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Ichi the Killer (Unrated Edition) Director: Takashi Miike Number of Items: 1 Format: Color Audience Rating: Unrated Running Time: 129 minutes Studio: Media Blasters, Inc Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-11-18 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 86 Average rating: 4.0 "A New Classic From the East " The fact that this film is not ackowledged as a horror classic is just a crime on its own. In true Miike fashion, "Ichi" moves from sentimental, to sexy, to complete madness over and over again, and you'll keep asking for more. I'm not really into all the gore (gore factor 10 on this one), but I guess Miike uses this to put his mark on the film. There's a lot to like about this, especially the special effects: deep fried yakuzas, the cutting off of tongue as apology, Ichi literally cutting people in half like a sheet of paper, and the super classic scene where the little guy emerges as a hulking mass of muscle and then proceeds to literally twist a guy into a pretzel. There are better Miike films, and more thoughtful ones, but if you are having a house party or similar gather with some open mineded friends who want to have some fun, Ichi is a sure bet. Just make sure that no one is allergic to the site of copious amounts of fake TokyoShock style blood letting. "Batman meets violence and perversion" When I first saw ICHI THE KILLER I was totally sitting on needles as for the violence to expect. Would I be able stomach it, will my mind be the same afterwards? That drew a lot of attention away from the movie as a whole. Whenever a woman appeared I was praying for her to leave the scene as there's a lot raping and brutal treatment of women here. When the movie was over I felt that a lot had just been plain boring, until I watched it again weeks later. This time I knew that however hard the movie is, I can stomach it. All the fears of self-derrangement had gone, I was concentrating on character development, settings, actors, the story, and saw a totally different movie this time. Take away all the violence and this flick still is astonishing. I'd descripe ICHI as some sort of cartoon hero such as Batman etc., only that things are very different here than in those other classics. There's a young guy playing beat'em'up video games all day long while at night he's out to slay baddies. Only that ICHI has no superhuman abilities, he's just a brilliant fighter with blades on the shoes and a mind that seems unable to tell reality from illusion. He's not exactly killing baddies because he wants to make the world a better place: he gets sexual satisfaction by comitting or watching violence in the most extreme way. But he's not alone, a group of ex-yakuzas is out to bring down one of the most dangerous yakuzas, Kakihara. It seems that a direct hit on this guy is impossible, so a plan is needed to pull some strings that should wipe (...) Kakihara off this planet, the plan begins when Kakiharas boss, Anjo, is secretly being killed and removed only to cause chaos within the yakuza gangs. The plan is ICHI. They show him photographs of a target, tell him lies about the guy being involved in a faked, brutal event in Ichi's past that actually never happened, and on Ichi goes, his mind shut down, reality becomes a blur, the shoe blades cut throught air and meat, body parts fly throught the air so that a special cleaning team is needed afterwards to get rid of anything that could lead anyone to Ichi. Which is going to happen sooner or later. But regarding the gore Ichi is leaving behind, Kakihara gets really interested in meeting this sick (...), not knowing that this "ice cold killer" in fact is a boyish milk face with some screws lose. An interesting movie. Very brutal and bloody, sometimes it's more laughable as the victims of the torturer seem more like dulls as the pain they're going throught would surely knock them off immediatly. The reactions on the inflicted pain are not all too realistic, which I am thankful for, it turns out to be more cartoonish in those scenes. But then, on the other hand, the treatment on women is absolutly painful, almost pornographic and very real, one punch looks and feels like three and they're screaming and crying crazy while being raped... but that's better this way in my opinion, a raping shouldn't be boiled down to a funny experience to watch (if there has to be one at all). Interesting that in a way, this happens with the uncomfortable Kakihara scenes, however brutal they are, they're rather funny. A sick movie indeed. Beautifully shot, brilliant acting, ominous treating of woman, interesting characters, an astonishing overall mixture as the main theme is ultra serious, the details are funny, painful, laughable, sick, sad and deadly dramatic the same time, the humour is pitch black, Ichi is plain sick and seriously pitiful... I's the modern version of A Clockwerk Orange with a more beautiful visual flair towards the violence that can also look beautiful. It's just a lot more extreme if you're watching the unrated version. Believe me, people who found this movie wasn't that brutal must surely have seen the rated version. If you don't remember a "nipples-scene", you haven't seen Ichi yet... "Good movie? You decide for yourself." i loved it, the movie was great. totally blew me away, nice introduction to takashi mike for me, at least. what