Versus (II) (2000) User Reviews

Extremely entertaining post-modern pastiche

[Potty-Man · 7/10 · 15 May 2006]

From the get-go, you'll know that this is a film that relies almost solely on its style and its visual slickness. Low budget in the good sense, Versus resembles early Sam Raimi or Peter Jackson works (Bad Taste springs primarily to mind). It combines good-humored gore with Luc Besson-ish wide lens shots and quirkiness (the characters here reminded me of The Boondock Saints in their flamboyance), along with some very creative martial arts sequences. At some point, in fact, it gets so over-the-top it starts to play out more like a Stephen Chow movie. It then jumps from Night of the Living Dead to Mortal Kombat to Highlander, making a stop or two at X-Men along the way. This eastern/western mix works surprisingly well and the result is highly entertaining, if you enjoy this kind of thing. Just don't go looking for any depth, causality, plot logic, or plot altogether, really. The few dialogue scenes are a mess (excluding the one that takes place when everything turns an orange shade, about an hour into the film), and often serve only as a backdrop for canted steadicam close-ups and multi-character Mexican standoffs. This is not high brow cinema, it's high octane. And it was perfectly fine by me. It is when the film discards some of its humor that it begins to lose its charm, but even then, the spectacularly choreographed martial arts kept me entertained. I would be interested in seeing "The Ultimate Versus" – a director's cut that's ten minutes longer and has CGI special effects, according to IMDb.

P.S. There are few things I hate more than a dubbed movie, but in this case (like in Shaolin Soccer), I found that at certain scenes (particularly ones involving "the runt" – the wacky short guy), the English dubbing actually adds to the absurdity of the film. Anyway, the DVD offers both the American and the original Japanese dialogue tracks.

God bless the crazy guy in the green shirt!

[CopperFrightful · 7/10 · 24 January 2005]

Some people are insane! I mean, what were you expecting? The English Patient? I for one love a good gorefest and awesome if its done out of Hollywood. The plot had holes, I guess, I can't really think of anything that really had me come out of the movie. If you rented or bought this and thought, "Hey, that couldn't have happened, like, oh my Gawd how fake!" Why would you watch a zombie/sci-fi movie to begin with? You did read the synopses right? The acting was good, watch the original undubbed one please before you blast the flick! The characters were priceless, I loved the "Charlie's Angels"-esquire stances the yakuza guys made! Tre cool. I loved the fighting as well, every ten minutes or so someone was getting the crap beat out of them. It was also very refreshing to not see so much wire-flying, the one part I can recall that did sort of do that was shot tightly so it didn't seem so exaggerated. I'm a chick and I LOVED how Prisonor KSC2-303 kept hitting the annoying chick over the head, classic! No out of nowhere love scenes here my good people! The "villian" was also top-notch. I thought the casting was great. Tak Sakaguchi, wow, baby don't be so mean! :P I can't wait to see him in more things or in the sequel. Please don't watch this if you're cynical or hard to please. ITS A ZOMBIE/GORE/SCI-FI INDIE FILM! Yeah just don't buy it, let someone else who appreciates such fineness get a copy.

*By the by, this review is based on "The Ultimate Versus" edition.

Zombies vs. Yakuza

[hmmdrmike · 6/10 · 19 January 2005]

You can't beat that combination, unless you add in ninjas, or samurai... or Godzilla, but zombies and yakuza alone make a very compelling film, even if it has no sensible plot.

The storyline is simple enough - prisoners escape, get double crossed, then find out they're in a "forest of resurrection" full of zombies that don't like yakuza very much. That's all you really need to know.

Sit back and relax as you watch hilarious gory and impossibly bad acting. The movie is based on its visual appeal alone, forget the plot and the characters, watch the fight scenes, the strange standoffs, bad monologues, and hideously bad acting.

There are parts, however, where the movie drags on a bit. Killing zombies, even though enormously awesome, does become monotonous after an extended period. But these lulls are few and far between them. The action definitely keeps you hooked for most of the film.

Overall? Great action film.

7/10

Gruesome, Insane, Gore and Bizarre Zombie Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 17 October 2007]

There are 666 concealed portals that connect the world of the living to the world of the dead. In Japan, two prisoners runaway through the Forest of Resurrection, where the 444th portal is located, to meet a group of criminals that had organized their escape. One of the convicts sees a kidnapped young woman and argues with the leader of the gangsters. There is a shooting, and one of the mobsters is killed. However, a couple of minutes later, the dead rises and attacks his former mates. They realize the resurrection power of the forest, and the criminals become concerned, since they used the location to dump their victims in the spot. Suddenly they are attacked by a great number of zombies and have to fight to survive. But when the boss of the gangsters arrives, the survivor prisoner sees that his fate is to fight against his opponent.

