The Beast to Die Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Beast to Die Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 15, 2025

The Beast to Die offers a really interesting nexus of ideas that have populated any number of previous films and arguably even subgenres, a nexus or intersection arrived at only after having discussed the various wending paths that led there. The first of these categories might be broadly thought of as films which center on characters whose war experiences have traumatized them, perhaps to the point of becoming sociopathic, as in Taxi Driver. Taking a rather unexpected detour, there have also been notable if inherently troubling outings like Peeping Tom that tether "movie making" (and by default, movie watching) to voyeurism and, at least in this case, murder. In an at least somewhat related vein, a number of other films ranging from Nightcrawler to The Photographer have offered narratives where either photojournalists or photographers may give in to their veritable "dark sides". Another offshoot of that little nook and/or cranny is films about photojournalists who become involved in something nefarious (a la Blow-Up), or photojournalists whose experiences in fraught wartime activities color their psychological unrest (as in The Killing Fields). Take all of the above and sprinkle liberally with a heavy does of neo-noir atmosphere and you might have at least some idea of what The Beast to Die has in store.

What almost instantly sets The Beast to Die apart from its perceived kin is the fact that focal photojournalist Kunihiko Date (Yûsaku Matsuda) has actually been traumatized by his experiences in Vietnam, something that gives an intentionally provocative "globalist" subtext to Date's roiling psychological issues. As odd as that "cause" may be, the "effect" is actually at least in its broad outlines reminiscent of other films dealing with trauma that so unravels an individual that they give in to darker impulses. While not strictly a ménage à trois in the traditional sense, two interlocked subplots involving a (willing or unwilling) acolyte of Date's named Tetsuo Sanada (Takeshi Kaga) and a potential love interest named Reiko (Asami Kobayashi) end up cartwheeling the plot toward probably unavoidable tragedy.

There are a number of unsettling vignettes sprinkled throughout this already ultimately pretty overheated enterprise, and as the Jordan Harper supplement (see below) mentions in passing, along with that slate of offerings linked to above, at least one scene here may remind some of a similarly set shooting spree in The Godfather, but Date is considerably more feral than the perpetrator in the Coppola film. For those interested in background information, the supplements deal at least allusively and in some cases overtly with a couple of "endings", notably the collaborations between Tōru Murakawa and Shoichi Maruyama as well as what the cover of this release refers to as "Yusaku Matsuda's farewell to his 1970s action hero persona", though calling him a hero in this case may be a bit of a stretch. Some may find interest in the fact that this is actually the second adaptation of the source novel, following this 1959 film.

The Beast to Die Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Beast to Die is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Radiance's insert booklet offers the following minimal information on the transfer:

The Beast to Die was transferred in 4K by the kadokawa Corporation and supplied to Radiance Films and a high definition digital file.

While at times some of these "pre-delivered" masters that Radiance and Arrow can offer at times have not completely wowed me, but in this case the presentation has an appropriately gritty texture offering an organically resolved grain structure, as well as a generally very nicely suffused palette. I did find a few scenes to be slightly skewed toward blues, something that may be subliminally reinforced by the production design, but something that be especially noticeable in some of the neo-noir moments in particular, with their tendency to feature cool blue or dark tones anyway. That said, as can be gleaned in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, things look natural when lit that way, and almost Bava-esque when more florid choices are made (see screenshot 5). Fine detail is often quite expressive, though it can ebb in some of those aforementioned dimly lit moments.

The Beast to Die Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Beast to Die features LPCM 2.0 audio in the original Japanese. The film features a score by Akihiko Takashima that seems consciously modeled on Mark Isham's notably evocative and "smoky" scoring for any number of outings, and both music and ambient environmental effects are well rendered throughout. A couple of calamitous outbreaks of gunfire also provide bursts of powerful sonic energy. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Beast to Die Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Tōru Murakawa (HD; 20:25) is interviewed in this 2025 piece. Subtitled in English.


• Shoichi Maruyama (HD; 22:49) is interviewed in this 2025 piece. Subtitled in English.


• Jordan Harper (HD; 12:29) offers his thoughts on the film.

This comes with the usual assortment of Radiance accoutrements, including an insert booklet with both archival (by Tom Mes) and new (by Tatsuya Masuto) writing, a reversible sleeve and an Obi strip.

The Beast to Die Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Things potentially tip into the same kind of almost gonzo first person unraveling that I mentioned in my recent Queer Blu-ray review, and since the first part of this film is arguably quite tonally different, that "segue" may not be completely satisfying. Still, the story here is riveting if disturbing. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.