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139 out of 175 people found the following review useful: Good fun if you're in the right mood!, 19 September 2006 Author: Thomas Jolliffe (supertom-3) from Marlow, England
Dead or Alive is a film that is so exploitative and atrociously bad, that somehow it ended up being a whole lot of fun. However to view this as a fun film, it must be viewed as intended: With brain switched off, and ol' Mr McDong taking control of your functions for 80 minutes. Yes, this may be a film with a predominantly female cast, but ladies need not turn up to watch this, cause they probably won't enjoy it, unless their sexual barometer is registering the opposite end from "hetero." This film is total gratuity in every regard, from the scantily clad, sexy ladies, to the barrage of testosterone pumping action. This is hot chicks doing high kicks! So with that, and having this the pre-conceived idea when I bought my ticket, I knew I'd enjoy it. Hell the film was marketed right. It's about a video game and has the subtlety of said game, which is in the button bashing, short attention span of the games spectrum. It's a simple movie for a simple movie going experience. IF anyone goes into this film and comes out having not enjoyed it, then they SHOULD have known better! I think only those who want to see this kind of film, who are in the mood, will watch, and they'll get a kick out of it like me. Critics will despise it cause it represents a film they have to watch, but probably don't want to.So DOA is essentially a non-interactive video game, an FMV if you will. It's got an awful script, mediocre acting, and all the efforts of the filmmakers have gone into perfectly capturing, glistening, bouncing boobies amongst the martial arts mayhem. The plot essentially is nothing more than little set-ups to all the fights, taking place at a secret fighting tournament set up by Eric Roberts, in grade-A scenery chewing mode. Roberts to me is a tragic waste of talent, who in the early 80's looked a great prospect and to some, me included, has more talent than his over-rated sister Julia (who now of course takes all the plaudits). Roberts is consigned to doing DTV movies now, or TV movies and on the rare occasion he appears back in the multiplexes, it's in another B-movie that usually is awful. However at least Eric is enjoying himself here, relishing his return (somewhat) to the limelight. or to put it another way, to remind people Julia wasn't an only child! The rest of the main cast, who register any interest, are the hot ladies. There's the rather bizarre, yet strikingly attractive looking Devon Aoki and then there's also Holly Valance, Sarah Carter and Natassia Malthe too. However it's Jaime Pressley who steals the show, not only with her performance, that delivers the most laughs (intentional ones that is), but also she has a bod to die for and considering some stiff competition from Valances sculpted physique in particular, that's no mean feat.Overall though this film will go down as a classic bad movie. The filmmakers never intended making anything beyond what they deliver. This is bad, it's cheesy and it's forgettable. But it's outrageously fun while it lasts and it most certainly requires the wearing of loose fitting underwear to allow for Sgt Schlong to stand to attention every now and again. I feel guilty having enjoyed it, but I had a good idea of the film that would be delivered and it was delivered as I imagined. ***
97 out of 142 people found the following review useful: Teenage boys are going to love it, 17 August 2006 Author: Richard Hawes from Kent, England
I love martial arts movies and in particular Cory Yuen films. No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers is a favourite. Having previously done great work with Jason Statham in The Transporter I had pretty high hopes. But I had reservations - this was a starring role for Holly Valance after all.It wasn't everything I hoped it would be. Compared to the raw energy of Crank, DOA was committee film-making as usual. Colourful and featuring plentiful (reasonable) action DOA is only interesting in the opportunities it presents to draw comparison to others.Borrowing stylistic and casting ideas from Charlie's Angels and Kill Bill, DOA is essentially Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter combined. Drawing parallels to Enter the Dragon too, there is nothing original or inventive.Kane Kosugi benefits most from the choreography. He has a sequence on a flight of stairs which is brilliant and brutal - very similar to his scenes in his Japanese breakthrough vehicle Blood Heat. Elsewhere, while the film sexes up the concept of the tournament/video game movie, it's fatal flaw is that it's heroines don't convince. In Charlie's Angels they did.Cory is notable for doing more than his share of fighting femme movies back in Hong Kong, including the recent So Close, but none are classic. DOA should have featured support from the likes of Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Yeoh rather than Eric Roberts and Robin Shou. The girls are pure eye candy. Only Pressley comes close to credibility - because she has an impressive physique and attitude. Holly flutters her eyes at Coronation Street's Matthew Marsden while forcing an English accent. Devon Aoki lacks charisma.The incorporation of the video game elements such as the character intros, K.O. freeze frames etc works really well and the costume design and production design brings the game to life brilliantly. You believe in the exaggerated world and that is key. But ultimately this is little more than a time waster.A decent popcorn movie but nothing new for action fans.