The cult "Versus" is a gruesome, insane, gore and bizarre zombie movie. The brainless non-sense story is shot in one location in the woods, is full of action, very funny, fast paced and entertaining, with great choreography of the fights. The anti-hero has killed forty-three persons, faces very cruel bad guys (but we never hear their names), rescues the girl saying that he is feminist, but hits her head every time he needs to fight, meaning all the time. The leader of the bad guys with the knife is very funny and I had a lot of fun with this original film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Portal da Ressurreição" ("The Portal of Resurrection")

Note: On 08 Dec 2020 I saw this film again.

We don't need no stinking plot

[trunksofac · 10/10 · 3 October 2004]

This movie, while made to be an action type with some subtle humor, grades pretty low to folks looking for an action movie to snuggle up with and watch alone. This movie is much, much more fun to watch with others, preferably with a sense of humor.

If you're not a fan of action, and are looking for anything remotely deep and meaningful, look someplace else.

The movie is shot entirely in a forest setting, with the times shifting from morning to twilight frequently.

The action is very well put together despite being on an obvious low budget. I recommend this movie to anyone with a few hours to kill with a few friends.

"Versus" vs. America? - The winner? Us!

[dee.reid · 7/10 · 10 August 2005]

Boy, oh, boy. They don't make them like this anymore and boy, do I wish I had written this flick. This is a movie living and breathing (so to speak) cult following. "Versus" is a thrilling, fast and furious action-horror-comedy-martial arts actioner directed by Ryuhei Kitamara and features a bizarre and original plot line that's virtually nonexistent.

The irony is, even though it's original, the film spends very little time explaining its more complicated bits and gets great mileage out of the Japanese actors, none of whom have real names, other than two or three-word descriptions like the grungy, tough-talking anti-hero "Prisoner KSC2-303" or "The Girl" or "Yakuza Leader with Butterfly Knife." Real deep characters, huh?

The plot is simple, if confusing, and all seven minutes of it occur within the first few scenes: In Japan's "Forest of Resurrection," two escaped convicts are on their way to making a rendezvous with a group of fellow gangsters. A shoot-out occurs over a disagreement between KSC2 and the Yakuza leader regarding a kidnapped young woman in the trunk of his car - The Girl; one of the men is killed, and so is KSC2's buddy.

KSC2 and The Girl run off into the forest, but after he, and each of the gangsters put 50 bullets into the reanimated corpses of KSC2's buddy and the dead gangster. Soon, KSC2, The Girl, and the gangsters realize something is not right about the woods they had set up as a prearranged meeting spot, and it isn't long before they're all emptying clip after clip into the zombified corpses rising up from their shallow graves in the forest floor. (On a side note, I don't think any of the gangsters ever run out of ammunition.)

As it would turn out, the gangsters have been using the forest as a burial ground for their victims, and they're coming back to settle a score with their killers. Since this is the Forest of Resurrection, all the bodies of slain gangsters are rising from the dead and fighting against their living enemies. That's about all there is to the plot, and all you need to know.

This is a strange gem right here, folks. I don't think there's single production in Hollywood that could touch this movie in terms of style and subject matter. It looks fantastic, really giving the woods a life of its own (so to speak), and the mood of the film is effectively surreal. (It kind of reminds me of "The Evil Dead" in a few ways.) "Versus" ultimately plays out like a collision between every low-budget zombie movie, John Woo shoot-'em-up picture, and action movie we've ever seen. Now in Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen, we call that originality.

"Versus" is a skillful blend of each genre and it never loses sight of the main conflict between escaped convicts and gangsters; the zombies are merely a nuisance - who at first appear to be an interference with shadowy gangland activities. But as it would turn out, however, there's more to the story, and the Forest of Resurrection, as well as the zombies somehow figure into a plot that's best explained by the main villain of the picture, a stranger who I presume is The Man (since as I said before none of the characters have real names), who seeks The Girl to use her in his quest to achieve immortality, or something like that.

It's also pretty funny too. Much of the comedy in this movie arises from one panicky gangster member and two horribly disfigured police officers (whom I'm not sure are dead and resurrected or just badly injured) who have vowed to bring down the escaped convicts. And the corny one-liners (ever-present in the American dubbed version) will definitely get you laughing at its attempts to sound cool to our braindead audiences.

Even though "Verses" is not rated, it's extremely bloody with enough over-the-top gore to please any American gorehound or fan of zombie pictures. It's also got enough martial arts action and Woo-style gunplay to satisfy anyone who's gone into the film thinking this is a samurai picture (from looking at the DVD cover art).

