Ichi the Killer Blu Ray Review (Well Go USA)
Ichi the Killer (aKa Koroshiya Ichi) is a 2001 Japanese crime horror hybrid film directed by Takashi Miike (Audition, Blade of the Immortal, Sukiyaki Western Django, Masters of Horror, Gozu, Visitor Q, & Dead or Alive Trilogy). Ichi The Killer was probably the first film that exposed America to Miike’s bizarre world of film making. I know it was my first experience seeing the director’s work back then. After seeing this, I wanted to check out more ASAP! I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since then. Takashi Miike is truly in a league of his own, no one is like him & that’s what draws most of us in when you see his name attached to a project. He currently has 104 directing credits for his career so sometimes it’s a little hard to keep up on his films. In various times in his filmography, he easily directed 5 to 8 features in the same year! Ichi is based on Hideo Yamamoto’s manga series of the same name. Ichi means “one” in Japanese, which is why Shiroishi “Ichi” Hajimé has the number “1” on the back-padding of his extreme sports body armor & the vertical razor on Ichi’s bladed backstay boot also resembles the number 1. It’s been banned & censored all over the world. Norway went as far as threatening arrest with possible fines or imprisonment for any person caught screening or selling the film. Vomit bags were handed out at several festivals that screened the film. Yes, people actually puked during it & some even fainted due to it’s extreme graphic violence. Two years later, a prequel Ichi (aKa 1-Ichi) was made.
A flashback of Ichi (Nao Ohmori from Ichi, Demonlover, & Vibrator) masturbating while witnessing a pimp punishing his employee while he’s hidden on an apartment balcony. The merciless & feared crime under boss Anjo is murdered in a gruesome exit. A professional clean up crew headed by Jijii (played by: Shin’ya Tsukamoto from Tetsuo, the Iron Man, Tetsuo II: Body Hammer, Dead or Alive 2, & Shin Godzilla) removes any trace or evidence of Anjo’s death. Kakihara (played by: Tadanobu Asano from The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi, Thor Trilogy, & 47 Ronin), Anjo’s main enforcer who’s known for his sadistic ways & others check the apartment to try to find out more about the situation. It’s cleaned up already & looks normal like always. They start to get paranoid & suspect Anjo of stealing money from them. They also think he took a 17 year old prostitute with him while running off with it. Kakihara investigates & goes to an underworld night club with his gang. He finds Anjo’s girlfriend Karen (played by: Paulyn Sun from The Untold Story 2) & tries to find out more about the disappearance. He thinks it’s possible he might have been kidnapped by a rival crime family. Kakihara runs into Jijii & the cleaning crew there. He tells Kakihara about a rumor involving Suzuki (played by: Susumu Terajima from Brother, Fireworks, Dead or Alive, & Violent Cop) a member of the rival Funaki clan being the person behind this unspeakable crime. Kakihara captures Suzuki, he tortures him with no hesitation using suspension & piercing. He finds out he punished the wrong person. He slices off the end of his own tongue as a morbid apology to rival under boss Funaki (played by: Jun Kunimura from Kill Bill, Audition, & Black Rain). Kakihara & his associates raid a hotel room to kidnap Kano. The drug addict & weakest link in the cleaning crew. He’s had facial plastic surgery since his last encounter with the demented henchman but he admits his identity & past to him. He gets worried & tries to save his life by confessing to cleaning up the murder scene. He blames Ichi for the kill & tells Kakihara is soon to be next. It goes back to the opening flashback. Ichi comes from the balcony to kill the pimp to save Sailor. He tells her that he will be the one brutalizing her from now on. She attacks him & he responds by killing her in vicious fashion. Kakihara is kicked out of the syndicate! His crew decides to leave with him. It’s time to take out the sadistic gangster. Yakuza clans are going against each other with the help of Ichi. Jijii manipulate him with multiple false memories to motivate him to be his own personal monster. Ichi goes on a killing spree under all his fake influence. Kakihara reaches out to corrupt twin police detectives Jirō and Saburō to find Myu-Myu. They fail to get any leads after torture. They try to track down Long. Kakihara captures him & punishes him with the bad detectives to get what they need. Jijii uses Karen to mess with Ichi’s mind to provoke those false flashbacks. Karen goes too far with Ichi & it backfires on her. Jiji tries to stir up drama with Kakihara warning him that Ichi is coming after him. After having all his thoughts & memories twisted Ichi is confused when he runs into Kaneko which leads to more chaos. His son Takeshi assaults the confused killer which leads to bloody final confrontation that includes Kakihara!
