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Returner Actors: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Anne Suzuki, Goro Kishitani Director: Takashi Yamazaki Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen, Digital Video Transfer, Surround Sound, Subtitled, Digital Sound Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 116 minutes Studio: Columbia Tristar Hom Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-09-07 Buy from Amazon |
 "Cyberpunk Heaven"I am in awe of "Returner". This has got to be one of the best guilty pleasures of b-movie dom I've seen in a while and I see plenty of b-movies. This is a movie that blends aliens, the Yakuza, martial arts and time travel into one hodge-podge of action & adventure. What's not to like? The film opens up with central character Miyamoto (or the Asian Neo as I like to call him) busting up a Yakuza operation of child kidnapping. Gunplay ensues and at some point through thin air appears a teenaged girl who helps Miyamoto finish the job. Later on we find out that the girl, named Milly, is actually a time traveler from the year 2082, a time where nuclear war has wiped out most of civilization. Her mission is to kill an alien whose spaceship crash lands in a nearby mountain. Reluctant at first, Miyamoto eventually joins her on her quest, which will also involve warding off the sadistic Yakuza gang who are also after the alien for their own selfish reasons. As noted by previous reviewers, this film borrows heavily from other science-fiction films, namely Terminator and The Matrix. Some people will call it a rip-off but I wholeheartedly disagree. What "Returner" does is borrow in a very obvious way some of the best elements of those movies and gives it its own unique spin. It does not try to conceal that it borrows elements of those films but instead pays tribute to its sources of inspiration. The main reason I loved this film was because of how bloody fun it is. The action is non-stop, the effects are cheesy yet imaginative, the chemistry between the two leads is great and in good ol' cyberpunk fashion the whole movie is played out to a killer techno soundtrack. One need not necessarily like Asian films to enjoy this. As its influences are from American films it often feels more American. It even manages to entertain in between action sequences, with witty dialogue and a sharp sense of humour. I never found myself bored during this movie, not even once. The ending was so over-the-top and visually stunning I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was really seeing what I was seeing. If you love cyberpunk, sci-fi or action films in general I don't recommend you watch this movie, I order you to do so. So bugger off and rent the darn thing already!  "Not a bad SciFi movie, even if it is dubbed"I first saw parts of this movie on TV several months ago and thought it looked pretty good. The plot is an old one, one lone time-traveler in a desparate last ditch effort to save the future by altering the past, but is done better than many American movies I've seen. The most confusing thing I saw was the fact that for what is apparently a Japanese film there's so much China/ Tibet(where much of the future part is set) to it. The characterizations were mostly good, that Yakuza guy was too comic book for me- watch your back around Miyamoto's boss -she'll get you, and I actually understood most of the story- would have even in the original Japanese (which I don't speak at all). The fight/ action scenes were very interesting visually, not as badly overacted as some Asian stuff I've seen. The FX were good too, although I had never seen bullets zinging by a person before. The corniest thing I saw was the way the Deegra fighting gear looked- about all I could think of were the Transformers toys/ cartoons, which are also Japanese. Interesting how when a car blows up in this movie it doesn't just go BOOM!,it also jumps straight up many feet. It's an Asian movie so you see very few non-Asians, all in the future Tibet sequence. I think there were 12 or 18(?) cast names listed, in English, in the closing credits, with a very few other names in other capacities. At one point Milly promises to come back and help/save Miyamoto, interesting the way that is shown. I found the dubbing to look unusually good for a dubbed movie, it worked better that the subtitling- who ever did that evidently did not do the dubbing. The music seemed very western to me, even in the closing credits, but I noticed that a Lenny Kravitz piece was listed, in English, so maybe it's all original. I was happier with this one than most of the Asian movies I've seen, a lot better than some of the dubbed Jackie Chan stuff. "Complete rip-off of other movies, but still fun to watch"This movie gets a 0 for originality as it rips off every major sci fi movie of the last 20 years and mixes it all up into its own bowl of jambalaya. But it gets credit for a lot of energy, some cool gun play and well choreographed fight scenes. The lead actor has his cool quotient amped up with the long black leather jacket and the female lead is cute. The villain is calmly nuts and has a million henchmen, most of which get killed throughout the movie. Like I said, not very original but still fun to watch. "MASTER OF The Rare LASERDISCS Movies. "I have Returner: Limited Deluxe Edition (2 Disc Box Set: Region-2) The Japanese BOXSET,Returner is A MASTERPIECE ,Give it a try you won't regret it :) "Takeshi Kaneshiro Sizzles on Screen"Much of what needs to be said about the PLOT of the movie--that it is a fantastic action movie, that is a sci-fi with depth, and that it has wonderful character focus and development--has been said by other reviewers. But what hasn't been focused upon by many reviewers is the fact that the STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS TAKESHI KANESHIRO IS THE LEAD ACTOR in this movie!!! This movie works because Takeshi Kaneshiro molds this seemingly generic outlaw-character into an original one--one with heart, feeling, and depth. Kaneshiro is a powerful actor--with a versatility unsurpassed by any other actor in the world. He has played richly diverse roles in a wide range of movies, such "Chungking Express" (yes, he is pineapple eating dude), "Sleepless Town," "Lost and Found," and "Odd One Dies." So it is a GIVEN that this man is a respected actor--and well deservingly so. SO, what I want to focus on is the fact that in this movie KANESHIRO is NOT ONLY in LEATHER PANTS throughout--looking exquisite in every scene--but he is also in a scene making dinner for Suzuki--(women, you should be swooning right about now). Listen, if you thought that Kaneshiro could not look any more beautiful than he does in the Peony Pavilion scene in "The House of Flying Daggers", then you are mistaken. Yup. You heard me right. Rent the movie and see, for heaven's sake. |
