IMDb > Versus (2000/II)
Versus
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

Versus (2000/II) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 2)
Versus (2000) -- There are 666 portals that connect this world to the other side. These are concealed from all human beings. Somewhere in Japan exists the 444th portal.... The forest of resurrection.
Versus (2000) -- There are 666 portals that connect this world to the other side. These are concealed from all human beings. Somewhere in Japan exists the 444th portal.... The forest of resurrection.

Overview

User Rating:
6.7/10   6,859 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

No change in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Ryûhei Kitamura

Writers:

Ryûhei Kitamura (writer)
Yûdai Yamaguchi (writer)

Contact:

View company contact information for Versus on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

20 February 2002 (France) more

Tagline:

Witness a battle no one has ever seen more

Plot:

There are 666 portals that connect this world to the other side. These are concealed from all human beings. Somewhere in Japan exists the 444th portal.... The forest of resurrection. full summary | add synopsis

Awards:

1 win more

User Comments:

One of the best action movies of the 21st century more (206 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Tak Sakaguchi ... Prisoner KSC2-303
Hideo Sakaki ... The Man
Chieko Misaka ... The Girl
Kenji Matsuda ... Yakuza Leader with butterfly knife
Yuichiro Arai ... Motorcycle-riding yakuza with revolver
Minoru Matsumoto ... Crazy yakuza with amulet
Kazuhito Ohba ... Yakuza with glasses
Takehiro Katayama ... Red-haired assassin
Ayumi Yoshihara ... Long-haired female assassin
Shôichirô Masumoto ... One-handed cop
Toshiro Kamiaka ... Samurai warrior
Yukihito Tanikado ... Cop with Barrett
Hoshimi Asai ... Short-haired female assassin
Ryosuke Watabe ... Yakuza zombie in alligator-skin coat
Motonari Komiya ... Other prisoner
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:

Down to Hell 2 (Japan: English title) (working title)
The Ultimate Versus (Japan) (director's cut)
more

MPAA:

Rated R for strong pervasive violence and gore, and language.

Runtime:

119 min | Australia:115 min | South Korea:102 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

KSS more


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

The cast, crew, and director (who call themselves Team Versus) had so much fun making this film that director Ryûhei Kitamura purposely filmed the movie with no ending, with hopes that they would be able to make a sequel. The DVD has proved to be a cult success in both the U.S. and Japan, so Japanese film companies have green-lit the sequel and given it (supposedly) an exponentially higher budget. Team Versus plans on principal photography in mid-2005. more

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the car arrives to pick the two prisoners up (at the beginning of the film) the camera crew and their equipment are reflected in the car's window when one guy opens the door. more

Quotes:

Prisoner KSC2-303: What's all this got to do with me?
Girl: It's your destiny.
more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Aragami (2003) more


FAQ

What are the differences between the normal version and the Ultimate edition?
more
9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful.
One of the best action movies of the 21st century, 25 May 2002
10/10
Author: Simon Booth from UK

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!

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (206 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Versus (2000/II)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
can someone give me a plot summary? chengda85
So bad it was almost good... almost HorrorshowChi
Versus 2 = The American Versus Sam_Sung_Sang
Coolest Yakuza? bko376
Ultimate versus goof? vanglak
Did anyone else like the English dub? thegreatmastersamuelgree
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Rambo Oneechanbara: The Movie Braindead Bad Boys II Kill Bill: Vol. 1
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Action section IMDb USA section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.