Dead or Alive Trilogy (1999-2002)

[Oscar Rothman]

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NEW UK/US TITLE: Dead or Alive Trilogy Blu-ray/DVD releases

Each of them unique in theme and tone, the Dead or Alive films showcase Miike at the peak of his strengths

Pre-order Dead or Alive Trilogy UK Blu-ray: http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/ind...product_id=903
Pre-order Dead or Alive Trilogy UK DVD: http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/ind...product_id=904
Release Dates: 13th/14th March

Beginning with an explosive, six-minute montage of sex, drugs and violence, and ending with a phallus-headed battle robot taking flight, Takashi Miike's unforgettable Dead or Alive Trilogy features many of the director's most outrageous moments set alongside some of his most dramatically moving scenes. Made between 1999 and 2002, the Dead or Alive films cemented Miike's reputation overseas as one of the most provocative enfants terrible of Japanese cinema, yet also one of its most talented and innovative filmmakers.

In Dead or Alive, tough gangster Ryuichi (Riki Takeuchi) and his ethnically Chinese gang make a play to take over the drug trade in Tokyo's Shinjuku district by massacring the competition. But he meets his match in detective Jojima (Show Aikawa), who will do everything to stop them. Dead or Alive 2: Birds casts Aikawa and Takeuchi together again, but as new characters, a pair of rival yakuza assassins who turn out to be childhood friends; after a botched hit, they flee together to the island where they grew up, and decide to devote their deadly skills to a more humanitarian cause. And in Dead or Alive: Final, Takeuchi and Aikawa are catapulted into a future Yokohama ruled by multilingual gangs and cyborg soldiers, where they once again butt heads in the action-packed and cyberpunk-tinged finale to the trilogy.

Each of them unique in theme and tone, the Dead or Alive films showcase Miike at the peak of his strengths, creating three very distinct movies connected only by their two popular main actors, each film a separate yet superb example of crime drama, character study, and action filmmaking.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
(Blu-ray Special Features)
• High Definition digital transfers of all three films
• Original uncompressed stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for all three films
• New interview with actor Riki Takeuchi
• New interview with actor Sho Aikawa
• New interview with producer and screenwriter Toshiki Kimura
• New audio commentary for Dead or Alive by Miike biographer Tom Mes
• Archive interviews with cast and crew
• Archive making-of featurettes for DOA2: Birds and DOA: Final
• Original theatrical trailers for all three films
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena

(DVD Special Features)
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
• High Definition digital transfers of all three films
• Original stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for all three films
• New interview with actor Riki Takeuchi
• New interview with actor Sho Aikawa
• New interview with producer and screenwriter Toshiki Kimura
• New audio commentary for Dead or Alive by Miike biographer Tom Mes
• Archive interviews with cast and crew
• Archive making-of featurettes for DOA2: Birds and DOA: Final
• Original theatrical trailers for all three films
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena