Sonatine

Rating:
Summary: Good , but not Kitano's best...
Review: First I want to point out , to the negative reviewers , .. that foreign film is not a genre...
I don;t understand when people say , "I rent foreign films 4 days a week , and this one's the worst"
This is a crime film , and kitano's one of the best at the yakuza genre...
First , you have to be familiar with the yakuza culture to understand the characters , ....
Yes , they don;t care if they live or die , I think the whole freaking point of the movie was that...

So , if you like crime , and yakuza films , this one's a great one , ... not kitano's best , but , it's still great...
If you just like to watch foreign films because you think they have something that hollywood films don;t , or just because you want to look cool , I do not recomend this...
you will not get this film , ...

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, Funny, Poignant: Definitely not a John Woo Movie
Review: A brilliant, highly stylistic deconstruction of the film noir genre. Those who are familiar with the yakuza movies, too, will appreciate just how much of a radical departure this is from the conventions of the genre. All the action takes place in the most incongruous places, the yakuza life is portrayed (highly realistically but hilariously) as long stretches of interminable boredom disrupted by totally uncontrollable bursts of violence, characters often stare directly into the camera completely ignoring the matching eyelines (a la Ozu Yasujiro). John Woo aficionados will be disappointed; donft expect macho posturing or hail of bullets. By the way, the video package available through Quentin TarrantinoÕs Rolling Thunder line is transferred from an incredibly clean and crisp print, although not letterboxed. The drawback is that English subtitles suck; for one, liberally interspersing the dialogue with@h f**kh when the characters are saying nothing of the sort.

Rating:
Summary: The Hollow men
Review: Easily one of the most vaccuous movies in recent memory. Only for those fans who misjudge the empty silences between explicable action or dialogue as fraught with profound implications. This movie is nothing but a pretentious yakuza flick. The gunfights are cheesy (they go off like cap-guns), the acting is wooden (Kitano especially, who possibly has two expressions to choose from), and the characterization is completely arbitrary. And if I see one more movie glorifying another gangster, whether or not he has the heart of a poet, I'm doing something rash like joining the NRA.

Rating:
Summary: Good Beat Takeshi movie, but DVD is full frame
Review: Finally, this movie is coming to DVD, but I have read in various places that the movie will unfortunately be full frame, just like the video tape. The DVD makers could have at least made it widescreen. So the movie gets a 3, but the DVD gets a zero for not having a widescreen version.

Rating:
Summary: YOU DON'T WANT THIS EDITION
Review: Guys, I don't know why this version here is so pricey. If you're looking for a good version of Sonatine to buy, get the Zaitochi/Sonatine double feature DVD. It's great and a lot cheaper! I found mine at a W**-mart. Hope this was helpful.

Rating:
Summary: The Meditation on Time
Review: I liked this film. It's a slow moving piece that grows on you. I agree that the dialogue could have been better (or maybe it's just the translation), but I thought it was a good cross between the hypnotic style of Kurosawa and an old-fashioned gangster flick. One of the reviewers said that it was just a bunch of guys waiting around. Well... that's partly true, but I found there to be poetry in the silence - much like in "The Scent of Green Papaya". We've been so brainwashed by Hollywood films that we get "bored" when nothing is said or done. This is not an action movie. It's a meditation on time.

I see it this way... You may walk out of a bloodfest happy to have seen so many die, but... is the movie going to stay with you? It's the quiet ones that haunt you. It's the ... moments that flash in your memory - watching the waves crash against the shore as the men play russian roulette... the full moon that hangs in the sky, waiting along with them. It's in the bonding that takes place. The last few minutes of the film will stay with me.

I liked this..

Rating:
Summary: The Meditation on Time
Review: I liked this film. It's a slow moving piece that grows on you. I agree that the dialogue could have been better (or maybe it's just the translation), but I thought it was a good cross between the hypnotic style of Kurosawa and an old-fashioned gangster flick. One of the reviewers said that it was just a bunch of guys waiting around. Well... that's partly true, but I found there to be poetry in the silence - much like in "The Scent of Green Papaya". We've been so brainwashed by Hollywood films that we get "bored" when nothing is said or done. This is not an action movie. It's a meditation on time.

I see it this way... You may walk out of a bloodfest happy to have seen so many die, but... is the movie going to stay with you? It's the quiet ones that haunt you. It's the ... moments that flash in your memory - watching the waves crash against the shore as the men play russian roulette... the full moon that hangs in the sky, waiting along with them. It's in the bonding that takes place. The last few minutes of the film will stay with me.

I liked this..

Rating:
Summary: The best Kitano Film ever - desperately need DVD verson.
Review: I love Fireworks (Hana-Bi), Kids Return, Kikujiro - basically almost all Kitano's work. But I really believe Sonatine is the best film he ever wrote - directed - and acted. As a second film he directed, there were some very rough parts, but the film itself has such a strong power and it shows no fear. I was rather disappointed on his recent work "Brother" as I was hoping that film to be more like "Sonatine." I find new discovery everytime I see this film. His treatment of comedy and violence is so powerful and extreme, which comes from his background as a stand-up comedian. I really wish the DVD version will soon be released. Most his other works are available on DVD and I was wondering why not this one.

Rating:
Summary: The best Kitano Film ever - desperately need DVD verson.
Review: I was surprised to read the negative reviews but in a way I understand. The movie is not for everyone. In my younger days, I would have felt that the movie was too slow. But now I think this is one of the greatest movies. The movie moves at a slow pace but that is the point. You get to know the people "as they are", not in an action packed or glamorous way.

I especially liked the end "fight scene" where he takes out the bosses, note how he "says it all without saying anything". This is a "must see" movie...

-CC-

Rating:
Summary: Amazing movie!
Review: I was surprised to read the negative reviews but in a way I understand. The movie is not for everyone. In my younger days, I would have felt that the movie was too slow. But now I think this is one of the greatest movies. The movie moves at a slow pace but that is the point. You get to know the people "as they are", not in an action packed or glamorous way.

I especially liked the end "fight scene" where he takes out the bosses, note how he "says it all without saying anything". This is a "must see" movie...

-CC-