"Versus" will definitely win on the cult circuit; whether it's ready to take on the American mainstream is a question that only time will answer. We'll just have to wait and see who the winner of that titanic battle will be...

7/10

Overlong and overrated

[HaemovoreRex · 5/10 · 25 September 2006]

Mix in equal parts Highlander and a Zombie flick and you end up with this cult classic from Japan.

The central premise is admittedly great; the idea of the 666 portals to our world and especially the 444th portal concerned here 'The Forest Of Resurrection' is suitably spooky. In addition, the notion of the perpetually reincarnated warriors battling down throughout the centuries is super cool.

Unfortunately, despite the above awesome premise and in addition even having now watched this film three times, each time having tried desperately hard to enjoy it, I ultimately just cannot appreciate what all the fuss is about.

To be fair there are some excellent sequences included throughout, especially the scenes set in the past wherein our hero bravely faces overwhelming odds, battling to the bitter end against hoards of zombies and his immortal nemesis.

So what went wrong? Well lets start with the characters....

The hero in this is to put it mildly, bland at best and was presumably chosen for the part solely based upon his looks. The end result is that given such a boring hero, I found myself actually rooting for the main bad guy in this (who doesn't actually show up until well into the films proceedings!!!) who let's face it, is MUCH cooler anyway!

Aside from our decidedly lacklustre hero we also get 'treated' to some particularly annoying characters throughout this. For one there is a horribly dressed psycho who particularly irritated the hell out of me! I'm sure the actor playing him was having a ball with his zany character but damn - the character was a veritable pain in the ass! Also of (non)note is the annoying, whining, diminutive fool who keeps accidentally shooting his fellow comrades, the peculiarly hopeless woman who is reincarnated along with our leads throughout the centuries and upon whose blood will decide the fate of the world and the pointless addition of a number of peripheral characters such as a pair of comic relief agents.

The film is mainly celebrated as an action fest and admittedly it does deliver some excellent set pieces throughout. However it has to be said that even these get a bit repetitive as time goes on. The stylised gun play as our protagonists empty seemingly limitless rounds into their undead assailants (and at each other!) does become tiresome after the umpteenth time. In addition despite many reviews I have read to the contrary, the martial arts in this are most definitely not as spectacular as I had been led to believe. In fact it is quite clear upon viewing this, that the majority of relevant actors here are not trained martial artists at all (including the lead), instead they are bolstered via various cinematic tricks such as fast editing in order to compensate.

The single biggest flaw in this for me though is the running time which is drastically too long and drags on severely. In fact, had this film been condensed down by about half an hour (or preferably more) I would have awarded this a much higher rating.

Although an overall sadly unfulfilling watch I must however comment on and commend the excellent open ending in this which seems to reverse the main protagonists roles as the 'game' begins again in the future - great stuff (including the souped up swords!)

Whilst highly recommend by so many and boasting such a huge cult following, try as I might, I simply cannot derive the same enjoyment from this that so many others report to have.

Oh well, maybe the supposed sequel will be better....

Camp and Gore

[brandonennals · 8/10 · 17 December 2004]

This movie actually turned out to be cooler than I expected. I really didn't know what to expect when I was first about to watch this. I only knew it had some zombies,and had something to do with a portal and reincarnation. Its also totally campy, very bloody and gory, and one of the more memorable characters in it. The guy who runs around and screams all the time is hilarious. The dialog is cheesy. It has a decent story to it. Its just a fun movie. The visuals will keep you glued by themselves. This is a very low budget movie, but just remember , if you go to watch it, have no expectations. This movie will make you say " What the F" more than make you think. There is also a nice shot at Matrix movies too. Pretty cool movie and I in no way expected the movie to end the way it did. I wonder if there is more to come?

An entertaining little flick

[EggyDeLux · 7/10 · 12 October 2004]

To begin with please don't take this film as serious, as you will be let down. It is in fact a very fun film, which you should really just hop on for the ride as it has some great moments that made me laugh out loud. I'm a big fan of eastern movies, and feel that it stands out on its own due to the combination of styles going on, from the zombie attacks to the samuri / yazuka influence. It travels along at a great pace, the only bad thing about this is the sour taste left in the poor ending, but take that away and its great, and i would say to anyone that they should give it a go, but please watch it with a smile on your face. The sound track is also very good and if anyone knows if it has been released i would love to find out.

Help!

[pguich · 3/10 · 25 December 2002]

I have to tell you, the user comments are far more entertaining than this movie itself!

Plus: Just because it's a foreign movie, it doesn't automatically qualify for 7 points, what are you people thinking!

