3 Extremes
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.08 You Save: $8.90 (59%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.99 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of 3 Extremes
Movie Review: Superbly realistic horror. Far better than current US stuff.
Summary: 5 Stars
`3 Extremes' combines three short (about 40 minutes each) films, `Dumplings' by the Chinese director, Fruit Chan, `Cut' by the Korean director, Park Chan-Wook, and `Box' by the Japanese director, Miike Takashi. What makes them so amazingly good is that they rely on neither supernatural agents, extreme monsters (can we say `not another `Godzilla' send-off, please), or excessive and elaborate pain-inflicting gadgets (can we say please no `Saw 4' or another `Texas Chain Saw Massacre', please). Oddly, this makes them strongly akin to some of Stephen King's best horror stories, even though King does rely on the supernatural a fair bit (especially in his best, such as `Carrie', `The Stand', and `The Shining'), he does it with such attention to the ordinary, you hardly notice the spooks in the house.
One thing in common with two of the three, `Box' and `Cut', is that the filmmaker introduces extreme circumstances, and makes them easy to believe (and therefore be all the more scary) by showing them as part of either a dream or a staged event. Chan takes things even further and may be the most successful of the three in that the horrific device is so unusual, it comes as a genuine surprise. In fact, the story of `Dumplings' before Chan lets the cat out of the bag appears so benign, it almost seems like a segment from that great Japanese foodie movie, `Tampopo'. Even the soft core pornographic scenes are entirely consistent with many of the scenes from `Tampopo'.
Of the three, `Cut' is the most visually violent, and yet this violence is quite restrained when compared to the `Saw' flicks, `...Chainsaw...', or `Hostel'. The violence and style of restraint is almost mannerist, and definitely sedate when compared to these American bloodfests.
All three films are in their original languages with English subtitles. Only the third film, `Box' has a director's voice-over commentary, and I didn't feel this added much to what I got out of the movie; however, it was a worthwhile reason to watch the piece a second time. I strongly agree with the director that when you watch this piece, do it without the commentary turned on first, since such an important aspect of the film is the ABSENCE of sound and dialogue.
This collection is eminently successful, in that it has definitely encouraged me to see the other films made by these three directors, and to be quick about it. If they can do this good a job with 40 minutes, I am anxious to see what they can do with 90 to 120 minutes!
Of course, Asian filmmaking and actors have a style all their own, and it is NOT the style of Akira Kurasawa and his Samurai film copycats. It is far more like Kabuki or `No' dramas, very heavily mannerist, almost like classical ballet. But, this detracts not one wit from the excellence of these pieces.
Movie Review: tasty little nuggets or terror (4.5 stars)
Summary: 5 Stars
so, this review is for 3-Extremes, which in actuality, as all the neurotic fanboys have pointed out, is the 2nd volumne in the series.
"Dumplings" by Fruit Chan:
To start things off we have the shortened version of Fruit Chan's "Dumplings". The twist, which in this day and age might seem a bit trite, is still incredibly effective in it's portrayal of the levels of desperation people, be they men or women, in this case a woman, will sink in order to achieve eternal beauty. The scene where Bai Ling is retrieving and eventually chopping up the main ingredient to her prized dumplings is disturbing, and I have seen some sick, depraved things in films before.
Rating: 5 out of 5
"Cut" by Park Chan-Wook:
"Oldboy" director Chan-Wook Park serves us up a piece of symbolic dreamlike horror with his installment. I think, from the other reviews I've read, that this segment gets an unfair amount of flack. Park is a man who uses symbolism in his films, so there is a lot more to this story than just a bitter extra trying to teach a supposedly "always nice, perfectly flawless" director a lesson, that everyone can be a horrid monster. I could go into the details of every little thing that makes this the perfect bit of cinema that it is, but that would take far far too long. There is a great, intelligent, insightful discussion about it on the IMDb boards, so I suggest, if curious to look into that.
Rating: 5 out of 5
"Box" by Takashi Miike:
A total psychological mind-**** from Audition director Takashi Miike. It focuses, or so we're lead to believe, around a young isolated woman who suffers deep regret for "accidentally" killing her fellow circus sideshow sister at a young age by trapping her in a box and stumbling into a lantern, casuing the tent to bo up in ablaze. (if this part is accuare I'm not sure, I actually haven't watched the film since February.) This is, although a short film, probably Miike's most spectacularly shot film.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Movie Review: Some uncomfortable moments with this one...
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't understand all the negative reviews. If you're into horror, you'll love it. If you're not, well, don't buy/watch it, because this trilogy is incredibly cruel and unrelenting. It plays as a single feature divided into three sections: "Dumplings", directed by Fruit Chan of Hong Kong, "Cut" directed by Park Chan-Wook of Korea and "Box" directed by Miike Takashi of Japan. Each section is like a dissertation in horror, although "Dumplings" could also be classified as an exploitation film.
All of them are beautifully produced and directed, and I especially found "Box" to be quite lavish in sets, costumes and atmosphere. They each show a lot about the culture of the respective countries they were made in and also provide new takes on the terrifying and the appalling. They are each original in their own right, although "Cut" could be compared to the "Saw" or Hannibal Lecter franchises in that there's a psycho who's trying to get a message across by way of murder and mayhem.
I don't want to give away details on the plots of any of them because I think that viewers need to experience them for themselves with no preconceptions going in, but what I can say is that "Dumplings" has the most plot and is probably the one with the highest "squeam" factor, "Cut" covers a rather familiar premise but with lots of fun moments (you'll see) and "Box" is more of an artistic endeavour with not much of a plot, but for some reason I was enthralled and couldn't look away; it's the one I liked the most.
A solid 4.5 out of 5 stars for the efforts of these genius Asian directors.
Movie Review: 2 extremes in this 5 star film
Summary: 5 Stars
This was an amazing experience. I loved Dumplings the most Box was great. Cut was ok but left more to be desired. I have not watched the sequel however, I hope it's just as great. I'm looking forward to watching Kim-jee-woons story. I hope I was spelling his name right. I think they really did go extreme and with that said lived up to the title. Each story was shocking and kept you glued to the edge of your seat clinching with terror. Mike takashi is just an amazing director however, Fruit chan definitely had one up on him in this trilogy. For the die hard J-horror fans definitely pick this one up it outdoes the Grudge and the Ring in my opinion. More unique story lines instead of the same old stuff america keeps stealing from Japan. If you can't afford to buy both blockbuster video is now selling them each for 9.99 used. Definitely check it out. They also have 3 used movies for 20 bucks so pick up another J-horror if you can find another great one which I doubt if not just pick up the grudge or the ring or ring 2 although they don't come close to this at all.Movie Review: Quite a 3-Course Meal
Summary: 5 Stars
Just watched a bizarre trilogy of terror entitled "3 Extremes". The one-hour segments are horrific...great for horror fans and each has a mind-blowing twist. The trio was created in three different countries - Japan, China and Korea. Each are subtitled in English and the video quality is excellent. The first feature... is called "Dumplings" (It gets all 5 stars). The second is "Cut" (It, too, gets all 5 stars). The third is "Box" (It gets all 5, plus an extra one). I just bought the sequel (Part 2) and will watch them in the next week or so. This set was made for the true fans of chilling horror...like me. Highly recommended. And, not to put down other reviewers, these flicks are quite extreme...maybe not as graphic as some would like, but there's plenty of blood, pain and emotional frenzies...just the way horror should be delivered. For the price, you're getting THREE top notch horror movies. Wait till after dark to watch this...around dinner time. It's a great three-course meal.