Sukiyaki Western Django

Reviewed on May 6, 2010 by Drav3n

Format: Blu-ray

Release: Nov 18, 2008

Rated: R

Runtime: 98 Minutes

The Movie:

So here's a little equation for you. What do you get when you take a western movie and add in martial arts, six-shooters, gatling guns and lots of blood? You get Takashi Miike's (Audition & Ichi The Killer) 2007 Japanese film Sukiyaki Western Django. Now before you start to complain about another foreign film, let me tell you that this is actually an English movie. AND Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds) stars in the movie as well!

To explain the definition of the title, Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish and Django is actually the name of the 1966 Italian film directed by Sergio Corbucci. This movie can be considered to be more of a post-modern remake to Django. Fans of the old-school western movies will be pleased with this movie as there are many references and tie-ins to movies like Django, Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, and Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy.

The story takes place a few hundred years after the battle at Dannoura, and is about two rival gangs, the Heike Reds and the Genji Whites. They are locked in a deadly feud over a fortune in gold. When a lone hero shows up in their town, he meets the gangs and tries to restore order. Each gang tries to recruit the lone gunslinger, but when he rejects both of them, murder and betrayal escalate leading to tragedy and an unlikely shooters identity is revealed.

Along the way, the story does allow itself to become confusing. Relax, it does come back together, but you can tell Miike was much more interested in showing the action scenes than he was telling the story. And, overall, it's really not a bad thing. This movie is just a flat out fun experience and the action scenes will keep you entertained through the 90+ minutes this movie runs for. To see guys with guns fighting against guys with swords, well, you can only begin imagining what to expect. There's also a good amount of comedy elements throughout the movie as well, especially with Tarantino's character later on that will provide a great deal of laughter.

I loved the so-blatantly-obvious fake background at the beginning of the movie, as it pays homage to some of the original movies. Even though it wasn't received well among critics and viewers, this is still a very good and entertaining movie. It also shows that director Takashi Miike can do movies outside of the "controversial and violent" nature he has become known for. Miike has such a creative imagination and is able to demonstrate that every time in his films.

Presentation:

Presented in full 1080p with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this movie looks great on blu-ray. The only thing that bothered me was the very noticeable amount of grain that was in the flashback scenes. Otherwise, everything else looks good. Colors are vibrant and pop, and blacks are deep. The detail on this movie is stunning. The amount of detail on the guns, the wardrobe, even the wooden floor is incredible. A huge improvement over the dvd. Fans of this movie will be really satisfied with the overall transfer of this film.

Audio:

This film has two English audio tracks: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD & 5.1 Dolby Digital. The sound is incredible! The dialogue comes through very clear and the sound effects that come through are very strong. I was really impressed with the sound of the sword colliding against the guns. If you have a surround sound system, you will really enjoy this film!

Bonus Material:

This two-disc set comprises the movie and special features on disc 1, while disc 2 is a digital copy.

• Deleted Scenes (480p, Runtime 14:28) - mostly consist of additional bits of dialogue.
• The Making of the Sukiyaki Western Django (480p, Runtime 52:40) - Very impressive feature that shows the cast going through a boot camp, working with and against the weather, the choreography for the fights and more!
• Trailers - Priceless, Transiberian, War Inc, and August
• BD-Live - Making of Visual Effects, Gun Guide, Location Map, Press Function On-Set Q&A, Japanese Premiere Q&A, Press Junket in Japan, Venice Premiere, Cast & Miike Q&A

Bottom Line:

It's a Spaghetti Western movie that's covered in blood through the eyes of Takashi Miike. It looks great, sounds great, and IS great! You will definitely get your money's worth out of this movie! Recommended!