Oh, and the best Japanese movie ever? Don't ever tell a Japanese person that, or you'd be barred for ever from entering that country.

There are great Japanese movies, but this one definitely does not belong. While Night of the living Dead, and Day of the Dead have achieved cult status, this movie does not (it's at best an attempt to copy, with a worse plot, worse actors, worse special effects, and worse make-up).

Well maybe I should continue watching the movie (it's running right now, but couldn't keep my attention). After so many good Japanese movies, I've been caught a little off guard. If they only had spend a little more on special effects, it would have rivalled the old Godzilla movies (now these are some real funny movies)!!

Man, what a movie!

[InzyWimzy · 10/10 · 25 June 2002]

I just finished seeing this film. Really interesting camera shots makes film feel like it's in another dimension or on another planet. It also estahblished an eerie, spooky atmosphere and gives a very haunting setting. The good guys can fight, the bad guys (including several Yakuza) aren't afraid to battle, and there are zombies. As the film goes on, the zombies aren't really the main problem the hero faces.

The action scenes in this movie are wild, intense, and can sometimes put a guilty grin on your face. Whether it's sword slicing, bullets blazing, or good old fashioned martial arts, the pace is frenetic and really establishes the characters well. Although a few scenes are paced slower, the action here ties it all together. This is the first time I've seen Zombies in combat who actually put up a great fight. The main part of the story unfolds during the second half and the ending is creative and original. Versus is unlike any movie I've previously seen.

I must've repeated to my friend that the soundtrack for Versus is really cool and it complements the fight scenes fanatic pace. Cool fashion, good amount of gore, and an interesting storyline. Definitely an film not to be missed.

The Asian "Evil Dead"

[Superunknovvn · 7/10 · 28 September 2003]

I hesitated long before I finally decided to see this movie. "Battle Royale" had been my last positive experience with Asian cinema and movies like "The Eye" and "Uzumaki" really turned me off. Besides, I was getting tired of martial arts and feared that "Versus" is going to be one long, boring opera of Kung Fu fighting. Thank God, the movie could prove me wrong. "Versus" is more a parody than anything else, but with really good fighting scenes. I compared the movie with "Evil Dead" in the headline, because obviously both movies play in the woods, feature zombies and don't lack humor. They have something else in common. Both flicks were made with little budget, which you don't see at all. The special effects, the actors and the directors in "Versus" are top noch. I can't point out enough, how much I appreciate the comedy aspect of the movie and how the makers managed to mix that comedy with action and story. The ending is a little controversial.

SPOILERS:

My explanation is that 99 years later, the good brother turned evil and the reincarnation of the villain is now good. If there's a deeper meaning behind that, then it may be that every man that is given power will abuse this power. The ending could also say that established things will eventually turn bad until they are knocked over by new and fresh ideas.

END OF SPOILERS & PHILOSOPHIC THOUGHTS.

The only bad thing I can say about the movie is that it could have been a little shorter. Also, the story lacked logic at times, but story is not what "Versus" is about. It's about fun and gore and, boy, you get both!

WTF did I just waste 2 hours of my life???!!!

[dsaspc · 1/10 · 23 February 2006]

So my girlfriend gets this movie the other day and says that she's been waiting so long to see it. Like an idiot, I offer to watch it with her tonight. I am just sitting here speechless. I think I would've rather spent the last two hours having my left nut smashed with a hammer. At first, I tried to fall asleep but hearing that awful dialog keep jarring me awake. It was so bad I couldn't even fall asleep. Rotten rotten rotten. Worst movie I have EVER seen! Go ahead and watch it, if you're retarded! Love you honey. You're not retarded, however, if you watch it again I won't be so sure. I am now gonna go puke. There was not one shred of talent with ANY of the actors. Could the plot be any more elementary? My god, this was filmed by eighth graders on acid, wasn't it? Worthless, just worthless.

Someone has to say it: BORING.

