Dead or Alive Trilogy Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Dead or Alive Trilogy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 3, 2017

Note: The scores above are averages for the three films in this set. See the individual reviews (linked below) for scores on each individual film.

For those unfamiliar with Takashi Miike, perhaps taking a cue from St. Thomas Aquinas’ famous quote about belief could be of some aid. Aquinas wrote, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” Taking that formulation as a foundation, one might amend it slightly to say “For those who have seen a Miike film, no explanation is necessary. For those who haven’t, no explanation is possible.” As I mentioned in the relatively recent reviews of Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy, this provocateur’s filmography is extremely varied, as well as extremely numerous. Somewhat similarly to the Black Society Trilogy, a trifecta in name only (more or less), Miike’s Dead or Alive Trilogy offers only some relatively tangential linking elements (including its stars, again like Black Society Trilogy) while serving up Miike’s typically hyperbolic take on various underworld activities. In a way Miike tends to remind me at times of Quentin Tarantino, for he’s an artist with an obvious understanding of structure and film technique who nonetheless is more apt than not to throw caution to the wind and dispense with traditional methods of exposition and especially presentation in an effort to kind of virtually shake the audience into either submission or, perhaps, outright revulsion. Those with squeamish sensibilities are therefore probably best advised to approach Miike’s work with extreme caution, though those with a certain amount of fortitude will discover a filmmaker of such unusual talents that one way or the other his productions are unforgettable.

For reviews of each of the three films in this set, please click on the following links:

Dead or Alive Blu-ray review

Dead or Alive 2 Blu-ray review

Dead or Alive: Final Blu-ray review

Dead or Alive Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above referenced reviews.

Dead or Alive Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Dead or Alive Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As tends to be the case sometimes with Arrow compilations, the release has been assembled in an arguably odd way. The first two films share the first disc, while the third film (upscaled) is on the second disc "by itself", with some additional supplemental features. Features specific to each film in this set are detailed in the appropriate reviews, linked above. The second disc has the following more general supplements (in addition to those linked specifically to Dead or Alive: Final):

• Toshiki Kimura: Drifting with Miike (1080p; 43:43) is a 2016 interview with the producer and writer.


• Riki Takeuchi: Deadly Outlaw Riki (1080p; 30:28) is a 2016 interview with the actor and frequent Miike collaborator.


• Show Aikawa: Cop, Killer, Replicant (1080p; 22:47) is a 2016 interview with the star of the Dead or Alive trilogy.

Dead or Alive Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The law of diminishing returns catches up pretty seriously with this trilogy, with the first film offering the best overall story and style, and the two subsequent films providing less (and less) enjoyment. Technical merits are fairly variable here, and so my recommendation is to parse the screenshots carefully on the three individual reviews. As usual, Arrow has assembled a nice supplemental package which should be appreciated by Miike fans.