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Versus (Director's Cut) Director: Ryuhei Kitamura Number of Items: 1 Format: Color Audience Rating: Unrated Studio: Media Blasters, Inc Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-07-29 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 93 Average rating: 3.5 "Ryuhei Kitamura: Sultan of Samurai Splatter" Versus is another great entry in a slew of mind-blowing horror films to have come out of Japan in the last few years. Versus wallows in excess with weird acting, overly long swordfights, 1000+ rounds of gunplay, Sam Raimi-style shifting camerawork and buckets of exaggerated stomach-churning gore. This film reminded me most of Peter Jackson's early films, the cheap look of "Bad Taste" combined with the insane splatter of "Dead Alive". The story focuses on prisoner#KCS2-303 who has just escaped prison thanks to some unexpected help from the Japanese Yakuza. The prisoner soon finds out that the Yakuza's intent is to deliver him and a kidnapped girl to a client. The client who paid the Yakuza to do the deed is a psychotic priest who needs both of them in order to open up a portal to "the other side"(the girl and the prisoner are reincarnations of a mystical princess and her samurai protector, you see). In one blood-soaked sequence the convict and the girl manage to escape the Yakuza and flee into a nearby forest, which is "The Forest of Ressurection", one of the world's 666 portals to "the other side". The forest of resurrection also happens to be crawling with Zombies and with the Yakuza hot on the trail of the escaped girl and the prisoner the bloodbath begins. But forget about the plot. Versus' intent is not to tell a story but instead to show off scenes of ultra-violent excess and for that reason alone anyone ought to stay away from the R-rated version. I don't see why anyone that's into films like these would have interest in a censored version anyways. The uncut version contains endless graphic-to-the-core scenes of arterial sprayings, eyeball gougings, head choppings and exploding brains galore. The film also has that strangely appealing look of a self-financed movie filmed on weekends with an 8mm camera by a bunch of friends with a little bit too much time on their hands (a la Evil Dead/Bad Taste). My only minor complaints about Versus are the at times too ridiculous to ignore dialogue and its length. I feel this film would definitely have sustained my interest better had it been trimmed by 20 minutes or so, its 2-hour length a bit too long for such a simplistic premise. If anything Versus ought to be watched to enjoy the delicious performance of the prisoner (played by Tak Sakaguchi), a Neo from the Matrix look-alike whose ability to drop corny lines...and look cool in black leather is beyond reproach. His performance is one of many things to like about this Japanese splatterfest which serves as one of the better ideas for a party film that I've ever seen. Invite a few friends over, pop this baby in and watch their jaws drop to the floor in wonder, disgust and amazement. "OUT OF LEFT FIELD" Where did this movie come from. I was checking out amazon when I came across this little gem. I read the reviews and decided to give it its day in court. Upon renting it. I was absolutely amazed. The camp, the cheese, The god forsaken camera work. WOW! The movie emits kewl. But the only kind of kewl that a japanese gangster, zombie, samurai, kung-fu, mythilogical movie could emit. This movie rocks. From the prologue to the epilogue. When it is serious it's serious and when it's campy it's pure camp. I recommend that you get the unrated version b/c it has more to offer. This movie pulls no punches. Cinematography alone is worth the rent. The camerawork as I said before is absolutely great. I loved the revolving dolly shots and the static shots. JUST GREAT! I can't say enough great things about this movie. After renting it I went on amazon and ordered it that very same night. "In a long line of bad movies, this was the last straw!" Do not get me wrong, I am an Otaku. I loved the novel Battle Royale and have watched over 100 foreign movies. But this story has been told over and over again. Reincarnation of brothers one good and one evil and the plight to save the girl before the door the the evil world is opened. Nothing new is added, the fight scenes mediocre. As good as the anime Nazca, no less no better. "Sometimes Amazon's Recommendations Are Way Off" Damn you, Amazon, for recommending this movie to me. I thought I told you I hate Zombie flicks, when I went and bought Resident Evil per your recommendation, I guess it was because of Milla Jovovich (whom I liked in Fifth Element, The Messenger, Dazed and Confused, and even Chaplin). Because after I watched Evil, I immediately tried to sell it here, and with no takers the DVD gathers dust under my TV stand, where it was chucked. So after strenuous hours tweaking my recommendations, you suggest this one... I did enjoy watching it, I laughed, and I was even grossed out a couple of times. Seeing Zombies use guns and swords was pretty funny. Otherwise, VERSUS reminded me so much of Evil Dead and was comparable to all other movies in that genre. There is some interesting film-making in Versus, and Japanese cinema usually does interest me, making me give this movie three stars... Yeah I know it's a bad review, but I had to say something. Anyone wanna buy my Versus Director's Cut? b. "Uggghhhhh..." I can't quite comprehend how anyone, I mean ANYONE... Can actually enjoy this film. I mean gosh... the action wasn't just mediocre, it was HEINOUSLY horrible. Seriously... I have seen better action sequences from an old men swatting mosquitos. And the plot... It was like a bad mix of Pet Cemetery, Highlander, and splashes John Woo and Takeshi Mike elements. I mean come on... How can anyone in their right mind take this movie seriously? The script was litterally conjured up from a bowel movement. And even though I am an avid viewer of asian films and fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese, I couldn't allow myself to give this movie more than an one. Movies like this actually henders the Asian film industry from reaching the upper stratosphere of film making.