Rating: 
Summary: A yakuza movie through a mirror
Review: "Branded To Kill" takes every Japanese gangster-movie cliche within arm's reach, stands it on its head, and points and laughs.No wonder no one got the joke back in 1967, especially not director Seijun Suzuki's bosses at Nikkatsu. They were a studio which prided itself on being the #1 purveyor of cinematic yakuza mayhem, and when they saw Suzuki's middle-finger salute to a genre he thought was getting tired and repetitive, they made sure he didn't work in that town again for at least a decade. But Suzuki had the last laugh: not only did he come back in triumph (and is now currently recognized as being one of the greats of Japanese cinema), he even got the chance to sort-of-remake "Branded" as "Pistol Opera" at the ripe young age of 81. Watching "Branded to Kill" now, it's easy to see why it drove the Nikkatsu suits up the wall. The "hero", Goro (Jo Shishido, with his chipmunk-like facial implants), is the #3 hitman in Japan, gunning for the top slot after the mob turns against him. See, he was given this assignment, and after he screwed it up (a butterfly landed on his gunsight), the rest of the mob went gunning for him. He returned the favor, in between boff-sessions with his girlfriend. Goro is one weird egg, all right: he gets sexually aroused by the smell of cooking rice. But he's nothing compared to the #1 hitman, to whom he gets handcuffed to for most of the third act in a "Defiant Ones"-like plot twist. But you know something? The plot is scarcely even the point. In fact, Suzuki makes his contempt for the by-the-numbers script by reducing all its most important elements to throwaways and focusing on the weird, mannered elements that make the story so pungent. That goes right up to, and including, the ending, which has to be the ultimate anti-yakuza-machismo cinematic statement of its kind, with Mr. #1 Killer getting his in an empty boxing ring. It's easier to swallow "Branded" today, because the bizarre, surreal black humor and the whacked-out smell the whole thing exudes had absolutely no precedent then. Consider the recent "Ghost Dog," which contains several direct visual quotes from "Branded," but lacks that movie's stinging self-knowledge. This film was actually the culmination of Suzuki's urge to explode genres from the inside with farce and comedy. He had already done so, to varying degrees, in previous movies, but the meddling of Nikkatsu's board of directors nixed most of those experiments: many of his best movies are in tatters and are uneasy compromises between the flat-out action Nikkatsu wanted and the more intelligent satirical work he wanted to do. "Branded" works not only as a tear-down of the posturing machismo of tough-guy movie genres, but of audiences' very expectations of the same.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow
Review: ...I just had to chime in with a WOW. So "this is how No. 1 works"? Stunningly shot in BW, insanely scripted, and lovingly acted: I wouldn't trade this movie for all the rice steam in China. Buy it, you'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: ...I just had to chime in with a WOW. So "this is how No. 1 works"? Stunningly shot in BW, insanely scripted, and lovingly acted: I wouldn't trade this movie for all the rice steam in China. Buy it, you'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and entertaining
Review: An anti-hero hitman who sniffs steaming rice. How much more off-the-wall can you get? Suzuki does some amazing stuff with this movie. Weird and amusing editing, and interesting and funny sequences blended with disturbing action. I was amused to see that this film influenced Jim Jarmusch in his recent effort, GHOST DOG. There are at least two scenes from BRANDED TO KILL that ended up being reinterpreted in GHOST DOG. A very fun film, and another Criterion triumph.
Rating:
Summary: Criterion's DVD is not the complete film.
Review: As great a film as this is, I can't recommend the DVD as it's edited of about nine minutes of footage. The DVD edition is of the original US edit, meaning that footage too risque for us yanks was cut from the original Japanese running time. The same goes for the DVD edition of "Tokyo Drifter," which is missing about seven minutes. Since Criterion has been re-releasing a number of it's older titles (and a couple new Suzuki titles), it's quite possible they'll re-release Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter as well, restored to their original running time. But despite the missing footage, you should still see the film. Just don't spend the $25 for a DVD that'll likely be re-released in the next year or so. Since the only real extra is a short interview with Suzuki, and since Suzuki's style tends to disagree with a lot of people, this doesn't make good as an impulse purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Simply awesome.