A visual nightmare conducted by Takashi Miike & crafty camera work from cinematographer Hideo Yamamoto (Fireworks, Ringu 2, Audition, & One Missed Call). This is the most violent & gory crime film that I’ve ever seen in my life. It makes most horror films seem tame that’s why it also gets categorized as that from most. Kakihara is one of the best villains in recent cinema history. In a film full of crazy & strange characters he still stands out over all of them. Ichi the Killer is pure entertainment & a non stop brutal vision into the dark side of the Yakuza. It’s a relentless murder spree that doesn’t stop until the very end. The Japanese know how to grab your attention from the start & keep you wanting more when it comes to film.
ABOUT THE RESTORATION: Ichi the Killer was originally shot on 16mm and telecined in HD video for post-production, before being filmed out on 35mm inter-negative for the making of release prints. A full digital restoration of the director’s cut of Ichi the Killer was undertaken by Emperor Motion Pictures in 2017. A new transfer was created in 4k resolution from a 35mm inter-negative at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. It was then digitally restored & color graded in 4K resolution. With a running time of 128 minutes, this restored version of Ichi the Killer, as personally approved by Takashi Miike, is presented it its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. ABOUT THE CUT: Ichi the Killer has been released in several versions over the years. While Takeshi Miike’s original cut was 128 minutes long, the original US release was heavily cut to receive an R rating from the MPAA,& it was only 117 minutes long. The UK version was cut to 120 minutes & the German version received over 18 minutes of cuts at 110 minutes. Since its release, the film has also been periodically banned in several countries, including Norway, Germany, & Malaysia. This restoration features Takashi Miike’s full-length, original 128 minutes cut of the film. If you have seen this film before then you know it never really looked that great or stood out quality wise compared to others. I own the DVD & I’ve seen the blu ray from Shriek Show so I know this from experience. I have to say that it was one of the worst looking blu rays that I have ever seen in my life! This brand new 4K transfer from the Well Go USA blu ray gives Ichi the Killer a FRESH life in high definition! It’s almost like watching it for the first time since it looks nothing like the other transfers available before. It features two audio options a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in Japanese & a Dolby Digital stereo surround mix in Japanese. No English dub is featured on this blu ray like the other previous releases, just be prepared for that but it does feature English subtitles to go with the original Japanese audio tracks. You are reading this review right now so I am assuming you are not totally against it like others might be.
Now, let’s talk a little bit about the special features on this new high definition release. You get a stills gallery from the film. Brand new trailer created for this restoration & release. Trailers for various Well Go releases. & Last but not least an archival Audio Commentary with the legendary director Takashi Miike & manga artist / writer Hideo Yamamoto! It’s in Japanese but it features English subtitles. They discuss various topics on this audio track including the cast, special effects, censorship, & many other things. You might want to hold on to any previous release for additional special features because none of them were carried over this release but that’s all they are good for considering the lousy transfer on those. Well Go impressed me last year with their Phantasm box set & I still consider that one of the best releases in 2017! I am looking forward to future releases from them. Ichi the Killer has never looked or sounded better than this! If you are a fan of the film or Takashi Miike I highly recommend you upgrade any older home video release to this brand new blu ray from Well Go!! This is available everywhere on right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