[MIles-11 · 14 April 2002]

It took me three sessions to finish this movie because it kept putting me to sleep. The word that seems to best fit this movie is "droning." The action is most unimpressive, the gore is not half as plentiful as I was lead to believe, and none of the performers make much of an impression. Somehow, despite all the zombie-shooting, it all feels flat somehow, and the expository scenes move at the molasses pace typical of Japanese films. And there is actually a lot of exposition; this film is hardly the nonstop whirlwind of blood and bullets that people make it out to be. I'm not one of those who complained that "Black Hawk Down was all action and had no characterization!" I'm not somebody who insists that every movie needs an original story and a deep message. But if a movie is going to consist of nothing but crazy, violent action, it had better be more interesting than this, which doesn't really have a single pulse-quickening moment in it. I tried to watch this movie again with friends, but they gave up on it in less than 15 minutes.

there are ways this kind of movie can go wrong, but it doesn't- it's a guilty pleasure

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 21 March 2007]

Versus is a movie that defies the odds- what odds for sure I don't know- and cements its place as one of those cult films you hear from time to time, but then when you see it you understand the hype. It's so excessively violent and against the grain of anything meant to be taken an iota seriously that it welcomes it being as much a comedy as a horror film. I'm not totally sure that's what the filmmakers intended, but they've got Versus in that same cross-hairs I found a flick like Riki-Oh to be in, where violence is abstracted completely from reality, despite the heap-loads of blood meant, supposedly, to be realistic. There's nothing realistic about Versus, as it's a supernatural wild-card of sorts that combines zombies and yakuza in one package tinted with some possible Japanese folklore. The director Ryuhei Kitamura is very aware of how his camera can move around in an action scene- perhaps dangerously close on too aware- and makes his style hyper-kinetic but never annoying or too boring. While he lacks a real polish in shooting dialog scenes (jiggly hand-held camera, already with the dubbing that comes from seeing it on TV, never a good idea), Kitamura is a born and bred director of cartoonishly gory action scenes, where body parts get severed like it's breathing, and there's so many guns on display, and so many bullets fired, and so many swords clanged and clashed, and a good share of hearts ripped out and heads decapitated (some of said head's faces that give meaningful glances before being knocked dead), one doesn't want it to stop after a while.

Even the dialog sometimes gets very big enjoyment, if not through the main characters (the lead guy, who is an amnesiac who's soul dates back to that of the villain, a sorcerer who after conjuring hundreds of zombies is looking for blood to make him somehow immortal in the Forest of Resurrection), then through supporting ones. There's the typical wormy guy who's part of the yakuza, but goes through the movie scared out of his wits and with a face of red blood; you might think that would make him more of a bad-ass, but not so, not against his female adversary anyway. There's also the best side character, an FBI agent from Yellowstone National Park (which may or may not be in Canada), who also claims to be five times stronger than Mike Tyson. It's a good thing that characters like these, and the villain to an extent, go for the absurd, because it's a lot to swallow, a lot of it hard to follow or without much consequence anyway, in terms of the actual story. It might appeal to die-hard fans or even to those of video games to which Versus has gone on to influence, but it's not story that should be of major concern here, not when the seeming romance between female spirit and lunk-head with a past life is meant to be taken seriously and when the yakuza who early on seems like the true villain turns soon into a zombie toad.

No, Versus is best as one thing and one thing alone- pure, hilarious adrenaline. Although Kitamura's work ratchets the tension, it's never a tension that mounts steadily; his characters are too lackadaisical in the midst of zombies circling around them to load their weapons to really earn that tension. It's when the s*** goes down and suddenly attitude gets put to the test with equaled skills as fighters and shooters. It all adds up to being a great guilty pleasure, one where the feeling of admiration and kicking yourself silly over it all comes also with a feeling of 'is this really worth it, this trashy stuff'. But as trash, when it comes down to it, could be a lot worse, or boring. Versus is the kind of disposable malarkey that would be sweet to see again at 3 in the morning, staying up all the way to the end, which for some reason or another skips ahead to "99 Years Later"! 7.5/10

One of the best action movies of the 21st century

[simon_booth · 10/10 · 25 May 2002]

The contribution that Japan has made to the world of screen violence can hardly be overstated, and in the 21st Century there seems to be a new renaissance of sheer bloodiness. Movies like BATTLE ROYALE, ICHI THE KILLER and VERSUS really set new standards for out and out shocking violence that I don't think any other country in the world has matched.

VERSUS is basically all about action. The premise is a crazy one that involves kung-fu samurais re-incarnated as yakuza who then get turned into zombies and vampires. It's actually a very interesting and quite complex story in its own right, but basically it's an excuse to get a bunch of people in a forest and stage a fairly continuous sequence of hand to hand fights, sword fights and gun fights - with a supernatural angle to justify some HK style OTT acrobatics and an undead angle to justify people getting seriously messed up and still fighting on. Genius. Sick as all hell, but genius!

These days, good action movies from Hong Kong are becoming increasingly rare. For years HK stood unchallenged and exported its unique cinematic arts throughout Asia. Since the talent or the investment or the will or whatever seems to have fled the HK industry in recent years, it seems like other Asian countries are stepping up to the challenge of filling the gap. Korea has produced movies like MUSA and MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER, Thailand has produced BANGKOK DANGEROUS and TAK 4, INDIA has produced AANKHEN and MISSION KASHMIR. Hollywood and Europe have had a go too, but with so little success overall it's hardly worth mentioning.

