Versus (Special edition)
(Ryuhei Kitamura; 2001)
(Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock)
-Overview-
A prisoner escapes from a maximum security facility only to find himself in the Forest of Resurrection, where the battle between good and evil has been waged since the dawn of time. Soon he finds himself battling a mysterious man who cannot be killed, and the dead come back to life.
This is yet another entry in the Japanese horror/samurai/yakuza/gore genre, if there ever was such a thing. That is to say fans of any of the aforementioned genres will most likely enjoy this film. Not as over the top as Miike’s Ichi the Killer, but certainly not subdued, with plenty of gore and special effects to make even the most jaded of viewers take notice. Great stuff.
-Sound-
The sound is excellent, so long as you viddy the film with the Japanese language Dolby digital 5.1 track. An English language track is also included as well as a Japanese 2.0 track. Subtitled.
-Picture-
Virtually flawless. Presented in Widescreen 16:9
-Special Features-
- 2 Disc special edition
- Feature length audio commentaries
- “Behind Versus” Featurette
- Making of Versus documentary
- “Nervous” side story mini-movie
- Interview with the editor
- Theatrical Trailers
-Packaging-
Standard DVD keep case. Disappointingly, this 2 disc version comes with the second disc in a paper envelope. I would have liked to have seen it in one of those deluxe DVD 2 disc case jobbies.
Sound: 10
Picture: 10
Packaging: 5
(Rating scale is out of 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 the best)