Ichi the Killer (2001) (Remastered)

[BLuFanboy]

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=22133

Independent distributors Well Go USA have officially announced that they have acquired the North American distribution rights to the recent 4K restoration of Japanese auteur Takashi Miike's cult favorite Ichi the Killer (2001), starring Tadanobu Asano, Shinya Tsukamoto, Paulyn Sun, Susumu Terajima, and Shun Sugata.

The new restoration will see numerous engagements in select theaters across the nation, beginning with a special premiere at Metrograph in New York City on November on November 10. A Blu-ray release is expected to be announced after the theatrical run ends.

Here's the official press release:

"Known as an auteur of the extreme, Miike took the ultra-violent gangster film to new heights with the visceral, bloody, and often hilarious Ichi the Killer, which has since endured as one of the most influential pieces of genre filmmaking of the last two decades. Based on the manga Ichin the Killer by Hideo Yamamoto, the film follows Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), a notoriously sadistic yakuza enforcer whose search for his boss' killer brings him into the orbit of a demented costumed assassin known as Ichi (Nao Ohmori).

Ichi the Killer: The Digitally Restored Director's Cutwill receive a theatrical release beginning on November 10th with an exclusive New York City engagement at Metrograph, and will roll out to specialty theaters across North America over the next several months in full 4K glory.

"At Well Go USA, we're big Takashi Miike fans," said Doris Pfardrescher, President and CEO of Well Go USA Entertainment, "and we couldn't be more excited that we get to finally unleash Ichi the Killer the way it was meant to be seen – and freak out a whole new audience!" The deal was negotiated by Doris Pfardrecher on behalf of Well Go USA and Emperor Motion Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers."

[nekromantik]

This is great news!
Saw the news few days ago.
Sadly home video version wont be out until next year.
Dont know why they waiting for theatrical run to end as over there in the US it wont be showing in all theaters so might as well release the BD a month after theatrical starts.

[ThisKid]

Oh dear god...

I don't know whether to embrace this...

Or run away as fast as I can.

[OutOfBoose]

Not bad. I wish Battle Royale got a proper remaster.

[Poya]

I’m 100% Nolan saw this film and used it as an influence on his Joker.

[Gorgon]

I'm not a great fan of "slasher" fliks (though seem to own a few...) and realize that's not what this is but the gratuitous violence advertised when this first came out turned me away (though the dvd in that weird "bloodpack" thingy was rather curious).
Then I saw Miike's "13 Assassins".
WOW, what rock have I been living under?
I'll pick this up as part of my hunt for more Miike efforts. That man could direct a soup kitchen line-up and hold my attention.

[stinky bean]

I'm in for this when it comes out. I still have that uncut Dutch 2 disc DVD that came out years ago.

[braintaste]

I have the previous blu. Not sure if I should hold on to it. Well Go are usually pretty slim on the extras, right?

[Gargus]

I wish someone would be a takashi collection or something but this is still good news. I only ever got the phantoms set from them and I'm happy enough with it so I'll get this.

[cakefactory]

Nice! This DVD was one of the only couple of times I ever noticed a transfer being terrible, back in my DVD days of not really caring. After hearing about the blu-ray, I never upgraded. Here's hoping it looks better than the likes of Pulse and Dark Water.

[lolwut]

Originally Posted by Poya

I’m 100% Nolan saw this film and used it as an influence on his Joker.

How so?

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by Gargus

I wish someone would be a takashi collection or something

I-I'll be a Takashi Miike collection for you, baby.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by nekromantik

This is great news!
Saw the news few days ago.
Sadly home video version wont be out until next year.
Dont know why they waiting for theatrical run to end as over there in the US it wont be showing in all theaters so might as well release the BD a month after theatrical starts.

Meh, theatrical will be for a couple of weeks in a couple of theaters...this will hit Blu in no time. Great news on the upcoming release.

[zman73]

Originally Posted by lolwut

How so?

Just what the poster thinks... no facts to back it up

[nekromantik]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Meh, theatrical will be for a couple of weeks in a couple of theaters...this will hit Blu in no time. Great news on the upcoming release.

They already stated blu will be sometime next year.

[Monroville]

I think he is referring to how the Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT looks compared to Kakihara:

[InspectorLupus]

Awesome news! It's been awhile since I've seen this. I still have my bloodpack DVD around here somewhere.

[1234567?]

Originally Posted by Monroville

I think he is referring to how the Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT looks compared to Kakihara:

[Show spoiler]

Definitely a Kakihara reference. I thought it was obvious.

I believe they call it a Glasgow smile or something like that.

[Kakihara]

I would've preferred Arrow or Synapse to have handled this instead but this is still AWESOME news! I'm glad I held off on the previous BD release and kept my bloodpack DVD copy to tide me over but I'm ready to see this given the treatment it so rightly deserves!

[Shingster]

Although this is great news, I feel I have to pre-warn folk that I think the CG effects shots were done on digibeta (if IMDB are right) so they at the least will have to be upscaled from SD to 4K. Hopefully they'll be restoring all the footage filmed on 35mm and upscaling the rest, which alas will still leave us with an intermittently mediocre transfer.