VERSUS is clearly made by a small independant team who recognised that Hong Kong isn't going to produce the next jaw-dropping action movie any time soon, and who believed they had what it took to do it instead. It takes a lot of confidence and dedication to produce results like these on a clearly low budget, and Napalm Films must have had a lot of both. VERSUS attempts practically every type of action scene that Hong Kong has been famous for (and Japan traditionally has not), and pulls most of them off very well.

There'd been such a lot of hype around VERSUS on the net for ages that I'd found myself instinctively hating it before I knew anything about it, but when I saw the trailer I was converted to enthusiasm. Seeing the wild disparity between the cool SHIRAYUKI HIME trailer and the dreadful full length movie gave me some trepidation about VERSUS, which is probably a good thing since at least I wasn't expecting something flawless. VERSUS is not flawless, but it's much much better than SHIRAYUKI HIME.

The action scenes are not better than Hong Kong's best - they're not even nearly as good as some of the scenes in movies like MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS in fact, but they're imaginatively and enthusiastically staged and filmed. And violent! Oh so very very violent! The special effects are some of the most convincingly brutal I've seen. ICHI THE KILLER may have had more outrageous effects, but was never in danger of having convincing effects. BATTLE ROYALE may have had more realistic violence, but nothing like the sheer magnitude of the bodily damage people take in VERSUS! People get cut in half, lose limbs, have gaping holes blown through them... well, you know how much it takes to stop a zombie moving . It's all played fairly non-seriously, but not to the cartoonish extent of ICHI. It looks pretty damn real.

Definitely not one for the squeamish, really not a family movie. But for the sick puppies out there who maintain an innocent curiosity as to just how violent a movie can be (like myself, I admit), VERSUS is definitely a must-see!

I really wanted to enjoy this movie.

[Nighthawk97 · 6/10 · 7 March 2019]

I had heard so many good things from my friends and I've been a fan of the directors more recent work.

That being said, I was amazed at how slow paced and boring this movie was. The action was serviceable, but the forest setting made everything incredibly confusing and a headache to look at.

The story is pretty much non existent and extremely trivial. It also does the frequent low budget trope of setting everything in one location.

Watch Godzilla Final Wars instead, it's a much better film.

Who lied and said this was worth seeing?

[ljupina · 1/10 · 16 October 2005]

Some may forgive this movie for no plot, but it's thin on pretty much everything else as well.

The plot? Well, some prisoner with an attitude escapes... in the FOREST OF RESURRECTION. Things that die come back to life here. Sound interesting? Well, it gets worse. Actually, the plot is pretty much your standard horrible anime script. Some hero fights mystical stuff, for some reasons we don't really know.

As if the plot wasn't testing your patience, the poorly conceived and performed characters drive it further into the ground. The "hero" is more a caricature of a tough guy than the real thing to even take seriously. I can't even take the villain seriously as he seems as if he's bored while trying to recite some contrived lines.

Action sequences are pretty dull, as 'action' is construed as a mass of guns being fired or some unimaginative martial arts choreography. The director probably knew this which is why most martial arts scenes were extremely up close- so you can't see how horrible the fights actually are.

I watched the unrated director's cut, the unrated probably from the unnecessary overuse of gore. Whether it was to be a joking prop, so much was shown it got old.

This movie is awful. Anyone who rates this movie over a 5 probably shouldn't be recommending movies to others. The direction and execution of this movie gives me the impression that this movie would be material for crusty American Japanophiles. Well, here's your movie.

Highly entertaining film!

[nooneatnowhere · 9/10 · 15 April 2005]

I came across versus by chance, and thought that the premise described on the back of the DVD sounded interesting. I enjoy watching all kinds of film genres, so I thought "why not?! If it's bad I'll just stop watching". I popped it in my DVD player and was thoroughly entertained for the next two hours or so.