78 out of 109 people found the following review useful: Brain off entertainment, 24 September 2006 Author: Gordon-11 from Hong Kong
This film is about a group of fighters getting invited to a fighting contest. Along the way, they find out there is a plot behind it and they work together to fight the bad guys.There are quite a few problems with the movie. The plot is implausible. The DOA logo gets an on screen appearance too much that is very annoying. The love relationships seem so poorly built up that it exists just for the sake of existing. Not to mention the numerous soft porn scenes that make the film look cheap. Oh, and Devon Aokiwears the same facial expression on her face all the time, and her dialogs are spoken in such a plain and mundane way that is devoid of any emotion.However, there are good things about the film. The film is pure brain-off entertainment. The fight scenes are very well thought out and rehearsed. This alone makes the film fun to watch.
70 out of 101 people found the following review useful: A Poor Excuse For A Plot, But Good Action, Really Not That Bad, 9 September 2006 Author: Quaay from Australia
Wow. I never thought In my wildest dreams that I would be standing behind this film, sticking up for it opposed to slandering it with the rest. I actually went to see it for a laugh and so what if there were a half dozen beautiful girls flaunting there stuff right? well the first 10 minutes kinda made me think I was gonna be dead right, but not entirely. Sure it was a very poor excuse for a plot, but the action was really quite good. Before I get into that I need to make a remark, a lot of people have been slandering this movie because of it's story line, fair enough, but if you say that it doesn't make sense, you must be one thick chimpanzee, The story is so linear it hurts, and very, I repeat VERY easy to understand! Back to the movie. The acting was fine, I was especially pleased at Holly's Performance, A perfect role for her I would say, if Anyone's ever seen any of her film clipsPlot: Pro-wrestler Tina (Jaime Pressly), master thief Christie (Holly Valance), and ninja princess Kasumi (Devon Aoki) are competitors in a martial arts tournament with a $10 million prize.That pretty much sums up the basis of the plot haha but yeah. Good Action, Hot Girls, a worth while watch. Oh and another thing, Sarah Carter who starred in 3 episodes of Smallville plays another butt kickin' Babe, very sexy. It was kind of refreshing be able to watch a movie where the plot wasn't really a problem at all, all you had to do was focus on what was going on, no having to think about how this person knows this person and why they want to kill each other. It was also good to see a 'Girl Power' Flick which wasn't cheesy in the way that Charlie's Angels was, yeah it was cheesy in other ways, but none of that, "come on angels, let's go get 'em" All in all a good watch, I just hope they don't try and do a sequel *sighs* and IF they do, I hope they get a damn script writer!!!!7 Stars
50 out of 72 people found the following review useful: A fun movie, so don't take it seriously, 21 November 2006 Author: frater_solomon from Canada
While I agree that this is not terribly original or even an innovative film, it is fun, and that's what it was meant to be. You can't expect mastery from actors who haven't trained their whole lives but having a long history with martial disciplines I felt that these women did a great job. Sarah Carter has shown combative promise for years (remember Black Sash???), and her skill as a dancer is clear watching her move (fighting or not). Graceful and inspired, sleek and sexy, in many ways, she alone is worth seeing this movie for, whether in jeans or that little bikini. Who couldn't love this woman? But then they throw in other talent like Jaime (who is obviously in shape for this film both physically and professionally—great accent she adopted) and Devon, both of whom who could have a strong career in action flicks.Having said that, this is not a film for the martial arts critic, it is a movie for fans. Many may have to lower their expectations so as to not feel as other reviewers have, and may need to remind themselves that these women are not masters of combat (and that a gorgeous woman in a bikini is not offensive but a vision). Movies don't have to be original to be enjoyable, and I hope viewers don't fall into the trap of criticizing this movie because it isn't. Why bother watching any movie then?
