Rating: 
Summary: Stunning movie
Review: I only planned to wach half this movie one day and the other the next as i had to work but ended up watching the whole thing on acount that this film blows me away. The acting is super from the whole cast down to epps. The blend of the diffrent familys puts you in the world of organizerd crime giving validity to the film (making it believable instead of some knockoff yakuza/mafia film,)Also very welcomed in this film is the humor generated between Denny and ANKI. If you like "mob films" but want more (good story, humor, acting, purpose) then watch this movie
Rating:
Summary: Senseless & Beautiful ¿ Like the Life Itself
Review: A Japanese yakuza henchman (played by Kitano) named "Brother" came the States after his clan was destroyed in a mafia war back in Japan. Here the Brother organised his friends into a clan and started a cruel war on local mafia families to win a space. The newcomer is cruel and does not think twice before killing his rivals. However, what makes this movie worth watching is natural looking Darwinist style violence and relationships within his band beautifully played by Kitano and his actors.What always appealed me in Kitano's films is human interaction between central characters including the most negative ones. The Brother is cruel, strong, and a good marksman. He is not a kind of person you ordinarily would like to meet on a street. However, he ultimately sacrifices his life to save Danny, his black companion, from the band of Italians. But in the beginning of the movie those two characters had very few if any reasons to like each other after the Brother pokes Danny in the eye with a broken bottle, then cheats him in a game. Another moving scene is when the Brother's right hand man sacrifices his life to persuade another local Japanese criminal ring to merge with the Brother's operation. Simple, convincing and incomprehensible at the same time! I gave this movie five stars and highly recommend it to anyone interested in action. This film is The Action itself!
Rating: 
Summary: This Movie Is The Bomb
Review: I would like to get a list of the music/soundtrack that was used for this movie. The movie was excellent. For those out there that have seen this movie it reminds me of the Lone Wolf and Cub series of movies put out in the seventies. The music that was chosen for this movie was great and I would like to know the songs and the artis of these tracks. All of the actors in this movie were superb. I would like to see them together again in another project. Everyone keep up the good work.
Rating: 
Summary: Do Not Buy Region 1 DVD
Review: Sony Pictures has tampered with the colors in Brother . Colors are not to be changed, they are to be left to their original tint or brightness. Today I bought Brother at Best Buy. I was happy to find that I got the last copy from the 2 shelves that
held them. I was surprised that it was there, so I bought it. When I got to opening it, there was some
nice cover art on the disc, and no collecter's booklet like on most Sony discs. I popped the disc
in to my new Panasonic RP56 and set down to watch on my Phillips 16:9 HDTV. Never have I seen a film
murdered in front of my eyes. Aniki's(main character) world is not thrilling but grim. It is somewhat gloomy. There is an occasional color
flair(rare) to hint at a character's personality. Blacks are deep and accurate. There is tons of gray. Blue is
on the dark side, green is in some scenes dark and other scenes light, finally red is crimson, and
sometimes darker. All of this is represented accurately on the two DVD's I have previously watched(UK
and Japan) and seen in a THX certified theater. The theater I saw the movie was dead on colorwise, and
the picture quality was unbeatable. The above is thrown out the window in the Sony Pictures Classics version. Gray is subdued and no longer
prevalent. Blacks are ruined. This killed quite a number of scenes. Blue is no longer dark or a little dark,
it's just plain blue. Green is a neon green in some scenes and now is a bright. Red is pushed, but just
enough that the color is a bit lighter. The beginning scene is tarnished by the Sony version. Takeshi Kitano is standing waiting for a cab. In the
scene, Takeshi Kitano is supposed to stick out, and the background is covered with a thin gray, to make
him prevalent. Instead the Sony Pictures Classic version completely takes out the gray, and the scene is
then butchered. The scene where Kitano murders the Latino drug dealer the blacks are deep, the colors
subdued. The Sony Pictures Classic version, pushes the flesh tones until the point of absurdity. The
blacks are off, and the green door to the left of Claude Maki is now a bright neon green, whereas the
other versions had the door dark green or a light pine green. There also to seems to be a fairly large quantity of edge enhancement, which is absent on the 3 other
sources. Everything is made vibrant, which makes no sense considering this is a very dark movie. What doesn't help the Sony Pictures Classics version is that its edited. The movie begins with a Sony
Pictures Classics label pasted over the Kitano label, with the background music still there. This tells you
that, you are about to view an inferior version. There are various edits to the movie digitally. Such as
painting over brain matter on walls from gun shot's, and time and gore edits. The stark emotion of the
Hagakure scene is also killed by the editing. The features? Just some stupid trailers for some movies that remind me of the word... The
audio is sub par, and with the lack of DTS, it not worth the purchase. They did fix the subtitle problem I
had with Japan Version, but I fixed that when I traded it in for the United Kingdom version.
Rating:
Summary: A paradigm of Kitano's unique, compelling storytelling.