The gist of the story is: Two convicts who manage to escape their police escorts, run into a forest to meet up with some shady looking Yakuzas, who they believe will take them to a safe place. The lead character who is only known as Prisoner KSC2-303 (please note none of the characters have names) doesn't quite trust them, especially when he finds out that they have brought a kidnapped girl along for the ride. There is a stand off. Insults are exchanged (I especially enjoyed Prisoner KSC2-303's comments).Guns are fired, and one of the yakuzas as well as the other convict are shot, and consequently come back to life as zombies. We later find out that the head yakuza that shows up a little later in the film, is a five hundred year old demon/vampire/sorcerer who wants to open the gates of hell and thus gain incredible power. In order to do so, he needs the girl's blood (isn't that always the way?). It seems that the forest they are in, is the 444th portal to hell.It is also known as the forest of resurrection where the dead come back to life. It's also a popular burial ground for people the yakuzas have bumped off over the years. So as one might guess, there are a whole bunch of zombies walking around (with loaded guns I might add). What follows are a lot of fights; knife fights, gun fights, hand to hand combat, fights with big samurai swords. Everybody in this film fights. Even the girl who is supposed to be completely helpless manages to hit a few people. There are many more details that I have left out, as that would give away all the plot twists. IMHO, the less you known about the film the more likely it is that you will enjoy it.

As well as action and gore (there is plenty of gore) the film has a lot of humorous moments that I think work really well (they had me giggling). The action is great. The fight choreography is well executed, particularly the final fight between prisoner ksc2-303 and the main "bad" guy. The acting was also quite good. I liked the performances from the two male leads. However, there was one performance that to begin with was rather amusing, but went slightly over the top towards the end (if you watch this film, then you will know who I'm talking about).

Overall, this is a really fun, funny and enjoyable film, which manages to blend a whole range of genres rather competently.It may not be everyone's cup of tea,but I think if you're an open-minded film viewer, who enjoys watching films that are a little quirky and unconventional,you may like it. I've watched this film many times and still enjoy it as much as I did the first time I watched it. I look forward to Versus 2.

An unrelenting feast of violence, humour and death. That's why I love it.

[Cinema_Fan · 7/10 · 4 July 2007]

Deep in The Forest of Resurrection lies a dark and sinister secret. It is the 444th portal that connects the world of the living to the world of the dead. Vengeful zombies, returning Sprits of the underworld plus your typical bad guy's are the order of the day here, in this extremely entertaining and intelligent battle of wit and survival. With stunning choreography that brings a new dimension to the meaning of "fight scene", explosive and positively dynamic in every sense.

This classic cult movie from Japan is fast paced, as is its editing and highly imaginative camera work, with this right combination of vision and dexterity Versus is not your ordinary action cum zombie cum ghost story. This transcends new grounds and highlights both the skill and foresight that we have come to see from the Asian market, while this genre and its undertakings may not be initially new we do see an originality that rightly so deserves merit and recognition.

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. 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. This is where old Japanese Samurai mysticism meets the new world of the gangster and the gun. Gruesome, bloody and positively bold.

Syuichi Kakeshu (b. 1957) editing is sharp and fast, with its constant no holds barred violence and blood from the very beginning to the very end, only the correct manor of delivery such as Syuichi Kakeshu's work can bring this bloodbath to its climax. Syuichi Kakeshu's other works can also include Alive (2002), Azumi (2003) and Sky High (2003).

The special make up effect's by Susumu Nakatani is outstanding and an all out gross affair and accompanied by a descent soundtrack of both synthesizer and rock guitar styles, this is both an exciting and intriguing style of dark humour and violent action. Delivering a feast of gore, countless body part, and with Yûji Shimomura as action director the stunts and fight sequences delivers Versus a mighty punch in return.

One of the most awful films I have EVER seen...*SPOILER*

[Devorummortis · 1/10 · 11 February 2007]

I rented this movie for a "Bad Movie Night", as it was my turn to pick the movies, and it seemed like it would be a good, campy, fun "bad" movie. Little did I know I was actually getting a bona-fide bad movie. The "runt", whom everyone seems to love, was one of the worst characters I have ever had the misfortune to watch on screen, though he was almost outclassed by the "crazy" guy. I guess slapstick idiocy is what passes for decent acting these days. Wonderful lines such as: "unfortunately for you, I'm a feminist!", along with its dramatic camera work and music, served to wonderfully highlight the overall badness of the film. We had to turn it off halfway through. We managed to sit through all of Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter, and we have struggled through several Kevin VanHook films, but we couldn't finish Versus. It was THAT bad.

Very entertaining and very funny action fantasy flick

[chrichtonsworld · 8/10 · 11 March 2007]

For a unconventional movie events play out very carefully except for the strange ending! This type of movie doesn't need much of a plot! Still there is a little story told in between the action to keep it interesting! This movie is about fun! Action and fun! Zombies against very unfriendly characters! The characters portrayed are all evil! But still you will like them. The characters don't take themselves to seriously and that's what makes all the ridiculous stuff acceptable! There is this police officer who keeps bragging to his partner! Before the end this officer is part of a parody on "The Matrix" (the bullet dodge scene on the roof). He shouts that he cannot be hurt because he is 500 times faster than Mike Tyson! You see him dodge like Neo in "The Matrix" and gets blown away! This is an example of the humor you can expect! Empty your mind and just watch and you will enjoy this movie!