82 out of 136 people found the following review useful: There's action ! There's bikinis! ..........and thats about it., 25 September 2006 Author: Merklin from United Kingdom
With its one dimensional characters and convoluted story, dead or alive was never really the best game to bring to the big screen . But nevertheless thanks to cory yune and a dubious ensemble cast, we now have a dead or alive movie. But is it any better than the corny trailers suggests ? The answer is NO .Like the games its based on there's plenty of scantily clad babes and over the top action but thats all there is. There's no sense of suspense, interesting characters or successful attempts at intentional humour- just over edited fights mixed with a healthy portion of T&A.Will the fans like it ? I can safely bet that once again the answer is no. Much like 94's street fighter movie, the characters are brought to life through a horribly mismatched cast decked out in cheesy cosplay outfits- only the most die-hard fans will be completely happy with this one.DOA isn't completely terrible. The few fights that aren't edited to death are pretty good , and there's lots of laughs to be had from the corny acting and dialogue- but its overall buffoonery doesn't raise it above trashy "midnight movie on cable" status.Its one for horny teens and dead or alive completists only.
47 out of 69 people found the following review useful: A lot like the video games, 9 September 2006 Author: pin-head_xiii from Australia
As a fan of the DOA video games, it was in my nature to go see this film. Even though I knew it was going to be shocking, I was surprised (a bit).Following the storyline from the games, DOA is about a fighting tournament held on a secret island were all is not what it seems. Princess Kusami (Devon Aoki) joins the tournament to find her brother. Tina (jammie Pressley) a distinguished womens wrestler joins to prove to the world she's not fake, like her "fighting style". Christie (holly valance)playing a sultry thief joins in order to steal a vault full of money, hidden on the island. Over time they meet other characters and they learn to work together in order to stop the main villain, Donovan (Eric Roberts).Like most fighting video game/movies the really isn't much of a story and a few of the actors are below par (espesially from Kane Kosugi), I was really impressed by Holly Valance and Sarah Carter.Most reviews can tell you that this is strictly for teenage boys, and I can tell you there right, through some racy shots of Holly valance and Jamie Presley. But what Impressed me the most with DOA is the fight sequences. Kane Kosugi has one of the best I've seen In a while on a flight of stairs and Sarah Carter and Holly Valance battle it out in the rain making it an almost glorified wet t-shirt Competition.If your looking for something innovating form this genre, keep walking, but if your looking for a great way to spend and hour and a half with some friends, then see DOA.
40 out of 57 people found the following review useful: Absolutely Fantastic... if you're watching it in 1996., 16 June 2007 Author: Quicksand from Dallas, TX
In 1999, the martial arts movie was redefined by "The Matrix." What people forget is, the martial arts movie was previously redefined four years earlier, with the release of 1995's "Mortal Kombat." Of course, yes, "The Matrix" left everything before it in the dust. But for that 4 years, we had a short-lived champion... exciting action sequences, fair-to-cheesy dialogue, and a thumping techno soundtrack. It took something as historical as the Wachowski Brothers to knock it off its perch."Dead or Alive" features action sequences about on-par with "Mortal Kombat," dialogue scenes that are only slightly more painful, and the added presence of Eric Roberts, which takes two full points off its IMDb rating just for attaching his name to it.I didn't hate DOA; it was miles better than "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" and director Corey Yuen ("Transporter," "So Close") is certainly light-years better than Uwe Boll, if that even means anything.Slightly better than your average rental, but not worth a $7 movie ticket. In 1996 this would have made a bundle, but today it's just something that might actually hold your attention on cable at 3 a.m. 6/10.
