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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 "Love really hurts" "Ichi the Killer" ("Koroshiya 1") is a stylistic, well-made film representing a Japanese idea that seems strange to most non-Japanese, the idea that violence, even extreme violence, can be beautiful. As seen in films such as Kenka Ereji's "Elegy to Fighting," violence is an art form and a genre of Japanese movies. This film is about killing for the sake of killing, by those who love doing it with a sexual passion. Kakihara, the masochistic Yakuza killer featured on the box cover, complains while receiving a beating that "There's no love in your violence." To commit violence without love is like having sex without emotion, and empty physical act. Director Miike Takashi has put love in his violence, and style and art. Kakihara is the star of the film, being both brash and beautiful, but it is Ichi the Killer who is the true protagonist. Mentally unstable and boyish to the extreme, Ichi is a deranged assassin who wears a superhero costume with a bold Number 1 ("Ichi" means "Number 1" in Japanese) emblazoned on the back. Ichi is an almost-controllable tool of Jijii, who plays the gangs against each other for a mysterious motive. Jijii aims Ichi like a gun, then pulls the trigger. Kakihara deepest fantasy is to be slain by Ichi, the ultimate killer, but not before the time is right. As you can see from this description, "Ichi the Killer" is a trip into a dark underworld of sado-masochism, lustful violence and other avenues of human nature that most people would not willfully venture into. It is without a doubt the finest film in the genre. "R rated fun" one hell of a ride ! a sadistic masochist yakuza gangster kakihara ,looking for his boss's killer,a cry baby psycho called ichi.this search will cause a gorey hurrican in the yakuza underground.twisting gangsters, prostitutes,ex-cops,dirty cops,intestines and even school bullies in one spectacular and crazy twister of a film. from takashi miike who gave us that enjoyable and nauseous film audition. ichi the killer manga creator hideo yamamoto joins miike on the commentary in the dvd extras. p.s. an anime based on the manga is going to be released by centralparkmedia on september 21st 2004.it's going to be called ichi the killer episode 0.miike does kakihara's voice in the anime. it's already avalable in the uk . check out amazon.co.uk . "live action manga style!!" This was the first Miike film I have seen, and I was more than impressed. Once again foreign cinema leads the way in this brilliant comic book manga style epic. Yes it is ultra-violent, but in a cool manga way (the torture scenes are hard to watch) which softens the violence just enough to not feel like a sicko enjoying it. I was actually expecting ICHI to be much worse than it was, but I reckon it is right on the money. So if your keen to see something new and beautiful (style wise, not torture wise:) and are an adult (and maybe even a manga fan) grab it now! Miike fans need not ask. "CRAZY, DEMENTED, TWISTED FUN!!!!!!" I had no idea how much of this movie I actualy missed by watching the R rated version. When I first saw the R rated version I was completly lost, now after seeing the unrated version I realize that I just didn't see the whole movie. Now looking back, the R rated version was just crap, the editing was so half assed that it just cut out big portions of the violence which was a huge part of this movie. This movie is definitely not for everyone and I only gave it four stars because it moves a bit slow at times, but as a whole, this was a damn good movie visualy, directionaly, and plot-wise. I am still a little hazy on the meaning of the ending but hopefuly someone out there can enlighten me. Check it out it's worth the watch! "Violent, Funny, well done" Takashi miike is probably my favorite director. what amazes me about him is that he offten does as many as six or more moveis a year, wit h a low budget yet manages to come up with very well done movies. The story of this movie, which was adapted from the comic 'Ichi the Killer' by Hideo Yamamoto, could be described as a bizare, sadomastichistic homosexual love story. Kakihara's (tadonabu asano) boss, Anjo, is discovered missing, and begins an endless persuit to find him, or find those responsible for his death or dissapearence. This means the torchering a man by hanging him from meat hooks, sticking needles into his face, and then pouring boiling water over his skin. Although Kakihara sounds to be a sadist, his real pleasure is masochism. Kakiharas search for his boss is not to keep his yakuza gang together, but for selfihs reasons. They were lovers, Anjo gave kakihara the best pleasure he knew, that of course was pain. eventualy Kakihara comes to face the fact that Anjo was killed by a crybaby killer named Ichi, and is warned that he himself is the next target. Ichi is a brainwashed young guy, who cries constantly ,and has many sexual problems. He is brainwashed by the scheming Jiji, into killing of the entire Anjo group. as the story continues, kakihara hunts for Ichi, not out of fear for his life, but in search of a mate that will give him the pain he so desires. While this movie is incredibly graphic (scenes of women being mutilated, heads cut off, throats cut open, peircings etc..) its not really an exploitation film, although at times it is exploitive. while i myself find humour in seeing a mans cheeks being pulled off, i know others dont, and for this reason, if seeing blood makes you cry, dont watch this movie. Asides from all the blood, this movie is also very nicely shot, with inventive angels, flashy editing, and pretty good Special effects considering the budget it was made with. The acting is also good, both Ichi and Kakihara are greatly casted, also noteworthy is the beutiful alien sun who plays the role of karen .