A very good introduction to Asian action/horror/comedy, worth a look

[lemon_magic · 7/10 · 31 July 2005]

I am not that deep into films from the Pacific Rim, but I have been known to keep an eye out at my local video store for some of the more unusual and outré films. That's how I saw "Testsuo" and "Stalker", and "Fist Of Legend", none of which ever made it this far inland. This one caught my eye with its bold and iconic poster design and the rave review excerpts while I was doing such a sweep, and I decided to give it a try.

I have to hand it to our Tokyo counterparts: when they go for frenetic physical humor and quirky characters and over-the-top action, they don't hold back. While many of the story elements, structure, and acting conventions might confuse or jar the sensibilities of the typical American Multiplex attendee, "Versus" will win you over if you give it a chance.

As I implied, you probably won't find this kind of story told in a Hollywood style production, not even in the action or horror genres: Yakuza gangsters confront supernatural forces (including zombies) in a primordial forest, while an escapee from a futuristic prison slowly tries comes to terms with his 'real' reincarnated identity and powers before an ancient entity destroys him and the world. And anyone in Hollywood who tried to tell a story like this would leave out the most important element: they couldn't possibly make it as 'cool' as the director does it here. (Well, maybe the Wachowski brothers, or the Coens).

That's what drives this story and makes it stand out: every scene, every frame, every costume and firearm and major prop in this movie, absolutely oozes atmosphere, fatalistic attitude and macho 'cool', in the same way that video-games like 'Metal Gear Solid', 'Devil May Cry' and 'Splinter Cell' leave you itching to get your hands on a real stealth suit or a katana. The main 'villain' is even better than the movie's protagonist in this regard - he might rip your spine from your back if he needed to (and you couldn't stop him), and he'd smile while he was doing it, but not in a sadistic way...more in a 'what fools these mortals be' way. On 2nd thought, MAYBE a bit sadistic, but also wry and self-amused.

I am not familiar enough with Japanese acting standards to be certain, but it seems to me that every actor here is giving what the director wanted from them - the characters they play are all cyphers and stereotypes, but these actors are a hell of a lot of fun to watch. The blocking, the stunts, the 'stage business', the gun battles, the sword fights are all lively and visceral. Again, not subtle, but plenty cool.

I was very glad I got to see "Versus", and while I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who can't think outside the mainstream Hollywood 'box', I think devotees of the quirky and unusual will find much to enjoy.

oh. my. god.

[justiceislost · 1/10 · 1 October 2005]

This movie was the biggest piece of sh*t my eyes will have ever watched. EVER. At first it just appears to be a piece of sh*t zombie movie, but then somehow they managed to turn it into one giant flaming piece of sh*t altogether. Excessive violence can certainly be fun, but this piece of sh*t just gets dragged on and on and on until you want to gouge your own eyes out. This movie had no plot, by the end they weren't even trying to make up excuses for yet another drawn out fight scene. It almost would have been better if there was no dialog, because that was what made this thing an even bigger piece of sh*t. It sounds like it was written by a bunch of sixth grade kids, and the dubbing all sounded like bad Clint Eastwood impressions. If you closed your eyes and just listened to the dialog, you would think it was just one guy talking to himself the whole bloody time. Enjoy!

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[NukedaFridge · 28 May 2006]

A very poor film. Mediocre action, characters and acting. A film that uses slapstick, gore and stereotypical "Slick" bag guys, the composed anti-hero, the poor little innocent girl, a Clouseau type inspector and of course your gullible zombie hordes which march to their deaths in a series of slaughterfests. The film doesn't alter reality it ignores it, from 6 shooter revolvers firing a couple if dozen shots to throwing away your guns for hand to hand combat in the midst of a standoff. Most disappointing was the main characters portrayal as a bad ass but sakaguchis performance was so poor that rather than conveying "not caring" he conveyed "stare straight ahead and don't change that face" The movie gets one star because the yakuza leader really put some effort into his character. In all this blows, some people say that its a movie that a group can relax with a drink and laugh at and enjoy, however thats something that can be easily done with XXX2. Doesn't take much to entertain a couple of drunks and this film isn't very much. Usually when someone criticises eastern cinema by saying says "if that film was made in the west people would say it blows" In these cases I class them then and there as idiots but on this occasion I accept it. This film is just a Japanese cult fad and if it was shot entirely the same with script, plot, level of performance and even the exact same frames, no doubt the public would bomb it. Face it, this blows.