plenty of it. Things such as people having their hearts ripped from their chest or being punched through the head are a couple of the gory parts in this film. Although, this film fits in the action genre more than the horror.

Generally, this is a really good film. As long as you don't take it seriously, and ignore the plot holes, this film is a great action movie filled with plenty of fighting, blood, gore and cool weapons. I think it's great that there are still action movies that don't try to appeal to a larger audience by excluding violence and blood. There should be more movies like this.

The title of this review tells you everything you need to know. Or rather, it doesn't tell you much about the movie, but if you like the idea of a movie with a battle between zombies and the Yakuza, then you're going to like Versus. Also, it has a cover with a guy in a leather coat toting a gun and a sword - you just know that's a good sign, right?

If you don't mind a totally flimsy and rediculous plot, and like a bit of slapstick with your mindless violence, then this is a movie for you. I initially got this from Amazon rentals, but it was such a hit in our household that we subsequently bought it, and it's been watched about once every other month.

Also, for some strange reason the "I'm a feminist" line cracks me up every time.

When I first rented this dvd, the girl in the shop smiled and said she liked it...by the time I returned it, I'd watched it repeatedly and after I'd handed it over, I immediately scoured the dvds for sale box for my own copy.

If the story feels like they were making it up as they went along - that's because they were. It was filmed over a long period because the budget kept running out and they could only afford to film in the ski resort off peak season. The cast took turns cooking, in between takes they wrapped themselves in blankets because it was so cold, the zombies are mostly the director's friends. The acting is...well, in the commentary, the director complains about his leading man - who is sitting next to him - but you can't deny the characters have personality.

So the film is mostly about fighting. It's called Versus, it does what it says on the tin. Samurai vs zombies, escaped criminals versus yakuza, yakuza versus zombies - all of it filmed with style. And it's the sort of film which divides opinion. You can complain about the plot, the acting or you can just enjoy the craziness of it all.

So what do you get for your extra cash? You get the dub (worth listening to in order to pick out the bits they didn't dub - Japanese guys do the best evil giggles) and a better version of the subtitles - no more "you have finished with your roll" - although part of the charm of the original was imagining the buffet just out of shot. You get ten extra minutes of footage - these aren't deleted scenes - those who were available went back to the forest and shot extra bits which they then slotted seamlessly into the original. Plus they added a bit of blood here, neated up an effect there, changed some of the music...

If the film is like the original but supersized, then the extras are like getting a whole load of side orders too. There are three commentaries - including one in English and the behind the scenes shots show how much work, dedication and fun went into the making of the film. There are two shorts which are even more bizarre and even less plot, plus the main character's video diary as he goes to a German film festival - this could have been dull save for his quirky sense of humour and very nice behind.

The director has recently made his first Hollywood film, The Midnight Meat Train - if you liked the bit with Ted Raimi, or indeed The Evil Dead films, then you should check out Versus. He had a fraction of the budget and inexperienced actors but so did Peter Jackson when he made Brain Dead. And what happened to that guy?

Just enjoy Versus for the ride that it is - don't expect any philosophy deeper than "some people are better off dead". Yeah, tell that to the zombie yakuza.