Beyond
Outrage (2012/Magnolia/MagNet Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B Extras: C Film: B+
As
the police tries to crackdown on the crime syndicate families, they
find their hands tied when they discover the senior police
administration and high ranking politicians have ties to the Yakuza.
Unable to directly confront them, Detective Kataoka (Fumiyo Kohinata)
settles for starting a war between the various faction of the Yakuza
families and clans. He even brings back Otomo, a boss in retirement,
the only thing he didn't plan for was how angry Otomo (played by
writer/director Takeshi Kitano) would be, who shows them what a REAL
Yakuza is in Beyond Outrage (2012).
Otomo
just wants to retire in peace after his life of crime, but with the
new generation of youngsters Yakuzas, dirty cops and corrupt
politicians they have just made everything a mess of everything in a
pointless power struggle, brothers killing brothers and no honor
among thieves. Otomo is tired and pissed off being forced out of
retirement, tired of all the in fighting between the family and
pissed off by the manipulative police force, he has to come back out
of retirement to teach them a lesson, and the price of that lesson
will be their blood.
Takeshi
Kitano can be considered the Godfather of the Yakuza, he plays a
masterful role of a ruthless Yakuza boss, an example for all young
Yakuzas. Ironically, his character is the one with most honor and a
sense of loyalty, with the police corrupt as the Yakuza (the Japanese
of the Italian Mafia) they are no better than the ones they are
trying to stop. The Yakuza is a symbol of raw power, illegal, but it
still with a code of honor, and with a goal to preserve the peace
between the clans, societies various politics, but stray from the
code and path means dead bodies and a bloody war.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is often stunning, shot
in real anamorphic 35mm Hawk Scope on Kodak's advanced Vision 3
negative stocks with outstanding results and a few demo-quality
shots, while the DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix has its multi-channel moments, but also has
it silent parts for realism and suspense, so the mix is more than
worthy of the image, even if it is not always as impressive overall.
Extra includes BD Live
interactivity, a Making Of featurette on the film and trailers.
-
Ricky Chiang
