There have been dozens of Japanese Yakuza films released over the years and, frankly, the central story in Takashi Miike‘s Dead Or Alive isn’t giving the educated viewer anything they haven’t seen numerous times before. A gang leader (Riki Takeuchi) clashing with a reluctantly corrupt cop (Sho Aikawa), while both weave in and out through confrontations with the criminal element could describe any number of films. However, the pedestrian plot is turned on it’s ear because of the director’s bizarre sensibilities. Any review of this film is required to mention the ten minute segments that bookend the story. Needless to
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