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| | SOUND CLIPS | versus_song.wav
| | VIDEO CLIP |  | | Zombie-killing mayhem
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Internet Movie Database
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VERSUS
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| Unrated
| | Copyright 2000 KSS
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Reviewed by Andrew Borntreger on 21 February 2008
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This movie is filled with violence. It contains an incredible number of fights that involve both firearms and martial arts. In any other flick, one or two of these mortal combats would be worth talking about. "Versus" is almost entirely comprised of awesome "That fight kicked ass!" scenes. If you like this sort of movie, I definitely recommend buying the Ultimate Versus DVD set.
Prisoner KSC2-303 (the protagonist) is on the run; he meets up with some mobsters who brought a kidnapped girl to the forest. Despite an obvious need to keep moving to avoid the authorities, the thugs insist on waiting for their boss to arrive. The meeting degenerates into lots of pistols being waved in people's faces, because KSC2-303 (henceforth, I am going to refer to him as the "hero" - though that is something of a misnomer) is insulting when he wants to be.
Eventually, the hero shoots one of the mobsters. The dead man comes back as a zombie! Not a good plan, returning from the dead when a bunch of armed thugs are around. Thirty gunshots later, the zombie's spirit flees from the land of the heavily-armed living. Meanwhile, our hero grabs the girl and disappears into the wood, with the mobsters in hot pursuit.
Most of the story takes place inside of the zombie-infested Forest of Resurrection. There is some annoying shaky action camerawork at first, but that calms down to a reasonable level. There is a lot of "shooting my pistol horizontal, gangsta-style" (seeing that always makes me cringe), and, of course, there is plenty of frantic techno music. I usually get grumpy about techno music. In the case of a movie that features lots of gun-wielding Japanese mobsters fighting a running (literally) battle with zombies, the music choice appears to be sound. Maybe it would be more fitting if the setting was a strobe-lit dance club in downtown Tokyo, but that is just me trying to be picky.
Before long, another group of people arrive in the forest. They look exactly like stereotypical Yakuza, and they fight like them too. Between the first group, the hero and his little lady, and the Yakuza, dozens of zombies are bloodily dispatched. The undead can be killed; it just takes a lot of damage to put one down. Maybe the people should have tried more head shots; far as I can tell, the various toughs always unload their pistols into the torso. Haven't you guys and gals ever played "Resident Evil?" It takes a lot more shots to the body to kill a zombie. Shoot them in the head, or you might run out of ammo!
The hero is an odd duck. He wants to look tough, and takes the black leather duster, pants, and boots off of a dead man to fit the image. He also slouches like a thug - a tough, veteran thug. For some reason, the rescued girl is attracted to him, despite the fact that every time a fight takes place, the hero knocks her unconscious with a swift punch to the forehead.
The main bad guy reveals himself about halfway through the movie (it is more than two hours long; TWO HOURS of fists, bullets, and blood). He is an ageless wizard, and powerful beyond belief. Like catching the buckshot from a close range shotgun blast with his bare hand powerful. The hero is the reincarnation of a samurai who once denied the wizard what he wanted the most: even more power. The girl is also a reincarnated soul. Her blood is needed to unlock the secret of the Forest of Resurrection.
I failed to mention that the hero and the wizard are brothers. I am glad that I never had a younger brother, because if he had ever cut the head off of a woman I wanted, I would have to kill him. I'd never hear the end of it from my mother, undoubtedly.
The final confrontation between the wizard and Mr. Tough is excellent. Both of them are armed with samurai swords; it is a wild fight. At one point, they each wind up holding the other's sword. Neither seems to like it and they find a way to switch back, without skipping a slash.
You should avoid the English dub. The original voices are much, much better. Even with subtitles on, you will not spend much time reading. The movie is just one fight after another.
The KO Picture show sponsored a roundtable for "Vs." movies. Check out all of the reviews by clicking on the banner.
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| Things I Learned From This Show: | |
|  | Janeane Garofalo has an identical Japanese twin.
| | | Being poked really hard in the xiphoid process is fatal.
| | | The worst thing about pretty girls is that they eventually rot.
| | | Killing someone in the "Forest of Resurrection" is an exercise in frustration.
| | | Never try to limbo your way out of a fight if the other guy is holding an anti-tank rifle.
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| | | 3 mins - This is where you fall down...
| | | 17 mins - Bravo for quickly devising a way to test if people who die here come back as zombies. Next time, try doing it without killing one of your friends.
| | | 34 mins - You should try putting Rain-X on your glasses.
| | | 58 mins - I was thinking that he needed a new tie.
| | | 65 mins - This is your brain. This is your brain after somebody punches a hole completely through your skull. Any questions?
| | | 83 mins - Whoever that was, they have a lot of arrows in them.
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| Mobster #1: "One stupid girl and one a**hole. What the hell is he planning to do with those two?"
| Mobster #1: "I'll kill that guy."
Mobster #2: "No, you shouldn't do that."
| Girl: "Thanks for helping me."
KSC2-303: "I didn't mean to help you. They just piss me off."
| KSC2-303: "What do you want?"
Girl: "You don't have to kill this one."
KSC2-303: "Shut up; don't preach to me."
| KSC2-303: "So, you caused all of this."
Wizard: "I knew you could survive no matter what."
KSC2-303: "I don't know you at all. What do you want?"
Wizard: "It's fine that you don't know me, because your soul does."
KSC2-303: "You're making things complicated."
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