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Versus (Special Edition) Director: Ryuhei Kitamura Number of Items: 2 Format: Color, DTS Surround Sound Audience Rating: Unrated Studio: Media Blasters, Inc Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-08-19 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 93 Average rating: 3.5 "It's Endless" Oh Versus... To set up the small semblance of plot for this movie, on Earth there are 666 portals that connect this world with the world of the dead. The 444 portal (number is irrelevent) is located in Japan in a place called the Forest of Ressurection. Here the dead are allowed to come back to life. And that's where the main plot basically ends. And that's what I admire about Versus: The fact that they don't even pretend to make this about plot. Of course to give it some fair shakes, there is a bit more. An escaped prisoner meets up with a group of strange yakuza and when he sees that they have a woman he feels connection with. He runs off with her in the Forest of Ressurection after killing a couple gangsters. Unfortunetly the Forest of Ressurection allows these guys to return. Along with all the others the yakuza have killed over the years. A massive battle begins allowing the characters to show off their skills to audience before the real fun begins. When the main villian arrives, hell breaks lose. We learn that the prisoner, the woman, and the rest of the characters are somehow connected to events of the past. And that's where plot ends. No, plot is secondary to action in Versus, and there are no punches pulled about this. If you follow the story you may find yourself confused about the circumstances of the past, and it can make you think a lot. But if you want to focus on the incredible amount of gore that went into this, you shouldn't have a problem. The movie is a non-stop fight between all the factions: the prisoner, the yakuza, the assassins who arrive, and the rogue cops hunting the convinct. The violence can be compared to the Evil Dead movies, in that there is a lot of tongue in cheek humor with the violence. Some of the dialogue is incredibly funny, especially with the subtitles. I understand enough Japanese to recognize that the translation isn't the best, but is above par with the kind of movie it is. Mindless action? Check. Incomprehensible plot? Check. Weird sense of humor? Check. Versus is a great example of what is going on in Japanese cinema these days. Don't pick this up unless you are expecting nothing less then endless fights. Literally, the battle between Good Vs. Evil goes on and on. "COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY" where do i begin? it's boring, the dialogue is lame, the voice overs are beyond the normal cheesiness of a film like this, the plot circles around without ever going anywhere, and the "martial arts" are merely cheap theatrics. the only thing about this movie that could possibly make it even halfway decent are the zombies, but they're not quite enough to make this peice of crap redeemable.actually, the most entertaining parts of this movie are those where the main female character (a weak whining idiot) gets knocked over the head by the male characters "Gore, Gore and...well....Gore" A complex plot? I think not. This movie is over the top, covers nearly everything and everyone in blood, shows a lot of new holes in people, (where holes normally don't go and of unusual size), and displays a few vital organs with more blood sprayed everywhere. Even the two cops are over the top. I loved every gore-splattered minute. Set in the Forest of Resurrection, which contains the 444th gate of hell, two prisoners meet a car load of thugs after escaping. A prisoner shoots one of the thugs, giving the white Mercedes a new paint job over the front, and then runs for the Forest. The forest has been used by the same gang members as a dumping ground for their victims. You can guess what that means! Yeah...zombies, with guns and anything else that they may have. The zombies provide the cannon-fodder for the most part, though some are fairly entertaining. The acting is fairly sub-standard, but then one doesn't really see this type of movie for the sterling and touching roles of the actors. There are plenty of laughs, too, which add to the surreal quality of the movie. The humour is basically visual, with some situations that are just funny in their weirdness and stupidity. The over-the-top acting is also a major facet of the humour in the movie, playing off some well-established stereotypes of specific roles, (for example, the tough cop role or the psychopathic bad guy). This parody of stereotypical roles has been well done, and shows a keen sense of observation in the makers of the film. For lovers of good, old-fashioned violence with zombies and a Japanese flavour, this movie is great fun. The movie was a laugh and worth seeing it. It will not disappoint. "Not bad" I have read alot of reviews about this movie and decided to give it a chance. I picked it up for $15 from a stand in a mall along with Junk ( which i havent watched yet but will watch tonight ). the version I picked up is the extended version , which was extended for a good 30 minutes to much. Now, Japanesse movies are wierd there dialogue is wierd and some what cheezy but, this movie was not bad though the action was good the gore was very good the zombies were good, the plot was good even the acting was good. The ending, when i think it should have ended didnt it dragged and dragged which makes this movie seem alot worse then it is. If this movie was only 90 minutes its no problem and i would have no problem watching it again from time to time. But, this extended ending just really killed the whole movie. I would advise anyone to rent b4 you buy because japanese movies are way different than American movies dialogue is one thing along with just the style of movie that it is. Im not a big fan of asian cinema and find my self when i watch any type of asian cinema to always be 50/50 on it which is why im shocked i brought this and JUnk, but i am a big fan of Zombie movies so thats really why. Overall the movie was not bad it gets 3 stars and had some extra money to spend so buy these 2 movies was worth it to me. i will watch junk tonight and rate it afterwards. "Drool..." Within the first 10 minutes of watching this movie, I thought "OK this is kinda lame"...but then the guns really starting going off and the pace picked up. Oh man, this is ironically the BEST "AWFUL PIECE OF CR*P" movie (at least in comparison to what you'd find in the Criterion Collection) I own! I can't get enough of it! I've a huge collection of all types Asian cinema, but the execution of the mindless violence, bad acting, and dark humor in VERSUS is totally TWO THUMBS UP! The only thing that annoyed me was the Green-suit man, but it seems so many people love him. P.S. don't buy any "all-region" (probably bootlegged) DVDs...I ended up buying the real thing just to get the DTS track which is great.