Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Ley Lines Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 15, 2017

Note: This film is available as part of Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy.

If you’re not already familiar with Takashi Miike, you could spend several hours getting to “know” him via any of several of his films, many of which have been released on Blu-ray. And what an incredible assortment they are: Audition, Ichi the Killer, The Happiness of the Katakuris (my personal favorite), Sukiyaki Western Django, Crows Zero, Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City, 13 Assassins, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, Over Your Dead Body and Yakuza Apocalypse will provide more than ample evidence that Miike is both intentionally provocative as well as incredibly protean. Miike has become almost infamous due to some of the depictions and story elements in films like Audition and Ichi the Killer, and that proclivity is certainly on hand in each of the three films contained in this set, though perhaps not in the same context as those two aforementioned entries. Kind of ironically, this so-called Black Society Trilogy (which is also known under some alternative names, including Black Triad Trilogy and—just for good measure—Triad Society Trilogy) really isn’t a trilogy in a standard sense, for each film exists as a standalone entry and can only be linked to the others tangentially in terms of overall plot dynamics featuring criminals and, in some cases, shared casting.

Ley Lines returns to and deals with at least a bit more overtly some of the intercultural anxieties that were part of the subtext of Shinjuku Triad Society, in terms of conflicts between Japanese and Chinese. In some ways this is the most representative film in this set of some of Miike’s stylistic proclivities, with montage and editing techniques that initially may obfuscate narrative but which help to quickly establish mood.

The plot of Ley Lines is once again fairly simplistic, positing three childhood friends of Chinese descent who, once they’re older, decide that they want out of Japan since “their type” isn’t appreciated. That necessitates some scratch, of course, which leads to them to various dens of iniquity in the “big city”, in a trope that any lover of old time American gangster flicks will no doubt recognize. While the criminal activity aspect actually links this film to its predecessors, it’s not handled with the same visceral intensity in this film as in the two previous outings, and Ley Lines may feel a bit diffuse as a result, especially if viewed in tandem with the other two films in this set.

Ley Lines Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ley Lines is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's typically informative insert booklet doesn't shed much light on the provenance of this presentation, stating only that "the high definition masters were made available for this release by Kadokawa Pictures", something that may indicate that any quality control issues were outside of Arrow's purview. Perhaps due to its at least slightly more recent vintage, this is arguably the most pleasing looking transfer in this set. While things are still fairly soft looking overall, the grain field is finer and tends to look more organic as well as not masking fine detail as much as in the previous two entries. The films unusual color grading techniques are also rendered well here. The outdoor footage offers a decently vivid palette and good detail levels. As with Rainy Dog, a kind of odd censoring technique has been utilized, where a blue scribble appears over various "naughty bits".

Ley Lines Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ley Lines begins with the same text card that served as a preamble to Shinjuku Triad Society:

Ley Lines includes dialogue in languages other than Japanese. In order to depict this more accurately for foreign viewers, subtitles for non-Japanese dialogue have been placed in brackets.

The LPCM 2.0 track offers good reproduction of the urban sounds as well as dialogue (in whatever language). Fidelity is fine and prioritization well handled in one of the "busier" sounding tracks in this set.

Ley Lines Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 1:41)


• Commentary features Miike biographer Tom Mes.

Ley Lines Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ley Lines is probably the most distinctive "Miike-esque" offering in this set in terms of style, and the film is often quite ravishing from a visual standpoint. The story is a little underdeveloped, but Miike's frequent theme of strangers in a strange land finds an interesting treatment in this film. This has generally the nicest looking video in this set, and once again audio is fine and the commentary track engaging.