Review: Being relatively new to Yakuza cinema (my only other taste of the genre being the films of 'Beat' Takeshi) so I think some of the parody might have been over my head but other than that I found watching this film to be one amazing trip. This is the type of film that instantly startles you with its sheik style and hard-boiled fight scenes and just gets better. As stylistic as the film is, it always keeps a tongue in cheek quality too it which really depleted my enjoyment of films like The Matrix and Fight Club. I would warn anyone whose looking for a film with something to say to stay away from this film. It's a style over substance flick in the truest sense of the phrase but man...what style!
Rating:
Summary: NON STOP ACTION
Review: Here it is: BRANDED TO KILL is director, Seijun Suzuki's best movie. Japanese film lovers will tell you that Seijun is one of Japan's greatest filmmakers. Therefore this film should not be overlooked. If you like action, then prepare yourself for a real treat. You will not regret owning this film.
Forget that this film is Japanese, has subtitles, and was released in 1967. This film is a classic masterpiece. Heck, even the director got fired after its release. The film is fast paced and beautifully shot. The musical score is so smooth and keep in mind, we're talking no special effects. There is a scene where a man is literally on fire for over 20 seconds.
All in all, the story is straightforward. A Yakuza gangster is hired to kill 4 people. He learns that he is the Yakuza's third best killer. He does not know who the #1 killer is but he wants his spot. The women in this film are beautiful and the action is intense. Take a chance and see why this film has inspired so many over the years.
Rating:
Summary: What's It Worth?
Review: Honestly, I was expecting a New Wave film, but what I got was a film that, stylistically, compares with the New Wave, but fails to achieve New Wave pathos. But that doesn't mean "Branded to Kill" is a bad film, it just means you have to look at it from a different perspective: The film is fluff, substance is style. It's lack of cohesion seems to be an intellectual bluff rather than a conscious, "artistic" convention. Therefore, the film should be compared to the films of Roger Corman and the Blaxploitation era. "Branded to Kill" seems like the Asian precursor to films like "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer". BTK's action scenes are inventive and frenzied. They are not "realistic", but they fit within the film's tone, which is unrealistic anyway. Everything is over the top, and the film has that "go for broke" feeling of the New Wave. You have to admire Suzuki's moxy, which suits the era and environment in which the film was created. In the interview on this disk, Suzuki says his films were meant to be strictly entertaining. That they are. "Branded to Kill" is one of the most entertaining films I've ever seen, besting even some of Roger Corman's films. It's both maddening and exuberant, and a great example of perverse cinema.
Rating:
Summary: What's It Worth?
Review: Honestly, I was expecting a New Wave film, but what I got was a film that, stylistically, compares with the New Wave, but fails to achieve New Wave pathos. But that doesn't mean "Branded to Kill" is a bad film, it just means you have to look at it from a different perspective: The film is fluff, substance is style. It's lack of cohesion seems to be an intellectual bluff rather than a conscious, "artistic" convention. Therefore, the film should be compared to the films of Roger Corman and the Blaxploitation era. "Branded to Kill" seems like the Asian precursor to films like "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer". BTK's action scenes are inventive and frenzied. They are not "realistic", but they fit within the film's tone, which is unrealistic anyway. Everything is over the top, and the film has that "go for broke" feeling of the New Wave. You have to admire Suzuki's moxy, which suits the era and environment in which the film was created. In the interview on this disk, Suzuki says his films were meant to be strictly entertaining. That they are. "Branded to Kill" is one of the most entertaining films I've ever seen, besting even some of Roger Corman's films. It's both maddening and exuberant, and a great example of perverse cinema.
Rating:
Summary: Another winner from Criterion
Review: I bought this DVD on a whim after doing some background research. Somehow the typical Japaneseyakuza action film cut-up and combined with surrealism and a Noirish sheen appealed to me. I certainly wasn't disappointed. I was Actually, I was amazed at how many levels "Branded to Kill" worked. Its over the top black humor (at time almost slap stick)was delightful. The characters were complex and the plot engaging though deliberately made hard to follow. I've haunted by the complexity of the ending for a few days now. Visually the film is a masterpiece, and heavily debted to the French New Wave. I disagree with the Widescreen Review of the picture and sound quality as the picture looks to be faithful recreation of the original. I think the washed-out contrastless black is quite beautifully done and portrayed. This film was certainly a big influence on Tarantino and I'm pretty sure it is QT behind the camera on the exclusive interview of Seiuchi Suzuki (a great bonus). Highly recommended for fans of gangster films, Japanese film-making, noir, and new-wave all rolled into one.
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