35 out of 49 people found the following review useful: Fan Service, 3 February 2007 Author: strange_antithesis from Philippines
I've been playing Dead or Alive since the Playstation release back in 1998 (I still do~~) and was shocked when I heard someone's gonna turn it into a movie. As a fan, the first thing, the major concern I had happens to be the actors playing the fighters. Not that it was a complete let down (especially since most of the attitudes of the characters in the game and movie were quite different), I had to anticipate it being (forgive the term) somewhat 'Americanized'. But ah, well. That's how it was. Don't know if Tomonobu Itagaki liked seeing Hayate not so often in the film, though (Hayate WAS modeled after him, the DOA creator). So when it was released, I avoided watching it, until now.Corey Yuen did an amazing job directing this one. The choreography of the fight scenes were really good, but the script and the plot... those needed work. It was fun seeing Robin Shou and Collin Chou in this film. But props to Jaime Pressly for the amazing portrayal of Tina! She, in my opinion, stole the show from Devon Aoki.But really, this is more of a fan service (in glorified kick-ass fights!) than a supposed movie in its own right. But it was better than most game adaptations and it was fun to watch.One thing's certain- I didn't like the portrayal of Ayane.
11 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Better Than Most Video game Adaptations, 19 November 2006 Author: bruddah_man_matt from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I have to say that based on the previews I didn't think this film stood a chance of getting anything better than a 2/10. However knowing that Corey Yuen was directing the picture, I probably should have at least given the action the benefit of the doubt. As it turns out DOA is a pretty rubbish flick in terms of plot and acting but the action is solid. Yuen has a very Ronnie Yu style in terms of how he works the camera and while this film isn't going to win any awards anytime soon it's a solid popcorn action flick.For the folks who have seen Yuen's So Close which starred Shu Qi and Zhao Wei DOA follows the same formula. Good looking women taking part in some good looking action and whooping on each other's good looking behinds. The plot which is virtually nonexistent simply consists of fighters from around the world being invited to a martial arts tournament. Of course each fighter has his or her own motives and there are obviously some secret agendas going on behind the scenes. Honestly the plot is so paper thing it's not even worth discussing. Women might be put off by this film and immediately assume that it's nothing more than a teenage boy's fantasy but in fact DOA does a better job of appealing to women as well than McG's overly "girl power" Charlie's Angels.All in all there isn't much to say about this film except that the action and the sporadic humor are the only things which make it worth viewing. That might not sound like much but Yuen's experience with choreographing fights scenes really shows and as mentioned earlier he really knows how to work the camera. In fact he could probably convince you that Steven Segal has something left with his camera work alone. Yuen also knows how to shoot the leading ladies in terms of knowing how to make them look good, and I'm not just talking about the fight scenes. Yes the fighting consists of somewhat over the top wire work at times but it's 10 times better than the amateurish stuff McG tried to put together for Charlie's Angels. The film also makes no attempts to take itself too seriously like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider did at times. DOA compares to the first Mortal Kombat film in that it's kind of a faithful adaptation of the source material and definitely made for fans of the series in that the focus is on the action (although fans of martial arts flicks in general will find plenty to like with DOA). DOA wont change peoples opinions on film adaptations of video games anytime soon (that task is in the hands of Kojima and his Metal Gear Solid project) but it is a much better popcorn action flick than the previews lead you to believe. The way I see it, if people are willing to pay to watch something thrown together by hacks like Paul W.S. Anderson (and yes I know that he directed the original Mortal Kombat) and McG why not DOA? The fight choreography is much better than anything those two could ever conjure up and the leading ladies are about as good looking as can be. Besides, no one watches a film like DOA for anything aside from the eye candy anyway. Far from great but much better than I had anticipated. 6.5/10.
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