Featured Blu-ray Review: Ichi The Killer: Definitive Remastered Edition
March 18, 2018
Ichi The Killer: Definitive Remastered Edition - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
I’ve previously reviewed a couple of Takashi Miike films. However, both of them were period piece martial arts movies and not his more brutal and sadistic films. Ichi The Killer is peak Takashi Miike. Is it as good as his period pieces? Or does it truly earn its infamous reputation?
I can answer that second question right away. Yes, Ichi The Killer does deserve its infamous reputation. This is true from practically the opening scene, which I can’t really describe, because this is supposed to be a family friendly site. In fact, I can’t describe most of this movie, so the plot synopsis is going to be rather short.
The film takes place during a war between two opposing factions of the Yakuza. The leader of one faction, Anjo, has disappeared and some of his underlings think he stole a bunch of money and ran away with his girl, because he had just gotten out of jail and might have wanted to live a comfortable life away from crime. Ichi, one of Anjo’s enforcers, is convinced he was kidnapped by members of the opposing faction and is sure he’s alive. In fact, we know it was Ichi, who killed Anjo. We didn’t see it happen, but we heard the cleanup crew mention it. Ichi didn’t do this because he’s working for the other side or is looking to take over his crew. He did it because Jijii, the person running the cleanup crew, has brainwashed him into being the perfect killer. Jijii is doing this, because he wants to start a war between the Yakuza.
That’s it. That’s really all I can talk about with this movie without having to age gate this column, which I can’t actually do.
Oh boy. ... I may have made a mistake taking on this review. I knew of Ichi The Killer only by its reputation and the few Takashi Miike movies I had previously reviewed. I knew it was going to be violent, but I was not prepared for this movie and I am certainly not in the target audience for this film.
I am not opposed to violent movies, after all, I loved Blade of the Immortal and that movie is filled with parts being separated from bodies. However, when violence becomes sadistic or sexual, it just isn’t something I’m interested in seeing. I have no interest in Torture Porn as a genre, for example. The film isn’t all like this and there are many action scenes that are well done and even have a sense of humor. There’s just too much sadistic or sexual violence here for me to enjoy the film as a whole.
The only extra on the Blu-ray is an audio commentary track with Takashi Miike, as well as the writer / artist for the original manga, Hideo Yamamoto. The audio commentary track is hidden in the setup menu. I hate that. Also of note, the audio commentary track is in Japanese with English subtitles.
One final note, this Blu-ray is a remastered edition based on a 4K scan of a 35mm working print. However, the original film was shot in 16mm, so don’t expect a crystal clear Blu-ray. It likely looks better now than it did when it first hit theaters. That said, keep your expectations realistic.
When Ichi The Killer was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, they handed out barf bags as a promotional gimmick. If your reaction to that is, “Cool!”, then the Definitive Remastered Edition is worth picking up. If your reaction is more negative, then you should give it a pass. It is only for hardcore fans of the genre.
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The Movie
The Extras
The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review, Mugen no jûnin, Shinya Tsukamoto, Takashi Miike, Nao Omori, Hideo Yamamoto