Review: Though it lacks the subtle emotional resonance of Fireworks (Hana-Bi), Brother is nevertheless one of Takeshi Kitano's best films. It is certainly the most briskly paced, one of the best acted, and one of the most violent films in this master's oeuvre. Kitano's brilliance lies in showing you things in unexpected ways, often by means of excluding parts of the action that would be considered essential in conventional editing. But the boldness of his choices, the stunning photography, and the sure-handed editing all combine so that his unusual shot selection seems perfectly natural, a result of economy and artistic conviction, rather than unnecessary quirk or a desire to show off. His is one of the most distinctive narrative voices in cinema today. Kitano remains the perfect actor for his own directing and scripting. In Brother, as in Boiling Point, Kitano often takes the story away from his own character to explore supporting characters. But unlike in Boiling Point, here we have a supporting cast (headed by Omar Epps, who adapts into the Kitano style of comedy fluidly) thoroughly capable of holding our gaze, honororary mention going to Kuroudo Maki for his doggedly persistent portrayal of Yamamoto's younger half-brother Ken, Susumu Terajima as loyal (but also very funny) lieutenant Kato, and Masaya Kato as psychotic henchman Shirase. The title Brother has a broader application in this film. The Epps-Kitano chemistry is enormous, surprising because it usually consists of only a couple of small gestures and a few lines of deadpan dialogue. Given its meaning in both Japanese gangster-speak ("aniki") and American vernacular, it's a brilliant choice for a title. And Kitano shows that he can make a film with American actors without sacrificing any of his distinctive style. A must-see for Kitano fans, to be sure, but also crucial viewing for all cinema lovers who relish seeing a master at his peak.
Rating:
Summary: Look for the beautiful smaller performances
Review: For example, the young lady who played Marina was wonderful in her role, and brightened up this darkly humorous Gangster Noir film. Watch this clever film.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Filmmaking!
Review: Brother was the first Takeshi Kitano film that I saw and I loved it! The great thing about this film is that it is not the typical Hollywood garbage that you are so used to. It is not a neat tie a ribbon around it, and stick a pretty bow on top type of film. This beautifully filmed, riveting crime drama is a must see! It is very refreshing to see a film from a non-western perspective. Kitano's presence is extremely charismatic and engaging, though he says little and his filmmaker's eye is unmatched. A+++++ film. My only problem is that the DVD did not have any special features about the movie. This is a travesty for such a wonderful film.
Rating: 
Summary: Do Not Buy This DVD; It is Edited and The Pictur Is Terrible
Review: Colors are not to be changed, they are to be left to their original tint or brightness. Today I bought Brother at Best Buy. I was happy to find that I got the last copy of the 2 shelves of them. I was suprised, so I bought it. When I got to opening it, there was some nice cover art on the disc, and no freaking collecters booklet on most Sony discs. I popped the disc in to my new "Panny" RP56 and set down to watch on my Phillips 16:9 HDTV. Never have I seen a film murdered in front of my eyes. It's a movie about blah, blah go to Internet Movie Database and search under Brother to find out. Aniki's(main character) world is not exciting, and somewhat gloomy. There is an occasional color flair(rare) to hint at a character's persoanlity. Blacks are deep and accurate, there are tons of gray, blue is on the dark side, green is in some scenes dark and other scenes light, finally red is crimson, and sometimes darker. All of this is representted accurately on the two DVD's I have previously watched(UK and Japan) and seen in a THX certified theater. The theater I saw the movie was dead on, and the picture quality was unbeatable. All of the above is thrown out in the Sony Pictures Classics version. Gray is subdued and no longer prevalent. Blacks are ruined which killed a couple scenes. Blue is no longer dark or a little dark, it's plain blue. Green is a neon green in some scenes and now is a bright. Red is pushed, but just enough that the color is a bit lighter. The beginning scene is ruined by the Sony version. Kitano standing waiting for the cab is supposed to stick out, and the background is covered in the back with a thing gray, to make him prevalent. Instead the Sony version completely takes out the gray, and the scene is then butchered. The scene where Kitano murders the Latino drug dealer the blacks are deep, the colors subdued. The Sony version, pushes the flesh tones the blacks are off, and the green door to the left of Claude Maki is now a bright neon green, whereas the other versions had the door dark green or a light pine green. There also to seems to be a fairly large quantity of edge enhancement, which is absent on the 3 other sources. What doesn't help the Sony Pictures Classics version is that its edited. The movie begins with a Sony Pictures Classics label pasted over the Kitano label, with the background music still there. This tells you that, you are about to watch an inferior version. There are various edits to the movie digitally. Such as painting over brain matter on walls from gunshots, and time and gore edits. The stark emotion of the Hagakure scene is also killed by the editing. The features? Just some ...trailers for some movies that remind me of the word 'crud' The audio is okay, but with the lack of DTS,...
Rating: 
Summary: This DVD contains an edited version.
Review: Since everyone else has already written about how they thought much of the film was formulaic, which it was, or how Kitano transcends the cliches, which he does, I'll just say that, despite some faltering performances by a few of the American actors, the film is very identifiable and enjoyable as a "Kitano" film. What you should know is that the disc contains a "cleaned-up" version of the film in which many scenes containing violent content have been cropped or had gore digitally removed for U.S. release. I don't believe it affects the running time much, but it is different from the Japanese release. Also, if the subtitles (English or otherwise) are enabled, they run on all dialogue throughout the movie. A selection were only the non-English dialogue is subtitled would have been appreciated. I watch many subtitled films, but it felt distracting here.
Rating:
Summary: Finally Takeshi with some action
Review: Rather than the slow pace found in "Fireworks," this film has much more action and Chow-Yun-Fatism that most HK film people look for...Its very good.
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