Title says it all ... Japanese maverick Takashi Miike had a good year in 2007, with three major releases - Sukiyaki Western Django, Crows 0 and Like A Dragon - all hitting Japanese theaters to very strong press. Crows 0 is my personal favorite of the trio but they're all a good time and word has just come down that a Korean edition of video game adaptation Like A Dragon is due to hit next week with English subtitles included. You know what to do.
Damn. Three movies in one year, the man sounds busy.
Did Twitch ever review this film? It doesn't sound too familiar and I don't see anything on the review list - although it does tend to be out of date sometimes.
Is Waru English subbed? I've got 40 Miike DVDs, I have a fair amount I haven't gotten to yet either...
No, the Japanese dvd's for Waru are indeed not subtitled. But Miike's visual style, off-the-wall characters and Shô Aikawa's presence (and my Japanese evening classes starting to pay off) make it worthwhile. I haven't had the time yet to watch it completely, but it seems like this is turning out to be a pleasent surprise (since some reviews weren't that favorable).
I have also been watching the excellent 'Blues Harp' on a so-and-so German non-anamorphic dvd-release, which certainly deserves better treatment...
Todd, you liked Crows more than Django? That's high praise indeed, since I felt Sukiyaki Western was one of the best things, like, ever.
"...and word has just come down that a Korean edition of video game adaptation Like A Dragon is due to hit next week with English subtitles included."
I may be mistaken, but wasn't this film already based on the video game Yakuza which was also produced by Sega? Or are they remaking the gamne in light of the film's critical success?
LIKE A DRAGON Korean version DOES include English subs.
Here is a link.
http://www.madmad.co.kr/dvd/detail.html?dvd_id=45905
Not sure about that cover though!!
I think it's hilarious that in all of Miike's English language films it's the American native speakers who do the worst job. There was Billy Drago in IMPRINT and now Tarantino in SUKIYAKI...
Sorry for the misunderstanding, does anyone know how closely the film follows the narrative of the video game? The visuals definately acknowledge the style of Yakuza.
I just saw SWDjango, and Tarantino's cameo was the only stain in the whole film, his "otaku anime" line is quite ironic, fits his persona quite well. His appreciation of cinema doesn't go beyond the superficial stuff, so props for whoever wrote that line for him.
Well, different strokes, I guess Todd. I saw Crows 0 and thought it was one Miike's lesser efforts. I'd take Big Bang Love, Juvenile A over it. It did seem to be his most commercial film and one of his more accessible films but that's not the biggest strike I have against it. To be honest, I just prefer Miike focus more on adult aspects and don't really get into his troubled youth flicks. He's just done too many of those, in my opinion. Stick with the adults, Miike! I say SWD and Like a Dragon are much better efforts.
This korean edition does NOT have english subtitles, the packaging states that it does, but the only options on the setup menu are Korean and None, and there are no english subs to be found on the disc.
Yep. All of you guys who are playing the waiting game are smart. Now I'm stuck with two copies of the movie, neither of which have English subs.
Anybody who bought via YesAsia and got stung by this should drop their customer service people a note. I've had this happen to me before and they're always really good about taking returns on things when the subtitles are not as advertised. The customer service there is one of the reasons we've always recommended them ...
Todd - That is true, I had a similar problem when I ordered one of those Korean Wong Kar Wai sets, where Vol. 1 had English subs and Vol. 2 didn't. There were very nice about it.
I'd actually ordered LIKE A DRAGON from DVD Asian. I wasn't aware of the DVD having no English subtitles, but DVD Asian simply cancelled the order for me before sending it out. I really appreciated that.