A small group of criminals is wreaking havoc in the city, and a cop is trying to raise money because his daughter needs a necessary operation.
This is one of my favorite movies directed by the sometimes brilliant Takashi Miike. There are three movies in this series, but the other two movies are nowhere near the first movie in terms of quality.
Dead or Alive is a raw and brutal gangster movie, but don’t expect many action scenes. There are some, and the ones we see are good. And the ending is bonkers. It makes no sense. But damn, how fun it is!
We become well acquainted with the central characters. In one moment we see some characters struggling with their personal life, and then in the next moment, they wake up to become some monsters that show no kind of mercy. This makes the movie so good in my eyes. It’s calm before the storm, and it also has some surprises with what happens to some of the characters.
Takashi Miike combines action and drama masterfully, and it’s pretty well done considering how crazy the movie is. It has some scenes that will burn into your memory.
My favorite scene is when a woman is pumped full of heroin, raped and she is lying in a pool in her own shit floating around her while she shits herself. That scene always gives me hard nipples. Hey, I’m just a pervert like you! She ends up drowning in her own shit, and who doesn’t want to do that? What a wonderful way to go out! Another fun scene is when a man jacks off his dog, and then the dog takes a woman from behind. I love that Takashi Miike was so mean to his female characters in this period. He must have experienced some shit that made him hate women!
The opening sequence is one of the best opening sequences of all time with awesome music and the editing is perfect. The crazy energy will knock you back in your chair. This is one of the craziest and badass opening sequences you and I have ever seen! And that’s a fact!
And the ending is a chapter for itself. What the hell? But even with all this craziness, it doesn’t ruin the drama part of the movie. Amazingly enough, because it has a surprise just before the wild ending that fires up one of the main characters
Dead or Alive is a tough movie, with tough men, for tough men!