6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When a lady from his past delivers the son to him, the Japanese assassin continues his work of assassination while taking care of him and being attacked by gangs in a depressing, rainy Taiwan.
Starring: Shô Aikawa (II), Xianmei Chen, Tomorô Taguchi, Ming-chun Kao, Blackie Shou-Liang KoForeign | 100% |
Drama | 35% |
Crime | 18% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Mandarin: LPCM 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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.
Rainy Dog 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. This transfer is perhaps marginally more detailed looking than Shinjuku Triad Society, but it suffers from the same pretty gritty looking grain field that is so heavy it can mask fine detail, something that's exacerbated by the relentless rainfall that's part of this film's story. While fairly soft looking quite a bit of the time, when the film ventures outside (which is does frequently), especially if rain isn't falling, detail levels perk up appreciably. While not quite as prevalent as those seen in Shinjuku Triad Society, there are occasional tilts toward green and/or yellow in selected moments that tend to make the palette look a little odd. Interestingly, both this film and Ley Lines have been censored by what almost looks like a blue sharpie drawn over "naughty bits" at a couple of key junctures.
The language spec above is kind of random, as Rainy Dog begins with this text card:
Due to its setting in Taiwan, the dialogue in Rainy Dog is primarily in Taiwanese or Mandarin. Subtitles for Japanese dialogue have been placed in brackets.The LPCM 2.0 track delivers a fairly subtle soundtrack well enough, though this is probably the least sonically "showy" of the three films in this set, with long, naturalistic sequences delivering the nonstop rain effects with intermittent dialogue. Occasional bursts of energy are delivered in a couple of key moments, but like the film itself, this is often a curiously reserved effort from Miike.
Rainy Dog is an unusual Miike film from a number of standpoints, but it's also unusually involving. Slow and deliberative rather than in your face, at least some of the time, this may be the easiest of the Miike films in this set for newcomers to enjoy. Video has some limitations, but audio is fine and the commentary is enjoyable.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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