Versus (2000)

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Starring: Japanese nobodys

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Witness a battle no one has ever seen

Plot: Set in the present where a group of ruthless gangsters, an unknown woman and an escaped convict have met, unwittingly, in The Forest of Resurrection, the 444th portal to the other side. Their troubles start when those once killed and buried in the forest come back from the dead, with the assistance of the evil Sprit that has also come back, come back from ages past, to claim his prize. The final standoff between Light and Dark has never been so cunning, so brutal and so deadly.






My Rating: 7/10

Would I watch it again? Only in smaller doses

THIS MOVIE KICKS ASS!!! Except when it’s boring. If I’ve ever wondered about there really being “too much of a good thing”, this film answers the question and the answer is “YES”. At 119 minutes there are literally about 19 of them where there is no fighting. I’m serious. This movie is wall-to-wall fighting. Swords, kung fu, guns, everything. And it’s good. REALLY good. It’s funny. REALLY funny. It’s way too long. REALLY long.

"Here's my favorite character - a psycho bad guy who reminded me so much of..."

"...Jack Palance...if you can believe it just from these pictures"

Seriously, there are so many fight sequences (and really fresh and inventive ones, at that) it starts to get old after an hour. Then you’ve got ANOTHER hour to go. It was almost torturous. Not only are there multiple fights with all kinds of styles and weaponry, there are fights with zombies and time travel fights. It’s as if the filmmakers felt they had one chance to make a movie so they had better throw everything into it just in case. If it had been trimmed down to 90 minutes I would’ve easily given it an 8 or a 9 for sheer enjoyment but the second hour was far too taxing for me at that point. It’s too bad because it just oozes with style I was really into it until I realized I’m only half way through it. Yikes. And to make it worse the film is set entirely in a forest. That in and of itself gets old.


Check it out if you can find it. It’s definitely worth a look. Just know what you’re getting into. But if it’s the first half of the film versus the second half, the first half wins hands down.