Dead Or Alive (1999) - A Review

 

Dead Or Alive is one dark, violent, and perverted movie.

Dead Or Alive is an action/thriller yakuza movie released in Japan in 1999 (and has nothing to do with the video game). It stars Show Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Renji Ishibashi, Susumu Terajima, and Michisuke Kashiwaya. Dead Or Alive was directed by the legendary Takashi Miike.

Show Aikawa as Detective Jojima. He is a troubled cop who will stop at nothing to capture the suspect.

In Dead Or Alive, Show Aikawa plays Detective Jojima, a cop who has been hired by Aoki (played by Renji Ishibashi) a Yakuza boss, to find the crooks who boldly stole money from his business. Detective Jojima takes the job because his daughter needs a life saving surgery that is very expensive. Detective Jojima, along with his partner Detective Inoue (played by Susumu Terajima), go through the Japanese underworld searching for clues about the gang and their ringleader...

Riki Takeuchi as Ryūichi. He is basically a manga/anime character come to life!

Riki Takeuchi plays Ryūichi, a very ambitious gangster who leads his group in a robbery of Yakuza boss Aoki's money. Ryūichi's gang is small, but they have been friends since childhood so they trust each other with their lives. During this time, Ryūichi picks up his younger brother Toji (played by Michisuke Kashiwaya), who has been going to college in the United States. They suffer a falling out after a betrayal occurs within the gang. Things deteriorate for Ryūichi and the gang from there...

Through a series of unfortunate events, they ultimately must end it face to face.

Detective Jojima gets on Ryūichi's trail, and even brings him into the police station for questioning. This meeting does not go well. Things between Jojima and Ryūichi continually escalate, until they have no choice but to end it all face to face.

I originally watched Dead Or Alive in the early 2000s after reading on Asian cinema message boards about how great it is. I remember not liking it that much, until the ending. The ending made it all worth it. Watching it now in 2022, it seems like a totally different movie from what I watched back then! I must have watched the R-rated edited version back then. That version had all of the extreme violence, perverse sexuality, and basically most of the personality edited out. I must say, the stuff that was edited out...I can understand. There is some gross stuff in this! There is some close to pornographic stuff in this movie as well. So, watch out for that if you're wanting to watch this movie.

What's great about Dead Or Alive is the pace. The scenes go by quickly, kind of bombarding the viewer with sex and violence at the start, then slows down as we get to know the characters. As everything escalates, the emotions of Jojima and Ryūichi come to a boil. When they face each other at the end, all the tension is released...and then perhaps the greatest ending to a movie ever happens. The movie may seem slow and meandering, but this is done for a reason. The ending is a total shocker! The performances of the two leads are excellent as well.

In conclusion, Dead Or Alive is a grim, gritty, hyper violent and hyper sexual movie with an amazing ending. This movie isn't for everyone! It should be seen for the ending alone. It is able to keep the viewer's interest throughout with sudden bouts of violence or shocking situations. So, if you are going to watch it, watch the unedited version (you could watch the edited version, but it is a lot less impactful), and stick with it to the end. Trust me, it's worth it. You will never forget that finale!

Reviewed by David Williams