more can you ask more? it's yakuza, gangster, comedy (dark), gore, action, with a little message about the society: gay, rape, bullies, etc. some of it is a little too much, and the movie is definitely not for everyone. the only thing about the movie that i didn't like was probably the character, ichi, i don't know, he's quite annoying. on the other hand, kakihara is definitely one of my favorite characters of all time, he 's just that cool. to be honest, i didn't quite get the ending, did kakihara died? did ichi lives? who was the guy at the end? but then again, that's what movies are all about, like art and paintings, you may see it differently than the painter, is it a flower, is it a dog? you might see one thing today, tomorrow you'll might see it differently. give this movie a try, like it or not, you decide, who cares about the ratings and reviews? "The most sick and twisted spin on violence yet" We all cringed at the part in "Reservoir Dogs" when Mister Blonde cuts the ear off the cop, speaks into it, and tosses it on the floor. This movie puts that scene to complete shame. And yet, while at times I found myself squinching up at what I saw, I found myself admiring it as well. The film's plot consists of a Yakuza boss mysteriously disappearing. Although he is in fact dead, his best underling, Kakihara, (the guy on the front cover, by the way) searches the underworld for the supposed kidnappers. In reality, an ex-gangster named Jijii has taken a homicidal lunatic named Ichi under his wing and is using him (through what can only be called psychological abuse) to get revenge on former enemies. This is not an easy film to watch. There are many torture and murder scenes, each one worse than the last. Just when you think you've gotten past the most revolting part, something new pops up. You may be reading this thinking you can handle it. Lemme give you a sample of what happens in the film: a man is hung up by several meathooks, all piercing his skin, before being poked through the face with needles and having boiling water poured over his back; a woman gets her nipples tied to clamps and then has then cut off by a razor; a man gets his arm ripped off by bare hands, just to see if it could be done. Any of that make you feel lightheaded? There's more where that came from. However, you'll find this is a bit more than the ol' ultraviolence. Tom Mes' and Jasper Sharp's "The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film" explains that Miike's film is really a study at society's reactions to violence themselves. Most characters here love violence to some degree, and no one has any redeeming characteristics about them. As Miike himself explains in the DVD's commentary, Kakihara isn't committing violence just because the script asks him too, (don't take that too literally) he's doing it because he, as a character, enjoys it. An interesting note is that the actor playing Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano) abhors violence in film, but chose this one because he knew the violence here meant something more. More importantly, as "Midnight Eye" points out, if you're disappointed by the final showdown then you are perhaps more like Kakihara then you think. "Ichi the Killer" has a top-notch cast. Tadanobu Asano is fantastic as the over-the-top sadistic Kakihara, and is in particular hilarious at the end when his character finds Ichi won't even take part in the showdown that he (and no doubt the audience) have been waiting for. Paulyn Sun (who is actually from Singapore) oozes with charm and sexuality in her role as a prostitute who wants to be as sadistic as Kakihara. However, Nao Omori tops them all as Ichi. One minute cringing and wheeping like a little boy, the next grinning madly while cutting a woman to shreds, you really do believe that he is a troubled, disturbed young man. I purchased the DVD because it seemed highly suggested by someone on my Amazon friends list, (and if you're reading this review you probably know who you are - kudos to you) but I was happy with what I got. I wouldn't suggest watching it while eating, and pregnant women or people with weak stomachs should probably stay away. However, it's worth at least a one-time viewing if you enjoy a bit of the avante-garde or anything a little..."different." "OMIGOD!!!!" OMIGOD!!!! I have read all of the reviews for this movie and everyone gave such well spoken responses about this movie I can't really say much more..honestly, but I had to put my two cents in. I caught this movie last week on cable. I was up late one night and I called my 14 year old son into the room to watch it with me,not expecting what I got! By the time I realized ...ummm... maybe he shouldn't be watching this.... it was too late. We were both in stiches laughing, cringing, covering our eyes, all the while with both our jaws dropped on the ground! I could not believe this movie. I think this was one of the most creative, crazy, jaw dropping movies I have ever seen in my life. I never thought I could laugh at the things I found myself laughing at in this movie! Again, truly this movie is not for everyone, however if you like Quentin Tarrentino movies you probaly will like this movie. Before this Pulp fiction was my favorite movie because it came from left feild... But ICHI THE KILLER CAME FROM OUT OF NOWWHERE... CRAZY, FUNNY , CRAFTY PIECE OF WORK ... GET IT AND WATCH IT WITH ADULTS ONLY.